When I got my first 22 LR rifle, it was an exciting cartridge, as I wanted to learn how to shoot well, explore its accuracy potential, have fun plinking. I wound up shooting first team varsity rifle in college as a result of that early excitement. I still get a wee bit excited holding the 22 LR and loading it in my S&W k22, or squirrel rifle, or plinking..
When I got my first centerfire rifle at age 16, it was a 30-3O Marlin 336a I loved holding a loaded 30-30 in my fingers and looking at its long neck, and the scalloped lead nose of the Remington corelokt bullet. I was going to be able to hunt with my dad now. Reloads would shoot near MOA, which is exciting. I loved the look of the cartridge, the heft, and the shape-and still do 45 years later.
When I got my first woodchuck hunting cartridge/rifle, a 222 Rem, it was exciting. High velocity. Economy of shooting, long distance potential, days of being in rolling hayfields with my woodchuck buddy (or brother) enjoying life was exciting-and still is. The diminutive shape of the case, with its sharp shoulders, tiny bullet, stories of how Mike Walker developed it, and how fast it turned the benchrest accuracy world on its ear in the 1950-60's were all exciting aspects of the 222 Rem to me. The 222 Rem still bets me going,c when I pull out my Sako A1 Varmint , and cluster 5 shots in a sub 1/2 MOA 200 yard group..
My "powerful big game" bolt gun, a 30-06 JC Higgins model 50, created excitement. I finally had a "powerful cartridge" that was used all over the world, with great success. The potential of the 30-06 was exciting to me. I knew I was never going to Africa or Alaska, so my 30-06 was good for "anything else." When you think of it, that IS pretty exciting. The 30-06 had a long neck and case ( compared to my 30-30). It would shoot 150-200 grain jacketed bullets accurately and with good velocity. A cartridge that offers that kind of usefulness, and potential, is exciting. Chambered in a commercial FN Mauser 98 action, with all the milling, forging, metallurgy a!loy upgrades, with its great design-it just amplifies the excitement of the 30-06.
As much as the OP wants to focus on just "the brass bottle" ( cartridge itself) to be "exciting," he/she is wrong. "Excitement" is an emotional response, enhanced by non-tangible factors. It is never just about "the brass bottle" itself.
My current "cartridge of interest" on the radar is the 6.5 Grendel (do I rebarreling my CZ 527?). Seems like a very efficient cartridge. Is it exciting? Not really, but it is interesting to me.
So, it IS about hitting an aspirin at 50 yards with my 22 LR rifle, using my 30-30 while hunting with my dad, or reading about Townsend Whelen's hunting trips with a 30-06, or making a 300 yard shot on a woodchuck with a 222 Rem hand load, and my brother spotting the shot. If if excites me, it is due to the tangible and intangible things associated with the cartridge. Excitement related to a cartridge is NOT just "the brass bottle.". Never was. Never will.
