Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats What common cartridge is toughest to beat?

270 Win. for just about most uses and 300 Win Mag (or one of its ballistic twins, eg, 300WSM, H&H, Wby) for most other applications. Heavier magnums have a place but their use is pretty limited -except among the rifle loony fringe- in the overall scheme of things.

Funny how everyone has a different opinion...some of the favorites here are cartridges I think are crapola and wouldn't own. Lol

In my opinion, hard to beat the 6 & 6.5 Creed in overall design and performance.

7-08 or 7X57 are both tough to beat for all around.

308 Win is just too simple and works well, too.

"Tough to beat" ballistics right ?? or a personal itch ?

Of all the cartridges mentioned the 300 RUM smokes the crap out of all of them with 215 Berger Hybrids at 3150 fps


3 oz is soooooo mush more heaviers mang......

Rem 700
S/A BDL 2lb 4oz
L/A Bdl 2lb 7oz

My question really wasn't aimed at superior ballistics. Rather, from a design perspective. If we look at each common cartridge and how it performs for it's intended purpose, including all factors like accuracy, reliability, efficiency, etc., which one would the savviest wildcatters say, "nope, I can't do better". The best answer I have heard is the 22 lr, though that is cherry picking.

30-06 and 375 H&H for versatility...the 270 for the most common application of thin skinned deer-like animals in NA. Its cheap, shoots flatter than just about anything out to 400 yds, not a lot of recoil, good enough bullet selection for bigger stuff like moose and bear. For pistol cartridges, Scott made a good point about the 38 special. Enough power for 90% of applications, light recoil, really cheap to shoot, variety of bullets.

Yes sir!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

22lr
222 Rem.
308 or 30/06; a 7x57,270 or 280..the middle road really depends on a lot of things.
375 HH

One could do most anything, really, with a 45 Colt and a 45/70 with one mould and a bit of lead.

So a few months ago I bought a rifle at a garage sale... The fit didn't even know what it was and the caliber wasn't marked.. Had it casted and come to find out it's 6x284.... Does anyone reload this And sell it personally on here or does anyone know a special manufacture that sales this ammo I can't find it anywhere

.22LR

.223 Rem

.270 Win

.30-06

All these are readily available with wide selection of ammunition. They cover most sporting applications - game size / range the majority hunt.

These would be my guesses where cost / availability is an issue.

Looking at rifle manufacturer brochures for mass producer companies like BSA, Parker Hale, Sako, Tikka, Sauer, Heym, Mark X / Zastava in Europe over the last 50 years or so, the common cartridges chambered for are:

.222 Rem in the past but losing ground to .223, .22/250, .243 Win, .308 Win

.270 Win, 7x64, .30/06, .300Win

The 6mm-284 is a wildcat, not loaded by any major mfgs. Brass is easily formed from 284 Winchester brass.

284, 6.5x47

280 Rem

Depends on what you mean by common. To me it means being able to go into any store that sells ammo and be able to get a box of shells for that particular cartridge. First ones that come to mind are .223, .243, .270, 7mm Rem Mag, 30-30, .308, 30-06, .300 Win Mag, and maybe .338 Win Mag. I'd be very surprised if you couldn't walk into any store that sells ammo and pick up a box of those.

Of those, none are of the perfect design. We have learned some things over the years, but new is slow to catch on and I think it will be a while before things like the 6.5 Creedmoor are as common as say a .270. Less body taper, and sharper shoulder are nice. Minimal to no case stretching during sizing. One thing rifle manufacturers could do, is update their twist rates to stabilize modern VLD type bullets. No down side to doing so, and when ammo manufacturers follow suit, it would be a whole new world in capability. Been said many times here that bullets matter more than headstamps, and that is very true. The 6.5 Creedmoor, both rifles and factory ammo are way ahead of the game. Maybe in a few years the non-looneys will catch on and popularity will approach the old standbys.

But, if you want some serious ballistic capability and ammo availability anywhere right now, it might be pretty hard to beat a properly twisted .243, .270, or 7 Rem Mag. You would likely have to reload to take advantage of the really slippery bullets, but you could walk into a store and get ammo anywhere if need be.

John

7-08

Agreed. Hard to argue with that kind of reasoning.

I've had a Remington Custom Shop Model 7 Mannlicher in 7-08 and a Winchester XTR Model 70 Featherweight in 7X57 for YEARS and it's a tough decision every time I have to choose which one I get out of the safe for my "serious" hunting rifle! But it's a a good kind of decision to make if you have to

I gotta vote .223 and 30-06 for honorable mention, though.

I'd have to go with the 7mm Rem Mag.
shoots flat as a 270 Win with the bullet weights of the 30-06 or flatter and ammo can be found everywhere if you don't reload.
Recoils no more than an '06 in a rifle of the same weight.
And, I've had all the common 7's from 7-08 thru 280 as well as the 280AI (still have one) and I've killed deer with a 30-06 and carried a 300 Win Mag after elk for 12 seasons,....shot deer with a 270 Win and a 243 Win......I could have done it all with a 7 Rem Mag.

.308
Loaded down light bullets for varmints and bump it up to heavies for moose.
And anything in between.

An excellent cartridge, which is very common in Europe, is the 7x64 Brenneke.

30-06 gets my vote