Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 15 Centerfire Rifles and not a single magnum

I don’t see the use but I do have a few I wouldn’t mind owning, I don’t currently own any and I never have before. The only magnums I’ve shot were lent to me. A 300 Win Mag just because it’s a classic, a 338 because I feel that is the next true step up in power over my 30-06, a 257 Weatherby for some unknown- ungodly- reason, and a 300 Ruger Compact Magnum because CDNN has them for next to nothing

What and where do you hunt?

[quote=vacrt2002]Anyone else skip maginum CF rifles? Am I missing anything?

I did until I was 45 or so. I had put three 180 gr Partitions from my '06into a very large cow elk before it tipped over. It never took a step but it bothered me a bit.

I had just remarried and there was no extra money around but I convinced myself a .338 was just what I needed.. A year or so later my wonderful wife walks up, hands me our tax refund and says go buy your .338 - so I did. I've killed a few elk with it and a few deer but now reserve it for hunts on first season bull elk.


It does seem easier to tell I have hit an elk with the .338 so you may be missing something in that.

I have since acquired several other magnums but don't hunt them much unless you count varmints and rocks.They include a 7x61 S&H, 2ea .308 Norma's, a .300 Weatherby, the .338 and a .375 H&H. As to loading them down, the .300 Weatherby (a 24 in PF M70) is extremely accurate with a load at 2850 as well as mild in recoil.

I have two, a 300 and 375 both H&H's in Model 70's.
2016 the 300 went to Namibia and this year the 375 went to Zambia.

The 300 is loaded with a 180 TTSX at 2908fps and the 375 loaded to2535fps with a 300gr TSX.

I don't own any magnums or anything larger than 30cal.

There might be a 300H&H project in the future, but that's it. I'd like to shoot a moose with a 300 before my days end.

I have mostly magnums.

^
This

In my early 20's I acquired my first reloading manual. As I eagerly studied each page of the book I noticed that many of the magnum cartridges required a lot more powder for a small gain in velocity while adding a hefty penalty in recoil. I decided way back than I had no desire to ever go larger than the 06 case and 30 years later I still have never owned a magnum.






Trystan

My two present pet rifles are a custom 6mm-06 and a custom .30-338...pretty much the same thing as your 240 bee and .308 Norma. Set up properly they are both tremendous rounds IMO.

They can be fun to use.

Never get tired of seeing this pic...That rabbit was ready to eat the moment it hit the dirt. Flamed Bugs Bunny 😎

Is a 26 Nosler a magnum?

Magnum = marketing.

Case in point: .44 Mag vs. .45-70.

Her name was McGill,
She called herself Lill.

Nope. Started with a 7mm RM. Calculated recoil is about the same as many .30-06 loads, more than some, less than others.

My most brutal rifle, by far, is a non-magnum (.45-70) with heavy handloads. My Browning B92 .44 Mag is hardly a magnum but the steel butt plate makes it pretty hard on the shoulder.

Care to share more?

He's out getting the unicorn milk that's used as coolant during the machining operations.

NO! I didn't skip magnums. WHY ?

My smallest mag is 7 R M and also like the 300 W M. I've had multiple of those.

I still have the BIG 8mm RM.

I had a 338 W M but the stock & pad did NOT fit me so I didn't keep it.

I've also played with a Rem 700 375 HH. Not too bad in recoil. If I needed one, I have one.



I have not had a Creed.... and WILL NOT have one.

I just added a Tikka Syn SS Lite 7 RM to my corral . I like it.


Jerry

I have a few center-fire magnums. I've only harvested with one of them (7mm RM) . I've taken a couple of AZ whitetails with it. Most less than 200 yards, and one at 525 yards.

Win M70 - 7mm Rem Mag - Shooting 140gr Combined Technology BT's. They work very well.

Weatherby Vanguard - 300 Wthby Mag (new, still in box) Owned for 10 years, never fired. Never had a scope mounted on it.

Weatherby Vanguard Stainless - 338 Win Mag - Amazingly accurate with almost any 225gr factory boolits. It hates Federal 200gr accubond's (1.5" grps) and really hates the Rem 250gr Core Lokt (1.5"-2" grps).

Both of the Weatherby's are the original Vanguards, NOT the newer S2 models. The original Vanguards guaranteed sub 1.5", while the S2 guaranteed sub 1" groups with with Weatherby factory loads, or premium branded loads. The .338 shoots sub 1".

As most have stated, I own them, but are they really needed ? At the time I bought them, probably yes. But with the addition of other chamberings to my collection, probably not today. It's just hard to beat old Granddad .30-06 for just about anything in the lower 48

These days, with the advent of better designed cartridges, better powders, better bullet designs, I tend to be leaning towards 6mm and 6.5mm cartridges. The good old .243 Win, 6x47L, 6.5 Grendel. The rifles are lighter in weight, extremely accurate, and with well placed shots will anchor just about anything that I hunt these days, and do it with much less recoil. But, I have been contemplating a new build in 6.5x47L, or a .260 Rem, or maybe even a 6.5 creed as the brass is readily available and much cheaper than the 6.5x47L brass.

I've had magnums for quite some time. Old shoulder injury started acting up and I unloaded them. Now I'm down to 2 rifles that are 'magnums' - 264 and a 22