Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Calibers that should die

if you own plenty land that the deer stay on sure a smaller cartridge works fine,but when your hunting trophy whitetail bucks on public land or a small tact of land where a buck could run away after the shot maybe to the next unknown guy and he shoots your wounded buck and claims your buck that just ain`t cool and i have had that happen . so now days i carry a bigger cartridge that knocks that buck down right away most of the time or it only goes a few yards and falls over from a good shot. yes some people can`t handle recoil and i understand but my son and myself use magnum rifles so we don`t have to track a buck on one good shot. i use 257 Weatherby Mag. but i would have no problem using a 300 Win. Mag. that is another great cartridge with plenty knock down power on bigger bucks as is a 375 H&H. where we hunt whitetail bucks by the Canadian border in Minnesota we may only get 1 shot at a big whitetail buck every year or 2 so give me a rifle cartridge with plenty power i will handle the recoil to knock that buck down.

Nope

So you think it should die?

I like them all......


Now if Glocks would die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ugly fokking things!

AGREE. The 40 SW hadn’t been out long enuff for me to know exactly what it
did.
I wanted the new Colt Delta Elite, 10 mm but I got my 6906 - SS 9mm at that time and now WISH I’d gotten the 40.


Jerry

No sir, it doesn't need to die, it's a good cartridge, has been marketed exceedingly well and has the added benefit of the most precise dimensions that modern machine work can provide and pretty impressive factory support in ammo. Put that same effort into any of a dozen pre-existing 6.5's and you get the same results, it isn't magic. Any ammo/firearms maker could have done it and probably at least thousands of individuals around the world have done so. The 6.5 CM is almost as good as some that pre-date it by 120 years and don't forget, the Europeans had that same 120 year head start on us reference the 6.5 caliber.. The old saying, "ignorance is bliss", has never been more evident than by those who regale the 6.5 Creedmoor with magical properties it does not have.

Just curious...I assume you are a fan of the 6.5x55? Are you using a Krag-Jorgensen, m94, or m96? Do you shoot factory ammo or reload?

Never figured you for a high risk kind'a guy. Suggesting 12" steel reinforced concrete for your bunker. They all gonna outlive all of us.

I'm glad you left the .25-20 SS off your list. I'd have to slap you around if you'd done that.

DD

What's silly to me is toting a big, heavy rifle when a small, light one does just as well. I also don't believe that the big ones necessarily kill any quicker, having had and seen well-hit deer travel after good hits with both. The path to DRTs is shot placement, if conditions permit. Maybe long-range shooting would be different, but I don't get, or seek to create, those opportunities here.

The notion of getting in practice on deer with one's elk rifle makes sense.

Pappy

Thanks for your response. We are on the same page.

I'd just point out that in 2008 when I bought my

70, Black Shadow in 300 WM.... it was the 'lightest' rifle I owned. Including the 26" bll.
EDIT: SECOND lightest rifle .. I already had the T 3 in 270. (sorry)

NOW my Tikka T 3 Lite SS 270

AND

Tikka T 3X Lite SS 7mm RM are my lightest rifles.


I have considered selling - even yesterday - the 300 but I CAN'T make myself get rid of it. Irrational !! I like it.


Jerry

................Why not? It is simple to understand......Capitalism, competition, product innovation in the marketplace. Another 270 from which to choose. More choices.

The 270 Win, 270 WSM, 270 Wby Mag should be the only three 270s from which to choose?

Every time a new cartridge is intro'd, there are always those who say "why another" or "who needs it" or "we already have enough" and on and on.

Same things were said right after the 375 Ruger came out....And look at the 375 Ruger today. So Hornady and Ruger should have just tabled and not intro'd the 375 Ruger thinking that the H&H, the 375 Wby and 378 Wby were satisfactory enough for the marketplace? Well as it turned out doing so would have been a huge mistake.

The rifle makers and the marketplace will determine the success or failure of the 27 Nosler.

For Nosler not to try though?

I’m guessing the OP was really asking about cartridges and not caliber. If not I can’t really think of any calibers to dump. In any event to each his own when it comes to cartridges. If you have it, like it, can provide ammo for it, go ahead and shoot it. Some handle magnum cartridges well, others don’t, only way to find out is to try them out. Truth be told magnum performance used to be a yardage gig and still somewhat is. With today’s heavy for caliber fast twist barrels, the non mags do not hurt for impact velocity and performance out at 350-400 yards and beyond in the field. Much easier on the human anatomy as well, you know shoulders, eyes and such. No judgements here regarding a persons ability or limitations.

Nothing irrational about acquiring and hanging on to something you like.

I say this as one who just purchased , wait for it....... a Ruger Old Army percussion revolver, just because!

SIL only had a .300WSM. Worked great on mulies, but he wanted another bolt rifle. He went with a 6.5 Creedmoor. Granted, the .270 Win is an excellent choice for deer (and elk), which is why I got a lefty .270 for Daughter #1.

SIL now has two 6.5 Creedmoor rifles and I added one last year. No regrets by wither of us that they aren’t .270 Win rifles. In fact, I think the 6.5 Creedmoor was a much better choice for both of us. In my case I already had a .243 Win, .257 Roberts, 6.5-06AI, .280 Rem, 7mm RM, .300BLK, .30-30, .308 Win, multiple .30-06, a .300WM and larger.

Don’t need a .270 Win, but I load for Daughter #1 and if I find one I can’t refuse…

No.

But over the years I've seen a bunch of hunters I thought were dipshits even though I never saw their ammo.

Agreed.

Among reasons for not doing so is if it is the only or the most suitable rifle they own, if they are hunting deer and larger on the same trip or if they are just getting ready for elk or moose or just wan to. Thinking it is 'needed', not so much..

For 20+ years the only big game legal bolt rifle I owned was my 7mm RM. It worked great on prairie dogs, coyotes, antelope, deer and elk. Now I have many more options, recognize that my .257 Roberts or .243 Win would have worked fine for almost every shot I've ever taken in the 38 years I've been big game hunting, and choose what to hunt with based on a whim of the moment more than anything else.

I'm going to say, the .410 shotgun shell.

I know there are skeet shooters love their .410 tubes, and Winchester 42 pumps, but for the regular guy why do we have it? Patchy patterns, and slugs are no good for deer. Maybe squirrel hunting, but that's it for me.

The 20 gauge is great for young and old. Handles birds (and squirrels) deer, "home defense", and even skeet.

.410 shotgun shell can go. I won't miss it.

I grew up having to shoot shotgun and slugs for deer. Nothing like learning to take recoil from an Ithaca 37 with one ounce slugs. I learned to flinch real well and took a lot of time away from hunting and shooting (Navy) to forget how I hated that. Probably why I prefer heavier rifles now, but still have to talk to myself every now and then. Range time is a good thing.



I have taken my 300WM hunting with me in SC but it only goes to the bean fields where it can be used out to 600+ yards. It's not my normal deer rifle for in the woods...that I leave to the 243 or 25-06.

As for calibers that should die, I don't think any should die...some will likely fad into the history books and some likely shouldn't have been brought to the light of day but new ideas and concepts can be a fun thing in life. If someone new to the sport wanted an obscure caliber I'd make sure they were educated that ammo/ availability/cost will be higher but wouldn't tell them not to buy it if their heart was set on it. That said I have a personal stigma on the '06 because of one man growing up. Everything was "my '06 can do that and more"! Could've told him you were hunting pheasants and he'd say the same thing. Turned out he was a drunk and his son's were no better (emptying the rifle at any deer that walked in) so they got replaced. I have no disdain for the cartridge, just don't plan on buying one.

For a caliber, no.

For cartridges? Well, it's more how some use them then the cartridge.


For people? Hell yeah!

For those who use modern versions of older cartridges and proclaim
them revolutionary.

For the old bastards who use the old version and look down on the new.

Basically people who measure their self worth on perception of their
possesions.

And all these people who wouldn't think of using something like a
30-30, but brag up a new round that barely duplicates it.

IDGAF if it is an AR, or your screwy laws won't let you shoot normal
rounds. If it is barely a 30-30, be honest.

"Well, now I have a semi that is similar to Pap's old 30-30. Except
it weighs 9 pounds, is awkward, and ugly as a mud fence".

Or, "This is a legal loophole round that is marginally equal to a 30-30.
If our rule makers weren't idiots I wouldn't touch this
with a 10 foot pole".

Additional info:

I have a few pix of it in < photopukeit >, blurrred.
Here are a couple of new pix of my Win 70 Black Shadow 300 WM
Nothing fancy, bone stock, I adjusted the trigger and scoped it.



That is a Swift (Nikon subsid) 4-12X40 AO. I've been buying Swift scopes since I learned of them in the late 80s.
No problems with ANY of them.



I don't know & haven't looked into who made the stock. It feels good and is stable. The ONLY time I have had to adjust the sight in,
was when I changed scopes in 2018. Remember I bought the rifle in 2008.
The rifle weighs 8# 7 oz all up ! BUT... it feels lighter due to its weight distribution. I like it.

This was the first 70 with 3 position safety I'd had in quite a few years. I got my 70 Swede in Dec, 2011.
I told my closest hunting pard that I didn't know how I'd adjust to using the 3 position safety. First deer up was on the FIRST
day I hunted it in 2008. Never had to EVEN think of the diff.

I hunted this rifle EXCLUSIVELY 2008, 2009, & 2010. I killed several WT each season with it.
IF I can kill deer out to 400 yds (which I did) I SURE can kill Elk with it.

I know of a poster here who said recently he was looking for a 300 WM. I seriously considered contacting him and offering to sell it to him >>>> Couldn't Do It.

I took a likin to the 300 WM in the 70s based upon looks of the cartridge and its performance.
I got a 77 Tanger in '78 I believe, my FIRST magnum rifle. I 'expected' a 300 to KICK....the Tanger didn't disappoint.

My next one was a B B R which was heavier and had a REAL recoil pad and recoil felt noticeably less.
Then I HAD a 700 BDL that a good hunting pard talked me out of. Its recoil also felt less.
This Black Shadow does NOT punish you to shoot it. ? Maybe the composite stock ?

I also like the moniker, "Black Shadow". The SHADOW knows!!

Jerry