Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Most underrated Rifle and caliber

I'm beginning to think they're all overrated.....

Yeah, especially when the hunter doesn't put the bullet in the right place.

If I were suggesting one it would be the .243 Winchester. At one point early in my big game hunting had killed more animals the the .243 than any other round, partly because I'd developed a bad flinch from using a Savage 99 .308 with an aluminum buttplate early on. Solved the flinch by acquiring a Remington 700 .243, with which I took around 20 animals without a "failure" using cup-and-core bullets, mostly the 105-grain Speer Hot-Cor. Have also seen the .243 used by a bunch of other folks, including Eileen, who killed her biggest whitetail buck with one 100-grain Nosler Partition, which she put through both shoulders and the spine, because it was getting late and she didn't want the buck going anywhere.

It was also the favorite leopard cartridge of well-known African PH John Kingsley-Heath, who used it personally on leopards in several countries, and advised it for clients--because it recoiled so little they could put the bullet in the right place. Altogether he and his clients killed 200+ leopards with the "little" .243. But when I have mentioned this on the Campfire more than one person has said that's crazy, because a magnum is obviously needed for dangerous game.

John,
I am familiar with JKH’s 243. It was a p64 Fwt and was stocked by Earl Milliron of Portland OR. That work was “arranged” by Mr O’Connor. I saw the rifle just as it was about to leave Milliron’s. It killed many many leopards!
Rick

Rick,

Have only seen photos of it, but it looked like a very nice rifle.

Might also mention another .243 performance example. A few years ago my fellow gun-writer Richard Mann's wife Drema decided she wanted to start hunting, so he got her a .243 and she started practicing. But instead of her first hunt taking place in their native West Virginia for whitetails, they went to South Africa, where she took an impala, gemsbok and blue wildebeest, all good trophies and all with one shot. Her handload used the 85-grain Nosler Partition.

John

243 kills all out of proportion to its size, I think. My own is a p64 std weight, which is just one incredible rifle. Accurate to a fault with blue box Federal 100's. Several of my friends have had their kids use it to take their first deer. I have alot of confidence in that rifle and in that chambering.

No truer words ever spoken!

My vote is for the 250-3000, aka 250 Savage. I built one up for my sons on a Win 70 Compact with a Douglas factory duplicate contour. My sons shot about ten deer with that rifle, all one-shot kills, distance under 100 yards. Ammo was basic Rem green box 100 gr PSP. The little cartridge kills so well and is easy to shoot. As others have said, most under rated rifle for me would be the push-feed 70s, I've seen some back in time that I wish I had to foresight to buy.

This is the "underrated" rifle and caliber thread, not "unheard of".....

There are rare occasions when the intersection of Murphy's Law and particularly fat animals, black bear being the worst, and blacktail just rolling with acorn fat...that fat and hair will just seal up...nothing to track, and that in my opinion is where the larger holes can pay off. Let's face it, offhand shooting is not precision, we don't evaluate a rifle or ammo offhand, right? Animals are not always posing stationary, they do move, sometimes briskly. I am not trashing small hole cartridges or a .243...but larger holes can mitigate Murphy's law.
My years shooting NRA Sporting Rifle competition showed me that damn few men can clean a 200 yd offhand target, and NO young shooter can keep them in the aiming black. Not opinion, fact.

I seem to remember an article long ago whereupon Joe Coogan bumped off a leopard with a 243 and thought it was just about right for the job.

A bolt action 223 twisted and mag-boxed to utilize more of the currently available 70gn+ projectiles.

I say it's under-rated because nobody makes one that does so off the shelf without a fair amount of fiddling.

Don't forget about the 6mm Remington, awesome caliber, had one in a M77 and it got a lot of use.

I agree with the 260 and 708, I have both, the 260 in a ruger m77 compact and the 708 in a ss/syn model 7. Neither caliber gets enough love.

300 RCM and 338 RCM. If you own both you are equipped to shoot any animal in North America and not be concerned about being under gunned. The beauty of both of these calibers is the rifles Ruger build to shoot them. Ruger started with a stock with a slightly shorter LOP, went with a 20 inch barrel, and added factory iron sights.

I'd question 6.5mm as the most underrated caliber these days, Bob. Seems to be getting all the credit it deserves and then some. Maybe 20-30 years ago...

Pretty good point on the M70 push feed though!

See ya soon,
Rex

I've said it elsewhere. 2 cartridges that come mighty close to their win mag predecessors and in rugged carbines with 20" pipes. A lot to like.

I once killed an Ontario Black Bear with a 300 win Mag using a 180 grain Nosler Partition, back in camp I asked the outfitter about his favorite black bear rifle.
He said a 243 Winchester was his all time favorite. He showed me a Browning Lever in 243 that had been used by many clients to kill bears. He had also used it to
Kill bears wounded by poor shot placment.He had a bigger rifle that he used for moose,but the 243 was his go to bear rifle.

Bingo. I am just as enamored by the 338 rcm today, as I was back when it was introduced. Possibly THE BEST Alaskan carbine ever made. Even left handed shooters got one. A mountain rifle in bear country, and so much more.

From 300-500 yds shots on winter caribou, to ANCHORING tough goats in proximity of sheer vertical cliffs to rut-raged 60+ inch antlered bull moose, the 338 rcm is an everything gun. Im.surprised how many of RCM's I've encountered, in the hands of other Alaskan hunters.

A simple mag follower flip, and they hold 4 cartridges down, something the wsms never could do. The rcm cartridges feed so nicely, slow or fast

The factory 225 grain interbond ammo out penetrated 30 cal 220 nosler partitions(at 2480 fps) in spruce boards. Where the 338 RCM is just getting warmed up, the 30-06 ends. Then my 275 grain swift a-frame handloads are mighty close in performance to my 300 grain 9.3x62 handloads, all in a rifle that is lighter than the 30-30 rifle I carried as a kid.

225 grain stuff from a 338 rcm carbine is right at the threshold of lightweight and manageable recoil for meaningful shooting sessions, to hone your skills for those treeless alaska, winter caribou hunts.

I named mine, 338 Elmer. The squat little thing most closely resembles him. All purpose frontiersman, in a compact package.

Few years ago, got caught in a bad wind storm. Had every guy line in place to anchor the tent. During that storm, a heard of a dozen caribou passed by, all being tended by a gigantic bull. The shot was about 400 yards. My 41-9.3x62 wildcat/scout rifle was rendered useless in those winds. IF I had my 338 rcm, I would've easily taken that shot. I have never seen a larger bull caribou since.

Settled for a pint-sized caribou at 20 yds.

What breed is that dog?

John,
More backstory on that 243. Milliron told me that JOC had been on a very pleasant trip with JKH and wanted to present something special as a thank you. He asked what his favorite rifle was. JOC was quite surprised that JKH pointed to his 243 leopard rifle. Anyhow arrangements were made to have Milliron make the new stock. I don’t believe anything was done to the metal.
Nice gift.
Rick