Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Do you like the new 'modernized' cartridges?

I lean towards the older stuff, 30-30,257 Roberts,6.5 Swede, 7x57 30-06, 300H&H. 45-70......
I have newer stuff also, one of my favs is the 325 WSM. Why? IDK probably because not everyone has one. Never noticed any critter being any deader though than just plain ol' dead.

Gun makers need to sell guns, and ammo makers need to sell ammo.

Any developments that bring new shooters into the fold are fine with me.

I think we're about to see a post-COVID shakeup that will be a lot like the post-WWII shakeup. Ammo supplies dried up in both cases, leaving manufacturers with a blank slate. I'm interested to see which cartridges they leave to die and which ones they keep alive.


Okie John

I like things that go bang.

That said, I'm like a lot of others who have and love our old favorites. I've also ended up with both a 6 Creedmoor and a 6.5 Creedmoor. I like them both!

It's funny, that 6 Creedmoor reminds me so much of my good old 6mm Remington. Case is quite different, ballistics are similar.

Last spring I took the "odd couple" to Idaho with me, looking for bear. 7mm PRC custom on a Bergara action and a traditional wood-stocked 45-70 Marlin 1895. Two very different rifles! Sadly, I didn't manage to put crosshairs of either on a bear. Was confident in both rifles though.

Stock up on primers. No matter what the case shape, we're all going to need primers... Dang...

Guy

My taste for the new stuff is rather attenuated. It is not because it is new. It is that the old stuff seems to have the edge in so many categories. That goes for chamberings as well as the components.

Old tried and true stuff usually has an abundance of literature and a wealth of opinions. Components are available. Load data is comprehensive, and I don't have to sweat out a lot of brain work to come up with a workable load. Also, the dead ends are fairly obvious.

I am a guy who sticks to the middle of the road. I also load very conservatively. I am not the kind of guy who tries and makes his 30-30 work like a 30-06. If I feel I want 30-06 performance, I go and buy a 30-06.

There are a few exceptions. Given that I wanted to try 7mm, I opted for the 7mm-08 over 7mm Mauser. 7mm-08 had been around for 40 years when I made the plunge, and its track record is exceptional. What it loses to the older cartridge in performance, I gained in a lot of other things. I also made the plunge and tried WIN StaBall 6.5 powder and found it recovered all the performance I'd lost.

One chambering I passed on was the 300 Savage, even though I love what it does. I opted for 308 WIN in a Savage 99, because I knew I could load down to 300 Savage levels without too much trouble and brass was easier to find.

Bullets? I'm the kind of guy who tries to figure out how to do things with Hornady Interlock and Remington Core-lokt before thinking about any whizzbang bullets with plastic tips. Yeah, I tried Hornady FTX in my 30-30, but I found they really did no better than the 150 and 170 grain pedestrian offerings. I did find LeverEvolution Powder to be the shizz.

Going in the complete opposite direction has been my Brown Bess project. Yikes. It's funny. Here is a platform that has had parts being manufactured for it for almost 300 years, but finding a decent deer load became a mad scientist project. Researching what was being shot out of it at the time of the Revolution was only part of the story. There are so many variables. I'll spend the next 20 years plumbing the depths of this platform. I've been at it over a year and still feel I'm just scratching the surface.

I probably fit best under #4. Personally, I think a lot of the newer guns are fugly as hell, especially handguns. I freely admit they serve a purpose but esthetics ain't one of them. I do have a few rifles with black synthetic stocks but they have the general shape of proper classic rifles. Probably the most modern cartridge I load for is the .300 Win. Mag. I never saw the need for a WSM although I liked the looks of the M70 Featherweights. Only did one wildcat about 20 some odd years age, the .375 Taylor. A 7.5 pound rifle shooting a velocity clone of the .375 H&H. Ouch at both ends. These days I play with the .257 Roberts a bit and up to the .35 Whelen. Mostly though it's the 7x57 in a push feed M70 Feather weight, Ruger #1A and a semi-custom built on an FN Mauser. The really heavy louderkickenharders now reside in the safe enjoying a comfortable well earned retirement.
PJ

I mostly like the old classics (7x57, 257R, 300H&H, 35Remington, 222, 30-06 etc, etc) but really think the 6 & 6.5CM checks off a lot of boxes, esp the shorter OAL in a 2.8" mag box.

Had a 6CM built. Nothing else in the new list interests me.

of course its a 6.5 /308 in reality... its all about the same really. why all the hype for the 6.5 cm is kind of wild as the 6.5x47 is a better round imho of course. but like anything people don't research really, they just swallow what they are told.
but I do like the advent of higher bc bullets and really like the mono bullets for sure. they are one of the best things out there ever to come down the pike. glass getting better sure is nice too.

.257 Roberts, 30-06 and .35 Whelen comprise my battery and I feel confident that I can take any North American game with those three. They've all stood the test of time, the Roberts and the Whelen were designed by riflemen who were amoung some of the most competent of their day.

No harm in "new stuff" as long as it is used within its parameters.

Personally, I like the second and third order effects they bring to the table.

The fairly recent profusion of "highly accurate, super efficient, cartridges and bullets" has made the entire industry step up their game. Look at the veritable buffet of optics we now enjoy. The quality and amount of aftermarket stocks, accessible ballistics apps and programs, even the average barrel on the average rifle is better.

The war department gave us the zipper, NASA gave us velcro, I like and appreciate the tertiary stuff our modern cartridges are giving us.

Shoot whatever you like, we all benefit from innovation.

I like em all.

I can appreciate modern advancements while also liking the history and nostalgia of older cartridges. I don’t understand the people that get caught up in the hatred of cartridges.

It's not a matter of like or don't like, for me...

The question is 'do they do anything, substantially different'???

Cartridges, by my definition, IMHO, do NOT include bullet weight or design, barrel twist, magazine or action length, or necessarily limited to a particular firearm....

From the early part of the 1800s through the turn of the century, my cousin, Dr Edward Maynard, helped foster, participated in, and contributed to, tremendous progress in the design and construction advancements in 'cartridges'.......

Since the very early 1900s the major changes have been in bullet design and powder/primer technology, with a minor in firearm design...

Again, IMHO

YMMV

I enjoy the classics like the 6.5x55, 270 win, 7x57, 7x64, 303British, 7.62x54R, 7.65x53, 30-06, 8x57, and 9.3mm's. At the moment the newest cartridge's i have in the stall is 308 win and 223 Rem. Sold off the 325 wsm. Also like some wildcats like the 8mm-06.

In saying that I like performance and like the idea of the 300 PRC and 7mm PRC....will i buy one? Probably not. For the type of shooting and hunting I do the classics cover those areas pretty good.

Edit. Another cartridge that comes to mind that i wish took off is the .338 Federal. I thought that cartridge was a great low recoiling big game round. 30-06 performance in a short action with a bigger bullet.

I forgot the .30-40 krag. I've enjoyed that one recently as well.

-Jake

The "Next Great Leap Forward" beyond smokeless/bottleneck/copper jackets has been the ubiquitous LRF. The best executed innovations in cartridge design over the last 30yrs have all assumed the shooter has a LRF at hand. All of the best innovations have gotten the COAL, magazine, and chamber dimensions to compliment each other..

Minus the ubiquitous LRF, we'd still be chasing case capacity, max velocity, and almost NOBODY would be chasing .6, .7, .8 + BC's.

I like all ammunition.

I definitely prefer the tried and true cartridges of yore. Too many to list here but I think the “newest” cartridge chambering of any rifle I own is my .25-06 (which actually was a 1920’s wildcat design before getting SAAMI approval in 1969).

I do not care for long range hunting and therefore see little use and zero advantage in practically all the newer designs for the kinds of hunting I prefer.

These shortages have inspired me to stick with practical and highly ubiquitous cartridge choices as they’re much easier to find components/ammo for.

I’ve owned 7mm, .300 and 8mm Magnum rifles and liked them however I shoot my .270 and .30-06 rifles much better and they kill just as well as any magnum I’ve ever used.

I like them all. Of the new rounds, the 6.5 creedmoor and 6.8 Western are my favorites. Just impressive down range for their recoil levels to me. Will eventually get one of the newer 22s or 6mms but not sure what. Does not replace my old favorites like 243, 270, 280 etc..

Lou

I compete with a .223 and 308 in TR and hunt with a .303 British.
Varmints are hunted with a .222.
I also have a drilling in 9.3x72R, and recently picked up a Pre '64 Model 70 in "06 that I plan to build a Carlos Hathcock replica with.
I also have several black powder muzzle loaders and cartridge rifles .
I have been wildcatting, collecting shooting and selling since the late 70's, but these are what I have settled on in my old age. The first three are the ones I use most.
Cat

nowadays it is the old cartridges for me. i use the 20 Vartarg and the 500 Linebaugh are my most recent cartridges. then the 7-08 and the 444 Marlin are next. all other cartridges are 1891 up to 1944.

i did have a 6.5 Creedmoor and i shoot alot of deer with it. but i got bored, so i sold it. i gave my youngest son a 6.5x55 ('16 Spanish Mauser) and my oldest son a 7x57 (FN Mauser). i have three other 7x57 ('16 Spanish, 1908 Brazilian and 24/30 Venezuelan). i also have two 30-40 Krag, 8x57, three 7.65x53, '06, 270 Winchester, 30 Remington, 9.3x57 and a couple of more calibers.

back in the '90s, my gunsmith (RIP) was busy and he gave me customers new rifles to shoot in and rifles that customers said that "they weren't accurate, so do something." so i was his accuracy tester. he had a pile of factory ammo in many different calibers. as long as the rifle would shoot 1 1/2" group at 100 yards (5 shots/bench). i shot many of the rifles and everyone of the rifles were accurate. 7 Remington and 300 Win mags, 300 Weatherby, 338 Winchester mag, 340 Weatherby mag, 375 H&H, 416 Remington, 416 Weatherby, 458 Win Mag, 460 Weatherby and others. yes, i shot the 460 Weatherby and i don't want ever have to shoot it again!!! as a matter of fact, i never bought a magnum, except for the 44 Rem mag and now i use 44 Special instead of the mag. i never had use for a magnum. the furthest shot on a deer was 365+/- yards. i can count on one hand and have a couple finger left over if i shot the deer around 300 yards. 200+ yards, i have shot deer 7 or 8 times. 100+ yards, 14 to 15 deer. under 100 yards, i don't know, but it is alot.

for the past 11 or 12 years, i been using cast bullets almost exclusively. now i have done them up to 2300fps or so, but usually the bullets only go 1800-1900fps.

My cartridge graduation:

1977 308 Winchester
1978 7mm Weatherby
2005 280 Remington
2010 300 WSM
2013 280 Ackley Improved
2022 22 Creedmoor

All of them I still enjoy.