Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game What cartridges have you retained loyalty to?

270 Win. and the 375 H&H - covers all the bases.

270 win since 1973. 30-06 about the same time. Hunted with several other cartridges but always came back to the 270 or 30-06. Too old to change now.

I have to credit my late father for the following.
22lr 45 years.
300 savage 35 years.
There have been several others over the years but I’ve never wavered from the above 2.

I'm pretty boring. 7X57 and &
7 mag. for decades.

A great pair that covers a lot of hunting needs as well as the perceptions. I am leaning that way myself, though I do love a .30/06 in the mix.

A short barrel lightweight .308 and a heavy barrel 7mm Rem Mag do everything I’ve ever wanted to do. A fast twist .223 and a long action .243 are fun for long range practice but I could get by with nothing but those first two.

I have a lot of others just for fun but one of my first was a pre 64 mod 70 in 30-06. Killed the best deer I have ever shot with it back in the mid 70's.
But since then it has been the 7's I go to.

For rifles:

I got to shoot dad’s 222 ~ 70+ years ago - with close supervision

22 LR, 256 Win Mag, 60+ years ago

6mm, 8mm, 30-06, 264, 280, 22-250, 308, 223, 350 RM, 55 + years ago

7mm RM, 338 Win 50+ years ago

I’m not sure what years I got the following:

7x57, 300 Win, 32 Special, 30-30, 30 Rem, 17 Hornet, 35 Rem, 358 Win, 35 Whelen, 280 AI, 22-250 AI, 300 H&H, 375 H&H AI, 375 Whelen AI, 300 Savage, 250 Savage, 35 Brown Whelen, 300 Weatherby, 44 Mag, 270 Win, 25-06, 243, 45 Colt, 30-40, 303 Brit, 257 Roberts, 45-70, 45-90, 348, 416 Rigby, 204, 7mm-08, & 222.

I no longer have a 264, a 243, a 32 Special, a 416, a 350 Rem Mag, a 338, a 35 Brown Whelen or a 30 Remington - maybe I shouldn’t have listed those.


Thinking I need: a 458 Win Mag, a 358 Norma, a 257 Weatherby, a 416 Wildcat on an improved 9.3x 62 case or maybe a 416 Taylor.

I've said it before....30 govt '06. The greatest of all time.

What other cartridge can shoot a 110 3400 and a 212 2700?
The only cartridge I'd even consider being on the same planet is a 7x57. I myself have never messed with the 7x57 because I have remained an 06 loyalist since I was 12 years old.

I got my first .30-06, an 03 Springfield, when I was 15. Many decades later I'm still using the .30-06 quite a bit. Mostly with the 168 grain TTSX these days. I like using different rifles and cartridges but I keep coming back to the 06, especially for elk.

I got my first 06 went I was about 15. Shot it for a good 10 years since. Have three others now. Shoot the 700 a new to me rifle once in a while, and the original 1903 just because it it fun. Haven't shot any game with one in over five years. My last use of my first 06 was probably about 2000. First I had shot it in 20 years, never fired it since. I like the caliber, just don't love like I once did.

My longest used ( first animal in the early 70's, is a post 64) , Model 70 300 WM. Others that I have are ,a 280 AI which has done the job on several elk, and a .308 and 223, which I use for coyotes. There are a others in the safe but not used much .

I have a Sako 25-06 I bought in 1986 that works great on deer. I’ve been hunting with a Ruger Hawkeye in 358 Winchester that I like a lot also. I have a TC Venture in 7-08 I hunt with on occasion. The 7-08 is easy to carry also.

.308 Win for 47 years
.300 Win Mag for 35 years
.220 Swift for 35 years
7-STW for 23 years
.375 Weatherby for 21 years

243 - 27years

I'm happy with 7-08 for all I hunt anymore.

300SAUM- 19years

Was the first centerfire I ever owned and it will be the last one I will end up with. Between that and my .243win its all I will ever need for anything I want to hunt.

I was just thinking this morning that all I've hunted with for the last 8 years or so have been my two Tikkas. They are in 7mm-08 and 6.5x55. I've been shooting the 6.5 swede in one rifle or another since about 2009 and the 7mm-08 since probably 2018. I'm under 40 so I can only have racked up so many years at this stage of my life so far! I've really come to appreciate the 7mm-08 and seem to reach for it most often. It's accounted for my longest shots and best bull and mule deer buck.

If I to keep only one center fire rifle, 30-06. There is nothing that I can not do with it.

A 350 Rem mag, a Nosler Partition bullet and a 24 inch barrel.....if you touch the trigger with the crosshairs on him and he aint laying dead right there.....you missed!!!!!