Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Retro/Obsolete Cartridges

7X57 is a pretty good go anywhere do it all cartridge.
405 winchester is another great favorite of mine.
45 2.3 sharps loaded with black and 500-550 gr paper patch bullets is retro with an attitude.
The first elk I ever killed was with a 250 savage, another great retro that's been left out in the recent past.

A few. 32 Special, 303, 7MM Gibbs, 35 Whelen, 300 Savage, 7X57, 8MM, 376 Steyr, 280, & 30-30.

Did all of my deer hunting the last 2 years with an 1899H Savage built in 1912, tang rear sight, in .22 HiPower. Backup gun is a Savage 99 in .30/30. Retro enough for you?!

A friend of mine inherited a 30-Remington slide-action rifle, so we loaded up some ammo for it and he used it deer hunting for the last several years.

Main hunting rifle has been a 300 Savage the last 4 years, and took a 303 Savage out this year. Didn't get a shot with it, but I will eventually. Took an antelope a couple years ago with a 250 Savage. 32-40 is also on the table for a hunt in the future.

All Savage 99's, as though you probably couldn't tell.

Use a 45/70 and 8x57m

Also like the 7x57, .300 savage, and 9.3x62m

I do like to hunt with old or odd cartridges. In the last four years I've hunted with and taken game with: .30-30, .35 Rem, .257 Roberts, 7x57, 8x57, 9.3x62 and a .45-70.

Very Cool choices. I've always had a thing for calibers with history. I've always wanted a 6.5x55 or 7x57. Looks like it will have to be a 6.5x55 since no one really makes a 7x57 anymore, unless you go custom. 257 Roberts would also be pretty cool.

I like to hunt with my 303 Brit, 35 Whelen and 30/30.

Along these lines , sort of . Not a single X mm caliber in the safe.

Anyone else have a completely non metric collection ?

Ahhh, Phil, you are missing out, they are great cartridges. Most of the world uses them.

Have a 35 whelen and two 6.5 x 55 swede's. Really like the swedes

I regularly hunt with 6.5x55, 7x57, and 45-70.

I load ammo for a buddy's 8mm Lebel. Now there's one you don't hear about very often. I believe it was the first military round loaded with smokeless powder, and possibly the first smokeless round of all time.

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I killed two nice bucks this year with two different rifles chambered in 6.5x55. A Ruger #1 and a TIKKA, both excellent rifles. Also have a 7x57 Ruger #1 and a 45-70. Have hunted with and shot deer with 257 Roberts and Ruger Super Blackhawk in 41 Mag.

Ha, just for that, I have a completely metric collection. I have a 7.62x63mm, 7.62x51mm, 5.56x45mm, 6.8x63mm, 6.17x51mm......J/K

Im into the old Savages 303sav.,250, 300, 358, and hunted with my 1920 30-30, used to hunt with black Powder 45-70, 44-77s! John

.300 Savage, .257 Roberts, 6.5x55, 7x57, 16 gauge....heck, I don't think I ever let go of "retro" enough to return!

All of mine are American. The only questionable one (and also the newest caliber) is the .308, you know, that 7.62 NATO thing.

Wow, I never thought I'd live long enough to hear someone call those cartridges obsolete. Retro maybe, but far from obsolete. If you want to talk obsolete, I hunt with, and reload for, the 303 Savage and 22 High Power cartridges. I personally would not use the 22 HP on deer. I use it for coyotes. The 303 and the 30-30 are about the same so it is a good deer round.

I can't believe I forgot to add my 8X60 Mauser.

A Bob, Swede, or 7x57 is "obsolete" in the hunting field like an hourglass figure is "obsolete" on a woman.

I prefer timeless ...

GE