Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Favorite Cartridge and Why

I just turned 58 and turned a corner in my life.

I decided I would rather hunt varmits than deer. So, I sold my favorite deer rifle and am gathering funds for a Cooper 17 HMR.

I presently have a Ruger 77-17 and will soon have a BEAUTIFUL Cooper 17.

Yep, the 17 HMR is now my favorite Cartridge!

Virgil B.

338 RUM

Flat shooting hard hitting powerhouse!

JD338

.22-250, swede, .25-06 are all friends of mine

they are all easy on the shoulder and the wallet and they can do anything i have in mind to do with a gun.

.30-06 does it all

Probably .22 RFs and the 20 Ga. but the others are so much fun I schized out and started foolin' around with muzzle loaders too. Call it a 'no cartridge' aberration I guess.

Boiling it down to one....the .22 RF. Mostly they will do what needs to be done without a lot of fuss and bother. And I don't have to clean the bore all that often....sorry Hoppe's...

It's hard to pick a favorite. .221 Fireball, .204 Ruger, .223, .22 Hornet, .17HMR, they're all fun to have around, and relatively inexpensive to shoot.
My all time favorite deer cartridge is the .270 Winchester, though. Nothing against the rest of 'em, I've danced with others, but the .270 is the keeper.

Well, my all time favorite is the .45-70. Dead hogs, bear, and African plains game say so....


maddog

This is like trying to pick which of my 14 guitars is my favorite. But, I'll play along.

The 30-30. It has harvested more American deer than you can shake a stick at. My Winchester is light, handy and fits me like a glove.

It will harvest ANY game found in my state.
Easy to reload.
Low pressure extends case life.
Good for hunting, or personal defense.
You can shoot and reload without taking the carbine off target.
Cowboy assault rifle.
Ammo is available everywhere.
Lowest price big game hunting round.
You don't get tired of packing this light carbine in the field.
The Turks decimated the Russian army with Winchester levers.
Good for 300 yards with Hornady LeverEvolution ammo.

I do have to give a nod to the 7X57, 8X57, .308 Win and 357 Magnum. Perhaps tomorrow they will be my favorite.

.308 as it does most things well with a reasonable recoil.

.30-06 Springfield. Most versatile cartridge out there, and a good one performance wise too. It can shoot bullets from 100 grain plinkers to 220 grain RN's with aplomb, and will kill most game on the North American continent and some in Africa with correct bullet selection and placement. Good combat round too, especially with the AP version. I have eight of different action types and makes, and love them all.

9.3X62 just because of the look folks give when inquiring about what I'm shooting.

The 257 Roberts and 275 Rigby also are close runner-ups and I don't even currently have a rifle chambered for either. How's that for loonyism

The ought six it's done it all for me I use the 270 more now but the 06 would be the last thing to go if it came to that

223ai. 62gr tsx at 3250 and 75gr swift at 3050 drop the deer with authority. 80gr JLK at 2950, Badger DBM, 223 AICS mags make an ideal tactical competition rifle.

Burning 26-27 grains of powder, no trimming, and smoking my 308 in the ballistic department isn't hard to like.

.280 Ackley Improved. Its the best balance of power, shootability, and accuracy for most all critters found in North America that I have ever encountered.

22 Hornet. One of these days, I am going to save enough scratch for a good Anchutz.(sp?) For now, though, it'll have to be my two HandiRifles. I have the best time prowling around with them. Cheap and easy to load for, and kills all out of proportion to it's size.

Agreed
Ad family fun to the list for the 22lr
the wife and I shoot 8 to 10 boxes a week at the range without breaking the bank.
My son joins in and we have a running competition on who can make the tightest group.

But talking game the all American 30/06 has to be the most useful and widely used.
I can cast a tiny bullet for it and load it down and use it for head shots on turkey.
Or use a 220 gr literally "loaded for bear"

Run out of ammo in bfe? chances of finding a box of '06 in a gas station, or general store are better than any other obscure round

308 norma mag it does what ever you ask of it

For big game hunting in the Rockies--the "30-06 Improved"..AKA the 270W.........with 150gr bullets...weighing in at 6 1/2 to 7 lbs complete...22 inch bbl......



Casey

IMHO, everybody needs a good .22LR.
My little modified Ruger 10-22 see's more range and field time than all the others.

When the kids all gather here for Thanksgiving, we'll find the time to go out to the range and bust a lot of caps!

For everything else, there's my .270 Winchester.

Hard to pick just one,..but I have a special fondness for the 30-30 when it's loaded to its potential.

6 lb lever action carbine repeaters which are capable of producing 2000 ft lbs of energy are fine devices.

I like the .223 very well, also. About any appropriate type of propellant will do 1.5 MOA out of my bone stock synthetic/stainless Ruger .223 with 55 grain surplus FMJ's.

One of these days soon I'm going to put a good trigger on it and do some load development with match grade components to see what it's really capable of.