I was thinking I just thinking the only rifle I have chambered for a newer cartridge is a 6.5 Creedmoor. Every other rifle I have is chambered for an older cartridge.

However I’m at a point where I had just as soon to have a 70s Model 700 in .270 Win or Model 70 featherweight. Also realized I’ve shot but never owned a 30-30. Wouldn’t mind a JM Marlin or a Winchester 30-30. I would rather shoot a deer at 30 yards with a 30-30 than shoot one at 500 yards with any rifle. Maybe one of the new Marlins if QC is good.

B.C. has its place and I like some of the newer bullets. But I have absolutely ZERO, NADDA, no interest whatsoever in shooting at any animal at 700 or 800 yards away. I know B.C. comes into place much closer than that. I have a few hundred ELD-X’s etc. But the reality is a hornady interlock SP has all the B.C needed for 99% of the shots I will ever take at a live animal.

At a point where I had just soon have a lever action 30-30 and a Model 700 or Model 70 featherweight .270 Win or 30-06 etc and a few lbs of 4831 or 4350 and a couple tags. A stainless rifle chambered for one of the same cartridges would be alright.
All the new stuff is becoming less interesting to me. I know this is a long winded post.

Not a long winded post at all. Interesting, but not that long winded. I like your choice of rifles. Especially the Winchester model 70 featherweight. A classic stainless would be a great rifle to have. I love mine. As for your choice of lever action 30-30: My grandpa collected and used Winchester model 94's, mainly 30-30's, but one of his favorites was his 375. I have that rifle now:


I like them all, as long as they function reliably. The 30-30 is indeed an "old cartridge" and an old 94 would be cool to have for sure. I also like what you said about the good ol Hornady interlock too. I've made my furthest shots with the btsp interlocks. One in a 300WSM and the other in a 7mm rem mag. Both shots over 600 yards. However, if you don't like to shoot long range, they work very well close up too. A round nosed bullet in the 30-30 has always worked well and who knows how many deer and elk it has put in peoples freezers? Interests change, and most guys come full circle after trying everything they think they needed.

Thats a good looking 375. I would get more enjoyment out of hunting the woods with that than a new 300 Whomper Stomper. If you haven’t already you should take that 375 after elk.
I don’t mind long range shooting at steel etc. but I don’t personally like long range hunting at all.
If I went out tomorrow and bought the rifles i mentioned above and maybe throw in a Model 70 Safari for the heck of it. Throw in a pile of components or ammo for them i could be content. And take the pick of a light weight .223, 22-250, 243 Win, or 6.5 Creedmoor etc. i could be content with that.

I killed my first deer with open sights in December. I will be 70 shortly. The rifle is a savage 99 made in 1908. I saw this buck several different times before he got close enough. It’s a 32-40. 165 Hornady I don’t own a 30-30 either. I hit him in chest, went out rear hindquarter

I have a 99 in 375, just got it, haven’t shot it yet.

As someone who has always enjoyed math, computing & a bit of quality engineering, I absolutely understand why someone might really enjoy shooting highly accurate BC bullets from a very modern stainless steel rifle with all of the available technology in an attempt to cloverleaf several rounds at distance. It's a demanding challenge that I would (currently) fail at.

But that's not where my heart is at. I'm sort of stuck in a sentimental past where I enjoyed hunting with my uncles and my grandfather using rifles that had lots of blued steel & walnut. Since the majority of my hunting is done in the southeast, my longest shots are often limited to a couple of hundred meters before trees start to become a problem. A lot of my shots could be done with iron sights if my eyesight wasn't so crappy.

Under these conditions, just about everything in my gun safe will put a deer in the freezer. So my rifle choice for a hunting trip is often not based on ballistics but whimsy. Do I want to hunt with my 6.5x55, the .275 Rigby or my simple Ruger #1 in .303 British with a Leupold 6x? If I'm going for a really big hog, sometimes I like something that has an authoritative kick and a corresponding boom. Maybe I'll grab my 9.3x74r or a .405 Winchester. Plenty of uncommon rounds from yesteryear to choose from. Just don't ask me to justify these choices. I buy what makes me happy and that's not always what's practical & makes sense.

And yea, that's a 120 rangefinder film camera in the photo below. So from my rifles to my camera to the tube amplifiers in my stereo, a certain anachronistic theme seems to pervade. Like ridgerunner_ky originally posted, a 150gr Hornady Interlock SP is a useful round that will cover a lot of ground with its average BC.

I own a couple rifles chambered in newer cartridges (300 Blackout, 327 Federal) but most of my stuff is in older or obsolescent chamberings. The new, huge supermagnumcrackenboomers hold zero appeal to me, but some of the smaller offerings like the Blackout, 6.5 Grendel, 6mm Arc, etc, do. Blackout has become one of my favorite cartridges. It's not high horsepower, but it is very stingy on powder, almost nil for recoil, and does its job well at the kind of ranges I shoot.

I'm not a long range shooter at all, and I'm not fond of heavy recoil, so for the most part, smaller to midsized classic cartridges suit me just fine. I'm also a sucker for lever actions, so there's that. 😁

Same. I really like my Wilson Combat AR-15 in .300 HAM'R but it is definitely the odd duck sitting there between a bunch of falling blocks.

Those “older “ cartridges have fed many generations of families. And remember, dead is dead when hunting.. I dont have anything that I would consider a new whiz bang thing.
30-06
.243
30-30
12, 20, 28 ga shotguns….
22 mag
22lr
38 spl
357 mag
380
Etc

I do have a 17 Mach 2 that tickled my fancy……just for fun

I started out with a RAR in Blackout. It was nice, but I'm a lefty, and just through circumstances I ended up selling it to a friend and getting a CVA Scout maybe 6 months later. The Scout doesn't shoot quite as well, but it handles a little better for me. It's still plenty accurate for the yardages I am using it at, so I'm happy with it. It's currently sitting beside a Savage 99 250 Sav and a Henry BBS (the 327) in the safe. 😁

I had a Howa Mini in 6.5 Grendel for a bit a few years back. It was a delightful little cartridge, but I just could not like the rifle, so I traded it off.

I feel better when I'm carrying a 250 Savage or 270 while deer hunting

I don't look at my cartridge selection as older more like classic. In the last few years have favored single shots over bolt guns. My last custom #1 is in 300 Savage before that was a 300 H&H. I just had a bolt gun completed of a Kurz Mauser action in 250 Savage. I drank the Creedmore Kool Aid when they first became popular. It didn't take long to puke it up and go with a 6.5X55.
It's blued steel and nice walnut for me no synthetic stocks for the most part. I admit to having three, two Weatherby Ultra Lights and a boat paddle Ruger 338 that hasn't seen the light of day since I took it to Alaska in 99.

I always thought a .300 H&H Magnum would be an interesting classic to have. I saw one earlier today for $67,900 on GunBroker. If I can get a really good price for one of my kidneys, I might add it to the collection.

This got me thinking. I only have one rifle chambered for a cartridge that came out this century. A 375 Ruger just in case I get of my butt and go buff hunting. The next youngest is a 7mm Remington mag which came out 10 years before I was born. The only high BC bullet I've used (on game) was in a borrowed 6.5PRC for an aoudad ram. That shot was a few steps past 350yds and well within range of several other rifles I own.

I've pretty much decided that anything past 400yds is safe from me. I have and continue to shoot at twice that distance at targets but I do so to increase skill at shorter range. I respect guys like Swamplord that "do the homework" and have the capacity to take extremely long shots. For me there are too many variables, namely unforseen wind and time of flight. All an elk or deer has to do is take a step in the half second it takes for the bullet to arrive turning a perfect shot into a gut shot.

So for me, 180s out of my 30-06 and let's get after it.

I'm in about the same boat. My "new" cartridge" is a 700 in 6CM.

The others are 22LR, 222, 223, 257Roberts, 275Rigby, 35Remington 308, 7.62x39, 30-06 & 300H&H.

Could I see a pic of the Kurz 250 Savage?

Newest cartridge I hunt with is a .358 Winchester, favorite is 7x57.

It gets pigeonholed as a "brush buster" or only for short range... but once upon a time, the 30-30 *was* the new wonder cartridge of its day and people used it for *everything*... including elk, bear, moose, etc.

Mine is a 1992 JM 336 that groups 150 TSXs at about an inch at 100 yards.

The 300 H&H has been reinvented as the 300 WSM . I load my 375 H&H (Ruger #1) down using IMR 4227. It makes it a fine deer round and you can eat right up to the hole. I also hunt deer with 405, 450-400, 38-55, 35 Whelan all single shots

The newest cartridges that I have guns chambered in are the 350 RemMag and .223 Rem. The most used are in .22lr, 22 Hornet, 30/30, 250 Sav, 300 Sav, and .308.

I run from 50-70 Govt to 350 Rem mag.
Tucked in between is a Marlin 44 mag, original Springfield carbine in 45-70, and a BLR in 358 Win.

sweet!

30-30 and 45-70 are my standbys

not old.. I sure seem to love walking the local mountain sides come deer season, with the Ruger Predator I have in 6.5 Grendal...

same powder capacity as the old 30/30, but the lighter and more stream line bullets do a much better job, and longer distances and much flatter trajectories...

The synthetic stock on the Grendal seems to handle Oregon weather and terrain much better than a rifle with really nice wood on it..

Antelope..

Oh no you Gota shoot those long high BC bullets to penetrate the new deer armor they are wearing these days
30-30 just ain’t gona cut it.

I've made it this far with blued steel and walnut and hoary old cartridges, I guess I can make it to the finish line as well. "Better" more efficient rifles, cartridges, and bullets are swell as long as the owner/user isn't kidding himself about some inate magical properties therein.

"X" cartridge or "Y" rifle is easily capable of 1/2MOA better accuracy than "Z" classic. Maybe so, maybe not. How much ya willing to spend chasing that 1/2MOA, and where's it gonna get ya at the end of the day?

To each his own!

Deer…

Shrapnel - are you looking to adopt any adult children? 😂😇

Headed to the rez, you can get a bus load and they are all worth money…

Haha I was thinking you could adopt me and I'll help make sure all of those rifles stay active!

Had a 94 in .30-30 for many moons, still have another .30-30 plinker. The 94 whacked more deer and hogs than I can recall at the moment and was a lot of fun with cast bullets.



Dunno for certain, but the "newest" cartridge I shoot these days might be a .257 Roberts. Now don't give me any of that dinosaur BS or I'll introduce you to my .45-70 with the 530 grain torpedoes.

Oh wait, I forgot about the .30 Sneezer...it's still a young punk. It keeps asking me what those things are called J-bullets. I think it wants to go faster.

I traded into a Sako AV 7X64 not long ago. I am really looking forward to learning about this cartridge. From what I have read it is pretty comparible to a 280.

It is though you'll likely find European ammo for the 64 loaded a little hotter than American 280 stuff (not a bad thing!). 7x64 is available online very cheap and never disappeared through the shortages.

My "new" deer rifle is a Savage Model 99C in 284 Winchester. At the range 100 yard groups averaged a bit less than 1.5 inches. The rifle came with a vintage Leopold Vari-X II 2x7. I'm looking forward to the upcoming deer season.

One of my favorite "older" cartridges. Winchester High Wall 38-55. Half round half octogon
nearest pnc

That is a beauty GSPfan for a great old cartridge.
Since I don’t handload my own ammunition any longer, what irks me about having rifles a few years old is seeing the store shelves full of the .350 Legend, .300 Blackout, 6.5 Creedmoor or 7PRC ammo. And there isn’t a box of .30-30, .300 Savage, .35 Remington or even a 7mm-08 box in-the store.

I've been seeing a lot of 30-30 around at places like Wal-Mart, but I don't think the others are ever coming back. 35 Rem and 300 Savage definitely just ain't gonna happen... I could see them selling 7mm-08 if they got it in stock, I just don't think it's a priority for producers right now.

That pisses me off too. Now I have been seeing plenty of 30-30 but very little of the others

Bought some green box 250 Sav from a LGS a couple weeks ago just for the brass, since I still don't have a good stash of it built up yet.

I've seen some Rem and Federal 300 Savage a couple places around here, but at $60 a pop, I'm sure glad I roll my own.

Been seeing a lot of 30-30, 308, and '06 on shelves of late, but I haven't seen 35 Rem in a long, long time.

I load for everything and thankfully I have enough components. When I had the 38-55 built I bought several boxes of the Winchester cowboy action ammo just for the brass. I've scrounged enough 300 Savage brass to last (mostly in the form of factory ammo) that I have no worries there and just bought 100 new Hornady cases off the classifieds for the 250 Savage.

Pfffft. That's a cakewalk compared to some of the cartridges I shoot. .25-20 Single Shot brass has become a nightmare - a lot of guys (including me) are reduced to making it by swaging .223 brass. Fun to do in a masochistic sort of way. I run away screaming from sweet deals on .25-21, .25-25, .28-30, and .22-15-60 rifles because there's nothing from which to make their brass and I refuse to spend $5-$6+ for single lathe turned examples. .32-40 brass availability has me a bit nervous but I have enough for a while, and even though it can be made from .30-30 brass it ends up a bit short.

This is why I'm glad to see cowboy shooting guys using .32-20... there will always at least be a brass source.

I asked a guy selling boxes of older factory cartridges at the Lakeland gun show if he had any .25-20 or .221 Fireball? His answer was “You’re joking, right?” Guess that he didn’t have any. That stuff has gotten so rare that the factory loaded cartridges are worth more than what ever you were going to shoot with one.

I hunt with a 1951 marlin 336 in .35 Remington, iron sights, using 200 grain Core-Lokts. Black bear, elk, blacktail deer and cougar.It's a great combo for me. Love that rifle.

From the time I started reading hunting magazines at about the age of 10 or 11, I wanted a .257 Roberts, a .35 Whelen & a .375H&H. I have all three (I'm now 71). I also shoot multiple .45-70's. My favorite of which is built on a Siamese Mauser. My collection of rifles include most everything from .22 Hornet to .416 Rigby. The oldies are still the goodies!

The 256 Newton, introduced over 100 years ago, offers the same range of performance potential that the 6.5 CM does, but it is about as unloved and under-appreciated cartridge as you're likely to find.

agree totally with you on the long distance shots, even p.d.'s always stayed around 200-250, I have always been a .270 fan, have owned several, can't hunt any more but still like to shoot paper, mostly savage lever guns pre war, I do have a savage from the custom shop 22-250 1-9, after I received the gun sent to Douglass,for a 6.5x47 lapua, these are both med heavy barrels, the 22-250 is fluted, both threaded, as soon as I get my computer fixed to post pics, will put it up for sale, included will be all the too.s needed to change barres, which is very easy with the savage's vice, block system to hold barrel, wrench ect.

I don't think I saw anybody mention my favorite oldie, the .303 Savage. I have a Savage 99 that has had just enough alteration done to make it have very little collector value. I put a good low power scope on it, since it was already drilled & tapped, and it's my favorite old rifle/cartridge combination. It is basically a .30-30 with a lot of pain-in-the-azz built into it because brass is hard to find and it was born a long time even before Wally World. They made it just different enough from the .30-30 so that the brass is almost impossible to make from any other cartridge and sold it to the public with 190 grain bullets to give it much more "punch" than the .30-30. I love it because it's old and it's a real challenge to me. I had a whole collection of nice 99's at one time. If you like to cuss, get you a .22 High Power.

I have a Winchester 1892 in 25-20. I lucked into some brass and dies. I've loaded up some 87gr FNSP just need some warmer weather to get it out and shooting.

The newest round I own a gun for is 22-250.

Ones used any amount are 6.5 Swede, 30-06 and the thoroughly modern 308.



6.5 PRC intrigues, but there is a 264 that's been neglected since it was
purchased in the 90s.

The newest cartridge I shoot is a 7mm-08 but have shot at least 5 deer with 303 Savage 300 and 250. 99's are awesome. Of course I also shoot em with 257 Roberts 30-06 35 Rem 6.5x55 and 30-40Krag. When all is said and done I always grab my 303 first.

The newest cartridge I shoot is a 7mm-08 but have shot at least 5 deer with 303 Savage 300 and 250. 99's are awesome. Of course I also shoot em with 257 Roberts 30-06 35 Rem 6.5x55 and 30-40Krag. When all is said and done I always grab my 303 first.

I may be the oddest ball in the rack, but one of my favorite rifles to hunt with around here is my Savage 99 .303 Savage. It's a .30-30 copy or vise versa but Savage who was a marketing genius sold it with 190 grain bullets which could handle far larger game than the .30-30. We all know that was total BS. Mine is a old Model 99 in perfect shooting shape with a good bore and it's very accurate. It has really very little collector value since it was drilled for a scope (among other things) when I got it. I have a nice low power scope on it and it's my 150 yard deer rifle. The fun part is that it's challenging since you have to make ammo. for it yourself. Wallyworld in Hondo, Texas is out of stock for .303 Savage ammo. It's not real easy even to find components. The problem with all these old cartridges is that everyone has to soup them up. A 99 can shoot a pointed round so load it to the gills. I've tried that even with other calibers and it doesn't work. Load it up to .30-30 velocities with a 170 gr. .308" flatnose .30-30 bullet or the 190 gr. Barnes Original, if you can find them, and it shoots lights out. Wish I could find some of the 190 originals that I could trade somone out of. I just love old stuff like this!

BCR has the Barnes Original 190s in stock. I picked up a couple hundred about a month ago to play with in my 303 Sav.

https://www.bluecollarreloading.com/collections/barnes-bullets?page=2

Regarding the 303 in a savage 99, back around 1963 or so my dad took me on a guided whitetail hunt in potter County, PA. our guide/outfitter was a man named Lonnie Long. We slept in his house and his rifle was a old, beat to hell savage 99 in 303 savage. I was just a kid but all these years later I remember his name and rifle. He told me he'd lost count of all the deer his rifle had taken.

The .303 Savage is a cartridge I greatly enjoy and the 99H carbine is a joy for hunting. I've only used flat nosed, 190 grain cast bullets somewhere in the neighborhood of 1800 fps. Hope this coming season it will put a buck in the freezer! The sling has been removed.

Another old duty round, I’ve killed everything from gophers to grizzlies with it, 25-35 Winchester…

A classic cartridge in a new rifle the 300 Savage

We have several firearms using cartridges dating back into the 1800’s…..but, my “only” hunting cartridge is a relative newcomer @ only 111 years old! memtb

Yep, .303 Savage kills stuff. I too like 190's but don't give a hoot if anybody makes jacketed ones or not. Have bullet mold, problem solved - endless supply that costs virtually nothing. Drive them at the same velocities achieved with jacketed 190's in the .303 Savage (and .30-30 for that matter) - 1900fps out of 20" barrels, 2000+fps out of 24"ers.

After bowhunting for 50 years, I've come to the conclusion I can kill deer, with almost any gun in my safe.

"Older" can mean different things to different people. I suppose ALL my hunting rifles fire "older" cartridges as compared to many today.
What year of introduction would constitute "newer"?
My newest one is the 6.8 SPC, which is now about 19 years old. I give it very high marks, but it's in the same league as the old 1920s load for the 257 Roberts as far as velocity and bullet weight, but having the advantage of a larger diameter bullet. I have killed 34 antelope and deer with it and have been quite impressed.

My current older than I am cartridges are:

My 303 British (1888)
My 30-30 (1895)
My 6.5X54 M/S (1900)
My 9.3X57s (1900)
My 9.3X74R (1900)
My 8x57 JS (1904)
My9.3X62 (1905)
My 404 Jeffery (1905)
My 30-06s (1906)
My 35 Remington (1908)
My 375H&H (1912)
My 300 Savages (1920)
My 270 Winchesters (1925)
My 300 H&H (1925)
My 308s (1952)


Other older cartridges I have owned and used with success were the 6.5 Swede, 7X57, 257 Roberts, 30-40 Krag, 348 Winchester, 7.5 Swiss, 7.65 Belgian, 7MM Weatherby, 7X61 Sharp and Hart, 8X68S, 45-70, 50-140 Sharps, 43 Spanish, 11X60 Mauser,

Guns in calibers I have now or have owned and used in the past that are my age (or younger then I am) are the 243 Winchester, the 6MM Remington 7MM Remington Mag, 280 Remington, the 25-06 Remington, the 270 Win Short Mag, the 30-378 Weatherby mag, 44 Magnum, 41 Magnum 458 Winchester, the 338 Winchester, the 338-06,


And I am sure I have forgotten a few here too.

If we want to speak about REALLY old, I'd include flintlock muzzleloaders (Circa 1745 to 1770) in 50 cal, 54 cal, and 62 cal, and cap-lock muzzleloaders (circa 1825 to 1863) in 54, and 58 calibers.

So when we speak of "older" what does that really mean?

Between the 6.8 SPC and the 270 WSM as my newest (2003) and the 11MM Mauser, (1871) I am sure all would agree they are "younger and older".

But what year is the line between the two?

1969 ain't old!

^
^
^
I agree.

But how about 1952? Is that old?

But how about 1952? Is that old?[/quote]

Some days it is but most days it's not. I thought 70 was the new 40 LOL

‘52 is mature 1925 is old. Glad I could clear that up for you!

An early 1900's 8 mm via a Erfurt Mauser is about as old as I have.

Newest cartridge I shoot is 7-08 , a lot (most) of what I shoot is either hard to find or obsolete. Have zero interest in any new cartridges.

interesting to see the rifles and hear about the old cartridges ! myself the oldest rifle and cartridge i used for a deer was a very old Newton rifle in a 256 Newton cartridge i hand loaded . but my favorite for around rifle for deer and antelope the last 20 years is a single shot Ruger #1 with a Brux barrel in 257 Weatherby mag. i still like a fast cartridge . but i will be turning 70 this year and my young grandson will be sitting with me in my deer stand so we will be using another single shot with less recoil a Ruger #1 257 Roberts . i feel single shots are a little safer to use and teach a young hunter to make that 1st shot count makes a safer better hunter for their future ,besides its his rifle and the land will be his too . > someday someone 50 years from now will say when were gone: boy that old 6.5 Creedmoor was once the new hot cartridge back in the day. thanks for pictures and comments on cartridges too ,Pete53

Grew up hunting in Alaska with WW2 relics .. 7,65 Argentine, 8x57 Mauser , 7x57 Mauser, 6.5x55 Swede & the almighty '30-06

With 7 brothers we went through thousands of rounds & the old man was happy to supply us with more mil surplus ammo

All of us were big '06 fans and most are to this day, but I've moved on to stuff that kills same at 4x the reach

It wasn't BS at all. The 190 outpenetrated anything in the 30-30 and thus made for a better large game rifle

.303 Savage 99 carbine. It’s a beauty, I put an aperture sight on it and shot a nice 5x5 this past season.

Humm...
Last December, I bought my only centerfire breechloader. She's a n.i.b condition, May of 1979 production, Remington 760 in .35 Remington.
I put a Leupold M8 4x ( 1978 production and also n.i.b.)on her in low rings and a standard mount.
This was my high school DREAM rifle.
She likes to put 3 under an inch at 100 yards with a variety of 200 grain bullets, with fair regularity, driven with 45 gains of LVR. Chrono'd velocities are 2280 fps/ 2300 ft lbs. I have a lovely target showing 10 shots at 100, 200 grain Sierra round noses, that measures 1 & 3/8ths.
Daaaang...

Interesting posts. I have enjoyed shooting and hunting with about anything, old and new.
My general habit is to buy something of interest, get dies and enough factory ammo to play with and then have once fired brass to handload, shoot a deer or two, then decide if that rifle/pistol/bow will be sold to help fund the next weapon of interest, or kept in the back of the safe.
Additionally a lifetime of also bow hunting has me focused on how close I can get to deer and coyotes, as well as taking them at what I consider ‘long range’. Longest range for me is 186 yards with a 308 from the prone position using a tree stump as a fine rest. Second longest deer range was 165 yards with a 250 Savage Ackley Improved. The rest of the 60 some deer were taken at an average of 36 yards with everything from a 22 Hornet to a 458 Win.
I guess the ‘oldest’ would be the 45/70.
No regrets, and I enjoyed them all.