What makes a cartridge exciting? What cartridge makes you get up each day with sunshine flooding the room, just itching for another astonishing and stimulating adventure with it instead of waking up to a commonplace, unsurprising day with the .30-06?

P.S. I don't care a whit about your astonishing and suspenseful rifle nor its extrapolated 24 hour performance. I'm just asking about the brass bottle it fires.

Some imagined distinction from other cartridges, whether slight or otherwise, Jim. The same reason why guys chase new tail. Chasing new cartridges is far cheaper.

Purchasing the ammo from the hot sales chick

I don't know about exciting but for me it's more like "interesting".

If you've been subjected to 200000 articles about a cartridge that's been around 117 years and constantly compared to a kissing cousin - it's easy to become rather bored and look to something else, even if "something else" isn't materially better. It just needs to be different.

It's like hot rods - oh, you have a 69 Camaro with an LS swap? Wow - I got 4 cousins with the same damn thing and the dude down the street, he's got one - it's like belly buttons. Show me something new - doesn't have to be better but be different.

I have mentioned here before, and I still believe, the way a cartridge sounds when it's pronounced has more than anything else to do with it's popularity. For every popular cartridge out there, there will be one or more at least as good or arguably better that flopped or, at least, is significantly less popular just for the way the name rolls off the tongue.

Because it is 45 caliper, is a straight 2-7/8" long, holds around 103 grains of F blackpowder and sends a 540 grain self cast bullet out the end of the barrel. You don't see that everyday of the week......

Next cartridge will either be a 44-77BN or a 40-70 straight.

I tend to like the old classics (222, .250/3000, 257 Roberts, 6.5x55, 6.5x57, 7x57, 7x64, 30-06, 303B, 8x57, 35 Whelen, 9.3x62 etc.). I like mild efficient cartridges and am definately not a magnum fan. MOST of the new cartridges introduced over the past 20 years have been magnums of some sort or another and most have faded away.

However, the 6.5 Creedmoor interested me because I looked at it and thought what a great mild little deer hunting round. And after I read an article where it is basically a necked up improved .250 Savage I wanted one. Then I 'discovered' the 6.5x47 and again thought what a great little efficient deer cartridge and will probably rebarrel a Rem Model 7 this year.

I don't like cases like the .300 Blackout as that's a bit too mild, but non magnums pushing bullets about 2700 - 2800 fps seem to do it for me.

And if just limited to one it would be the .257 Roberts. I have owned five rifles in this cartridge and have two at the moment.

I am fond of the aesthetics and ballistics of the .44-77..and I don't have to go to Big Box to buy it. If there was such an award, it might be called, "The Martha Stewart Gracious Living Riflery Award".

The 30-06 is exciting

What makes a cartridge exciting is simple, when you simply can't buy any factory ammo for it. I cast my own paper patch slugs, cut my own patches , wads, sometimes form my own brass, load them with black powder. 40-70 BN, 40-90 SBN, 44-77SBN, 45-75-420 or45-80-500, 45-110-540, 50-2.5"and 50-3 1/4". All paper patch, all black powder rounds you can't buy but utilize your own skills to produce. Meat , targets whatever, you got it. That's exciting sure can't buy them at wallyworld or anywhere else. When you do it all that's exciting. MB

I've never heard this theory but it makes about as much sense as anything.
The 6.5 Creedmoor has two things going for it...first, "six point five." I mean, it's PRECISE - down to the decimal point, not like just a "six" or a "seven" or an "eight" millimeter. And if you pronounce the second half with just a hint of "Moor" (like Othello) versus "more", oh, Katie bar the door...
Yeah, I know we had the "six point five" Remington Magnum, but that was back when we were all metric bigots, so it failed. We're woke now...
However it happened, it was a marketing miracle (combined with a good cartridge too). But that one doesn't really excite me so much. In fact, I resisted the whole fad up until I had picked up about 300 rounds of Hornady 6.5CM brass at the range and figured (since i already had all the bullets and powder, and only needed dies), I'd check it out with a $274 TC Compass.
And can anyone even dare to suggest that a .275 Rigby is not much more exciting than a 7mm Mauser (which, of course, lacks any decimal points at all, whereas the .275 goes to THREE significant figures, and then ends with Harry Selby's favorite suffix).
And the .275 Rigby does excite me these days as I am in the final stages of building one in a very old school way - 1903 Springfield with Griffin & Howe side mount and Lyman 48.
But the one that is really exciting me these days is the .256 Newton. I have an FN Mauser in the works with nothing left to go but the bluing and stock finish. And all the other loading things I need to get going on this sweet, sweet round are already in place! Yes, I lie awake nights...
Ooops, I got to rambling and totally forgot the OP doesn't care anything about the rifles we're putting them in (even though, largely, that may be what makes the little brass bottles exciting).

So, all these excite me, and many are partly because of the rifles they fit:
.275 Rigby
.256 Newton
.358 Winchester
.35 Whelen Ackley Improved
.270 Winchester Short Magnum
.338-06
6 mm Remington (which for some strange reason, even though I don't yet own one, I find far more exciting than the .244 Remington, which defies my hypotheses above. Though the .244 Remington is clearly at least one thousandth more exciting than the .243 Winchester)
.22 Hornet
.257 Roberts
9.3 x 62 Mauser (it gets even more exciting if you use a comma instead of a dot! Try it out...9,3 x 62 Mauser...see? That's how Lapua headstamps mine, and it does, really, excite me.)
9.5 x 57 Mauser (yes, "nine point five", not "nine point three" - even rarer!)

Even these really, really, boring rounds excite me:
.30-06 Springfield
.308 Winchester
.270 Winchester
.30 WCF (which is, of course, much more exciting than the .30-30)

I read back over this post and conclude perhaps I am too easily excited. I might even be a little on the looney side. Maybe this didn't contribute much to the OP's quest, but it's all true. All of those, and more, excite me. A lot.

Cheers,
Rex

Yes, it IS!

22 LR

Ronnie

A cartridge is a cartridge. It’s what you do with it that makes it exciting or not.

Yep. That too.

I've always been happy with the 30-06. I use other stuff but its always my main squeeze. Now I just bought a .300 Win Mag because I got an incredible deal I couldn't pass up and I'm not sure what role I'll find for that beings I use my 30-06 so much

The 25/06 still does ir for me... I talked my uncle into it in 1970. The model 700 is now in my cabinet and still shoots bugholes, has been responsible for Bull moose, Bull Elk , wild sheep and goats...and a few deer.
Something about the .25

What makes a cartridge exciting...

For me it’s 308 WCF on the head stamp

Nickel plating makes it sexy . . .

Your imagination.

TRex,

I h ave only known one person besides you and myself to lust after a .256 Newton. I have one in the works... it is a 1903 Sprg with an original Newton Arms barrel. Hopefully it will be done in the spring... - G.H.

Holes that touch when shooting paper and animals that drop within a few steps after being shot where the shooter aims.

OK, I can roll with that for a ways...ummm, Kropatchek? Vergueiro? Capstick rolls nicely...perhaps the Peterlongo is a bit much in English context.

Stop reading the articles. They've been saying the same damn shyt over and over for decades anyway.

I don't put much stock in that theory. 6.5 Creedmoor sounds dumb as hell yet look where it is. Hell, most folks don't even know how they should pronounce that, much less spell it.

Being a short action, chambered in almost every rifle made. Can find ammo almost anyplace in the world. It kills better than it should, not bad on recoil. Well it wont kick you out from under your hat. It's fun to shoot, fun to hunt with, yes we are talking about the .308 Winchester.
If you don't have one, you should get yourself one. I believe you'll be glad you did.

I do like the way the European rounds are named. Seven by fifty seven, seven by sixty four, six point five by fifty five etc. They do tend to flow off the tongue. Apart from the poetry in the names, it is a damn sensible way to name cartridges.

I think another factor in a cool cartridge is when no one else has one lol. I've just been trying some loads in my rebarreled 6.5x57. Now it won't do anything that my 6.5x55 and 7x57 won't do but..........................................no one else has one.

I have copies of "Cartridges of the World" editions 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th.

The 16th edition came out in 2019.

I'll bet there are lots of new exciting cartridges in the 16th edition.

Exciting Cartridges are those that have all of the following:

3500 FPS with 11 different powders

.2 (5) shot groups with 11 different powders

150 grain bullet @ 3500 FPS with 10 lbs of recoil from a 7.5 lb gun

Barrel life like a 22 LR

Shoots .2 groups from a 2 to a 20 twist barrel

Nahhh, that would be boring!!

A 270 W.C.F. headstamp

Oh, you mean a .30-06 Short. :-)

Does it shoot accurately in your rifle?
Does it kill what you shoot with it?
If the answer is yes--- it is exiting

How is it possible to get 'excited' about an inanimate object, made of brass, powder, primer, and a bullet?
New cartridges get popular, initially by masterful hype by the ammo and rifle manufacturers, and then by gunwriters, gushing endlessly about magical ballistics, and rushing to be the 'first' to take game with the new cartridge, in order to be able to write about its fabulous results, and how the slain game burped and bubbled blood for minutes from the fatal wound.
If, in fact, folks get 'excited' by calibers, they are easily amused and entertained.
Now- a beautiful woman, who has money to burn and is willing to let you spend it, and who lives on a big ranch in Montana loaded with game, is something to get excited about.

I'd imagine a case full of nitro would make a rifle exciting.

What makes a rifle exciting? I'd say mixing pistol powder with the rifle powder should do the trick.

A guy in my hunting club once had a smith who mistakenly installed the wrong sized brake (smaller caliber brake) on a 338 win mag. Things got really exciting!

Another note I forgot to add: Actions. I'm sure there is an action in this cartridge to fit everyone's liking.

Take care

my grandson shooting his new Red Rider BB gun i gave him he is 8 years old

I think everyone likes a Red Rider BB gun. I know I like them.

I just had to tune in to see what a cartridege was....

One word....MARKETING

Pretty easy actually.

I just bought a new Shimano Chronarch baitcaster reel and I was pretty excited as I was opening the box.

A semantic deficiency of the English language made up for by a generally recognized and accepted misuse of a specific word. That's not a definition of the word "cartridge", just why the word was used. We had this same discussion a time or two before IIRC.

The word cartridge when referring to firearms is a single round of ammunition and is not limited to any specific shape or size, it does not even have to have a metallic case. It is also not restricted to the firearms lexicon. Printers can have an ink or toner cartridge.

The word caliber is also technically incorrect since it references a property of a rifle barrel or bullet diameter but is still generally used as an accepted reference to cartridges of a specific form. "What caliber is that rifle?" "It's a 7.59x67 1/2 Semi-rimmed Express". Neither question nor answer is technically correct but both are accepted and thus both are understood.

"Chambering" would be the more correct term to use here; "what makes a chambering exciting?", but is clumsy.

However, referring back to the first sentence, when one says "cartridge" in the context of a counterpart to a thread about a specific chambering, i.e. the .30-06, most folks recognize what one is referring to, hence its use here.


Now, what makes an explanation exciting? Not sure, but this one is not an example of it...

Very likely true.

And the cartridge name champion (or at least first runner-up) in the poetic-phonetic category is the Six-point-Five by Fifty-Four Mannlicher-Schönauer. The name has all the desirable attractive qualities mentioned above, including the implicit precision of "6.5x54". A proper pronunciation of the paired three-syllable distinguishing names is wonderfully melodious. The words themselves in translation enhance the effect. Mannlicher is a German adjective meaning literally "like a man", that is, masculine or virile. (It's little wonder that Earnest Hemingway, a man's man, included the 256 Mannlicher in his stories.) Schönauer means "beautiful meadow". So, it's a manly cartridge, excitingly suitable for stalking in lovely landscapes.

The cartridge evokes memories of stories of Bell and others like him, whacking elephants and other outsized beasts.

My rifle chambered for the cartridge arrived three months ago. And nobody I know has one.

--Bob

I've always like the names "Triple Duce" and "Swift", but the names didn't help keep them alive...

I get excited when making the acquaintance of a .22 wildcat from the 1930's. .22K-Hornet, R2 Lovell, .219 Donaldson Wasp, .22 Baby Niedner, et al , really get my juices flowing. Cartridges designed by bright eyed inventors flying by the seat of their pants.

Workaday cartridges like the '06, .30-30, and Euro "X's" are the ones I reach for when trips into the deer woods are in store, but it's the .22's that stir my imagination the most. Probably speaks of a mis-spent youth, cruising the fields with a .22 rimfire and wishing for something that would reach out to the far side of beyond.

a unique name with marketing really helps like the name Creedmoor and yes the 6.5 Creedmoor is a good cartridge too , so who knows what will be next in a new cartridge ? myself this year i killed a buck with my 257 Weatherby .Mag. a 50 some year old cartridge and a doe with a 256 Newton a 100 year old rifle and cartridge, so i guess for hunting cartridges go : i am way behind with todays trend of new cartridges. next year will be a inherited old Pre-64 30-06 i guess i am going the wrong direction in cartridge selection, but sure is fun reloading old neat cartridges and shooting these old unique rifles !

Interesting that you think the 257 Weatherby mag is a 50 year old cartridge. Roy used it on his 1948 Safari

You are right ..... Those old cartridges are only exciting on old exciting rifles. The sum of excitement in the combination of cartridge and rifle is more than the separate amounts of excitement derived from the cartridge and rifle separately. Like who wants a nice FN-98 custom in 6CM? That rifle needs to be a 275Rigby or 9.3x57 to be truly exciting.

It's actually pretty exciting when you think about it..

that`s why i posted a 50 year old some cartridge, but thanks for the little correction i feel so much better

Which is more exciting?

The 280 Remington or the 7mm Express?

Thank you, Jim in Idaho. Your reply was worth reading..

I'm with Elvis in that I like the classics and having something that's not in every gun cabinet or deer camp. My last three rifles were in 6.5x55 (I'm probably the only guy who has puked up the Creedmoor Kool Aid.) a 38/55 on a high wall action and a 300 H&H on a #1 action. I had my interpretation of a British stalking rifle built in what else a 275 Rigby it sounds better than 7MM Mauser which I have one a wonderful Pre64 carbine. I like the big boys as well and took a deer this year in a #1 chambered in 450/400 NE. Now not only does that sound cool but how many have you seen in a deer camp? I'm contemplating having a #1 built in 300 Savage just because I can.

I like rimmed cartridges. Cartridges with sultry, sloping shoulders and nice lines. A cartridge with personality. Cheeky. One with a little experience that's been around.

A cartridge that's well travelled. One whose ancestors and immediate family have taken game in Africa and Asia. One that has seen military service. One that can laugh at the newcomers, and demands that they prove themselves with years of dedicated service, not just a short time.

One that can handle lead or jacketed bullets, and can use copper too. A cartridge that isn't afraid of black powder, Berdan and Boxer primers, or wooden stocks.

One that has a history and can tell a thousand interesting
stories.

There's a few of these around that interest me. The rest? Well, call them posers. 😄

Might have been said. But a cartridge with a SAAMI spec that has any production rifle made with the right throat & twist is pretty special.

I can be old school & know that a 30 or 40 year old load & rifle can serve most purposes, but the modern stuff is with out a doubt worth a look.

Exciting rifle times, 2021.

When I got my first 22 LR rifle, it was an exciting cartridge, as I wanted to learn how to shoot well, explore its accuracy potential, have fun plinking. I wound up shooting first team varsity rifle in college as a result of that early excitement. I still get a wee bit excited holding the 22 LR and loading it in my S&W k22, or squirrel rifle, or plinking..

When I got my first centerfire rifle at age 16, it was a 30-3O Marlin 336a I loved holding a loaded 30-30 in my fingers and looking at its long neck, and the scalloped lead nose of the Remington corelokt bullet. I was going to be able to hunt with my dad now. Reloads would shoot near MOA, which is exciting. I loved the look of the cartridge, the heft, and the shape-and still do 45 years later.

When I got my first woodchuck hunting cartridge/rifle, a 222 Rem, it was exciting. High velocity. Economy of shooting, long distance potential, days of being in rolling hayfields with my woodchuck buddy (or brother) enjoying life was exciting-and still is. The diminutive shape of the case, with its sharp shoulders, tiny bullet, stories of how Mike Walker developed it, and how fast it turned the benchrest accuracy world on its ear in the 1950-60's were all exciting aspects of the 222 Rem to me. The 222 Rem still bets me going,c when I pull out my Sako A1 Varmint , and cluster 5 shots in a sub 1/2 MOA 200 yard group..

My "powerful big game" bolt gun, a 30-06 JC Higgins model 50, created excitement. I finally had a "powerful cartridge" that was used all over the world, with great success. The potential of the 30-06 was exciting to me. I knew I was never going to Africa or Alaska, so my 30-06 was good for "anything else." When you think of it, that IS pretty exciting. The 30-06 had a long neck and case ( compared to my 30-30). It would shoot 150-200 grain jacketed bullets accurately and with good velocity. A cartridge that offers that kind of usefulness, and potential, is exciting. Chambered in a commercial FN Mauser 98 action, with all the milling, forging, metallurgy a!loy upgrades, with its great design-it just amplifies the excitement of the 30-06.

As much as the OP wants to focus on just "the brass bottle" ( cartridge itself) to be "exciting," he/she is wrong. "Excitement" is an emotional response, enhanced by non-tangible factors. It is never just about "the brass bottle" itself.

My current "cartridge of interest" on the radar is the 6.5 Grendel (do I rebarreling my CZ 527?). Seems like a very efficient cartridge. Is it exciting? Not really, but it is interesting to me.

So, it IS about hitting an aspirin at 50 yards with my 22 LR rifle, using my 30-30 while hunting with my dad, or reading about Townsend Whelen's hunting trips with a 30-06, or making a 300 yard shot on a woodchuck with a 222 Rem hand load, and my brother spotting the shot. If if excites me, it is due to the tangible and intangible things associated with the cartridge. Excitement related to a cartridge is NOT just "the brass bottle.". Never was. Never will.

First, being a fan of Elmer, the .338 is the right caliber. Anything less makes you a "needle blower." Anything bigger just drips out of the muzzle and falls on the ground. He wrote in 1957 that his OKH series should be updated from .333 to .338 as better stuff would be available with the dawning of the 338 win mag. Next, one has to "try" all of the cartridges, .338-06 (sadly, it never got the "proper" OKH appellation), .338 win mag .340 Wby, and of course the .338-378 which Bob Hagel discussed early on, in Handloader. The .338 RCM is somewhat exciting even though it is just a short-and-fat .338-06. Just "yesterday" Federal finally adopted the .308 casing and that is exciting, too. The .338 Federal is their first and only entry into the cartridge world. Dare we think that with today's better projectiles and also when velocities are moderate, the "lightweight" .338 stuff works as well or better than the old Elmer standard of 250-300 grains?

My friend and neighbor was hellbent on getting a 6.5 Grendel and I discouraged the idea. We hunt problem hogs several days/nights a week. He bought the Grendel anyway and my thoughts on it being not much better than .223 were quickly dispelled. He mostly uses the Nosler Long Range Accubond 129 and the Nosler BT 120. The rifle in our limited field use on large hogs has proven very effective out to 300 yards. I would almost say it works as well as .308W without the recoil which is quite helpful for multiple shots on multiple targets that are heading for cover.

Using the same cartridges our nations warriors used to defend the world and having many pictures of gut pile that only required one shot to make. Having a selection of good factory loads. Being able to find components if you loan your own.

Im with hanco and TrexF16. The 30-06 is exciting as there are endless combinations of loads.

It's making em then shooting em thats fun and if you can get one to do something you think is special or haven't done before, all the better. Of course, all the others are equally exciting for the same reasons although im partial to the oddball and obscure.

I like many of us have been through many rifles/cartridges. The cycle goes like this. I see, read about or hear of some new thing.Thing being a new rifle, cartridge or combination of the two.
So I acquire one out of curiosity or just to have something new to play with.
I would guess that more than likely this new fascination doesn’t last long for numerous reasons including accuracy, rifle fit and weight, a bad experience in the field etc. in the end, usually in a year or two it gets sold or traded.
Now what gets me excited is hunting with a proven pal that once again feels good to carry and by it’s usage I bring home a critter! Rifles in the exciting group get there by performance at the range and in the mountains of Arizona. These are mostly pre-64 Winchester’s and Ruger 1’s. Three calibers dominate this list , they are 257 Roberts, 270 Winchester and the 7x57 Mauser.

it came out in 1944. That was 77 years ago.

Whats exciting is knowing I have at least one rifle capable of taking any animal that walks on this earth. Double rifles with external hammers are exciting as well,

Not sure what makes it exciting but right now I like the looks of the new 6mm ARC. I suppose for that cartridge I like the idea of a super efficient 6mm. Large enough to take deer with and shoot to 1K if I have a notion all while not kicking the slobber out of me. I know it was meant to be an AR compatible round but I am interested in it as a bolt gun round. Tine will tell if it catches on and I will be patient for a year or two to see what happens with it.

I don't give a chit about excitement... I use a 308 Win.

A 30.06 is pretty exciting !!!!! When it just exited a 197 6/8 typical whitetail.....

Power. On the other hand, "exciting" is over-rated. Besides, it's an expensive thrill. 30mm autocannon with belts of HEI is exciting. Shooting finger-size brass thimbles of powder is going to depend on circumstances for excitement. The cartridge itself won't do much in that way. Nevertheless, the cartridge I'm most heavily invested in isn't intended for excitement at all. On the contrary, I depend on it to bring any excitement to a quick end and restore peace and tranquility.

6.5x55.

I'd like to try the 6.5x47 as well.

I'd also imagine that a .505 Gibbs would be rather exciting.

Lately the name Grendel or Creedmore seems to blow some folks skirt up.

Advertising and the press, including gun writers.

Don't forget the herd mentality thing as well.

5 yrs ago here on the Fire, the 6.5CM was uber kool. Now it's uber ghey, right along side the 270Win.

275 rigby and any big nitro express. They take me to a time and place I will never be able to truly experience

Any cartridge that kills deer sized game with very little recoil is exciting to me

6mm rem is a great cartridge. You should try one out.

I'm probably a bad one to ask. I still get excited by the 30-30

The fact that I don't own a rifle in that caliber is sufficient.

The first shot with my 12ga Featherlight Ithaca 37 Deerslayer was a 2 3/4" magnum slug load. When I touched her off it was an "EXCITING, ASTONISHING, STIMULATING, SURPRISING, ADVENTURE!" After years of shooting whitetail I had gunsmith, Bob Currey, find a smooth bore, shorten to 21" screw in turkey choke tubes, D&T and mount a Leupold 2.5, shorten stock and I then had a turkey gun. Was always wonderment when shot. For me that gun made the 12ga cartridge exciting every time I touched it off.

For me, exciting cartridges are exotic ones that not everybody has but that have a long history.

The 6.5x54mm Mannlicher Schoenaur is one example.

Another is the .375 H&H.

If I were younger and hunted in the woods a lot, I might try to make or get a .400 Whelan.

To me, nothing would be asboring as a 6.5CM.

Nostalgia would really be the only thing that makes a cartridge exciting to me. It's why the 38 WCF, a cartridge that tends to be WAY more trouble than it's worth, always has a place in my house.Dad borrowed Grand Dad's 92 to use as his first deer rifle. It worked after a fashion. The same rifle was the first center fire I ever shot. That's why there's a bunch of 38 WCF around the place.

Now for the the seven month old kitten in the house, she's all about the empty case. '06 and 308 are her favorites right now. She'll knock those all around the basement.

Not much on the latest, trend, whiz-bang, part of the in crowd, smoke and mirrors, BS ......my favorite cartridge has been around for 108 years. But, I didn’t buy immediately.....waited a few years for it to prove it’s worth! memtb

Finding boxes of ammo on the shelves.

All these posts and no one has figured it out yet?

This doesn't hurt....grin!

Dang Pat! That will work.

Would you mind helping me out with some load data for the 22 creed and the 88 eld? PM me if you like, thanks

WOW!

Sure will....

Thanks! It was a rare day for here, with absolutely no wind....and I did have a witness....:)

memtb, that would be 1912, either the 25-06 or 375 H&H. Given your quote from Bob Hagel, I am guessing your choice is the 375.

I get excited when the barrel stamp reads
30-06 SPRINGFIELD.

Yep! since 1982! memtb

Quite a statement made in that pic. Reminds me of Matthew Quigley.

What makes a cartridge exciting is the moment you realize you already had or have it and have been fooling yourself with silly diversions.

I have let 2 John Rigby rifles and a rack full of Weatherby Mark V's plus a slew of others go since I bought it in '93 and it has more value than any monetary opinion as we are mates and have traveled together. Despite its seemingly modest market value, it would be my greatest loss if it were gone.

After all the excitement of all the rounds I have had over the years, I have pretty much settled on my next hunting rifle being a 30-06.

Nice to give a new round a little time (115 years or so) so guys can get the bugs worked out and get some good loads for them.

I'll tell you what is not sexy. Every man bun having, skinny jean wearing, Bin Laden beard growing, mouth-breathing moron lining up to sing a cartridges praised on social media.

For me anything except a Creedmoor It may be a great cartridge but with all the media hype it has become boring .

if it was the one that you load in an en bloc clip and load into am M1 garand

Either:

• an article you read in outdoor life in the barber shop
• nobody in your deer camp has one
• it's what your (older brother, dad, grandpa) used in the good old days

For me 30-06 is interesting with an heavy bullet. Also the 35 cal and 375 cal with their ability to handle decently heavy cast and jacketed. Im going to be trying a 375 Ruger and someday when Trailboss powder is once again available it will be my companion.

Hunting with it

Finding some on the shelves right now.