Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyksta
Purposely underestimating or willfully blind to certain facts has been the very reason this thread is soon to be 8 pages long. An indiviual person will have their own idea of the perfect cartridge to match their own style. Some find it hard to understand, others embrace trolling the forums. I think age might be a factor.
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Ha ha!
No, the 30 cal is not obsolete. Yes, modern ammunition has improved making smaller cartridges more potent, but this applies to all calibers, sorry, I mean cartridges!
The bottom line is that you should match the ammunition to the game being hunted, at least to an extent, and that anything from a 26 to a 30 would make a damn fine single rifle for hunting damn near everything in NA. Nostalgia, availability, personal preference play a larger role than objective facts when it comes to cartridge selection. And, since none of us will have the opportunity to take hundreds of animals in a lifetime as professional hunters used to do our personal 'data' is anecdotal at best as the sample size is too small.
For what it's worth, I've got a 7mm RM. Store had a 300 wm and it in stock, but after looking at info on both I didn't see what the 300 would do better for my plans other than kick more. Don't even own a 30 cal at the moment, and no plans to. If I was hunting anything truly large and dangerous like a polar bear, coastal grizzly, or going on an Africa safari I'd add a 338, 35 Whelen, or 375 over a 28 or a 30, but my 7mm would make a fine second rifle for such a trip.
And yes, I know Bell killed hundreds of elephants with a small bore, but I ain't him. So for me, 28 is great for all around hunting, but for certain purposes I'd carry the heaviest caliber I could carry comfortably and shoot accurately. Now, if you said you carried a 260, or a 6.5x55, or a 280, 30-06, 300 wm or... I'd say, that's great, how do you like it - mind if I give it a try? There's no single factor that trumps all the others when it comes to killing power IMO - using smaller caliber for better BC and SD - lose frontal area, using a 30 because a 28 that's 20 gr lighter is too small - put up with more recoil which can affect shot placement, etc.
FWIW, I do agree with the premise of this thread though - the advantages of the 30 cal in frontal area aren't worth paying the price of increase in recoil for what and where I hunt l. Otoh, the 'disadvantages' of the 30 cals inside 300 or even 400 yds are only big enough to argue about on the Internet and around the campfire... Let me put it this way, I prefer my 7mm but if I had a 30-06 I wouldn't sell it to replace it with one. The rifle I have is dirty though, and those NULA's look pretty awesome...