Never met a calibre I didn't like

I find it interesting on this board how passionate shooters are about the calibres they shoot. Sometimes I think it blinds them a bit to the advantages of certain calibres over others in specific applications. I've never met a calibre I didn't like. Certainly some are better suited to some applications than others but they all have their place...especially when in the hands of someone that shoots them well. I love shooting all the new ones each year but I still have a place in my heart for the old ones. I guess that's why I have the variety that I do and keep adding to it each year. Surprisingly I've never owned a 338 or 416 but I won't be able to say that after this year! I've also got a .308 coming just for fun!

[Bull Shooter]

I too, have never met a caliber I didn’t like. I currently shoot and load (most centerfires) for the following rifles:

22 LR
22 WMR
223 Remington
22-250 Remington
243 Winchester
6mm Remington
257 Roberts
25-06 Remington
6.5 X 55 Swede
270 Winchester
280 Remington
7mm Remington Mag
7mm Imperial Mag
30-30 Winchester
308 Winchester
30-06 Springfield
300 Winchester Mag
303 British
338 Winchester Mag
375 H&H Mag
44 Remington Mag
45-70 Government
458 Winchester Mag

I have my favourites, but they all get used every year... with the exception of the 458. I have favourites for game hunted, terrain, weather, distance and all permutations of the former.

In my opinion, the most over-looked, underappreciated cartridge on my list is the 280 Remington followed closely by the 257 Roberts. I think many new and seasoned hunters and shooters would do very well including these offerings in their battery. The 257 Roberts is a brilliant cartridge for deer and smaller game and the 280 offers great bullet versatility and manageable recoil for deer and bigger game. Heck, they are all good! Regards, Mike

[John Spartan]

While I do appreciate the modern chamberings, I'm really getting into the old chamberings:

25-35 WCF
6.5x55 WCF
7mm Mauser
30-06 Springfield
30 WCF (30-30)
8 mm Mauser
33 WCF
348 WCF
35 Remington
38-55
45-70
45-90

Everyone listed is 100 or more years old with the exception of 348 WCF and each will be used in a situation that it is quite adequate for.

[roger]

its really about being able to predict your proposed shooting environment, and after that, it boils down to cost, recoil, traj, action...(or apparently even the way a cartridge looks n'so on..
i guess that is why there are no gunsafes that hold only one gun.
a 'good' alberta collection would have a 22rimfire, 270 or 30-06, 12 guage
a 'better' alberta collection should have a 17-22 rimfire, 22-250 (or derivetive), 25-26CF, 27-30, and a 33'ish', 12 and or 20 guage
a 'best' alberta collection..well *see one above posts eg. bullshooter..
lite, fast, slow or heavyweight all do the job when the jerk behind the trigger puts it all together.

[catnthehat]

Never met a caliber I didn't like, but have used one or two cartridges that I would rather throw stones at!
Cat

[Dick284]

Yup being a self confessed gun loonie of the first degree, I'd be inclined to agree that every cartridge out there has it's uses be it in the field or at the range.
Kinda like what my Dad said once "I never met a beer I did'nt like, but some are better than others."
Currently loading for.
22-250
25'06
270Win
270WSM
7mm-08
284Win
30'06
300WSM
303 Brit
358Win
44Rem Mag
45 Colt.
410bore
20ga
12ga

At one time or another have loaded for:
223Rem
243Win
6.5x55
6.5'0
7x57
7mm Rem Mag
308Win
300Win Mag
338Win Mag
38spl/357Mag
9mm Para
444 Marlin

[Pathfinder76]

"Never met a calibre I didn't like"

It seems the cartridge of the month club is gaining membership in leaps and bounds these days, and I suppose there is really nothing wrong with that.

I do find it a bit on the sad side that we can't seem to find a writer any more that hunts with a couple of well used and well traveled firearms. Finn Aggard, Jack O'Connor, Jim Carmichel, and Phil Shoemaker to name a few wrote and write about hunts with the same core set of rifles. You recognize the rifle in their writings and can see it even without a picture present. These guys all had their favorite cartridges. Some can be considered the champions of some, but I think in the end cartridge selection had little to do with it. These gentlemen were also students of finely built and executed firearms and appreciated same when they found a perfect balance. Fondness for the cartridge came later.

Chuck

[Bull Shooter]

Chuck, I think we all have our favorites but as TJ alluded: how can you determine or profess your favorite or best rifle when you have very limited exposure to the different cartridges or rifle types? Reading O'Connor and Keith, the thing that really stuck out in my mind was the size of their respective gun rooms. I might be wrong but I don't think Jack had 100+ 270 Winchesters.

I do agree that much of the gun "romance" has been replaced by commercial pursuits. I guess that's what pays the bills these days. I agree that it is sad to lose such a great legacy. Regards, Mike

[Pathfinder76]

I agree that there has to be a "trial and error" if you will. I've done it and have settled on something that I like. While cartridge choice had some weight in the decision, it really took a back seat to all else. Yes, a lot of these guys have great gun collections, but they trust a few of that collection to do what they are passionate about. I think Joe Bishop is another prime example. A would be candidate for the Weatherby award and a person with a gun collection most would give anything for. Yet when you read about his hunting, you know it's done with one of two rifles and 95% of the time with one of them. I like that.

Chuck

There were definitely a lot less cartridge choices in old Jack's day too. Manufacturers are making money with new cartridges and that's what readers want to see. Sorry but articles about .270s and .30-06s have been written to death. Not saying they aren't great cartridges but I think people want to know about what's new and let's face it, most want to shoot something new. Why else buy a new rifle.

Nothing wrong with being a one-gun hunter but nothing wrong with being a 20 gun hunter either. I just find it funny when people trash talk a certain cartridge because they don't own it and profess the virtues of the one they do own. I like going through life without blinders on and experiencing all there is and seeing the virtues of all calibres....old and new.

[Kutenay]

I have corresponed with JOC and worked with men who guided him as well as Warren Page and other such luminaries, I even bought a Al Biesen 270 just like his in 1968, cost a month's good IWA wages plus OT. I also knew a couple of men as I have mentioned who knew Elmer Keith very well and also JOC.

Both of these men had very large, diverse rifle collections, OÇonnor actually mentions this in his writings as being necessary for a gunwriter to have in order to write about them. Keith had gazzilions of guns and was a major force in re-invigorating the British double rifle movement. So, they certainly hunted with many different guns.

The serious gunnut/hunter CAN benefit by using different guns and the guy who has the same old battered rifle for everything usually is not much of a hunter or shooter. Most of the real oldtimers I knew when I started nearly 50 years ago, were VERY keen on owing/using as many guns as they could afford, just like us, and these were guys who were BC bushmen before WWI.

Certainly, those with a lot of experience have their favourites and most of we ordinary guys do, as well, but, I disagree about one gun being a sign of a superior hunter or more capable rifleman.

[Faststeel]

For me it wasn't that long ago that I bought my first rifle, shotguns I have had all my life. I now shoot far more rifle than shotgun, although I still compete in Sporting clays regularly. I kind of went wild on .22's to start with picking up 7 different guns.
17 HMR
22
22 mag
22 Hornet
223
257 AI
25-06 x2
7x57
308
30-06
300 WSM
Then that Marlin bug at P&D bit me
22 in a 39AO
30-30
32 Win
35 Rem
45/70
FS

[catnthehat]

I grew up in a hunting and competitive shooting family.
Everyone competed nationally in smallbore, most of us shot competitive fullbore and trap and skeet as well.
I was taught that the biggest variable ( all things being equal and equipment is in order) in the whole danged mess is the shooter himself, never mind the ballistics, rifle design , sighting system etc.
PERIOD!
I loath the 243 Winchester, for reasons of it's design, not the original design that Page had worked on, but what SAAMI settled with.
That doesn't mean I won't compete or hunt with one.

case in point .
The same shooters win pretty regularly, regardless of what caliber they are shooting.

The same hunters would have likely put their animals in the (freezer or book)
If they had been shooting a 308 instead of a 7 mag - all things being equal and the distance was within the MPI of the cartridge.

O'Connor was noted as a 270win looney, but he actually liked the 30'06 better.
It's just that he had worked so much with the 270 and had promoted it so much.
This is not a rumour, it is a fact.
Finn Agaard, although he loved cartridges like thhe 6.5X55 and 7X57, I am sure, would not be opposed to shooting a critter with a 260 or a 7/08.

At present I own 7 .22LR ironsighted smallbore match rifles and four fullbore iron sighted match rifles
I have my favorites, but shoot them all .

My present rifle I call my hunting rifle ( 7X57 Ruger RSI) may be replaced before I can hunt with it again!

I hunting rifles becuase of what I like about their weight or balance more than the caliber.

Anything for deer from a 250 savage to a 308 will do fine for me, but I prefer the metric calibers more, just because.
The 6.5 mm is my fav. but I like the 7 mm as well.
All unbelted, BTW.
Cat

[Pathfinder76]

I don't recall mentioning any 1 gun hunters, but I will touch on that. My father has hunted with the same rifle since the early 70's and killed far more than his share of game with it. He has two brothers in the same boat, with the same experience using but a single rifle. Now I will stand by the notion that serious hunters (excepting gun writers) tend to use and settle on a core set of big rifles to hunt with. In fact, I can't think of any serious hunters that would consistently use 20 big game rifles to do their hunting with.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by chuck

In fact, I can't think of any serious hunters that would consistently use 20 big game rifles to do their hunting with.

I dunno I have something in the order of 14 rifles , shotguns or muzzleloaders I can hunt with if I want.
I look at it like a golfer, sure you can play the game with only a 7 iron(Tin Cup) but your better off selecting the right tool for the job. Some of them are suited to a specific hunt or season ie: Wainright ML, Scona Cty, ML/Shotgun.
Some are better in the tight cover, ie: 30/30, 44 mag.
Some are better on a back pack trip ie: .284 Win@ 7.4lbs loaded, scoped W/ sling.
Some are better for varmints ie: 22-250
Some are better for open country ie: 25'06, 270WSM
Some are better for big ungulates ie: 300WSM.
Some are better for a nostalgic reason ie: M1 Garand, Full wood #4 mk 1* 303brit.
Some are better for bigger nasties up close and pesonal ie: 12ga, 358Win.
So I guess if your into compromise you could get by with a 30'06 or 7mm Rem. Mag, but it might be a bit un weildly in the tight stuff, and perhaps a bit lacking in the long bomb department, a bit small for big stuff, and a bit big for small stuff, but hey, too each his own.

[catnthehat]

Of all the calibers I LIKE, the 308 reigns SUPREME!!
It will do it all, from long rangge targets to antelope.
Easy to buy ammo and components for, so easy to load a blind monkey can do it.
Hardly a rifle not chambered in it, easy on the shoulder, and in the rifles I have shot super accurate.
You can buy lots oof riflees on thee cheap also.
in facct, i was just reeminded of one I had promised to sell to a guy!
I'd actually forgotten about it and haad become kinda attached to it.
Oh, well gonna have to put another together!
Cat