Five Centerfire Cartridges for the Rest of Your Life

I like this question. I got in trouble from some for brining it up. But I’ll play again:

1. .22 LR (I know...)
2. .223/5.56
3. .270 Win
4. .375 HH
5. 12 ga (I know...)

I’d be very sad to lose my 44RM and my 9x19

thanks for playing...

Greg

223/5.56
7.62x39
30-30
55 Colt
30-06

5.56
7.62x39 (AKs and SKSs)
.30-30 (because why not?)
.30-06 (prairie dogs to grizzly bears)
.44 Magnum

The 6.5 Swedemoor seems pretty popular.

Old Stumpy said:

The 6.5 Swedemoor seems pretty popular.

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Let's just not this time.

What a terrible thought! But if I had to choose...
22-250 for prairie dogs-Coyotes
6.5-300 Weatherby for hunting antelope-deer and long range fun.
308 Win for HD/battle rifle
338 Lapua for longer range work for elk size game through moose
460 Weatherby will kill anything else on the planet

Honorable mentions: 6.8 SPC, didn't make the list because my 308s fill roughly the same role for my purposes. 300 win mag, not enough advantage over the 6.5 -300 weatherby, and 338 lapua can be downloaded and/or put in a hunting rifle. 45/70...had a hard time leaving this one out because I love lever guns, but would be more comfortable against large dangerous game with a 460 weatherby and it can be downloaded as well. 556. For the same reason as 6.8 spc...would just rather have 308, and for hunting the 22-250 thumps harder and faster.
The irony is I only own 3 of the 5 finalists, but have all the honorable mentions.
...maybe its time to add a couple to the stable.

22 Hornet
405 WCF
50-70

I also have a 6.5x55 Swedish Short Rifle but so far only a few targets with it. So that should cover bigger than groundhog, smaller than ??? The 405 and the 50 overlap a bit but the 405 is flatter shooting. I also download the 405 to emulate the 40-72, so maybe that is the fitth cartridge?

Kevin

3Crows said:

Some people are listing 9mm? Is there a hunting rifle chambered for 9mm Luger rounds?

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marksman13 said:

Lots of pistol caliber carbines out there.

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Yep. Considering the thread starter's first selection (shown below) mentions "defensive" use, PCCs should be fair game, I would think.

marksman13 said:

1. 223 / 5.56 - Mostly because my defensive rifles are set up in this chambering. Secondly, I’ve got a good sized pile of ammo.

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.30 Carbine (home defense rifle).
6.5x54mm Mannlicher-Shonauer for most game I would ever hunt, besides one needs some class at times.
.275 Rigby (aka 7x57 Mauser) to fill in the gap between.
.375 Ruger for the large stuff (big bears) and I have one.

This is not all the sporting rifles I own. Many of them (.257 Roberts, 6.5x55mm Swede, .35 Whelen) end up duplicating the others in use.

5 rifles/cartridges

.223 rem...............In a boring ol AR15. Works for varmints of all types.
.243 win................Rem 700, varmints and loaner deer rifle
.35 rem.................Rem 760, timber deer
280 rem............... Ruger #1B, for.non timber deer
.30-06...................Steyr Pro Hunter.........bad weather rig, deer or bigger

I chose the .280 rem because I'm older, beat up and half deaf. While I like a 7 mag my tolerance for magnums is pretty much gone.
Same reason for the .30-06 vs a .300 winmag. Had both 7mm and .300 mags years ago. Liked em. Prefer more polite stuff anymore.
Wanted a 7600 in .35 rem, pricey. Got a deal on a beater 760 that shoots great. Good enough........it's a magic wand in the deer woods.
The 700 in .243 win..............boring as heck, decent performer. And then .223, in an AR no less............not a fan of either but that combo
works so well it can't be ignored.

George P said:

I could ;live with less.

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entropy said:

could cut that down to 3:

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marksman13 said:

some guys love variety while some prefer to keep it extremely simple.

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I’m complicated and spicy.
I don’t need a bunch, just the next one...

Weflyfast said:

Here is a different angle- what if you don't get to choose- what if you get to grab what you can carry and run- are you smart enough to live with what ever you can carry the most of.....????
Ok- I love all the calibers....and can't pick just a few.

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As one that can appreciate all cartridges, yes, I think I could do that.
But, I would complain about it the whole time, especially if it’s a .270!


Now, Long Actions.
300 PRC
30-06 Springfield
404 Jeffrey
458 Lott
And, of course, The Big One, 6mm-06!

.223
6:5 Grendel
.308
30-06
30-30

My choices.

223
30/30
260 rem
308
300 wm

223 plinking and varmints
257 WBY for MPBR
6.5 Creedmoor for target fun
300 WM for elk
45-70 for close deer and bear becuase it's the coolest

3Crows said:

Some people are listing 9mm? Is there a hunting rifle chambered for 9mm Luger rounds?

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Not specifically, but a lot of the PCC guns would easily do in a pinch. I carried a hi point 995 to the woods a few times when I knew I would be hunting thick woods and shots would be 50 yards max. Never took a shot at a deer, but I hit a raccoon head on and it was a pass through with mag-tech JHP, and that coon was not pretty on the back end where the exit was showing signs of significant expansion and tearing of flesh.

I’m doing this a different way. My earlier post still stands as what I would do, but if I could go back in time and stop myself from stupid trades that I did or didn’t do...

Winchester hex barrel AE 357 (had)
Ruger 77 .243 (had)
45-70 Shiloh Sharps (saved for then bought a motorcycle). Also 45-70 contender pistol... one shot was enough for me but I did another simply because I was told that 1 would make me never touch it again, it thumps on the launching end and I would hate to be on the receiving end.
308 in the beautiful custom Mauser I had that I traded off for a kayak
7-30 waters in the current contender lineup, but also in a Winchester AE gun I once saw in a pawn shop and walked away from before I realized what it was.

I'm assuming that I can load my own cartridges as well as buying them.

For rifle cartridges...

221 Remington Fireball (shorter range varmint rifle)
223 Remington (availability and a good mid-range cartridge)
300 Blackout (home defense out to 100 yards in an AR-15 platform)
30-06 or 308 Win (good all around hunting round)

Hand gun...

357 Magnum/38 Special (home defense, hunting, short range hunting with 38 Special)
45 ACP (home defense)

For my own personal use, I could do with just two centerfire cartridges for both rifles and handguns. They happen to be 6.5 Grendel and .357 Magnum, but they could be almost anything else. While I appreciate the wide variety of cartridges out there, I just don't have practical use for more than a rifle and a handgun cartridge.

My choice of .357 Magnum is really just down to my preference for revolvers. It's the most practical all-purpose revolver cartridge and while there are others just as good, it remains the most popular chambering so it's easy to find everything I want in the gun in 357. It would probably meet all my needs in a rifle cartridge too, but its range is limited and I'm not ready limit myself "for the rest of my life."

What about 6.5 Grendel? It might sound new-fangled, tactical, and even un-American for a old-Fudd revolver guy. I have it in a bolt-action. I just bought an optic for it that cost me twice what the rifle did. I was just thinking today whether it even makes sense to put such a nice scope on that little rifle. Wouldn't I rather have 6.5 Creedmoor? Then I thought, what the hell for? To drop Elk? That's a nice fantasy, but for me, it might be once in a lifetime. The tags are rare (in state) or expensive (out of state) and if I did get one, I'd have to hire someone to pack it out. No, I just need a deer and antelope rifle. I'd sooner shoot big horn or black bear thank Elk or Moose because at least I can handle those myself. Now none of this is to say that Creedmoor or 308 or 270 or '06 can't make a good deer and antelope rifle. Pretty much anything 25 caliber and up will do quite well indeed, won't it? So for me, as long as it shoots an 80 grain bullet or better and shoots better than handgun velocities for a reasonably flat trajectory out a few hundred yards, it'll do. Grendel is what I've got and I can't really think of a reason I'd want anything else. What would I do with another four?

Heck, I've only got four centerfire calibers now! I have mostly 9mm firearms, one in .38 Special, two in 5.56 and one in 12 ga. I could throw in a .44 Mag, .454 Casull or 10mm and be set for life.

I'll go about this with "traditional" rifle rounds that aren't associated with handguns...

1. 308 Winchester
2. 30-06 Springfield
3. 300 Win Mag.
4. 5.56/223 Rem
5. 30-30 Win

With a mention to 45-70, 8mm Mauser and 35 Rem for nostalgia.

Well, you specified centerfire then in your post you mention only rifle cartridges so I could take a crack at this.

For five centerfire RIFLE cartridges I could go the rest of my life with these:

.223/5.56
7.62x39
.30-30
.308
.30-06

In fact, I am seriously considering doing just this to simplify my life.

Now, if I had to be limited to just five centerfire cartridges of ALL types there would be much screaming!

Hmm...

12 gauge
.357/.38
.45acp
.223/5.56
.30-30

I would be very unhappy.