Personal preference rifle cartridge poll

Garandimal said:

They carry 1,500 lb-ft at 200 yards, and will still expand with over 1,000 lb-feet at 300.

With a scoped rifle and a 200 yd. zero, mid-flight rise is ~ 2.25", and the drop at 300 is ~ 10".

A good woods/thickets round, and usually very accurate.


Been loading Speer mono-core Grand Slam 150's at a little over 2800 fps, for a do-it-all round, and like that one as well.

The higher BC of the spitzer GS bullet lowers the mid-flight rise to ~ 2" and adds ~ 100 yards to the velocity and energy of the above RCL performance.

Drop at 300 is ~ 8".




GR

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When you showed a 150 grain bullet it just reminded me of the friendly ribbing we had between friends. Now I have a 270 to use and am looking forward to giving it a try. I agree with you about the spritzer bullet. That's part of the joke with my buddies.

Buying a 270 then shooting round nose bullets doesn't make sense. Unless you are looking at the hammer effect.

I will look for the mono core Speer 150's. I'm just into the barrel break in. I would like to find an inexpensive bullet for the range and a better quality load/bullet for hunting.

Thank you for your response and don't take my comment the wrong way. Both the 270 and 30-06 are great cartridges.

LoonWulf said:

Switched vote to .280, tho I'd prefer, and own the AI version. It's slowly dethroning the 7mm rem mag as my all time favorite cartridge.

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I still went 7 Mag. Close second for me would be the 30-06 and 280

I chose 6.5×55 because of versatility and fun to shoot. I love 45/70 but expense and punishment for the same result edges it out. Free ammunition changes the game

CptnAwesome said:

I still went 7 Mag. Close second for me would be the 30-06 and 280

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I didn't see the 7mag the first time, but had a really hard time not picking it when I changed my initial vote lol.
I went with the .280 simply because my AI version matches my 7mags, but takes a 2" longer barrel, and more selectivity on powder. I also default to that rifle, unless I'm carrying my .375, or have an urge to use one of my other guns.

If I was stuck with the original, and didn't have my Ridgeline, id have gone 7mag for sure.

This question has been brought up so many times in the past and the resounding responses are the things campfire roundtable discussions are made of.
As long as everybody respects everybody else's choices, it's all good. Remember the OP asked what you would choose. For you!
Not for everybody else! If you want to use a dang 22lr by all means do it. I'm sure you have your reasons.
I picked the 30-06 for a number of reasons.
Some are personal and some are just plain facts. Personal reasons aside the factual reasons admittedly can also be applied to good number of other calibers. So in all fairness I must admit that my choice is mostly personal. I have used the ole '06 on more game than any other caliber I own and I own a very wide variety of calibers and the guns that fire them. I love every single one of em and i love shooting them.. I just trust the 3 30-06's I own that when the shot goes bang the result down range is going to be flop. I'm from Missouri, show me state. I have been shown time again that that will be the story.
I will speculate that the 30-06 will prevail here and not because it's actually the best. More that it's time is not yet come to be pushed to the side by newer generations of hunters who use different more modern calibers. It will prevail because the number of hunters still using it picked it long ago and that's their favorite. Just like me. It is usually the winner when this question comes up. In years to come the ole '06 will probably get pushed off the top of the heap by something more modern. Some whooper dooper maxi mag capable of kill shots on game at a mile and noone will even think it's unethical. But for now and a few more generations i predict it will remain #1. It's years of field performance cannot be denied. JMHO.

.223 and 30-30 are the only rifle cartridges listed that I have guns for and I shoot my ARs much better and more often than my Win94s so I chose the .223.

When I got into long pants, had made a little money, and got really serious about a rifle of my own...

Found this book, and it became the bible.

...and still is.




GR

You left of 40W phased plasma? heathen! []

CapnMac said:

You left of 40W phased plasma? heathen! []

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Hunting, AND barbeque!....need an underslung seasoning dispersal device.....

.308, obviously

I've had too many orphaned calibers, so I'm going with old reliable 308. But my favorite is the 6.5 Grendel. Nothing bigger than a pig or whitetail to hunt around here, and it's way more pleasant to shoot than the bigger stuff.

I have 15 of the 17- do I have to pick just one? I kinda have a special spot for each one- and a least one memory of each one as well...... I find it very hard to say "this one" is the best or the favorite-

....sorry just me....

if we go with the "minimum to get the job done" in the lower 48, then I choose the 6.5x55 Swede. If we don't care about our shoulders, then the .30-06 or .308 will do fine too, but dead is still dead. Fortunately we don't have to choose just one.

But then, I'm the person who doesn't mind driving a car that tops out around 100mph. I don't need one that does 160mph.

I'm a fan of the .308/7.62 NATO rounds because they work so well for so many situations. They have long range reach, good penetration and lots of great accuracy too. The old M-14 rifles shot this caliber round and made me a believer of how good it was when I went through Basic Training using one. Later on, in Viet Nam, I carried a XM-21 sniper variant of the M-14 family of rifles and learned to love this general category of bullets and rifles even more.

Matthew Clark said:

I will speculate that the 30-06 will prevail here and not because it's actually the best. More that it's time is not yet come to be pushed to the side by newer generations of hunters who use different more modern calibers. It will prevail because the number of hunters still using it picked it long ago and that's their favorite. Just like me.

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Very much the same thoughts. I chose 30-06 because it has worked well for all my needs for many, many years & I'm already fairly well invested into the cartridge with multiple rifles and more enough ammo and components to hunt for the rest of my kids lifetimes. However, I don't usually recommend 30-06 for a new hunter or target shooter looking for their first centerfire anymore. There are better choices with less recoil and less expensive ammo (at least up until a couple months ago) which are perfectly capable for whatever hunting you may do in North America. Target shooters definitely do not need a 30 caliber at all so steer them to smaller 22 calibers of various flavors.

30.06 can handle any hunting in the United States. Widest selection of projectiles. AND Jack O'Connor shot a 30.06 as much as a .270. He just didn't write as much about it. The 30.06 was already the main stay caliber during his life time.

.243

I can kill a deer with it. It is sufficient at two-legged-snakes. It can also be used to hunt small game without wasting meat. More often than not, its the small game that keeps the belly full. So i have no need for a 375 or 308. For deer we have had great success with 75gr HPBTs.

Though .410 would be my actual choice...

I voted .223 because my only reason for a rifle these days is self/home defense, range shooting, and shooting games. I may go on a hog hunt at some point and .223 would work for that.

if 7.62x39 had been a choice, I may have gone that route as I am really enjoying that round lately, and it certainly fits all needs for me as well.

Were I still a hunter of deer and large game, I’d happily join the crowd in voting the venerable 30.06

Thomasss said:

30.06 can handle any hunting in the United States. Widest selection of projectiles. AND Jack O'Connor shot a 30.06 as much as a .270. He just didn't write as much about it. The 30.06 was already the main stay caliber during his life time.

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In his earlier writings OConnor basically said the 30-06 was too much gun for deer and sheep and more suited towards elk and bears, which was undoubtedly a reflection of the common 220 grain bullets in use. His love of the 270 was lighter constructed bullets at higher velocity. We are really spoiled with modern bullet technology. More accuarate and definitely easier to match bullet to quarry. Could you imagine what he would have written with a light weight 25-06 loaded up with copper x-bullets?

My choice has more to do with where I am in my life than the comparative merits of the cartridges listed in overall capability.

I have the good Fortune to own ten on the list. Eight are basically equivalent for my primary application:. Whitetail deer at lease than two hundred yards.

My choice is clearly a compromise of recoil vs practical knock down capability (or "How hard does it kick versus how hard does it bite?").

I am getting older, and my shoulder seems to get more tender by the year. At the same time, I don't like to track wounded deer in heavy brush.

So for right now, this year, the choice is 6.5 CM. And my two backups this year will likely be a 7-08 and a 30-30.

I'm biased because I have a fondness for WWI battle rifles and 30-06 is my round. That being said, the 30-06 is hands down one of the most versatile cartridges ever invented. I normally shoot Hornady 150 grain BTSPs as an all- purpose round, but I can go from 110 grain up to 220 grain. I loaded a box-worth of 125 Noslers to use on coyotes this year - they fly true at the range, we'll see what the terminal ballistics turn out to be when I get out in the woods. As always, YMMV.

Just as I suspected, looks like 30-06 is the reigning champ for this thread. I picture alot of the guns you guys have and are talking about, the trusty old work hammers you pull out of your rig season after season with your favorite loads, tagging game. Makes me want to go out and put meat in my fridge, so far I'm just a guy who spends morning after morning walking around the woods with a 7mm-08 not tagging anything, been that way for years. I didnt choose the round, it kind of chose me. I wanted a ruger compact in .308 but by the time I got to the gun shop all they had left was a 7mm-08. I let the guy talk me into it. I'm happy with it, I know it will get the job done. I can shoot it accurately, but I really wanted a .308.

I would be just as happy with an 06 though. But, this is only my thinking in terms of one hunting rifle as that's sort of the way the winds drifted in this thread. If there was one, only one rifle cartridge I wouldnt dispose of it would have to be .223. I have many thousands of rounds for it, round to weight ratio is good, have dozens of magazines and rifles and parts in favor of .223 and it will defend the castle and put meat on the table if employed to do so. It's just a very versatile round and my child and wife would be more effective with it over any of the other cartridges listed above. There are other reasons but that's my thinking.

WisBorn said:

When you showed a 150 grain bullet it just reminded me of the friendly ribbing we had between friends. Now I have a 270 to use and am looking forward to giving it a try. I agree with you about the spritzer bullet. That's part of the joke with my buddies.

Buying a 270 then shooting round nose bullets doesn't make sense. Unless you are looking at the hammer effect.

I will look for the mono core Speer 150's. I'm just into the barrel break in. I would like to find an inexpensive bullet for the range and a better quality load/bullet for hunting.

Thank you for your response and don't take my comment the wrong way. Both the 270 and 30-06 are great cartridges.

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The current production "hot-cor" 150 gr. Speer Grand Slam .277 bullet does fine at .270 WCF velocities (~ 2,800 at the muzzle).

Last go-round was ~ $14/50 box plus a factory rebate.

Better than the RCL, and probably as good as a Partition at these velocities, except for maybe against a heavy humerus bone in close.


Like'em a lot.




GR

Garandimal said:

The current production "hot-cor" 150 gr. Speer Grand Slam .277 bullet does fine at .270 WCF velocities (~ 2,800 at the muzzle).

Last go-round was ~ $14/50 box plus a factory rebate.

Better than the RCL, and probably as good as a Partition at these velocities, except for maybe against a heavy humerus bone in close.

Like'em a lot.




GR

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I've heard a bunch of people swear by the 150 Hot Cor for 7mm-08. It happens that in my particular Ruger the 150's print perfect clovers....its a winner in my gun.

Had 7mm 08, 7 mm mag, 300 mag, a few 3006, several 243 and some 223s.

Dont need as much stuff, need more time and health.

223
243
35 rem
3006

Put my pretty 280 rem up for sale at a shop.

Everything is going synth. Rugged, ugly and comfortable.

Boring. But its where im at. UPS dropped off my HS Precision stock so mess w that tomorrow