Favorite Rifle Cartridge Just Because…

270OKIE said:
No kidding! My Mossberg Patriot in 270 with 150gr ammo kicks!! My M1 Garand in 30-06 still has a bit of a kick but it's not bad at all. I almost want to sell off all my 270 stuff but I'd have to find the right buyer, and I also do like having a 270 walnut bolt gun around... Jack O'Connor tribute I guess.
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The 270 Winchester wouldn't still be available if it wasn't for Jack :rofl:

Just kidding my friend :thumbup:
 
For the most part, a favorite rifle cartridge is due to the rifle’s use.

I have a 308 Win bolt rifle plus a 308 Win Garand.

I have a number of 30-06 Garands.

I have a number of bolt and AR-15 rifles chambered in 223 Rem as well as 17 Rem, 204 Ruger, and 300 BO.

I’ve dabbled in several 6.5:6.8 csliber AR-15 platforms.

Bottom line, 221 Rem Fireball is a favorite cartridge.

It is a good short range (less than 100 yards) cartridge.

Remington made a 700 Classic in 221 FB, i had to have one. I got a Rem 700 LS Varminter in 221 FB. I had a 22 Hornet Contender barrel rechambered to 221 Rem FB. I bought a Bullberry 221 FB barrel and stock for one of my Contender frames.

The latter turned out to the best 221 Rem FB rifle.

Anyway, the 221 Rem Fireball is a great 100 yard varmint cartridge.
 
valnar said:
So I clicked on this thread before I could read any post, with the intent on writing "6.5x55". :thumbup: :D




I posted this once before on THR. I firmly believe that if the militaries of the world adopted a 6.5 variant many years ago, we would not have swung so much from full .30 battle cartridges to poodle shooters. Goldilocks was right in front of us for over 100 years.
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The Japanese had the 6.5 and got beat by the .30 cal. ;)
 
marksman13 said:
Surely I’m not the only person on THR who has a cartridge they love for no real reason. For me, it’s the 6.5x55. I have a couple rifles chambered in the x55 and I can’t explain exactly why I like it so much. I don’t reload, so it is nothing more than an expensive, long-action 6.5 Creedmoor for me. I guess it’s just nostalgia, but I really like that round and I’ve accumulated nearly as much 6.5x55 ammo as I have anything else, including 22 LR even though I rarely shoot the two rifles I have outside of hunting season.

So, let’s hear it. Who else has a rifle cartridge they love for no real reason?
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I took up the .308 as favorite, but only because: I was issued an m14 in high school (Sgt. Major kept the firing pins; rifle team used .22 LR target rifles); 7.62 NATO surplus was available around the globe a half century ago (some still is); the .308 gets the job done; cartridge selection, target, big game, medium game; the ammo and rifles I've had have all proved accurate beyond my ability to make the most of it.

For nostalgia reasons and for ammo availability (back decades ago) I loved having my .303 Enfields. I do not know why I like Enfields. To me, they are ugly; nevertheless, there's just something about them. The action is as slick as glass. Their accuracy may not be that of the .308, yet if something gets the job done, then you simply can't argue with that reality. Maybe I was a British soldier in a former lifetime (but I don't believe in reincarnation).

I've had a bunch of Nagants in 7.62x54R. Why? They were mega-cheap back in the day ($150 or less per rifle). Could buy buy big wooden crates of ammo for a song. The carbines (especially the ones I sporterized) kicked pretty good, but what a handy-rifle/"truck-gun"!. Just throw one behind the seat of your truck. Ammo came in stripper clips. The rifles work. I'd polish the chambers to fix the case sticking problems some had. I'd free-float the barrels, get rid of the bayonets, and lose the forend furniture. Poof, "handy-rifle". I have tools of my dad's that are post-WWII (maybe pre-WWII) and I continue to use them today. His one toolbox sits beside me now. If something works, it works. I hate waste -- it's a sin somehow.

As to the 6.5 Swede: Had a work-mate who was a high-tech/engineer with whom I worked. He was more intelligent than I (he was freaky intelligent, IQ well over 140). He was also very OCD. He took up the 6.5 Swede as an interest, then went nuts with it. Witnessing his work with the 6.5 Swede convinced me that this was a "sweet spot" in rifle engineering. No one has ever said that the Swedes were stupid ... quite the opposite. The sectional density of 6.5 bullets can be made extraordinarily wondrous. Add that the 6.5 diameter is mega-efficient. For non-dangerous game / monster beasts, the bullet availability can cover a vast range of needs to bring all manner of critters down effectively / mercifully / humanely -- i.e. drop them where they stand.

I'm now a senior citizen; made the decisions I made; however, if I had it all to do over again, I must say that I would go with today's 6.5 Creedmore as my go-to cartridge / rifle. It is a near clone of the 6.5 Swede which has proved itself over a century of use. Hey, the 6.5 Swede is also a chambering for many new rifles! It does my old heart good to see the 6.5 chamberings come back into popularity. The word "delighted" comes to mind. Good stuff. Hurrah!
.
 
CapnMac said:
More like "Except for .280" you mean :)

6.5x55 is addictive.
As is .243, as well.

My true love does not, yet, exist: 7x45 :) Oh there are .276 & 280 & 6.8 dancing all around it. Pedersen was close with his 276 at 7x53; the 280nato at 7x50 was even closer. There's a "sweet spot" there that designers have been dancing around for a century.

7mm diameter would make the cross-section folks happy; a 45mm case length means fitting in standard AR magwells. Only downside is that you're looking at 20-22 in a 30 round-length mag. Oh well, nothing is perfect.
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gotboostvr said:
There's both 7x45 TCU and 7x45 Ingram if you were unaware.
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7mm TCU is pretty close, tho running a little light on powder for the caliber imo.....
 
LoonWulf said:
7mm TCU is pretty close, tho running a little light on powder for the caliber imo.....
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When I was shooting IHMSA Handgun Silhouette, a friend of mine was shooting a Contender chambered in 7 TCU. He had a source for 139 grain pulled bullets which worked well.

Later, I got a Super 14 7TCU barrel rechambered to 7mm International Rimmed and used the same 139 grain pulled bullets. A bit more punch out to 200 meters and the pulled bullets were adequately accurate.

A great cartridge combination but I have a better fondness for something else.
 
Nature Boy said:
The Japanese had the 6.5 and got beat by the .30 cal. ;)
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The Italians did, too. :)

For my favorite rifle cartridge, I am not sure. I do love the 6.5x55, my CZ makes it into a great hunting round. I love the .270 because it was in the first all-around big game rifle I bought. The .45/70 can be a lot of fun, or downright miserable depending on the loading. With light recoil, the .257 Roberts is a great deer round, as is the .243. The .30-30 rides in my all-time favorite rifle, the 1894 Winchester, and the .35 Remington and Marlin 336 go hand in hand. The .223 does duty as a defensive stalwart as well as a fun medium critter getter in a bolt or single shot. Then there is the .30-06 in the Garand. You just can’t beat that combo for nostalgic fun at the range.

Of all these choices… I still find the .22 LR the one I find as my favorite round in a rifle. I have one (or more) in lever, bolt, pump, rolling block and semi auto actions, and I enjoy shooting every one of them. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
I love the 7mm… 270 w and 7mmRM, really I was hunting from 16 years to 22 with my rem 700 BDL… I remember big moments with it!!

later changed it and I started to hunt with 30-06 and 308w, and maybe hunted more animal with the 30-06…
But for me , the 7mm made incredible shoots , really flat and fast caliber.

It’s true , the 30-06 seems less loudness and has less recoil , good points for it

Now, I would like to test 6.5 creed and 270wsm .
 
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WisBorn said:
It's the ultimate cartridge for everything that I hunt in North America and a very very good target cartridge the 308 Winchester :thumbup::thumbup:
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As well as my first big game cartridge. :thumbup:
I never was much of a target shooter (unless the "target" is a varmint, a pest, or an animal I'm going to eat) but the 308 Winchester is so good at everything big game, it's almost boring! ;)
I "stepped up" to a 30-06, and eventually a .30 caliber magnum for big game hunting a long time ago. Admittedly, the faster stepping .30 calibers don't kill mule deer and elk any better or faster than my old "three-oh-eight," but their paper ballistics are more exciting. Besides, my 308 Norma Mag has a belt - belts on rifle cartridges seem to make some rifle shooters foam at the mouth. I like that. :D
 
My favorite rifle is my MarkV ultra lightweight 7rm. I really like 300 mags also. But the 308win has a good balance of power to recoil and can be had in lightweight short rifles.

Now I live in Wisconsin and hunt marshes and woods most of the time so the 308win works nicely.
If I lived where @.308 Norma does I would have a 300mag :)
 
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