What do you think is the most underrated handgun/rifle cartridges?

[Legionnaire]

Ha! Ha! Ha! There you go, Legionaire - you've gone and made me feel old! My first hunting rifle would have been a 7mm-08 instead of a .308 too, except for the fact I started big game hunting and killed my first deer in 1963 - about 17 years before the 7mm-08 was commercialized.
I agree with you though.

I got into shooting later than many; I was in my mid thirties. But you could have opted for the 7x57 Mauser (... or maybe the 6.5 Swede)!

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

It's interesting - as is often the case - to put others' responses through the generational filter of one's own perspective.

This is a great thread.


Todd.

 

[MARKMALL]

22 Hornet and 358 Winchester

 

[.308 Norma]

I got into shooting later than many; I was in my mid thirties. But you could have opted for the 7x57 Mauser (... or maybe the 6.5 Swede)!

Yes sir, you are right - the 7x57 Mauser and the 6.5 Swede were both around when I started hunting. As a matter of fact, when someone said they had a "7mm" back then, they meant 7mm Mauser, not 7mm Rem Mag like they usually mean nowadays.
However, the main reason I started with a 308 Winchester was because mom and dad bought it for me, and dad wanted me to have a rifle just like his - a Model 100 Winchester chambered in .308. Model 100s were also chambered in .243 back then, but while dad figured .243s were okay for mule deer, he didn't consider them adequate for elk. I don't want to start any arguments, but I generally still don't consider .243s adequate for elk.