What is the best round ever?

[Exposure]

Hey all-

New guy here with a question that will surely stir up some controversy. What do you think is the greatest round ever produced. Please answer on whatever your personal opinion is. I am only curious about personal opinion. Not ballistics, not energy, not velocity, just plain old personal opinion. I have included my choices.

I have four that I think are tied for 1st place:

.50 cal. This round is so versatile that well, how could you better it?

30-.06 The round that primarily defended our freedom through two world wars.

.45 ACP Do I even need to elaborate on this one?

.22 LR Probably the best round ever produced. Is there anyone here who didn't learn to shoot with the .22 or better yet fall in love with it?

Anyway I am just kind of curious as to what you guys and gals think. This is a really wonderful website and I feel fortunate to have stumbled onto it!

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

Best round for what? There are rounds for rifles that are even more versitile than the .30-06, but due to their not being as popular, may not be the best choice for availability reasons. All things considered, I think the .30-06 is a good choice for best ever rifle round, however. Most people can handle the recoil without developing a flinch, and it is capable of taking anly big game animal in the world. I wouldn't recommend it for some of the more dangerous animals, such as cape buffalo or grizzlies, but with 200 grianers, it can handle them in a pinch as well. You can go as light as 100 grain for varmints and such, and there's a lot in between them two for everything else.

For self defense handguns, probably the .45 ACP.

 

[Exposure]

The Real Hawkeye-

My question is not about the best round for what purpose. It is simply what is the round? The be all and end all of any round ever produced.

 

[cdbeaver]

There probably aren't many older than the .45-70, but for me the .30-06 is the most versatile in the last 100 years, the most available (maybe not today) on the store shelves, and the cartridge with the widest variety of bullets and loadings.

Yeah, I vote for the .30-06.

 

[444]

This question is so open ended that an answer would be hard to give.
Certainly the .30-06 is the best rifle caliber ever designed. It has withstood the test of time. I performs very similar to a ton of much newer cartridges that have been touted as high performance. It can shoot everything from a single 00 buckshot pellet up to 220 grain bullets and most everything in-between including saboted .224 bullets.
You really can't answer a question of the best without giving some kind of useage.
The .22LR is certainly the most popular cartridge of all time. I probably have the most fun with it. But it isn't very vesitile.

 

[JOE MACK]

Heh-heh, in my eyes, it's the .41Magnum. I've killed everything from an armadillo to wapiti with it. It's also not so common that everybody and their little, old, white-haired grandmother has one!

 

[Mulliga]

Best cartridge ever? Hmm...

The .50 BMG is really just a big .30-06.

The .22 LR is in a class by itself. It has transcended cartridges, and has pretty much become another category of firearms: rimfire. If I had only one gun, it would be a .22 LR. So it's not fair to compare the monumental (and undeniable) utility of a .22 LR rifle/pistol/revolver/drilling etc. with other cartridges. Not fair at all.

The .45 ACP is a fine round. Think about the one pistol which popularized the .45 ACP - the 1911. Granted, it's the most popular and one of the best pistols ever made. Thompsons use .45 ACP, too, and these were classic and beloved guns.

Now think of the guns chambered for .30-06 - the uber-accurate 1903. The legendary M1 Garand. The iconic BAR. The 1919 .30-cal. All very popular, all fantastic designs, and all just as lethal and effective now as they were many, many decades ago.

Was .30-06 the first smokeless powder cartridge? Nope.

Was .30-06 even the first round of its type (~.30 cal, light(er) bullet, relatively high velocity)? Nope. It was a copy of the 8mm Mauser, just as the Springfield was a copy of the Mauser rifle.

Is .30-06 the most powerful or versatile cartridge? Nope. Obviously, many are more powerful, and the .22 LR is the most versatile - chambered in rifles, pistols, and revolvers, and found in basically every gun store on the planet.

Is .30-06 better than .308/7.62 Nato? Probably not - .308 offers only 100 fps less performance in a package that is half an inch shorter and a bit more accurate. .30-06 has very slightly less drop, though.

Is .30-06 the best cartridge ever?...Yes.

"There ain't many problems a man can't fix
With seven hundred dollars and a .30-06"

 

[Exposure]

He He He-

This is going in a much different direction that I anticipated. I figured my initial offering would bring on some tirades about such rounds as:

9mm
7.62
.223

But instead people are actually agreeing with me! This could turn out to be very interesting!

 

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

I am partial to .... take a guess 7.62x51 aka .308 Win)

That said, I am thinking handgun/carbine combo. It would have to be the mighty .44 mag. Revolver self-defense and the carbine will kill large game.

What about Mr. 12 gauge? I think he would be in the running. Self-defense, small game, fowl, large game. And clay

 

[The_Antibubba]

The best round is the one the House buys!

 

[treeprof]

Hmm. In a "regular" rifle, .30-06 for all the reasons given. Semi-auto handguns, both the .45 and 9mm have endured and been chambered in a number of classic firearms. In a revolver, hard to beat the .357 mag for all-around utility. Can't leave out the .22lr for ubiquity, etc.

 

[FredieUSA]

Thats like asking what icecream is best. Or what food is best - more like it.

Usually people would say bigger punch is better. But then you cannot have a GI or anyone for that matter pack 300 rounds of 50BMG and hump a 50BMG rifle on patrol ...

.22 is awesome but could not go through sheetruck at 50yrds ...

My friend, it all depends on the application.

 

[Mil Novecientos Once]

What is the best round ever?

There are no magic bullets, only well placed shots.

 

[sm]

Handgun - 45ACP
Rifle - 30-06
Shotgun - 12 ga

.22lr , be it handgun or rifle. Has taught to many folks, taken a lot of game and provided too much fun factor.

Boy - this is hard , .357, .38 spl...these fill /filled a lot of roles as well...28 ga is better than it is suposed to be... then there is ...arrrgghh....I hate these "best dealies" .

 

[TrapperReady]

I'll go with .30-06.

Proven track record in wartime, and used by countless hunters every year for nearly a century. Ammo is easily available throughout the country, and can be had in a variety of weights and loadings -- from milsurp plinking rounds to high-tech bonded premium rounds.

Yep. That's my final answer.

 

[PaladinVC]

.45 GAP

 

[gulogulo1970]

Before I read any of the posts, all I saw was the topic line and 30-06 just jumped to mind. I don't even own one but the 30-06 is about as perfect all around modern chambering as has ever been invented.

 

[winstonsmith]

The best round ever?

THE ONE I SHOOT YOU WITH!

 

[Logan5]

.40-82 WCF, because I have one, and I'll bet you don't!

It'll smack the hell out of a whitetail.

If there really is an ultimate, I've spent a lot of time and money unnecessarily, but I'm pretty sure it depends.

 

[strambo]

I think I'll go with the 30-06 as well, I don't own one only because I have a .300Win for long range and will probably buy a .308 next, but if I could only have one it would be 30-06.

 

[duckfoot]

16inch chamber necked down to 16mm

 

[RTFM]

One shot, Multi kill.....

But for long guns I'd have to go with 30-06 / .308 and pistol the good ole .45 ACP (although I shoot a .40)

And Welcome to THR!

RTFM

 

[Brian Williams]

I believe that the 30-06 is one of the most versitile cartridges around, but it is not the best for most applications. I would rather have a 7mm-08, more and better bullets, slightly flatter trajectory, good enough for most American game.

 

[MikeB]

The answer to this question is easy. It 's the same as "What's the best gun ever?".

The one you have with you when you need it.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

I believe that the 30-06 is one of the most versitile cartridges around, but it is not the best for most applications. I would rather have a 7mm-08, more and better bullets, slightly flatter trajectory, good enough for most American game.

I like the 7mm-08 (not to mention the 7mm Mauser and the .280 Remington), but it is just not as versitile as the .30-06 Springfield. Anything from a single 00 buck shot on up to a 220 grainers, you can literally handle squirrels to grizzlies/elk/moose with the .30-06. If I were hunting grizzlies in Alaska, you could not give me a 7mm, not even a 7mm Weatherby Magnum with 175 grainers, let alone a 7mm-08. I think the .30-06, loaded with either 200 grain spitzers or 220 grain jacketed round nose, is the bare (NPI) minimum that anyone should consider on such critters. The .30-06, for North America, is clearly more versitile than any 7mm.