The most efficient hunting cartridges
- Thread starter todbartell
- Start date
I think I'm starting to transition to non magnum cartridges. I started with a 30/30, bought a .338 wm for some reason and now I'm working with an 8x57 and .303 british as "do it all" calibers. I am an adult onset shooter/hunter so this has all occurred in a manner of years.
I imagine the 8x57 would score well in the efficiency rankings. I have been loading it with 196 and 220 grain bullets, I tried some 170's but they were all over the place. Maybe it could try to mirror the scores of the .308 and heavy for cal 30-06 in the top rankings with correct loading.
The fullstock zastava it is chambered in would also make an incredibly efficient club if it came down to it.
I imagine the 8x57 would score well in the efficiency rankings. I have been loading it with 196 and 220 grain bullets, I tried some 170's but they were all over the place. Maybe it could try to mirror the scores of the .308 and heavy for cal 30-06 in the top rankings with correct loading.
The fullstock zastava it is chambered in would also make an incredibly efficient club if it came down to it.
I remember shooting my lightweight hunting rifle. Didn’t kick a ton to me. I saw somebody else shoot it and could hardy believe how much their shoulder recoiled backwards lol. We can handle a lot more if we get passed that fear
We have nothing to fear, but fear itself. FDR on recoil.
I've got 4 Kimbers in Magnum chamberings from 270 WSM to .338 Win Mag. Recoil is like a major league pitcher wound up and threw a potato chip at you. Much ado about nothing.
I notice the recoil on my magnum calibers after about 5 rounds but when it comes to squeezing off a kill shot in that moment while hunting..... can't say I've ever noticed recoil. I'd assume the way the brain is functioning in that moment , causes us to not feel much outside of the body's other senses tasking the brain for the kill shot. This is absent while target shooting so we get the whole experience, including the felt recoil. Just my thoughts.
my 7mm rem mag in the ruger walnut stock, kicked like a mule with the factory pad but with the decellerator it's like shooting a .308 as far as felt recoil. Makes for better shots as there is no flinching caused by fear of that jabbing recoil. Never give up on an accurate rifle because of shoulder jabbing recoil without trying a decellerator pad first. I was also surprised at how tame my .338 win mag was in a composite stock after initially wondering if it was too much recoil for my slight frame..... but again, decellerator pad makes it a non-issue.
my 7mm rem mag in the ruger walnut stock, kicked like a mule with the factory pad but with the decellerator it's like shooting a .308 as far as felt recoil. Makes for better shots as there is no flinching caused by fear of that jabbing recoil. Never give up on an accurate rifle because of shoulder jabbing recoil without trying a decellerator pad first. I was also surprised at how tame my .338 win mag was in a composite stock after initially wondering if it was too much recoil for my slight frame..... but again, decellerator pad makes it a non-issue.
What we usually do with magnum cartridges is set up with 5 or 6 rifles apiece and shoot them in rotation so they don't heat up too much. After a couple hours of that someone usually fires up the barbeque while the others keep shooting, then have lunch. Depending on the mood we might break a couple cases of clays with trap loads, then go back to the rifles and shoot til dark. That can easily run into a couple or three hundred rifle rounds. Then we drive home #####ing about the price of barrels, and debate stopping for ice cream. Recoil doesn't even get mentioned. It might be important to some, but not ice cream important.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
In what world does a 270 kick like a 257 Roy? I’ve owned both a 25-06 (closest to a 270 I’ve owned) and 257 WBY, noticeable difference in recoil. A 243 is a more appropriate cartridge for introducing a young kid to big game calibres, unless you’re wanting them to not enjoy shooting for some strange reason.
On two separate occasions, I took two different 16 or 17 year old boys to the range with me. Neither had ever fired a CF rifle of any sort. With a bit of coaching for proper technique, I started them with a 22-250 and then some middle of the road caliber and by the end of it on the same day had them both shooting a 375H&H with no troubles at all. You should have seen the grins.
In the real world. Weatherbys arent exactly famous for being light, and a .257 is a cream-puff to shoot. If I havent owned a dozen .270s Wins I havent had one, and currently have 5 in all 3 flavors. I’ve only got 2 257s left, had 3 for awhile.
My boy started with a 2 pound .22 just before he was 4, .223 and 44/40 shortly after, went though the .243 like blur and was on the 257 by age 10 and was comfortable taking a few shots from a .300 and .338 now and again. Comfortable enough that he suspected I was trying to pass off a baby’s gun off on him when he could finaly get a big game licence at 12. I actually had to get another one to use when we bunted together to convince him that it was a real rifle. He got some cred back by useing a muzzleloader with 3 pyrodex pellets though. Those were in the CWD days of shooting truck loads of deer. I did relent and let him use a 300 Weatherby Ultra Lightweight for bis first moose at 13. Things kind of snowballed from there and he was over 125 big game animals by age 17. Many of those were in Australia with a tupperware 30-06. I gothim his own 300 about then and hes switched back and forth since then. My daughter got a later start, and shot her first deer with a .243 at 12. By the next year she was useing a 7/08, mostly to get the weight down and has sort of stuck there for big game. She also started muzzleloading that year and got her moose with smokeless loads in a savage that year.
I’m a terrible parent.
In the real world. Weatherbys arent exactly famous for being light, and a .257 is a cream-puff to shoot. If I havent owned a dozen .270s Wins I havent had one, and currently have 5 in all 3 flavors. I’ve only got 2 257s left, had 3 for awhile.
My boy started with a 2 pound .22 just before he was 4, .223 and 44/40 shortly after, went though the .243 like blur and was on the 257 by age 10 and was comfortable taking a few shots from a .300 and .338 now and again. Comfortable enough that he suspected I was trying to pass off a baby’s gun off on him when he could finaly get a big game licence at 12. I actually had to get another one to use when we bunted together to convince him that it was a real rifle. He got some cred back by useing a muzzleloader with 3 pyrodex pellets though. Those were in the CWD days of shooting truck loads of deer. I did relent and let him use a 300 Weatherby Ultra Lightweight for bis first moose at 13. Things kind of snowballed from there and he was over 125 big game animals by age 17. Many of those were in Australia with a tupperware 30-06. I gothim his own 300 about then and hes switched back and forth since then. My daughter got a later start, and shot her first deer with a .243 at 12. By the next year she was useing a 7/08, mostly to get the weight down and has sort of stuck there for big game. She also started muzzleloading that year and got her moose with smokeless loads in a savage that year.
I’m a terrible parent.
can be worst if they ever had the buffaloes fever ...
- Location
- Saskatchewan
The OP’s numbers are very different from the ones you just listed, and I remember putting my 25-06 into a recoil calculator and it came in around 20 lbs not 10-12 pounds.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
In the real world. Weatherbys arent exactly famous for being light, and a .257 is a cream-puff to shoot. If I havent owned a dozen .270s Wins I havent had one, and currently have 5 in all 3 flavors. I’ve only got 2 257s left, had 3 for awhile.
My boy started with a 2 pound .22 just before he was 4, .223 and 44/40 shortly after, went though the .243 like blur and was on the 257 by age 10 and was comfortable taking a few shots from a .300 and .338 now and again. Comfortable enough that he suspected I was trying to pass off a baby’s gun off on him when he could finaly get a big game licence at 12. I actually had to get another one to use when we bunted together to convince him that it was a real rifle. He got some cred back by useing a muzzleloader with 3 pyrodex pellets though. Those were in the CWD days of shooting truck loads of deer. I did relent and let him use a 300 Weatherby Ultra Lightweight for bis first moose at 13. Things kind of snowballed from there and he was over 125 big game animals by age 17. Many of those were in Australia with a tupperware 30-06. I gothim his own 300 about then and hes switched back and forth since then. My daughter got a later start, and shot her first deer with a .243 at 12. By the next year she was useing a 7/08, mostly to get the weight down and has sort of stuck there for big game. She also started muzzleloading that year and got her moose with smokeless loads in a savage that year.
I’m a terrible parent.
Soooo terrible! How dare you let your kids grow to love shooting and hunting!
I guess I misunderstood what you were saying, I was thinking you meant starting them off the bat with the likes of a 257 WBY, not that they can handle it when taught how to shoot and eased into it a little.
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- Location
- Saskatchewan
I’m sure they were ear to ear! I misunderstood Dogleg in thinking he was suggesting starting them on a larger caliber, but as has been pointed that young shooters can handle them with someone teaching them.
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Soooo terrible! How dare you let your kids grow to love shooting and hunting!
I guess I misunderstood what you were saying, I was thinking you meant starting them off the bat with the likes of a 257 WBY, not that they can handle it when taught how to shoot and eased into it a little.
Im surprised i never got reported for child abuse.
I like ice cream hehehe but when you have been dealing with hypermobility and spontaneous sublaxation of your sacroilliac joints coupled with herniated L2 and 3, for 20+ years ...... felt recoil becomes a concern. Not stopping me from hunting though.
