When I say best, I mean best for the animal you are persuing, accuracy and thump being the factors. All rifles have their own preferences, but within that, so does the hunter.
An example of what I mean are of course the 45/70 and the 35 whelan.
Great Rifles with #### factory ammo. The 45/70 has benefited from Hornady, but it still is not up to snuff with the 450 or your handloads. Based on that,
I rank the 45/70 and the 35 Whelan as pretty low on what is commercially available in factory loads in Canada for the rifle's potential ability.
In the States the 45/70 would be very high on my list for Deer to Grizzly based on the wider selection.
Perhaps that is the better question than my original. What centrefire calibre
gets to see it's near full potential from it's factory offerings. (I know handloading brings out the full potential, but you know what I am getting at)
For example, I think that the 30 30 Leverevolution is about as good as you can ask for from the 3030 in a factory ammunition. (of course only if your rifle likes it)
I amsurprised that so many of you have not tried some factory cartridge and said, holy ####, this is the one. And asked what cartridge you use, your bias comes spewing out as if no other cartridges exist.
For me, the half brass imperial with the ringed brass was it for me.
There was nothing that shell could not knock down when compared to what else was available. Then there came the Double XX and wow, now there was a new one, that was not just new, but better, in my oppinion.
With all the offerings there are, I would choose imperial half brass and double XX winchesters over them all. Again this is my oppinion, but I know that i see my true potential with a 12 gauge and my hunting style and my targets with these shells. Target? Seaducks.