Top 10 Canadian Calibers of all time.

Seabass said:
Good morning CGN"ers. As I'm drinking my morning coffee I was thinking to myself, has anyone ever done a study of the most popular Canadian calibers? I'm sure you fellas have your own thoughts on the matter, not hard to get an opinion here!!:p Have a good day

Anyway, here I go with a couple reasons why. Tough question really, being as its so subjective and individual.

303 British: Abundant army surplus with a cheap price made this a faveriote for Canadian familys. Who didn't grow up with a 303 in the house?

.308 Winchester.

30-30: Probally spliting hairs in populairity with the 303, Grandpas meat getter... Oh yeah,, and mine and probally yours at one time.

.22 Rimfire: Wither it be practice or small game hunting, the .22 is still king. Even has a couple big game scaples to its creidit!

12G, Not really a caliber but whatever. Its another been there done that. Veristile is its name, from birds, small game, home protection, and big game.

30-06: The magnum of its time. Probally the most popular caliber in North America. Still probally find more of these in Moose camps than anything else.

243: The deer hunters rifle, little recoil, deadly on deer sized game, the 243 still thrives as a good beginners caliber while maintaining a good record for putting meat on the table.

338 WM: The word Magnum, beatiful isen't it!? Although not as old as some other calibers here it certainly has grown into one of the most popular calibers around. With good accuacy and good ballistics it is a great all around cartridge. Dare I say the perfect elk caliber?

270: Some guy a long time ago wrote about it being good for somthing? I forget what? :D Light bullets, low recoil, a flat trajectory AND GOOD PRESS, made this one very popular. The old .270 vs debates still continues and for good reason.

7mm: Another Magnum that infected the masses with its name. Apperently the word Magnum has an ability to make or break a caliber. Simply put, the 7mm works well.

300WM. Very accuate and a faveriote of shooters and hunters alike. Flat shooting without too much recoil for the average guy, the 300wm continues to be a top seller in the modern day and age.


So there you go, thats my thoughts on what are possibly the most common calibers out there in Canadian gun lockers. So what do you think? Was I close or did I complety have it backwards?

Cheers

Seabass
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There, fixed the list for you, John
 
Seabass said:
303 British: Abundant army surplus with a cheap price made this a faveriote for Canadian familys. Who didn't grow up with a 303 in the house? Concurr.

30-30: Probally spliting hairs in populairity with the 303, Grandpas meat getter... Oh yeah,, and mine and probally yours at one time. Concurr.

.22 Rimfire: Wither it be practice or small game hunting, the .22 is still king. Even has a couple big game scaples to its creidit! Concurr.

30-06: The magnum of its time. Probally the most popular caliber in North America. Still probally find more of these in Moose camps than anything else. Concurr.
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I disagree with the rest of your list.

My top 10, in order, would be:

.303
.30-30
.22RF
.30-06
.44-40 (probably the most common caliber in the last 30 years of the 19th century)
.308WIN (ubiquitously used).
8mm Mauser (HUGELY popular from 1914 through about 1955 due to all the surplus Mausers floating around back then.
.45-70 (THE gun on the Prairies for 50+ years)
.38-55 (hugely popular i nthe days of black powder cartridges)
.22-250 (probably the most popular varminting round anywhere).
 
LOL, being a reloader and enjoying alot of shooting I pick up range brass to feed the guns I don't have brass for and so it doesn't get tossed into the trash. The calibers of choice around Bonnyville Alberta judging by the contents of the brass buckets in 07 was 320 rounds of 7mm rem mag, 285 rounds of 270 win, 165 rounds 300 win mag and about 100 30-06. There was also a box and a half of 270 WSM and 300 WSM. I wouldn't say this is an accurate judgement of what is being used, because only an idiot throws away weatherby brass that is worth $4 each. This is just the common calibers, not the weatherby or RUM family or any wildcats.

JT.
 
Gatehouse said:
From looking at the bins at the range, I'd have to agree with you. I was hooting an SKS at the range the other day. From prone, I was averaging about 50% for hits on our gong at 340 yards, using cheap FMJ ammo and the irons sights. Tons of fun, for very cheap.
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See what a difference it is when someone can shoot a rifle properly in the first place. :)

Myself, my wife, and our 13 year old daughter shoot our SKS's out to the 300 yard gong with about the same results with the milsurp ammo. Shooting at a 200 yard gongs result in a much greater hit ratio. Personally I'd be comfortable using this caliber hunting out to 200 yards Iron sights, 100 yards no problem. :) Then again we practice allot.

I'm almost ready for reloading this cartridge type for this season and our tiny Island Deer which should improve performance even more. I have hard primers (CCI #34 Arsenal), good brass, some 125gr 310 dia Hornday bullets, I just need the powder, mind you some Barnes tsx bullets would be nice. :D

PS...Anyone in BC know where I can find a box of those Barnes tsx? In 6.5x55 Swede as well? :D
 
Back to the list...

Over all one might have to rephrase the question to reflect the vast differences in Regions and types of hunting conditions across Canada.
 
Seabass said:
Good morning CGN"ers. As I'm drinking my morning coffee I was thinking to myself, has anyone ever done a study of the most popular Canadian calibers? I'm sure you fellas have your own thoughts on the matter, not hard to get an opinion here!!:p Have a good day

Anyway, here I go with a couple reasons why. Tough question really, being as its so subjective and individual.

303 British: Abundant army surplus with a cheap price made this a faveriote for Canadian familys. Who didn't grow up with a 303 in the house?

30-30: Probally spliting hairs in populairity with the 303, Grandpas meat getter... Oh yeah,, and mine and probally yours at one time.

.22 Rimfire: Wither it be practice or small game hunting, the .22 is still king. Even has a couple big game scaples to its creidit!

12G, Not really a caliber but whatever. Its another been there done that. Veristile is its name, from birds, small game, home protection, and big game.

30-06: The magnum of its time. Probally the most popular caliber in North America. Still probally find more of these in Moose camps than anything else.

243: The deer hunters rifle, little recoil, deadly on deer sized game, the 243 still thrives as a good beginners caliber while maintaining a good record for putting meat on the table.

338 WM: The word Magnum, beatiful isen't it!? Although not as old as some other calibers here it certainly has grown into one of the most popular calibers around. With good accuacy and good ballistics it is a great all around cartridge. Dare I say the perfect elk caliber?

270: Some guy a long time ago wrote about it being good for somthing? I forget what? :D Light bullets, low recoil, a flat trajectory AND GOOD PRESS, made this one very popular. The old .270 vs debates still continues and for good reason.

7mm: Another Magnum that infected the masses with its name. Apperently the word Magnum has an ability to make or break a caliber. Simply put, the 7mm works well.

300WM. Very accuate and a faveriote of shooters and hunters alike. Flat shooting without too much recoil for the average guy, the 300wm continues to be a top seller in the modern day and age.


So there you go, thats my thoughts on what are possibly the most common calibers out there in Canadian gun lockers. So what do you think? Was I close or did I complety have it backwards?

Cheers

Seabass
Click to expand...
I think you got em all bro. Seriously i would have said the same ones.

Edit, you missed .308. A lot o boys i know hunt this round.
 
I would guess that the following six cartridges constitute the vast majority of non-surplus rifle ammunition sales. .22 LR would be at the top, but the rest are in no particular order.

-.22 LR
-.223 Remington
-.243 Winchester
-.270 Winchester
-.308 Winchester
-.30-06

.303 British and .30-30 must still be quite popular, as Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart commonly stock ammunition and also the sheer number of rifles so chambered kicking around. Both of these are definitely not as popular as they used to be.

The last two spots in my list would be 7mm Remington Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum.

I'm not sure how the number of shotshells sold compares to rifle ammo, but 12 gauge is obviously #1, followed by 20 gauge at a distant second.

In conclusion, I think the best way to determine what the most popular cartridges in Canada are would be to take a look at the ammunition cabinet at Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire.
 
Mike Oxbig said:
I think you got em all bro. Seriously i would have said the same ones.

Edit, you missed .308. A lot o boys i know hunt this round.
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I know.:redface: Like I said I was drinking my morning coffee at the time so my brain was still in 1st or 2nd gear still!

I should have knocked out the 7mag in its place. but then the 7mm guys would all be screaming.

Like I said its a tough list to make.. 410 too, which one do you bump for it?

It will always be a good discussion.
 
Seabass said:
I know.:redface: Like I said I was drinking my morning coffee at the time so my brain was still in 1st or 2nd gear still!

I should have knocked out the 7mag in its place. but then the 7mm guys would all be screaming.

Like I said its a tough list to make.. 410 too, which one do you bump for it?

It will always be a good discussion.
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I'd bump the .243 or th 7mm in place of the .308.

We're not talking about what you like best here right? It's more of a "if i crashed every hunt camp in canada, what am i most likely to find on average"

Great list and good idea.
 
Mike Oxbig said:
I'd bump the .243 or th 7mm in place of the .308.

We're not talking about what you like best here right? It's more of a "if i crashed every hunt camp in canada, what am i most likely to find on average"

Great list and good idea.
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Your correct, this isne't my faveriote, just what I think is the most popular out there. Good call.

I would have had 44-40, 45colt, 44mag, 45/70, 375H&H, if it were my faveriotes.;)
 
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