Does cartridge selection even matter these days?

Gatehouse said:
Does it?

Almost all game is shot at less than 300 yards. Most is shot at less than 200 yards.

We have very good bullets these days

99.9% of Canadian hunters will never shoot at a grizzly bear.

Except for grizzlies, I'd have no issue shooting anything in North America with good bullets (like the TTSX) with a .260 on up.

Put a good bullet in the right place, and the animal will die. If we want to hedge our bets, then use a .270/.308/30/06/7RM

I don't even know why we discuss "what is best cartridge" anymore. They all work.
Click to expand...

I strongly disagree with the trend to use the small calibers. Has everyone become a sissy?
That said, most hunters would do better using a caliber they feel comfortable with, so long as it's appropriate, in other words the largest caliber they shoot well.
The threads of guys using 243 for moose, 223 for deer are ridiculous,IMO.
 
I guess the second key word is: Ego.

And it works both ways...

"I can kill anything, including one ton mooses, with my .024 Zinger by Mattel!"

Conversely...

"I hunt everything from rabbits to T. Rex with my .469 Shouldermasher Super Magnum Express! If they're good enough for A-10 Warthogs, then they're good enough for me, I always say! Aaarrrr!!!"

:stirthepot2:

:)
 
IMHO. guys should spend less time agonizing over cartridge selection and more time learning about the game they are going to persue with said cartridge...

My oldest son and I went out last weekend to look for elk sign and maybe run into a decent buck...we walked a lot, about 8km on Saturday..saw some elk sign and figured out a couple likely bedding areas,ran into a decent WT buck , I pushed him out of a strip of bush bordering the river after we saw him and a doe go in....he was moving too fast to get a shot but we had fun......never once whle we were out there did we discuss cartridges...seems like once the view changes from computer screen to bush you don't think about what your rifle is chambered in....just get out and hunt.....with your 30-30 or your 300 RUM...it doesn't matter much once you're out there....
Oh,..and he was carrying his Ruger M77 lefty in 30-06 loaded with Fed factory 165 TSX's, I carried a Pre'64 M70 Fwt in 308....never felt undergunned for anything that may have turned up....
 
The Scandanavian way

tiriaq said:
A lot of hunters spend more time worrying about the details of their rifle than actually learning how to shoot it.
If there were a shooting competence test before a hunting licence was issued, how many hunters wouldn't get tags?
Click to expand...

Makes a lot of sense and will contribute to a greater sense of safety. I know, I know, some people's grandfathers hunted for decades with nary a test in test in sight but given the slob gun handling I witness at the range it makes me wonder how some can shoot safely if effectively!!

I believe that is what they do in the Scandinavian countries. Seems to work for them.
 
bearkilr said:
I strongly disagree with the trend to use the small calibers. Has everyone become a sissy?
That said, most hunters would do better using a caliber they feel comfortable with, so long as it's appropriate, in other words the largest caliber they shoot well.
The threads of guys using 243 for moose, 223 for deer are ridiculous,IMO.
Click to expand...

The 6.5x54 M-S was used with great success over 100 years ago. It used a 160gr bullet pushed between 2200 and 2300 fps, and with that level of performance it was widely used in Africa before WWII on all sorts of thin skin game. And while the 7x57 isn't really a small bore cartridge, it's initial - and very usefull - loading of 173gr bullet at 2300 fps is considered anemic by today's standards.
 
My reason for having a magnum rifle is that the TTSX's are too expensive. Having another rifle in a bigger caliber solved that problem, now I can use Accubonds or Interbonds and save money.:p;)
 
Hunted for years with a 25.06, out in eastern Alberta.

Moved back to BC, here in the E. Kootenays, and carried on with it...

Until I started hearing too many stories about grizz encounters of the not so friendly kind.

When I had a super deal on a Vanguard 300 WM offered to me by a budd, I pretty much jumped at it.

There's a story circulating just the last couple weeks in which, over by the Bull River, someone stumbled onto an elk kill, and immediately found himself being charged by an irate grizz sow. Tale has it, 5 very hasty shots later she hit the dirt 30 yards from him. COs confirmed it was legitimate self-defense scenario.

Hate to find myself in a similar circumstance with my 25.06, if you know what I mean.

Then again, I'd hate to find myself in a similar circumstance even if I had a freakin' cannon handy!!!
 
Agreed, especially with today's "super bullets". I don't much care if I have a 25-06 or a 7X57 or a 30-06. Load it with a TSX and I'm happy. Eveything else is mental masturbation.

My little "collection" reflects that. Instead of one of everything I run 270's and then the 358 Norma when the 270 (or anything else up to and including the 300's) doesn't seem like enough gun.
 
RickF said:
Agreed, especially with today's "super bullets". I don't much care if I have a 25-06 or a 7X57 or a 30-06. Load it with a TSX and I'm happy. Eveything else is mental masturbation.

My little "collection" reflects that. Instead of one of everything I run 270's and then the 358 Norma when the 270 (or anything else up to and including the 300's) doesn't seem like enough gun.
Click to expand...

I've recently acquired the two calibers you've mentioned in a pair of Husqvarnas from a guy on this site, Why not? . If you don't mind me asking, what rifle do you have chambered in 358 NM? Do you reload for it and if so, :)perhaps PM me if you'd like to share any details. I'm just starting to reload some for mine and one of the bullets I'm trying out, and will likely settle on, is the Barnes 225gr TSX.
 
Yeah, I load a little... ;) And the 225TSX is my go-to bullet in the Norma.

I'll send a PM later. Or send me a PM with your phone number, and I'll call tonight. We're both in BC so no time zone issues.
 
i agree completley there is something to be said for the one rifle man i use a cz550 full stock in 308 for every medium to big game animal and i have a anchutz 22lr i use for plinking and pest control and some small game hunting and have never found either rifle incapable of what i use them for, having said that i also have a tikka 6.5 swede and 2 cz452 22s but they are more for the wife and kids but i have the option to use them if i want. but i love using my one big bore and 1 rimfire for everything i have a good grasp of my 2 rifles eventhough i have more but almolst never use them myself
 
jcbruno said:
i agree completley there is something to be said for the one rifle man i use a cz550 full stock in 308 for every medium to big game animal and i have a anchutz 22lr i use for plinking and pest control and some small game hunting and have never found either rifle incapable of what i use them for, having said that i also have a tikka 6.5 swede and 2 cz452 22s but they are more for the wife and kids but i have the option to use them if i want. but i love using my one big bore and 1 rimfire for everything i have a good grasp of my 2 rifles eventhough i have more but almolst never use them myself
Click to expand...

I have a couple of 'primary' rifles I prefer for big game but I do have a 'few' others that, under some/certain conditions, may get called upon on occasion;). And, have a couple geared toward AB and pest control use. Beyond that and as partially a reason, I like reloading and shooting so the 'numbers' of rifles and variety of calibers of rifles, shotguns and handguns, keep me occupied.

Visiting our Daughter, Son In Law and Granddaughter in Sherwood Park :Dusually includes a 'shopping' trip to P&d and WSS.

I notice you're in the PPCLI. My cousin that lived in Ft. Sask., who recently passed away:(, had also been a member.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
Remember...........

Beware of the man with just one gun.........
he likely knows hows to use it!!!
Click to expand...

Or has so little interest that he forgot where he put it.;) The best shots I know are enthusiasts.Enthusiasts are seldom happy with just one, and naturally drift over to bigger, faster, more accurate, nicer looking, classic or different.
 
Shot placement trumps cartridge selection..... ;) :p

2007-10-27_091302_1aCoffee.gif

NAA.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom