What is the most underrated cartridge?

I pretty much hissed and dismissed the .30-30 for being a boring old , underpowered round, UNTIL, I saw it drop (over the course of 10 years with different hunting parties) at least a DOZEN huge moose. (none shot by me....) and each one was with that boring underpowered round. I now have 4 rifles in .30-30 win because I witnessed its magic. Only 3 times do I remember the shooter needing a second shot, and they were from a boat at the limit of the rounds effectiveness - 150-175 yards. I have also to say that its cousin the 32 special is an awesome moose dropper, and that is the one I opted for when I was given a choice of either a .30-30 or a 32 spl after my grandfather gave up hunting due to illness when I was a teen.
 
norskie said:
.280
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X2 on the 280 rem - sandwiched between the 270 and 06 and over shadowed by its big brother the 7mag. You get a 270 if ya wanna be a sheep hunter, get an 06 if you don't know what you want, and a 7mag if you want more power. Or if you want to buy your ammo at Wally World or CT.
If you had one you won't need any of the others.
 
sgt.rock said:
I'm gonna beat Gatehouse and proclaim my New King......................the .375 Ruger. Hits harder than the H & H, uses a shorter action, more efficient powder column, Needs shorter barrels to get "up to speed" than the H & H making it OH so nimble in the woods.....................I love my Ruger Alaskan.
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The only people that undervalue the New King are the unknowing and ignorant. ;)
 
sgt.rock said:
i'm gonna beat gatehouse and proclaim my new king......................the .375 ruger. Hits harder than the h & h, uses a shorter action, more efficient powder column, needs shorter barrels to get "up to speed" than the h & h making it oh so nimble in the woods.....................i love my ruger alaskan.
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lmao !
 
.375 Winchester

Performance way beyond what it's paper ballistics dictate. It's a hammer on whitetails. Accurate too, I had a Marlin that would put 3 x 220 gr Hornadys fuelled by AA1680 into 1 1/8" with boring regularity at 100m.
 
I think there are a lot of cartridges that deserve more accolades than they get, 280 as mentioned, as well as a lot of other older cartridges, 358 Win is another already mentioned, but in my opinion the most under rated of all, by everyone who has never hunted with one is the 350 Rem Mag. I too was guilty of dismissing it as a joke until I got a Mod 7 KS on a trade and did a little hunting with it, I was VERY impressed with this little cartridge and I must say it kills all out of proportion to it's paper numbers. My 350 is now my constant spring companion and resides in a little niche in my camper all summer as a "just in case" gun. This little rifle and cartridge has derailed double digits in black bears and I don't recall ever shooting one twice, from point blank to 300 mtrs!!!!
 
All though I cannot count the how many times I have heard people flame the calibers there are three (1) .270 (2) .308 and (3) 30-30 and not far behind them is the .303 Brit... For some reason people think you need stupidly more power then what they have but the will kill any quarry you will find in North America.
 
I`ve been thinking more about this one and it seems like the cartridges have gotten smaller. From reading a lot of posts on those forums it seems that the only thing able to kill a large animal such as a bull moose has to be a belted magnum or short mag. The gunmakers are out to promote bigger and better calibers and as a result, anything less than a 300 magnum is not enough. How quickly the hunting community has forgotten that the 30-30 "won the west",, The 303 was the british commonwealth battle rifle in two world wars and the 30-06 was america`s battle rifle in the same wars. Those three rounds in many different rifles have won wars, fed families, filled freezers and killed predators from a raccoon to the mighty grizzly for over a century and all three are overlooked and under rated because "you need a magnum". What really changed?, The size of the animal, The size and speed of the bullet or was it the skill of the hunter? PS, I have seen a lot of moose taken with a 243.
 
6.5x55 the anemic North American loadings offer little over 30-30 ballistics and the stats in reloading manuals are little better due to the import of so many Craig Jorgenson rifles.
Even more recent Norma and lapua offerings are fairly lack luster.
The 6.5x55 in a modern rifle or a good sweed M96/M38/M98S&L should do much better. Its every bit as good as the 260Rem better even when considering added case capacity, yet is down loaded to accommodate those old craigs.

When reloading I use 260 info as I know my Win M70 will take it....why not? The 260 is also chambered in the same gun. Difference? One uses a necked down 308 the other (new case design) but esentially a necked down 8x57
 
'gerard488' I think you missed the memo. Short mags are now only good for black bear or smaller sized animals

I think a lot has changed in ballistics. More than just a bit of it is self promotion and little #### syndrom, but some may also have to do with what we are tossing at the targets.
I read that below 2200fps many bullets simply don't perform well. The solid copper construction, heavy jackets and such don't open up reliably at lower velocities.
The 30-06 of 1906 was only about 2600fps at the muzzle so this would mean a .308" hole in your moose at 300+ yards not exactly going to deliver DRT performance. That being said the bullet construction that delivers said performance was only designed for those super hi velocity magnums to begin with.

Moving forward I agree that older cartridges work just as well at killing game as they ever did.....just like a Hudson hornet was a great oval track racer back in the 40's, or a 69 SS camaro was king of the 1/4 mile or an enzo ferrari will push 300km/h from a production car. Will they all get you from A to B? Yup. Are they all great cars to have in your garage? Yup. Can they compete with one another on the track? NO....but they're not suposed to. They each have their place and purpose and a paticular type of driver that enjoys them.
Besides it would be boring (though economical) if we all had 30-06's.
And even an anemic hand load can kill effectively. My father this past November dropped a 975lb Bisson in ND with a 45-70gvt loaded to 1235fps and a 450gr cast lead bullet. It went through the animal quartering away (ook out a rib going in and went through the oposing front leg on the way out, never found the bullet. During his load testing I expressed my concerns about such a low velocity...but no more.he probably could have killed 2 with that one shot.
 
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I am inclined to agree with several posters on here regarding underrated chamberings.
The 8x57, the 350 Rem Mag, the 30-30, the 303 Brit all have those who look down their nose at these.

But they are all proven performers, and work very well in the field, under actual hunting conditions.

As has been noted, bullet choice is important. [the 30-30 does NOT need a monometal bullet to work well!]

I have an 8x57 in a M700 Classic Remington. Loaded to it's potential, it is very effective. 4 shots fired at game...2 dead moose, 2 dead Black bear.

Love my 8x57!! Dave.
 
Under rated and always forgotten about?
I toss the 22 rim fire into the capella.
Just for the sheer enjoyment out of shooting off round after round
at a minimal cost.
Cans, gophers, feathers, bugs, et all.
Heck, these things get passed around like a dewbie at a toga party.
The only one I see on here having an out right blast with this
round is Clayne_B with his five hundred round targets.
I called B.S. at first, now I chuckle at his achievement.

Yup, the little round that does.................. :wave:
 
7.5x55 Swiss...very powerful and accurate round, def helps that the surplus rounds are almost "match" grade and the rifles/barrels that are chambered for it are also of high quality.

Not a CHEAP round but and not very common (which I enjoy) but def worth a look at!
 
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