How Many Different Rifles/ Cartridges Have You Hunted With?

Short and sweet:
.243 own
.270 (borrowed then bought one)
.308 borrowed
.30-06 borrowed
.17 hmr own
12 ga own



Guns ive shot:
.38 special
.357 mag
.300 rem SAUM
7mm rem mag
.50 cal muzzelloader
7mm-08
.223
.22-250
.22 mag
20 ga

.270 is probably my favourite ive hunted with, favourite ive shot would be either 7mm rem mag or .300 SAUM
 
.30-30 Savage
.243 Sako
.270 Winchester
.50 Muzzle Loader

I've spent most of my time with my Remington 760 in .270. However this year I have a Weatherby Vanguard S2 in .300 win mag that I will be using this year.
 
Started with a .22 and moved on to a .223, .410 ga and .375 win Thompson combo
.300 Win Mag - fav Moose gun - if you can see it at 4X you can hit it- 180gr Nosler partition
.30-30
.22 Mag
.30-06
.22 WMR
.22-250
.25-06 - Fav Deer gun- Light recoil, super accurate, great for Wolves too if you see them.
.22 Hornet- fav gun to shoot for fun

The .300 is a Ruger M77- First rifle I bought, so maybe some sentimental value. It has killed many Moose and has never let me down. Synthetic/Stainless, so not the nicest looking, but you can hang it outside the tent and not worry about it.

.25-06 in a Weatherby Accumark. All I can say is awesome for deer whether you are hunting the bush or a field.

.22 Hornet Browning Medallion- great varmint gun and great to shoot. No recoil, super accurate and a great way to introducde the kiddies to shooting something other than the .22Lr.

Hopefully as I get older I can try as many calibers as some of the other members on this forum.
 
I'm going to say around 50 rifles in 30 cartridges over the years. For hunting, I'm pretty much down to the 8x57, 32 Special, 22 K-Hornet, 22LR (and 12 gauge for pests).
 
Just talking big game hunting:

The first cartridge I ever killed a big game animal with was a borrowed .300 savage in a savage 99. Many years later I bought two of them and they are among my favourite today.

First rifle I bought was a Rem.600 in .308 but I never really liked shooting it and never killed anything with it. Second rifle was a Win. 70 in .264 win. mag. With it I have shot heaps of game from moose to coyotes. It is probably still my "go to gun".

My wife gave me a rem. 7600 in .35 Whelen so I have used it some and killed a few deer with it. I gave her an Interarms Mark X in 7X57 mauser but I have used it more than her and killed a few bears with it. I gave a Rem. 788 in .243 to my kids to start hunting with but I have used it some too and killed deer and pronghorn with it. I bought my son a .270 that he has been killing with but I have carried it a few times.

I have hunted with a few muzzleloaders, .58 cal, .54 cal .50 cal and killed pronghorn and deer with them.

I have a 12 ga with a rifled barrel and have killed deer with sabots from it.

I have a .284 win, a couple ,308s, a 7mm08, a 6.5X55, a .303 British, a couple .44 rem mags, a 30/06 and a .30/30 that I have carried but not killed anything with.


If I had to give them all up but one...I would probably keep the old .264 win mag.


I reckon there are hunters who just consider a rife a tool of their activity.

And there are gunnutz who love everything about guns and stuff. and may hunt some.

And there are hunter/gunnutz who hunt a fair bit but really get into guns in a big way. Most of the guys on this thread seem to be the later.
 
I have forgotten how many I have shot in a hunting scenario:

Every normal shotgun caliber (410, 28, 20, 16, 12, 10);
Couple of handgun calibers in rifles (.357 & 45 colt);
And dozens of rifles...

I keep to 30 calibers for larger game hunting due to variety of and ease of getting the powder, primers and bullets for them. The same reasons for sticking to 22 caliber centerfire for smaller game. I have 12 & 20ga for birds, mostly due to cheapness and versatility of the two.
 
22LR
222
223
22/250
257Roberts
270Win
7x57
7RemMag
30/30
308
30/06
358Win
35Whelen
375H&H
375Chatfield-Taylor

22/250, 257Roberts, 308 and 375CT have been the best for me thus far.
 
....


stubblejumper said:
The thread about loyalties to certain rifles/cartridges makes me wonder. Most people have a favorite cartridge, or a favorite rifle, but why are they your favorites? Is it the first rifle/cartridge that you hunted with, the only rifle/cartridge that you have hunted with, does it have sentimental value, is it because someone that you admired a great deal, used it, or have you tried many different combinations, and settled on one as a favorite, for some reason?

I started big game hunting with a 30-30, then went to a 243win, and along the way have hunted with the 257wby, 260rem,6.5x55, 7mm-08(two rifles), 280AI(three rifles), 7mmremmag(five rifles), 7mmSTW(five rifles)7mmRUM, 300WBY, 300RUM (2 rifles), 8mmremmag, 338x8mmremmag. In the end, the 7mmSTW is my favorite, because I have have killed more big game animals with it than any other cartridge, and I have always had the greatest confidence while shooting it. As it stands, my two go to big game rifles are both chambered in 7mmSTW.
Click to expand...
 
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I started with a .303 British, then a 30-30, then 8x57, then 8mm-06, and now a .32 Special. Hope to get out with a nice old .303 Savage 99 before I get too old.
 
I have shot moose with four different 30-06 rifles.
Also hunted with 270, 243, 30-30, 32 Special and started out with 45-70, but only missed an elk with it.
 
I've hunted with:

.17 Rem
.204
.223
22/250
22/243 Middlestead
.243
.257 Ackley
25-06
257 Weatherby
.270 Win
.270 WSM
.270 Weatherby
7 Rem Mag
7mm STW
30-30
.308
30-06
.300 WSM
.300 Win
.300 Weatherby
.338 Win
.338 Edge
.35 Whelen
.375 H&H
.416 Rigby
.450 Nitro Express
.458 Win
Bound to be forgetting some.

If I had to pick a favorite out of my pile it would have to be the 7 STW. That's not to say it is the most versatile because that would be the .375. The best work-horse would be the .300 Win (but its close). Most powerful? Not even close. Most animals killed? That would be the 30-06.Longest ranged would be the .375 Cheytac. Longest shot taken was the .338 Edge.

The STW remains my favorite, because for where I live and what I do there, there just isn't a better blend of characteristics and abilities. It must be getting toward 25 years now and nothing has changed. I've never carried the STW in a situation where I wished it were something else. That's not something I can say about other calibers. Granted, when it was judged to be a less than ideal it wasn't there.

It is a little lighter recoiling than the .300s, for when and for who that matters. Used as it was conceived, it has a point blank range that few can even rival. Loaded with heavier bullets it can trample all over .300 country. Used with heavy VLD bullets and long barrelled belly guns its right up there best of the best long range calibers.
 
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243,240wby,25-06,257 wby,250 sav,264 win mag,6.5x300 wby,7-08,7rm,7x61,7x57,308,300wm,308 nm,300 wby,338wm,340wby,358nm,375wby and 458wm. Favorite calibers, the Normas, 7x61, 308 and 358. Favorite rifles, Browning BBRs
 
for big game hunting I started with a pre '64 94 30-30 and used it for many years, many 308's, 2 30-06's, many 7mm-08's and a 260. I do favor smaller rifles like the A-bolt Micro Medallions and Hunters, X-bolt Micro Hunter, BLR short actions, Ruger No.1 AB, Sako A7.
 
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