Least favourite cartridge?

9.3mauser said:
The brits had a penchant for naming their cartridges after the bore diameter, so the .275 P-13 cartridge is a proper 7mm, just like the .275 Rigby and .275 H&H magnum.
Click to expand...
And the official name of the P-13's cartridge was the .276 Enfield. It was bruiser, on par with modern 7mm magnums, and very unpopular with the British troops who were testing it. High recoil, excessive muzzle flash and high bbl heat made it horrid to shoot and a bbl burner. It's fair to say it was Britain's attempt at one-upmanship compared to the '06 but it was so mental and powder technology was low so it was far from ideal. And to bring it back to topic, if those soldiers testing it had been CGN members the .276 Enfield would probably have been their least favourite round! ;)
 
kombi1976 said:
And the official name of the P-13's cartridge was the .276 Enfield. It was bruiser, on par with modern 7mm magnums, and very unpopular with the British troops who were testing it. High recoil, excessive muzzle flash and high bbl heat made it horrid to shoot and a bbl burner. It's fair to say it was Britain's attempt at one-upmanship compared to the '06 but it was so mental and powder technology was low so it was far from ideal. And to bring it back to topic, if those soldiers testing it had been CGN members the .276 Enfield would probably have been their least favourite round! ;)
Click to expand...

Posted that around midnight last night and couldn't for the life of me remember the proper name... thought of it after I went to bed. It's a pity they didn't go through with the change over. If they had, the .303 would be a relic, about as common as a 577/450, and there would be a hot-rod 7mm behind half the truck seats in northern canada.

The heavy recoil of the .276 is likely a result of the very poor stock design of the Enfield. If it had a decently high comb, a good sized buttplate and a pistol grip I can't see it being any kind of a man-killer on the firing end.
 
Last edited:
I like them all. But if I had to pick something I would probly never buy. I would have to go with all the "Wby" stuff.
Makes me think of snobby people that drive BMWs. I know no rhyme or reason but ohwell. And the 375H&H.
 
Its kinda funny, there are certainly cartridges whose popularity has me scratching my head, particularly when you consider some of the pretty good ones that have dropped off the radar. The .32 Winchester Special, a black powder hold over, comes to mind, as it does nothing with smokeless propellants that a .30/30 doesn't do as well. I've never much liked the idea of the 8X57, first due to the fact that they couldn't decide if it should be a .318 or a .323, and then when they did choose, they went the wrong way! To my way of thinking, the older 7X57 has the 8mm beat in every way you can imagine. Then there's the .30 Carbine, which never was a decent rifle cartridge, but seems a bit much to enjoy from a handgun; I guess that's why its called .30 Carbine rather than .30 rifle or .30 pistol. I grew up having more disdain for the .270 than I ever had for the .243, although I've since come around. But when I get the chance to get behind a rifle chambered for one of these turkeys, none of that matters. I just enjoy putting rounds down range, and experimenting at the loading bench to see what works and what doesn't; the lettering on the headstamp just doesn't seem to matter once my interest is sparked.
 
regulate34 said:
I would have to go with all the "Wby" stuff.
Click to expand...
Ditto. Weatherbys are responsible for more flinches than any other single breed of cartridge. The rifles are way too light & the crazy nature of the cartridges is a disastrous combo. In a decent weight rifle with an experienced shooter I can see them as a solid tool but mostly the only tool is the green horn behind the trigger.
 
8mm Rem magnum,

Fire belching, hard kicking, loud muzzle blast. Needs 30% more powder for a 10% increase in velocity over the 8X57. I briefly owned one really hated the bullwhip recoil
 
Boomer said:
Its kinda funny, there are certainly cartridges whose popularity has me scratching my head, particularly when you consider some of the pretty good ones that have dropped off the radar. The .32 Winchester Special, a black powder hold over, comes to mind, as it does nothing with smokeless propellants that a .30/30 doesn't do as well. I've never much liked the idea of the 8X57, first due to the fact that they couldn't decide if it should be a .318 or a .323, and then when they did choose, they went the wrong way! To my way of thinking, the older 7X57 has the 8mm beat in every way you can imagine. Then there's the .30 Carbine, which never was a decent rifle cartridge, but seems a bit much to enjoy from a handgun; I guess that's why its called .30 Carbine rather than .30 rifle or .30 pistol. I grew up having more disdain for the .270 than I ever had for the .243, although I've since come around. But when I get the chance to get behind a rifle chambered for one of these turkeys, none of that matters. I just enjoy putting rounds down range, and experimenting at the loading bench to see what works and what doesn't; the lettering on the headstamp just doesn't seem to matter once my interest is sparked.
Click to expand...
That's pretty much my take on the matter as well.I've owned rifles in a few calibers that probably aren't the favourites of some(many perhaps) shooters but they all made a satisfying boom when the trigger was pulled.And as you point out developing half decent loads for them was equally as much enjoyment as shooting them.
 
kombi1976 said:
Ditto. Weatherbys are responsible for more flinches than any other single breed of cartridge. The rifles are way too light & the crazy nature of the cartridges is a disastrous combo. In a decent weight rifle with an experienced shooter I can see them as a solid tool but mostly the only tool is the green horn behind the trigger.
Click to expand...

This is certainly true of the larger offerings from Weatherby but the .240 is little more than a 6mm-06, which should be manageable by almost anyone, and the .257 doesn't have enough bullet weight to make recoil terribly obnoxious, muzzle blast notwithstanding. Weatherby enthusiasts who are recoil sensitive have almost always been able to choose a MK-V in .30/06, and over the years they have been able to choose from a number of other standard cartridges. For the rest of us, the .30-378 booms pretty good, and leaves one with a silly grin on his face, but mostly I love to hate Weatherby rifles.
 
kombi1976 said:
Ditto. Weatherbys are responsible for more flinches than any other single breed of cartridge. The rifles are way too light & the crazy nature of the cartridges is a disastrous combo. In a decent weight rifle with an experienced shooter I can see them as a solid tool but mostly the only tool is the green horn behind the trigger.
Click to expand...

The .257, .270 and 7mm Weatherbys are certainly within reach for anyone who can shoot a 30-06.
 
Boomer said:
I've never much liked the idea of the 8X57, first due to the fact that they couldn't decide if it should be a .318 or a .323, and then when they did choose, they went the wrong way! To my way of thinking, the older 7X57 has the 8mm beat in every way you can imagine.
Click to expand...

With that logic you should also dislike the 30-06 (does 30-03 ring a bell?):)


.270 and 30-06. To ubiquitous for my tastes. Give me 7x57 and 8x57... perhaps some 6.5x55

Also, Not to rag on the .300 WM or 7MM. Good cartridges... I only dislike them when people use them on deer... It's a deer!
 
Dogleg said:
The .257, .270 and 7mm Weatherbys are certainly within reach for anyone who can shoot a 30-06.
Click to expand...

I think the stock design of the Mk. V just does not suit everyone. I've owned both the .257 Wby and the .300 Wby in Mk. V and even the latter was certainly manageable. The Mk. V is quite a heavy rifle - but a decent sized scope on there and you are pushing 10 lbs ready to go.
 
I have never encountered a cartridge I couldn't come to appreciate, a few that had me ready to curse and vow to never have anything to do with them, but then either that magic load was found or another rifle in that cartridge gets played with and I relearn to not immediately dismiss it.
Except the .25-20 Winchester, and even that is only here in NB. Not enough for deer and too big to carry for varmints outside of big game season. Give me a .25-20 someplace I can blast ground hogs and coyotes with it and I am sure my tune would change.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom