What is the most underrated cartridge?
- Thread starter 1899
- Start date
You need to choose the right bullet. No point in using a TSX in your .400 Jiffy when shooting moose - use a Woodleigh RN or Hornady IL etc. The only "one size fits all" for us in North America is the .30-06...
I wouldn't say "only..."
I heard of a .30 caliber developed way back in 1906 that was reported to be the quintessential "all-rounder"... so there are options...
Open sight rifle + round nose bullets + low velocity(lots do drop) = difficult shot placement and weak terminal ballistics.
I never said best deer cartridge (probably 270 Win), only the most under rated short range cartridge!
I'm from the point and shoot school of thought and love 243 Win and 270 WSM both accurate, high velocity, flat shooting cartridges.
Alex
- Location
- Invermere, BC
I'm thinking the same thing as you on this one.
8x57. Commercial sissy loads. Reloads show that calibre's real potential.
7x57 and 6.5x55. Old and reliable, classy. Not outdated at all. Very good track record.
3030. Same thing. Everybody thinks grampas round is too old. Bazilion deer and moose disagree.
22LR. Ridiculously potent for its size. In a survival situation it can kill pretty much anything, maybe not right away, but still.
7x57 and 6.5x55. Old and reliable, classy. Not outdated at all. Very good track record.
3030. Same thing. Everybody thinks grampas round is too old. Bazilion deer and moose disagree.
22LR. Ridiculously potent for its size. In a survival situation it can kill pretty much anything, maybe not right away, but still.
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
348 Winchester gets my vote. I have heard many times over and over it's not effective beyond 100-200 yards. The Buck I took in '09 with mine at 338 yards sure didn't think it was an underrated round?
Ben from SK
Member
- Location
- saskatchewan
For me, it's a toss up between .243 and 8x57JS.
Too many people discount .243 as "too light" and end up hunting whitetail deer with a 7mm R. Mag and never take a shot longer than 200 yards!
8x57JS gets ragged on by a lot of people for underperforming, but it's really close to 30-06 versatility with hand loads.
Too many people discount .243 as "too light" and end up hunting whitetail deer with a 7mm R. Mag and never take a shot longer than 200 yards!
8x57JS gets ragged on by a lot of people for underperforming, but it's really close to 30-06 versatility with hand loads.
Couple round that I haven’t seen on here are the:
6.5-06.. Maybe not a underrated round but most definitely not a common round.
Next 6.5x57. popular in Europe, almost no ammo in Canada/US hard to find dies for also. very effecent round like the 6.5x55 but gives you just a little more.
As stated the 250-3000 Savage. Old man shot his first moose at the age of 16 with this, which happened to be a 58in spread (was hunting whitetail at the time when this big fella stood up)
next as stated in other posts, 8x57, my first rifle, shot my first moose and deer with my old Styar.
and the other 6mm rem, 260, 280, 338-06, 35 Whelen,
6.5-06.. Maybe not a underrated round but most definitely not a common round.
Next 6.5x57. popular in Europe, almost no ammo in Canada/US hard to find dies for also. very effecent round like the 6.5x55 but gives you just a little more.
As stated the 250-3000 Savage. Old man shot his first moose at the age of 16 with this, which happened to be a 58in spread (was hunting whitetail at the time when this big fella stood up)
next as stated in other posts, 8x57, my first rifle, shot my first moose and deer with my old Styar.
and the other 6mm rem, 260, 280, 338-06, 35 Whelen,
.44 Henry - a .44-calibre black powder rimfirecartridge.
Why? Because its use during the Old West buffalo hunting days conclusively proves that every single more modern 'non-magnum' smokeless rifle cartridge from .22lr on up that is pooh-poohed as 'inadequate' is underrated.
Take 'Buffalo Bill' Cody, for example. In 1868, he 'won' the right to call himself 'Buffalo Bill' in a contest with another 'Bill' - William Comstock. They were both commercial buffalo hunters with contracts to supply buffalo meat to workers building the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Each wanted to be known as "the" Buffalo Bill, so they held a contest to see who could shoot the most buffalo in 8 hours. Bill Cody won.
Cody explained that he won by using superior tactics: Comstock (who was part Cheyenne) hunted his buffalo in traditional Indian fashion by chasing the herd on horseback and shooting each rearmost buffalo as he came close enough. He ended up with 48 dead buffalo that were scattered along a 3 mile trail. Cody instead rode to the front of his herd and shot the leaders, causing the rest to turn aside and eventually form a defensive circle, which allowed him to shoot them quickly and leave the bodies of 68 buffalo in a clump for easy retrieval and butchering.
The really interesting thing, though, is the rifles they used. Cody shot his 68 buffalo with an 1863 Springfield rifle - a muzzleloading rifle using a .58-calibre Minie ball. Comstock shot his 48 buffalo with a Henry repeating rifle in .44 Rimfire. Comstock also presumably used the same rifle to shoot many hundreds or thousands of the other buffalo he hunted professionally for their meat and hides.
If a .44 Rimfire, which is less powerful than .44 Magnum, .44 Special, or even .44 Russian - and definitely less powerful than virtually any centrefire smokeless rifle cartridge developed since 1900 - can be used to kill buffalo on a commercial scale ...
Just as, 30 or so years later, one of the professional ivory hunters in Africa went on safari and killed hundreds of elephants (as well as other game for meat along the way) using a bolt action Lee Enfield sporting rifle chambered in .303 British.
Why? Because its use during the Old West buffalo hunting days conclusively proves that every single more modern 'non-magnum' smokeless rifle cartridge from .22lr on up that is pooh-poohed as 'inadequate' is underrated.
Take 'Buffalo Bill' Cody, for example. In 1868, he 'won' the right to call himself 'Buffalo Bill' in a contest with another 'Bill' - William Comstock. They were both commercial buffalo hunters with contracts to supply buffalo meat to workers building the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Each wanted to be known as "the" Buffalo Bill, so they held a contest to see who could shoot the most buffalo in 8 hours. Bill Cody won.
Cody explained that he won by using superior tactics: Comstock (who was part Cheyenne) hunted his buffalo in traditional Indian fashion by chasing the herd on horseback and shooting each rearmost buffalo as he came close enough. He ended up with 48 dead buffalo that were scattered along a 3 mile trail. Cody instead rode to the front of his herd and shot the leaders, causing the rest to turn aside and eventually form a defensive circle, which allowed him to shoot them quickly and leave the bodies of 68 buffalo in a clump for easy retrieval and butchering.
The really interesting thing, though, is the rifles they used. Cody shot his 68 buffalo with an 1863 Springfield rifle - a muzzleloading rifle using a .58-calibre Minie ball. Comstock shot his 48 buffalo with a Henry repeating rifle in .44 Rimfire. Comstock also presumably used the same rifle to shoot many hundreds or thousands of the other buffalo he hunted professionally for their meat and hides.
If a .44 Rimfire, which is less powerful than .44 Magnum, .44 Special, or even .44 Russian - and definitely less powerful than virtually any centrefire smokeless rifle cartridge developed since 1900 - can be used to kill buffalo on a commercial scale ...
Just as, 30 or so years later, one of the professional ivory hunters in Africa went on safari and killed hundreds of elephants (as well as other game for meat along the way) using a bolt action Lee Enfield sporting rifle chambered in .303 British.
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patricksbb391
CGN Regular
- Location
- Ottawa & WMU 62
I'll say .280 Ross. It is a speed demon from 1908. SCI newsletter did a great review just this week. And finally, the .348 Winchester. Speed and momentum with those two.
