So hypothetically speaking....
Given what we know now about cartridges, rifles, powders, bullets and all the rest of the stuff, we could probably lose dozens of cartridges. So many have overlapping parameters (there just isn't that much difference between a .270 and a .280 or a .260 and a 6.5x55) or antiquated case designs (like the long tapered cases of the .303Brit, 375 H&H etc), the redundancy of the belt in most belted cartridges and now bullet technology has put us in a place that huge heavy bullets aren't necessarily required for hunting the larger species of North American game...
So if we were to start afresh, and only pick one Short Action and one Standard Action cartridge of each caliber, what would they be?
I'm going to mostly limit my list to bolt actions, as it is what I mostly use. I am also not going to name every single caliber out there. But feel free to add calibers and actions if that's your preference.
17- 17 WSM rimfire. I have a hard enough time picking up .22 bullets to reload, so I doubt I will ever have a 17 caliber CF.
I don't have a 17WSM but think it's interesting. I would consider one if it came in a semi auto Tacticool rifle with a 30 round magazine though.
20- .204 Ruger Same as above
22- .223 I think it's the best balanced .22 centerfire. It's accurate, fun to shot, low recoil, ammo cost peanuts to make or buy, and is capable of gophers to black bear with the right bullet and right shot. I've had 22-250 and 22-250 AI and they offer lots of velocity, but if I want more I'd probably step up in caliber. And of course we need to add the 22Lr. 22 Short etc
.23 - totally redundant. Only slightly interesting one for me would be based on the .223 or similar case.
.24/6mm- 243 Win is the practical choice, although a friend owned a 6mm Rem and I always admired it. Although it was obvious the 243 WSSM was doomed from day 1, if we were starting fresh- like the premise of this thread is- and there were no .243 cartridges yet made, I'd pick the 243 WSSM.
.25- Always kinda liked the 25's but the 25's are somewhat in the same boat as the .23's. A bit redundant considering the 6mm's and 6.5's on either side of it. Hard to choose between the 257 Roberts, 25-06,. 257 Weatherby and the 25WSSM. I think I would actually go with a .25-308 design and the 257 WBY. Ok, 257 ROberts and 257 WBY
6.5- No question the .260 in a short action and the new 26 Nosler looks like the pick for a standard action.
.277- If there was ever a redundant caliber that has become so ingrained into NA hunting, this is it. Probably why there are so few .270 cartridges! I used to have a remarkable .270 Win that was stolen from me, loaded for about a dozen, but probably would never have one again. Still, the pick can only be 270WSM for SA and the .270 Win
7mm- Lots of great 7mm cartridges, but I think the 7-08 and 7mmRM can do it all, despite the redundant belt on the 7RM. A better (beltless) magnum would be a 7mm -375 Ruger, and that is pretty much true of all the magnums that currently wear redundant belts
.30- North America's most popular hunting caliber! SA is easy -.308 (Despite that I am a 300WSM fan) The list of longer and magnum .308 caliber cartridges is endless. The 300H&H is one of the coolest, but nobody would design a case like that in 2014. The 300WBY set the world ablaze....The 30-378 and 300RUM are too big and powder hungry for my taste- if I want that much powder burned I will go to a bigger caliber. SO I pick the 300WM, even if it seems that lots of douchebags use one.
.311-.314- As much as I love the .303 British, anything it can do,the .308 can do, with more available bullets and barrels. Here the 7.62x39 wins, mostly do to the properties of it's case, so you can easily use it for anything from subsonic loads to 30-30 level hunting loads, using a rimless case.
8mm- Very low selection, but I don't see anything wrong with any of the most popular- 8x57, 8RM and 325 WSM.
.338- In the magnums, I always thought the .338 was stuck between a good 180-200gr bullet in a .300 and any bolt action .375. I never saw my .338Wm do anything that one of my .300's couldn't do, so I don't own it anymore. So my picks for the .338 are the under-appreciated .338 Fed, which basically works like a 30-06 shooting heavy side bullets at most hunting ranges, and the 338-06 which is a nice pleasant thumper. The 338 Ruger SA may offer the best of both worlds, and is exceptional performance in a SA even though it too was pretty doomed.
.348- I know, this is mostly bolt guns...but the Mdl 71 is such a wonderful lever gun, so the .348 Win is the winner here, no surprise!
.35- I feel the same way about Most of the 35 caliber "magnum" cartridges as I do the .338 "magnum" cartridges. Why not get a .375 If you want more than a .300? Oh, you can load .357 pistol bullets for plinking? Great...You can do the same with cast bullets and Trailboss or reduced loads in any cartridge. In the .35's the 35 Whelen gets the nod, for the same reason the 338-06 does
9.3- Easy- 9.3x62....Although the 9.3 BS has some merit if you want a SA and a 9.3 based on a SA Ruger case would be great
.375- Obviously, the .375 Ruger is the top pick. Nobody would design a tapered case like a .375 H&H in a bolt action anymore, and the bigger 375's like the RUMs and 378 WBY include much more powder and recoil for minimal velocity gains that most hunters won't use. Although Boomers 375 RUM with 380gr bullets might be an exception.
.416- Only one that make my list would be the .416 Ruger. I can appreciate the Rigby, but it's not very practical in 2014
.45- 45/70 and .458 WM, mostly for practical reasons. The Lott and WBY are awesome, though.
There are lots of bigger caliber cartridges, feel free to add on.
I picked mostly available cartridges, but I actually think that if cartridge introduction started today, we would have 4 or 5 basic cases that 90% of the cartridges were based on, and necked up or down. Life would be much simpler, but not necessarily more pleasing for the esoteric cartridge clan.
Smaller cases would be based mostly on the .223
Short actions would be either "standard" (.308) or "magnum" (WSM or RSAUM or Ruger SA)
Long action "standard" would be a form of the 30-06 or 9.3x62 case and the magnums would be on the Ruger case.
Bigger cases designed for long range shooting would be on the 338 Lapua or RUM cases
There would be a few giant "stopping" cartridges like the .500 Jeffry etc. Can't lose those ones
We wouldn't see belted or rimmed cases used in bolt actions, either.
Of course, that's not how cartridge and rifle development occurred, so we have a hodge podge of old, new short/fat, long tapered etc etc cartridges which all have their merits and charm.
I put this all together over a few days on my Itelephone, while waiting for people. It's hunting season, so get out and hunt, but if you have some down time, tell us your pick of the cartridges, and throw in the levers and doubles and singles too!
Given what we know now about cartridges, rifles, powders, bullets and all the rest of the stuff, we could probably lose dozens of cartridges. So many have overlapping parameters (there just isn't that much difference between a .270 and a .280 or a .260 and a 6.5x55) or antiquated case designs (like the long tapered cases of the .303Brit, 375 H&H etc), the redundancy of the belt in most belted cartridges and now bullet technology has put us in a place that huge heavy bullets aren't necessarily required for hunting the larger species of North American game...
So if we were to start afresh, and only pick one Short Action and one Standard Action cartridge of each caliber, what would they be?
I'm going to mostly limit my list to bolt actions, as it is what I mostly use. I am also not going to name every single caliber out there. But feel free to add calibers and actions if that's your preference.
17- 17 WSM rimfire. I have a hard enough time picking up .22 bullets to reload, so I doubt I will ever have a 17 caliber CF.
I don't have a 17WSM but think it's interesting. I would consider one if it came in a semi auto Tacticool rifle with a 30 round magazine though. 20- .204 Ruger Same as above
22- .223 I think it's the best balanced .22 centerfire. It's accurate, fun to shot, low recoil, ammo cost peanuts to make or buy, and is capable of gophers to black bear with the right bullet and right shot. I've had 22-250 and 22-250 AI and they offer lots of velocity, but if I want more I'd probably step up in caliber. And of course we need to add the 22Lr. 22 Short etc
.23 - totally redundant.
Only slightly interesting one for me would be based on the .223 or similar case. .24/6mm- 243 Win is the practical choice, although a friend owned a 6mm Rem and I always admired it. Although it was obvious the 243 WSSM was doomed from day 1, if we were starting fresh- like the premise of this thread is- and there were no .243 cartridges yet made, I'd pick the 243 WSSM.
.25- Always kinda liked the 25's but the 25's are somewhat in the same boat as the .23's. A bit redundant considering the 6mm's and 6.5's on either side of it. Hard to choose between the 257 Roberts, 25-06,. 257 Weatherby and the 25WSSM. I think I would actually go with a .25-308 design and the 257 WBY. Ok, 257 ROberts and 257 WBY
6.5- No question the .260 in a short action and the new 26 Nosler looks like the pick for a standard action.
.277- If there was ever a redundant caliber that has become so ingrained into NA hunting, this is it. Probably why there are so few .270 cartridges! I used to have a remarkable .270 Win that was stolen from me, loaded for about a dozen, but probably would never have one again. Still, the pick can only be 270WSM for SA and the .270 Win
7mm- Lots of great 7mm cartridges, but I think the 7-08 and 7mmRM can do it all, despite the redundant belt on the 7RM. A better (beltless) magnum would be a 7mm -375 Ruger, and that is pretty much true of all the magnums that currently wear redundant belts
.30- North America's most popular hunting caliber! SA is easy -.308 (Despite that I am a 300WSM fan) The list of longer and magnum .308 caliber cartridges is endless. The 300H&H is one of the coolest, but nobody would design a case like that in 2014. The 300WBY set the world ablaze....The 30-378 and 300RUM are too big and powder hungry for my taste- if I want that much powder burned I will go to a bigger caliber. SO I pick the 300WM, even if it seems that lots of douchebags use one.
.311-.314- As much as I love the .303 British, anything it can do,the .308 can do, with more available bullets and barrels. Here the 7.62x39 wins, mostly do to the properties of it's case, so you can easily use it for anything from subsonic loads to 30-30 level hunting loads, using a rimless case.
8mm- Very low selection, but I don't see anything wrong with any of the most popular- 8x57, 8RM and 325 WSM.
.338- In the magnums, I always thought the .338 was stuck between a good 180-200gr bullet in a .300 and any bolt action .375. I never saw my .338Wm do anything that one of my .300's couldn't do, so I don't own it anymore. So my picks for the .338 are the under-appreciated .338 Fed, which basically works like a 30-06 shooting heavy side bullets at most hunting ranges, and the 338-06 which is a nice pleasant thumper. The 338 Ruger SA may offer the best of both worlds, and is exceptional performance in a SA even though it too was pretty doomed.
.348- I know, this is mostly bolt guns...but the Mdl 71 is such a wonderful lever gun, so the .348 Win is the winner here, no surprise!
.35- I feel the same way about Most of the 35 caliber "magnum" cartridges as I do the .338 "magnum" cartridges. Why not get a .375 If you want more than a .300? Oh, you can load .357 pistol bullets for plinking? Great...You can do the same with cast bullets and Trailboss or reduced loads in any cartridge.
In the .35's the 35 Whelen gets the nod, for the same reason the 338-06 does9.3- Easy- 9.3x62....Although the 9.3 BS has some merit if you want a SA and a 9.3 based on a SA Ruger case would be great
.375- Obviously, the .375 Ruger is the top pick. Nobody would design a tapered case like a .375 H&H in a bolt action anymore, and the bigger 375's like the RUMs and 378 WBY include much more powder and recoil for minimal velocity gains that most hunters won't use. Although Boomers 375 RUM with 380gr bullets might be an exception.
.416- Only one that make my list would be the .416 Ruger. I can appreciate the Rigby, but it's not very practical in 2014
.45- 45/70 and .458 WM, mostly for practical reasons. The Lott and WBY are awesome, though.
There are lots of bigger caliber cartridges, feel free to add on.
I picked mostly available cartridges, but I actually think that if cartridge introduction started today, we would have 4 or 5 basic cases that 90% of the cartridges were based on, and necked up or down. Life would be much simpler, but not necessarily more pleasing for the esoteric cartridge clan.
Smaller cases would be based mostly on the .223
Short actions would be either "standard" (.308) or "magnum" (WSM or RSAUM or Ruger SA)
Long action "standard" would be a form of the 30-06 or 9.3x62 case and the magnums would be on the Ruger case.
Bigger cases designed for long range shooting would be on the 338 Lapua or RUM cases
There would be a few giant "stopping" cartridges like the .500 Jeffry etc. Can't lose those ones
We wouldn't see belted or rimmed cases used in bolt actions, either.
Of course, that's not how cartridge and rifle development occurred, so we have a hodge podge of old, new short/fat, long tapered etc etc cartridges which all have their merits and charm.
I put this all together over a few days on my Itelephone, while waiting for people. It's hunting season, so get out and hunt, but if you have some down time, tell us your pick of the cartridges, and throw in the levers and doubles and singles too!
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