Oh my surely not

[Muddyboots]

And I thought my Hawkens .54 was all I needed.

 

[Tommo64]

 

[warboar21]

And I thought my Hawkens .54 was all I needed.

Wish I still had my Thompson Center Hawken in 54 Cal. That rifle thumped a nice muley and several whitetail deer. I foolishly sold it prior to joining the Army.

 

[Hard rock]

I find this discussion very amusing. I guess I fall into the old guy category because I started out with a good old 30-06. Hunted with it for several years then migrated to my first custom chambered in 270 Win. Hunted with that for the next several years. Then had to have a 280 Rem and then a 25-06. Hunted with those for years. Then I discovered the short actions and built a 7-08. Loved it and shot it for a few years. Then the 308 came along and loved it. Then kids came along and I dropped down to 6mm BR's and 243's. All were very effective deer slayers if the bullet was placed right. Then the magnum craze hit me and I built a 7mm Rem Mag, then a 300 Win Mag, and then the 338 Win Mag. As I age I find myself going back down to lower recoil cartridges so I built a 6.5 Creed to see what all the rage was about. Love my Creedmoor but then the 6.5 PRC came out and I had to have one. Love the PRC btw. Then everyone said why not a 7mm RSUM so I built one of those. Love it as well. All are awesome deer rifles and they all have their place. In the end I discovered I just liked guns and shooting them. I now grab a different rifle for each hunt and enjoy the variety. I think we can all agree we just like to shoot. I still have every rifle mentioned above and have another barrel in my lathe as I speak (type). It's a kind of sickness I guess but I cannot get enough. I think we all have this sickness to some degree and I enjoy listening to the various arguments for this caliber over that caliber. Yep you are all right (mostly). I personally love them all.

Then comes the competition rifles. Short range benchrest where the 6 PPC rules the range. Then a 22 PPC to check it out. Then some longer range rifles and I jump in on the 6x47 Lapua, then a 6XC, then a 6.5x284, and then the straight 284! Yep they are all great. The best...I don't believe there will ever be a BEST in anything. Progress makes sure of that. I just enjoy the ride.

Keep up the discussions guys and I'll keep chambering barrels!

Just get the twist right for the bullet your shooting and choose the powder charge for the cartridge of choice

 

[User4302021]

This is the most intelligent thing said in this entire post!

The 6.5PRC is in the magnum class of cartridges. It shoots the heaviest for caliber bullets at 2,900+fps.

So, that is exactly like saying the 300Winmag is what the 308Win should have been.

 

[Treeslug]

The 270 Weatherby is the rock star

Weatherby almost anything. Mark V magnum Weatherby caliber--everything!

 

[wkdwdg66]

LOL - if one had young eyes again - maybe. Only had a fixed 4x Weaver on the .32 Winchester Special - Model 94 - and it worked fine. I do like "smokeless" shells tho - but once in a while - seeing a cloud of gunpowder is purty. Hey - the Kaiser's Mauser begat our revered 30.06.

30-40 Krag is fine.

 

[warboar21]

30-40 Krag is fine.

I've watched more than one elk tip over from a 180gr silver tip from a sporterized Krag.

 

[Alibiiv]

The 270 Weatherby is the rock star

.270 AI doesn't take a back seat either!

 

[wkdwdg66]

.270 AI doesn't take a back seat either!

Building one as we speak

 

[wkdwdg66]

I've watched more than one elk tip over from a 180gr silver tip from a sporterized Krag.

My old 94 running 165gr lever evolution in .32 special puts them in the dirt pretty quick also.

 

[Anschutz]

now I do have other calibers, 224, 172, 338, 308, 375, 458, and 321. I do not like being a "one caliber prude". I like variety. I just do not like 7MM, 6.5 MM, and 6MM. which it seems a majority of the hunters like everything I do not. that must make me something like weird or the black sheep or something. I do not know.

To be honest, if you have a .224 and .277 you don't need a 6, 6.5, or 7mm unless it is for a specialized purpose. I have rifles in .223, 22 Hornet, .243Win, .270Win, .45-70, .375H&H and a 7mm-08 for the wife. I bought/built them all for a purpose. The .375H&H was more to get a Ruger No.1 in the stable but the cartridge still intrigues me and is fun to shoot.

 

[Hugnot]

And that's why caliber debates are pointless. Perfection was achieved in 1906 and everything after is just noise. The 30-06 has been, is, and always will be the King.

View attachment 239749

Army brass rejected some shorty 7mm round and decided to retain the M1, Cal .30, because of added rifle manufacturing needs and existing ammo supplies prior to WWII. I would expect members could elaborate on this. My relatives had some M1 Garand rifles and as a little kid learned to shoot with these.

 

[wkdwdg66]

To be honest, if you have a .224 and .277 you don't need a 6, 6.5, or 7mm unless it is for a specialized purpose. I have rifles in .223, 22 Hornet, .243Win, .270Win, .45-70, .375H&H and a 7mm-08 for the wife. I bought/built them all for a purpose. The .375H&H was more to get a Ruger No.1 in the stable but the cartridge still intrigues me and is fun to shoot.

Good stable you got there. I have 22-250x2, 220 swiftx2, 260 AIX2, 250-3000, 270 WIN x3, 7MM Mauser, 300 Savage, 308AI, 30-06 x2, 300 H&H which is getting AI'd.....of course there was a terrible boating accident recently