BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[Whelland]

What are your top 5 cartridges, and why? Mine are as follows:

1. 12 gauge - You can hunt everything from small game to big game with slugs or buckshot in the fields and woods, and use it for home protection.
2. .22 long rifle - It's cheap to shoot, it's fun to shoot and a great round for teaching a novice gun safety and hunting skills.
3. 30-06 - This round is versatile, you can shoot anything in North America with it, and it's so readily available.
4. .416 Remington Magnum - It's a great big bore that I'd love to take to Africa someday. It hits hard and will penetrate deep into big critters.
5. .44 Magnum - I know this is the long gun part of the forum, but I thought it needed to be on the list, because of what it did for big game handgun hunting.

There are other cartridges that could be easily placed on the list. I'd just like to see what everyone else likes and why. I know that none of us will agree, but I find it very interesting to see the opinion of other's.

Just don't get too ticked off that I picked a shot shell, the .416 Remington over the .416 Rigby or that I put a handgun caliber in the mix. Let's just keep this fun!

[Don Fischer]

I could change my mind before I finish but here goes

16ga .....ya gotta have a shotgun and that's what I shoot most

222 Rem.....Really underated in my opinion. Better than the 223

243....need a preditor rifle

6.5x55...one of the best all around cartridges going

308 win...just in case I want to shoot a heavier bullet

oop's! changed my mind. I'd rather the 25-06 to the 243. Better dual-purpose in my opinion.

I could also drop the 308 and go with a 7x57 and 175 gr bullet's. Maybe even a 280 Rem.

Ya know I'd really rather have a 250-3000 if I could find one.

Oh course with the 250-3000, I wouldn't really need a 222 Rem so a 22 Hornet would fit in there really nice.

This is a lesson in frutility! :](*,)

[Old Professor]

My top five would be:

.22 rimfire. Same reasons as Whelland gave.

12 ga 3" Most versitle all around shotgun gauge

.260 Rem as my light big game caliber
Low recoil and very effective on deer/antelope and such

.338 Win Mag as my heavy big game cartridge
Heavier recoil but better for bigger game such as bear/moose/elk

.357 Mag Most managable of the magnum handgun cartridge for .
most people

These are not necessarily the cartridges that I currently use but what I think are the most versitile.

[ADKBEAR]

ohh I hate these, Toooo many guns that I just need!

1- first vote for the 20 ga (in my opinion the most versital)
2- 22rim, fun and inexpensive to shoot and puts food on the table
3- 45 or 50 cal flintlock, fun to hunt with and if need be the commen man can make his/her own powder and cast their own balls and knap there own flints
4- 30-06 The all around gun.
5- rem 44 mag, can have a rifle and pistol chambered in the same round and just fine for deer and (black)bear sized game out to 100yds

[WesternHunter]

I have many more, but only 4 that I shoot more than any other.

12 gauge
.270 WInchester
9x19mm Parabellum (Luger)
.45 ACP

[WyoJoe]

.22 rf - every body has to have one. great for varmints & small pests

.243 - I use it for varminting & cross over deer & antelope gun

.270 - my favorite all around cartridge

.375 - it will take care of anything the .270 won't

12 ga. - can anybody be with out one? mine is a pump

Those are my top 5 picks for long guns. If I added anything to the mix it would be a .50 or .54 cal muzzle loader

[ChesterGolf]

Some of which I have/use and some that I want to have:

no order:
.22 LR- a must have
.223 rem- if you need more than a 22LR but less than a 30-06
30-06- have to include it in the list
375 H&H- a standard by which other DG cartridges are judged by
12 ga.- got to have a scattergun

[wonksy]

300 wsm
270 win
12 or 16 gauge
22-250
22rimfire

[remington]

[quote="ChesterGolf"]Some of which I have/use and some that I want to have:

no order:
.22 LR- a must have
.223 rem- if you need more than a 22LR but less than a 30-06
30-06- have to include it in the list
375 H&H- a standard by which other DG cartridges are judged by
12 ga.- got to have a scattergun[/quote]

same except 308 instead of the 06.

[91xlt]

funny,
i am in the works to get down to a toal of 5 long guns for hunting...

that's a total of 5 :o ...absurd, i realize this!

i have come up with, for my needs as follows...

-12ga shotgun
-.22lr
-.243 win
-.338 win mag
-.416 rigby

now to just get each build completed to my desires and needs...

reasoning for me is,
a shotgun, sm game birding etc...
22lr, target shooting and small game
243 for varmints,coyote and small deer
338 for general big game hunting
416 for the really big game/dangerous game hunts

these fit me well...
a 243 can be replaced w/ a 25-06 or similar if desired
a 338 can be replaced w/ a 300 or 375 if desired
a 416 of any flavor can substitute the rigby as well as a 458 or a double, depending on your desire...

this to my thinking is a complete and versatile hunting battery of long guns

[Romey]

Tough tough choices but mine are in no order
22.lr
257 roberts
300 win mag
12 ga
.45 acp
There are others I have or had have that would be on this list but for sake of a decision this is the ones i choose tonight, tomarrow maybe another choice of a couple.

[Don Fischer]

Trying to look at this from another direction. There are simply to many cartridges that overlap. How about calibre's?

Rimfires- I have a beautiful mod 62 win and seldom use it. Same with my other rimfires. Scratch them.

22 CF- I love the 222 Rem and the 22 Hornet but the reality is that whatever they will do, a 24 or 25 will do better. Except for doing things quietly. Gotta have some type of 22 CF that's fairly quiet.

24- I've had several and have one now but not sure why. Oh yea, it was a gift! For varmits several 22's are much quieter and for preditors the 25's will shoot most the same bullets faster and will add heavier bullets for game. scratch the 24's.

25- This is in my view the first truely dual purpose caliber. Bullets from 75 to 120+ grs make it suitable for everything from sage rats to large deer. and the question of violence is mute when you consider that you could have a 25 in anything from a 250-3000 to the weatherby.

26, 27, 28- I think these are the truely versitle big game cartridges. With most the standard cartridges there are inexpensive cup and core bullets that will work on any game you might want to use one on. In the magnum versions there are premium bullets and heavy weight bullets that I would bet my life on anywhere in North America.

30- Can only be described as versitle, jack of all trades and master of none. The praise we drop on the 30-06 is great. But it seems it's a lot more than needed for deer and minimual for elk and larger. But it will handle all of them. But then so will a 22 mag! There is of course the 300 mags which are powerhouses with heavy bullets but the best thing about them in my opinion is their ability to handle long 200 gr bullets.

For woods cartridges, the 30-30 and 300 sav and 308 Win have a great following but I believ that is based more on the rifles they come in that any magic in the cartridges themselves. There is absolutely nothing any of them will do that several 26. a 27 and several 28 cal's won't do as well.

The need for a dangerious game gun, 338 and above , in North America, is more fad and myth than any reality. The vast majority of people will never hunt dangerious game, will be hunting with a guide with a stopping rifle or will find dangerious game so expensive that adding a new gun for it is the cheapest part of the whole trip! The best dangerious game gun will be one that shoots a heavy strong bullet at moderate, 2500fps, and up velocity, that the user shoots well.

So I think that the rifle battery could be easiely trimmed down.

A 22 CF I'd go for the 222 Rem

a 25. I'd like to have a 250-3000 or a 257 Roberts here.

26, 27, 28 Could be a real toss up here. I am very particial to the 6.5x55 and the 7x57 and 280 Rem. I could live with anyone of them

gotta have a shotgun and my favorite gauge is the 16

Handguns seem popular so I'll go with a 357 framed gun that I can fire 38's in also. I shoot mostly cast bullet's in mine. Actually I can't remember the last box of jacketed bullets I bought. All I shoot is cast!

[jim muir]

My top 5

.30-06 classic
.30-30 everyone should shoot a whitetail with one
.280 i know doesn't bring anything new but I always wanted one idealy in a blr or 7600
12 gauge, I'm a duck hunter first and almost everything else second.
.257 or 250 in a ultralight rifle for those days when i want to put some miles on my boots
but some of these will change in a hour or 2

[fuzzybear]

308 win - available in a variety action types, variety of bullet weights and small or larger enough for anything in the lower 48.
357 mag - excellent handgun round and as much as I care to handle.
12 gauge - versatility and heavy slugs.
22 LR - fun to plink with and good for pest control.
45-70 govt - hard hitting as far as I care to shoot. (may be the most underloaded factory rounds available.)

[saskie]

.300 Win Mag for truly big game (Yukon moose, Brown bear)
.308 for everything else
.223 for varmits
12 ga
.22 rimfire for plinking.