List your favorite centerfire rifle calibers

[Win52C]

30-06, 257 Roberts, 222 remington

 

[Andy Griffith]

.22 Magnum.

 

[Sven]

.257 Roberts (Dad gave me his M722 when I turned 16 -- bought in 1950 w/ a K4)

7mm/08 (inherited Dad's M7 and Leupold compact 2x7 -- what a great gun to carry in the woods deer hunting!)

7mm Rem mag (bought a M700 when I was looking for a '06. $345 w/ a Redfield 3x9 a few years ago -- too good to pass up. Sure burns a lot of powder, though!)

Of course, to quote my dear old Dad, "Every good Swede needs a 6.5x55". Ya, sure I got vone.

I let a real sweet 6.5 Swede get away from me at an auction a couple months ago. A Carl Gustav 20" bbl, mannlicher stock, Lyman receiver sight. I bid $100 more than I was going to and it still got away! Wish I'd gone a little further!

 

[Smitty500Mag]

.30-06
.38 WCF

Smitty

 

[Ron H.]

Sir, the vast majority of my rifle shooting is NRA high power competition, plus JCG matches. I've shot a good bit of .223 in high power, but now stay with the .30 calibers: .308 across the course and .30-'06 in the as-issued matches. I also have my granddad's old Winchester .270, but haven't shot it in some years.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

 

[Jellybean]

7.62X39
.308 Win.
.30-06
.30 Carbine
.221 Fireball
.22 Hornet
.303 Brit
.223

 

[Snapping Twig]

.260 Rem

6.5-06

7.62x39

30-06

358 Win

300 Wby

340 Wby

45-70

 

[2152hq]

30-06
303 British
6.5mm & 8mm Mannlicher Schoenaur
6.5x53R
8mm & 9mm Mauser
44WCF (Win73)
9.3x74R
500x3 BPE

 

[semperfi71]

7mm Rem Mag.

 

[RABULL]

.223, .308, 30-30, 30-06 and .45-70...Pretty Standard but they work for me......

 

[29Wheelgunner]

.308, 30-30, 30-06 and 45-70.

 

[VAdoublegunner]

6.5x55 Swedish
.300 Win Mag
.45-70

And 45 Colt, with a hot handload. In a Win 94 Trapper, this is a highly effective brush to moderate long range rifle for anything east of the Mississippi, and it's easy to carry. Also, my 94's pet handload is squirrel accurate to 75 yards.

 

[AKtinman]

Originally posted by Homie:
I haven't seen the .25 or the .30 Gibbs yet.

Dad had a .240 Gibbs and a .30 Gibbs. I loaded for both and inherited the .240. Unfortunately the twist wouldn't stabilize heavier bullets. The 87 gr Hornady shot into 3/4" at 100 yards with boring regularity from the 25" Douglas premium barrel on the HVA action. Best load I chronographed was over MR3100 and resulted in 3345 fps, not much gain over a .243 or 6mm Rem, considering all the extra powder consumed. Dad was happy with it and felt he could take anything from a field mouse to a sperm whale with it.


My favorites:

.22-250
.220 Swift
.25-06
.280 Rem


When I lived in Alaska, my deer rifle was a Shilen-barreled M77 chambered for the .338/.280, or the standard .280 Rem case necked up to .338. Favorite load was 210 gr Nosler Partition at 2675 fps out of the 20" barrel.

 

[toroflow1]

Wow, in all these fine calibers everyone has mentioned, not a one yet for .338 Win Mag! I previously mentioned one of my favorites was the 8mm Rem mag, but the 338 is right up there. I was reading Elmer Keith's "Rifles for big game" book the other day, and one of his favorite calibers was manifested in his creation of the .333 OKH, and .334 OKH. Well basically those two creations of his are now what we call the .338 Win Mag. 300 grain bullets have the best sectional density, and hold velocity well, enabling those far off shots. It was refreshing to read Elmer's book/thoughts about calibers and ballistics. He sure knew what he was talking about!

 

[Photog]

308
300 H&H
416 Rigby
375 H&H
45-70

 

[N_itis]

Let me start by saying that I am in no way interested in the newer "short magnums."

Now, since that is out of the way, I can talk about the kinds of rifle cartridges that have served "riflemen" well since the invention of smokeless powder.

.264 diameter bullets and the cartridges that employ them (6.5X55, .260 Remington, and even the 6.5-06/6.5-284 type "wildcats") have a lot to recommend them.

.257 and .277 diameter bullets (especially as employed by the .257 Roberts, .25-06 Remington, and .270 Winchester), although not as versatile as the .264 stuff, are also very good.

I feel confident that my 7mm Remington Magnum will capably do anything I will ever need a rifle to do.

So, I guess I would say that a good 7mm Remington Magnum, a relatively light and handy .260 Remington, 6.5X55, or .257 Roberts, and whatever kind of .223 Remington and .308 Winchester suits you are all that most "riflemen" will ever "need."

After those four, something like a 6.5-06/6.5-284, .270 Winchester, or .25-06 Remington is high on my "want" list.

Regardless of these preferences, I find that I have a subconcious "need" to have a good supply of loaded .223 Remington, .30-30 Winchester, and .308 Winchester ammunition on hand.

 

[wbraswell]

I am amazed at how many of you left off .22 long rifle.
.22LR
.223
.308 Because my 99 is chambered for it.
.30-06
.45-70
I like calibers that I can find cheap cases.
Honorable mention:
762X39
What I wish was on my list: something between .450-.577 Black Powder Nitro Express (so much for cheap cases!)

 

[oliver507]

Smithfan,
In no particular order: 300 winmag, 45-70, 220 swift, and 257 Roberts. All will shoot less than one minute of angle and all except the 45-70 will do one quarter minute or less if I do my job.

 

[greyhawk178]

.30-06 and 300 Win Mag

 

[Hermann]

.300 WinMag, .308, .223