In my neck of the woods (North and South Dakota), the most popular hunting cartridges are .270 Win, 7mm Rem Mag, .300 Win Mag, and .22-250 Rem.
Different regions of the coutnry have different tastes due to varied hunting conditions. There are still some areas of the U.S. where the .30-30 is the most popular caliber.
As the advertising phrase says, "Texas, it's a whole other country."
I agree with 6.5 that popularity varies in different regions. My friend who sells guns out of a retail store in a small West Texas town can move a .22-250 very quickly (frequently used for whitetails here). .223's and .243's probably come next, and a .270 moves pretty good, but he says that a .30-06 will sit for months without a serious looker.
Posts: 13232 | Location: Henly, TX, USA | Registered: 04 April 2001
In Sweden three calibres are totally dominant in rifles for big game:
6,5x55 308 Win 30-06
There are also 9,3x62 (more popular lately), 7 mm RM, 300 Win Mag, 8x57 JS (older guns) and 338 Win Mag. The 6,5x55 has lost a lot in popularity lately due to the threat of new restrictions which *may* outlaw it as a moose calibre.
[This message has been edited by Wachtel (edited 01-28-2002).]
Posts: 544 | Location: Sweden | Registered: 27 October 2001
RCBS used to publish an annual list of the percentage of the various dies they sold. Those would be interesting numbers to crunch. .30-30 was always near the top. Die sales may not be a good reflection of gun popularity, nor might actual gun sales; new guns may not necessarily be the most used. Cheers from Darkest California, Ross
Posts: 159 | Location: Oroville,California,U.S.A. | Registered: 14 May 2001
Where I hunt in alberta most people hunt for several species and the 7mm mag and 300 magnums of several variations are the most common new guns I see.I still see a lot of 30-06's but they are not the strong sellers they used to be.
Posts: 3104 | Location: alberta,canada | Registered: 28 January 2002
I agree about the sales of the 30-06. they might not sell that well anymore cause now people know that you need magnum on the headstamp to kill a deer.
but there are a lot of casual hunters out there that have 06's and don't read the gun mags and havent' learned that deer are now dangerous game and need huge magnums to kill.
the casual hunters just keep on using their 06 and just have been lucky enough to have not been charged by a wouned deer.
If I was going to say new rifle sales, I wouldn't say the 30-06 was top dog, but there are millions of 30-06 rifles already out there. The top sellers for new rifles in my area would be the .270win, but they still buy alot of 30-06's, I have 5 30-06's, and 4 270win's, 2 .308's, 2 7.62x39's, and 3 .257 Roberts, 3 .223's
Posts: 3097 | Location: Louisiana | Registered: 28 November 2001
U.S.A. If you measure this by ammo sales I would guess the following. Overall -- 22 rimfire wins hands down Varmit -- the 223 followed closely by the 22-250 Big Game -- the 30-30 and the 30-06 are probably neck and neck, followed by the 270 and the 7 mag.
Everyone I know that i hunt with in oregon hunts deer with something different. 270, 280, 243, 30/06, 30-30, 7mm, 300 savage, and others. But when it comes to elk, 300 mag is pretty much standard out here, with the exception of a few outcasts.
