Consider this, I am on a plane flying to meet you for a spectacular hunt. I arrive through customs with rife intact, but my baggage is lost and my ammo with it. I have a rifle between 7mm and 8mm in bore size.

So, what are the 5 most common calibers I can buy off the shelf by walking into a gun shop in your part of the world? Be sure and post where you live!

Here in CA, as with probably most of the USA, it is 7mm Rem Mag, 30/06, 300 Win Mag; in order of bore size and case capacity.

I thought it might be useful to know ahead of time what rifle to grab from the safe before I leave!

RobertD

Even though a little smaller than you mention, better add 270 to the list then maybe 308 and I think you're spot on.

I think your choices are right in line with what you will find on the shelf in most markets.

quote:

Originally posted by RobertD:
Consider this, I am on a plane flying to meet you for a spectacular hunt. I arrive through customs with rife intact, but my baggage is lost and my ammo with it. I have a rifle between 7mm and 8mm in bore size.

So, what are the 5 most common calibers I can buy off the shelf by walking into a gun shop in your part of the world? Be sure and post where you live!

Here in CA, as with probably most of the USA, it is 7mm Rem Mag, 30/06, 300 Win Mag; in order of bore size and case capacity.

I thought it might be useful to know ahead of time what rifle to grab from the safe before I leave!

RobertD

Up here I think you'll find 30-06 and 338WM the most popular and plentiful. Out west there is a following for the 7mm RM, especially in Alberta.

Have to add the 30-30- to the list.

In my part of the woods...the most commons between 222Rem, to 485 Winmag.
But then...we are a hunting nation

If you are coming to Alaska the following are popular:
.270
.30-30
.308

The all around and most popular:
.30-06
.300WM
.338WM

Also popular with bear hunters, but not as popular as the three immediately above:
.375 H&H
.416

We have a two Cabelas within an hour's drive or so, and a Gander Mountain even closer, so you're pretty well set no matter what you pack but fail to arrive with. Otherwise I've yet to visit a hardware store in the smaller towns I hunt from where I couldn't find 7mm Rem Mag, 30/30, 308, 30'06, and 300 Win Mag (the other "sure to finds" include 223, 243, and 270).

If you find yourself in a sporting goods store that sells centerfire rifle ammo and they don't have 30-06 you need to ask your space sbip captain when your flight returns to the planet Earth.....cause friend.....YOU AIN'T THERE!!!!!

From what I've read, heard, and seen, the .30-06 is widely used in South Africa. The one gun store I've visited there (VLT in Pretoria) had plenty of .30-06 ammo in stock.

-Bob F.

Since you said "on the self" My answer would sadly be any WSM round you care to own. That's all they've got around here. These little 100lb whitetails are getting tougher to kill by the year.

Terry
Southaven, MS

I expect anywhere in North America you would never get stuck with a .270, .308, 30-06.

Out of curiosity, I make it a habit to see what ammo places carry while I'm travelling for a hunt. The states are including PA, MD, TX, NM, MT, BC, WY and a few others in between when I stop for gas during the drive. These are mostly gas stations or country stores that have a few boxes of ammo behind the counter or in a glass case. The .30-06 and .270 win hands down and there is normally both 130/150 for the .270 and 150/180 for the 06, but sometimes only one weight which is 130 for the .270 and probably 50/50 between 150/180 for the 06. Nothing else is even close as far as I can tell as if a store has ammo, it normally carries these rounds. I see 7mm Rem Mag (normally 150 gr) and also .300 Win Mag (again, mostly 150 gr) fairly regularly, but not everyplace. It's not uncommon to see .243 or .308 Win either and suprisingly I see a dusty box of 7x57 or .257 roberts now and then as well. If there is a Walmart or some gun store nearby than they will carry anything. Again, I'm talking little stores that are out in the country semi-close to where I am hunting and not a 2 hour drive.

-Lou

.270,30-06,30/30,.308,300 win can't go wrong with these in texas.

I haven't bought off the shelf ammo for a long time, so I don't pay a whole lot of attention to it but I saw a gun shop here that sold 300RUM in stock and WalMart at one time handled it. I don't know if they get calls for it or what. A shop that went belly up a few years ago had 338RUM in stock but he tried to mark his firearms up too much and didn't get any business.

Down here you will get 223,243,270,7mm08,308,30/06,30/30 in any gun shop and some sport shops.
7mmRM,300win mag,6.5X55 short magnums will not be to hard to find,but 338win mag,375H&H and up would have to be ordered in with most gun shops.

Hi, If you walk in to a hunting store in Sweden, you can be certain to find the following calibres:

1. 6,5x55
2. .30-06
3. 9,3x62
4. .308W
5. 7mm Mag/.300 Win Mag

Best Regards

Ray, Which 416 is the most common? The 416 Rigby or the 416 Remington Mag?

In a small town Texas hardware store, the calibers between 7mm and 8mm that you would almost always find would be 7mm Rem, .30-30, .308, .30-06, and .300 Win Mag. If you want to count the 7.62x39, you'll find it most places due to the cheap and plentiful SKS and MAK-90's. You're unlikely to find any of the SAUM/WSM series, nor anything larger than .30 caliber.

In terms of centerfire sales, I'd say that .223, .22-250, and .243 would outsell any of the larger calibers, and other common sales would be .25-06 and .270. Larger calibers are simply not as much in demand in Texas as most of the "one gun" hunters want something for coyotes and an ocassional deer, rather than a universal big game chambering.

I have a good friend with a small town store, and he says he can move .22 centerfires and .243's in a fraction of the time he can move a .30 caliber or magnum. If someone wants a dedicated deer rifle, they usually want a .25-06 or .270. Larger calibers are typically only sold to those of us who either want to have one of everything or go out of state to hunt.

around here, you can get anything your heart desires....
as long as it fits in a 12 gage.

The lack of rifle ammo is amazing to me, but I hand load everything but .22RF so it effects me not one little bit.

To answer the exact question asked top 5 between 7mm and 8mm:7mm Rem Mag,.30-06, .308, .300 WM, .300WSM.

FWIW in that range 7mm-08, .280 Rem, 7x57, 8x57 and 325 WSM are all readily available here. Others not mentioned in the question: .243 Win, .25-06, 6mm Rem, .338 WM, all the Weatherbys, .270WSM, .220 swift, 22-250, .223 Rem,The 7mm shorts seem hard to find.

This is for eastern Nebraska, "gas stations", or the mythical "general store" around the state often have .30-06, .270 Win., .308,7mm RM, .300 WM, .22-250, .243 Win and .25-06.

How bad is your luck???

I reload for all my rifles. In any given deer season I may drag out several different rifles depending on area and mood. I once left the house the night before and drove to my hunting area. Threw the sleeping bag out and got up in the a.m. to hunt. When I opened the case to load my rifle I was stunned to find I had grabbed the wrong rifle for the shells I had. I had more than one rifle in soft cases, in my loading room. In my rush to get going I had grabbed .25-06 shells and my rifle in the case, without checking. Turned out to be the 7mm Rem Mag.
I went to the nearest town to get a box of shells. In a GUN store! They had one box of 7mmRM Federal 160gr with Sierras and one box with Winchester Failsafes! Not much of a selection.
They had an abundance of WSM and Ultra Mag ammo in about every flavor.

It's the only time I've ever done this and it basically boils down to being in a rush. The few seconds it would have taken to check even though I "knew" which rifle was in the case cost me $30 for a box of shells (cheapest of the two), and probably close to $20 in gas. Then there is no way to attach a cost to the lost morning of hunting.

There are only two or three rounds that seem to be everywhere. The '06, .300WM, and the .270W. Everything else depends on your luck! Nate