Ever since I first posted on AR I noticed that individuals have a bias towards or against particular calibers. I know I am guilty of it myself. I thought it would be fun to hear your likes and dislikes and the reasons why.

In my case I have a serious dislike for the .270. I know it is a fine cartridge but I really dont like it. It probably stems from the fact that when I was around 14 I shot a buddies Remington pump carbine in 270. To this day that was the hardest kicking rifle I have ever shot. I literally saw stars. I also admit that a lot of other calibers hold little or no interest for me. Such as the "super 30" magnums, 25 caliber, and the "short" magnums, and anything smaller than a .224 bore.

My hands down favorite is the good old .308. I also like the 6.5x55, 7x57, 8x57, 223, 300 WM, and I have recently developed a seious case of like with the 338 WM, 375 H&H, and 458 WM.

Dont be shy, tell us all what you do and dont like.

I really have no use myself for the 270win.It is larger than necessary for a deer only rifle,and I prefer a larger bullet for elk and moose.

Me,

I dislike a lot of cartridges until I acquire them anyway.

Only rifle cartridge I wouldn't buy is a .243. I have two 6mm rems so it's not the caliber, just the cartridge. Practically speaking there is no real difference ballistically, I know that.

I dislike bottlenecked pistol cartridges. That said, I'll never part with my N frame S&W in .44-40. Texas Sesquicentenial model, yee-haw!

I have preferences for sure ... generally little bullets rely on velocity to get big splash to skill ... ruins meat.

.308 and 30-06 are good. .338 Win Mag, 9,3x62 and 9,3x74R, .375 H&H, .375 Weatherby, .416 Rigby and .470 NE are among my favorites.

Generally I believe that if you go to the latest super-dooper versions of existing calibers (300 Rum, .300 Wby, 338 Rum, .340 Wby, etc) you probably should go up one caliber rather than just push the same bullet faster.

The great stir caused by the new "short" versions (300 WSSM, 300 RSAUM, etc) strikes me as evidence of having way to much time to play with things that don't make a lot of difference ... except loss of magazine capacity.

I have no use for any magnums under .375 diameter or anything named "Weatherby"

I hate almost all Remington cartridges. The .300 Ultra Mags gain very little over the .300 Wby., and was developed almost 60 years later! The 7mm Rem. Mag., which everyone tries to turn into something more than the glorified deer cartridge that it is, was developed almost 19 years after the 7mm Wby. and is not even loaded as hot. The .416 Rem. Mag. was a rip-off of the Hoffman, but they didn't even honor George Hoffman by using his original design. The list goes on and on...

.243 blechhh!

does "under .375" count?

jeffe

My list includes,

the 270

Anything that has "Weatherby" attached to it

Any "WSM"

All of which I have no use for.

Big-un

Growing up I didn't like the 30-06. Most likely reason was all my friends had them and they poked fun at my "old fasioned" 30-30. I leap frogged them into a 300 Win.

25 years later I'm starting to mellow have been wondering that perhaps the next project will be an '06.

.277

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
I have no use for any magnums under .375 diameter

DITTO

Anything that has short and magnum combined in the name.

Anything bigger than a 458 Win.Mag., those guys are just a bunch of yahoos making up for being pencil dicked.

Hey Jeff...
kiss my pencil!!!

jeffe

Any of the short necked cartridges that generate sales of short actions, short magazines and inadequate throats that restrict and prevent the intelligent use of long heavy bullets with great SDs.No hate here , just a sour taste for mediocrity.The cartridges proliferated by the .308 could have been of better stuff.

The .308, itself, when adopted by the American military was already a 1/4 century behind the existing technology of the day.The M14 was little more than a modified M1 Garand.Enough ! roger

quote:

Originally posted by browningguy:
Anything that has short and magnum combined in the name.

Or “improved.â€

Amen Rick,

The only thing you gain is feeding problems.

LD

The 260 and 7mm-08 never saw a need for either one of them!

I like the the good ol 30-06, 308 Norma mag this is what the 300 win mag should been. I also like the 284 winchester this round was never given a chance and that is to bad same goes for the 280. I also like the 7x57, 6.5x55 and I like all the wildcats based on the 284 case except the 30-284 cause you cannot improve on the 30-06. I like the 243 cause my first rifle I ever had was 99 in a 243. I like all the 25 caliber except 25 remington, 25-35 and 256 my favorite being the 25-284. I have also warmed up to the 270 maybe the reason is because I shot my first couse deer with a 270. But my all time favorite is my first custom rifle which is my 323 Hollis!

John

Any pistol caliber above 45 caliber and larger than the 45 Colt.

243 Win
25-06
7-08 & 280 Rem
308 Win
*Most* Weatherbys
All RUMs, SAUMs, and all WSMs (except the 325)
Whatever the guy next to me at the range happens to be shooting more accurately than me.

I have yet to find a need for any cartridge concieved after WW1. I figure all the cartridges one could ever need had already been invented by then.

I think the newest one in my safe is the 7x64, circa 1918.

quote:

Originally posted by KurtC:
I have yet to find a need for any cartridge concieved after WW1. I figure all the cartridges one could ever need had already been invented by then.

All I need? YES! All I Want? NO WAY!!!

I am guilty!

I hate wildcat cartridges, any and all.......

AD

Guilty as charged!

I really have had a strong dislike for the .270W for many years. Mostly because I got blasted with how great it was for everything on earth! It makes a fine deer rifle, if not a little on the big side.

The older I get, the less I care. Nate

And any cartridges that have the name of a gun writer, gun magazine, or geographical locale as part of their name...and ANTHING with “Whisper†attached to it.

Most anything below 30-06. Hate the 223 M-16 etc. I carried the M-14 till some jerk off in DC
decided we needed a plastic POS. The M14 was 308
but it was and is a Battle Rifle!!!Even then I thought it should have been an 06.
No use for Short Mags and other factory BS ment to sell something new.

300 Win Mags, anything with WSM attached to it, 45-70's, and 30-30's.

Don't need no stinkin' RUM's, SAUM's, WSM's, WSSM's, et al!

Anything 270, what's the point. Any magnum bigger that 264. The 30-06 will do nicely when loaded properly and it won't make you hurt in the process, so magnums are not necessary. Any revolver cartridge larger than 44 mag. Same reason.

Tired of hate threads. I'll run off a few I own and shoot.

270 WCF
300 Savage
308 aka 7.62 NATO
303 British.
7.62x54R
8mm Mauser
17 HMR
7.62x39
45/70
45ACP
380 ACP

ZM

Anything < .17
Anything .277 (6.5 is great, then 7mm is the next step) I do have 2 270s, one a donor M50 FN
RUM
WSSM
Love wildcats, since many of the old factory rounds are now in that class due to availability.
Basically stuff designed to obsolete a good cart. in order to sell new guns. The ups and downs of the 250 Savage is a grand example.

Dang I love threads like this...time to stir the pot!

Love my 300WSM
Hate the .270 (cause so many others mindlessly worship it)
Dislike the 30-06 (same reason, but at least it's 30 cal and a storied military cartridge)

Another term for 'nothing new since WW2' is STAGNANT

STAGNANT means death to an industry. Keep 'em coming out guys, let the market decide what it wants! We need to keep the gunmakers in business, and the same old .270 and 30-06 isn't gonna do it alone.

Now, M1TANKER, aren't you glad you asked!?!?

I'm opposed to anything recommended by Elmer Keith!

quote:

Originally posted by allen day:
I am guilty!

I hate wildcat cartridges, any and all.......

AD

Sucks to be you. You don't know what you are missing. There is more to life than messing around with cartridges that have been standarized. The best part build them on one of the best actions ever made a Savage 110.
How's the wine?

John

I'll tell what I am currently fancying right now. I don't want to be too negative.

22 rimfire need I say more.
17 HMR absolute blast to play with.
22-250, don't see a need for any other 22 caliber cartridge
243 caliber why? Fish not fowl
257 caliber why? I own a 270
6.5 caliber why? I own a 270
270 Win Way too much personal history with that cartridge. But it is not, the be all end all that some make it out to be.
7mm a really good caliber, just don't happen to own any. Besides I own a 270.
30's wouldn't really have a reason to own any other caliber. So I avoid them.
8mm why, when you have 30's and 338's?
338-06 Slowly making it's way up to 270 status.
348 winchester in a 1939 model 71
358 Winchester in a browning BLR
350 Rem Mag guide gun
375 H&H the first magnum. I know there are newer sensible cartridges, but....

I do not like wsm's, rsaum's, ultra anything.

I don't hate any cartridges. I have a bunch of favorites, a bunch of ho hums and a bunch I haven't tried.

The following don't appeal to me:

> .17 caliber anything
> WSMs, WSSMs, SAUMs, just not needed
> RUMs, STWs, or .30/.338-378 Weatherbys, just get a big bore to begin with
> 22 Hornets, 218 Bees, 219 Wasps and other assorted flying pests
> Wildcats, that is until they actually fill a real niche and become adopted by a major factory

I also haven't had the best of luck with .270 Win.

I guess you could accuse me of cartridge indifference...

I hope nobody thinks that I am trying to start a hate thread or anything negative. My interest was to see WHY individuals dislike certain calibers. I appreciate all the responses. It has made for some interesting reading.

quote:

Originally posted by allen day:
I am guilty!

I hate wildcat cartridges, any and all.......

AD

this type of thinking always make me ask till which point? 40 years after a factory has picked them up? 10 years? 5 years? a year?

30-06 .. excellent wildcat from it's parent case the 30-03. change the determined bullet, change the shoulder, and the parent can still be fired in the wildcats chamber

this is funny, MOST of the NE rounds were proprietary.... and by definition (single source or make your own) ALL of those were wildcats...

some EXCELLENT wildcats through the ages.
all pinfire round - what? you have a CASE?
early NE rounds.. what? no blackpowder for hunting?
8 lebel - what? it's not a pinfire?
8x57 - what? a turnbolt, mag fed small bore light bullet?
30-03 - what? smaller than the 8x57 and FASTER?
30-06 - what? a pointy bullet?
300 HH - what, a BELT?.. that's not a proper rounf
375 HH what? a necked up BELTED round?
358 winchester
257 roberts
458 lott - why jack, it's only been a saami round for a couple years
338-08, 416 rem, 450 rigby (1995 - with only ONE company making factory guns), 700 nitro, all same as the lott


i think one gets my drift...

So, allen, do you still just use pinfires and/or muzzle loaders, or is your gunsafe full of these "wildcats" ?

jeffe

Me! Another who has never cared for the .270 Win or any cartridge less than .22.