Please rank these rifle cartridges

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superpunchy

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Please rank the following rifle cartridges from most powerful to weakest (put the most powerful at the top of your list and the weakest at the bottom). There are 20 rifle cartridges in this list:

.223 Remington
.308 Winchester
.30-06 Springfield
.22-250 Remington
.243 Winchester
.270 Winchester
.300 Winchester Magnum
.204 Ruger
.300 Winchester Short Magnum
7MM Remington Magnum
.25-06 Remington
.300 Weatherby Magnum
.45-70 Government
7MM-08 Remington
.270 Winchester Short Magnum
.30-30 WCF
.300 Remington Ultra Magnum
.257 Weatherby Magnum
.338 Winchester
.222 Remington
 
No offense, but you can do this just as well as we can, it is called wikipedia, they usually (if not always) have energy figures for cartridges.
 
find them on the federal or other ammunition manufacturer website. look at the ft/lbs of energy, and that is about the best objective, quantifiable definition of "power" you can find.

Off the top of my head, I would say that the 300 RUM will be the most "powerful".


Now that the answer is out of the way, *** is the objective of this inquest?
 
338 Win Mag is the most powerful and the 204 Ruger is the least. Everything else is somewhere in the middle.
 
I have never fired a gun in 45-70 Gubment.
Don't know that I ever will.
Am I missing anything?
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If it's got government in the title I can only guess that it's slow, inefficient, and prone to opressing minorities.
 
I have never fired a gun in 45-70 Gubment.
Don't know that I ever will.
Am I missing anything?
Click to expand...

Yes.

In stock form, the 45-70 is loaded very lightly due to black powder legacy guns that can't handle much pressure. Standard loads are so slow that they are a 100 - 125 yard proposition.

However if you handload or buy custom ammunition, it turns into a real powerhouse. A 400 grain 45 caliber Swift bullet at 1800 fps will stop just about anything. Makes a great gun for elk or bear in timber.
 
I think the problem here is that "pwerful" is ambiguous and even if it weren't it is only one dimension of many. Why rank cartridges on one dimension? Like ranking cars on just horsepower, or wheelbase. If you have to ring a bell 400 yds away, which is more "powerful" at that moment, the .45-70 or the .22/250?

In the end, the only thing more power is good for is fixing a lack of power.
 
by natman In stock form, the 45-70 is loaded very lightly due to black powder legacy guns that can't handle much pressure. Standard loads are so slow that they are a 100 - 125 yard proposition.

However if you handload or buy custom ammunition, it turns into a real powerhouse. A 400 grain 45 caliber Swift bullet at 1800 fps will stop just about anything. Makes a great gun for elk or bear in timber.
Click to expand...

And loaded with black powder, it turns in a very good performance out to those ranges. I have yet to see the need for shooting past 100 yards on game. Complete penetration on many game animals. Supercharging it is fun but hard on the shoulder and the wallet. Original ballistics work great.

For target work, the 45-70 is still used at 1000 yards and in the past has been targeted up to 2 miles.

http://www.researchpress.co.uk/longrange/sandyhook.htm
 
I once saw a guy at the range sighting in a marlin lever action and I am pretty sure it was in 45-70 Gov. I guess a big round like that would be ideal in a lever action used in brush.
He was also sighting in an identical Marlin lever action in 450. One was his and one was "the wife's". I remember thinking ***? That must be some wife!!!!
It has been 8-9 years since but I think I remember the box was green and yellow Remington ammo. I remember it almost like yesterday. Can't remember a phone number or address but the gun stuff sticks tight!!!! LOL.
 
Can't be done until you define the root word "power" - do you mean energy or momentum? And are we to compare standard loadings only, or the lightest bullets available (since those have the advantage in the energy department)?
 
each one of these cartridges performs a specific job, and makes them tools to be used by the person doing the work. remember, guns are tools. they are made and used to preform specific tasks. these tasks are limited by the ammuniton that the rifle shoots.

an easy wasy to see what cartridges are more "powerful" than the next, is to go and buy a reloading book. they usually seem to put the cartridges into " a numerical " order compared to size of projectile, and energy each cartridge is able to obtain. (hope this makes sence)
 
338 Win Mag is the most powerful and the 204 Ruger is the least. Everything else is somewhere in the middle.
Click to expand...
Actually, praharin is correct, the .300 RUM is most powerful.
Click to expand...


I respectfully disagree. A 250 Gr 338 bullet will make a much bigger hole and penetrate very deep. It's just a bigger bullet than a 200 gr 30 caliber bullet.

I'm not one that believes the one with the higher energy is necessarily more powerful. Energy numbers are always skewed because velocity is squared.

Both will kill big game dead but if I was being charged by a large grizzly, I'd prefer the 338 Mag with a 250 grain partition but I certainly wouldn't feel helpless with a 300 RUM loaded with a 200 gr A-Frame.
 
I respectfully disagree. A 250 Gr 338 bullet will make a much bigger hole and penetrate very deep. It's just a bigger bullet than a 200 gr 30 caliber bullet.

I'm not one that believes the one with the higher energy is necessarily more powerful. Energy numbers are always skewed because velocity is squared.

Both will kill big game dead but if I was being charged by a large grizzly, I'd prefer the 338 Mag with a 250 grain partition but I certainly wouldn't feel helpless with a 300 RUM loaded with a 200 gr A-Frame.
Click to expand...
Fair enough, I was talking from the muzzle energy perspective.:)
 
one more thing, I don't think i would put the 222, above the 204; out at say 200 or 300 yds, I think the 204 has more energy than a 222; but I could be wrong, and no I am not talking about handloading a 222, up to the old 222 mag standards either. Factory loads. a 40 grain 204, with 20 cal. ballistics,leaving at 4000fps, has to be heavier by a few pounds downrange, than a 22 cal, which we know has crap ballistics, leaving a bbl somewhere around 2800 to maybe 3000 fps.
 
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