Annual Fall Magnum-itis Season

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Rifle calibers I have used for deer. (Not that I am a big deer hunter)

.308 (Bolt)
.30-30 (Lever) (Younger son has it now)
.35 Remington (Lever)
.44 Mag (Lever) (Older son has it now)

Lots of folks around here that use 7MM Mag, .270, .280, .300 Mag (A buddy has a .300 Weatherby Mag), etc.

The last deer I shot was with a .22 LR. Brain shot. Bang/Flop dead.
 
Many here prefer a .270 to the .243 for deer. I’m not one, but I don’t think that advice was horrible. Same with using a 180 grain round to hit a deer hard. It will.

I don’t like the recoil and weight of the magnum calibers, but that’s just personal preference. To each his own.
 
Mr. Hill said:
I don’t like the recoil and weight of the magnum calibers, but that’s just personal preference. To each his own.
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There's plenty of overlap in recoil between calibers tagged as magnum and those not. The more popular magnums 7mm and smaller all have similar or less recoil than a .30-06 for example.

If we're really trying to avoid recoil, people need to be spending lots of time with the .243 and .250 Savage.
 
The only "magnum" that I like is the 338 win mag. To me that is actually properly proportioned, like a 120% scale 30-06. The rest are way overbore for my liking. I don't like my powder charge to weigh more than half as much as the bullet! Anything over about 2700-2800 fps to me is just turning a bunch of powder into noise.

Some people are super sensitive to recoil. It's never made much of any difference to me other than I have to concentrate a lot harder when shooting for extended periods. Biggest recoiling thing I ever shot was a 338 RUM in a hunting weight Remington 700. I was expecting it to be like getting hit with a baseball bat but I didn't think it was bad at all. No worse than a 12 gauge 3" duck load.
 
MCMXI said:
Here we go again with the anti-magnum rhetoric. While I agree that a magnum cartridge isn't a good choice for many and certainly not a good choice for a new shooter, what's wrong with using a magnum rifle if you shoot it well? My point is that magnum rifles in the right hands can be very effective hunting tools.
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Actually I wholeheartedly agree magnums can be effective. It's not like a magnum rifle or shotgun load is shooting a totally different projectile than a standard one. Instead it's just firing it somewhat faster, giving the shooter a little bit flatter trajectory and longer point blank range. Unfortunately that comes at a cost of more blast and recoil. That may be a good trade off in some circumstances. However for punching paper at a few hundred yards or knocking down a medium sized animal I think it's not productive for most regular Joes and Janes. Instead I prefer to guide folks to use what they can shoot effectively rathet than worrying about missing out on an extra 300 fps.
 
22250Rem said:
Back in the latter 1980's I developed a case of "Magnumitis" with 12 ga. slug guns for deer. I felt as though 3" magnum deer slugs were the way to go. After harvesting a few deer with them over a few years I began to notice that the deer didn't die any differently or any faster than when I was using standard 12 ga. 2 & 3/4" slugs.
Then I remembered that the 2 & 3/4"ers were actually a bit more accurate out of my gun and began to wonder why I was still using 3" slugs. Went back to 2 & 3/4" and stayed with them ever since. This was all back in the days of smoothbore slug guns and Foster style slugs.
Nowadays my dedicated slug gun ( a Rem. 870 Special Purpose) wears a fully rifled barrel but I still run 2 & 3/4" Winchester / BRI sabot slugs because they work so well and the deer still can't seem to tell the difference. Along with a 2.5x Leupold in the optics dept. which is all that anybody needs at any shotgun distance. ( Especially us older guys).
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Yup Thats what I always use. A 1978 Rem Wingmaster 2 3/4" receiver and 2 3/4" rifle sight smooth bore 18" barrel. The Federal 1 oz Truball slugs group 3" for a 3 shot group at 100yds.
 
Magnumitis is i believer a recurring condition unless treated properly, and can become an incurable affliction.

I should know, im terminal.......

If your comfortable with the blast, recoil and/or gun weight, there isnt anything a standard (06 based) round will do that a magnum wont a few hundred yards farther out.
The same can generally be said for a standard vs shorts (08....or should we say 300sav again, since the CM case is popular now). So why not just skip the 06 if stepping up from the .308 and go straight to one of the plethora of 30 mags?.....im being facetious....

Put me in the group of "shoot what you want, but shoot it well"
 
I however would love to own a 7 mag and a 257 wby mag. Not sure why, just would like to own them.[/QUOTE]

I have a 257 Weatherby and I love it. Shot a 7mm Weatherby while stationed in Germany during the 60's. Wish I had gotten the 257 instead just because I like it a lot better than the 7. I have the catalog from that period too. I read somewhere that the German mfg. Weatherbys were regulated for the 100 gr bullets so maybe it is good that I waited. My rifle shoots MOA with the100 grainers and I have not tried the 115 or the 117s yet. The 100gr rounds are more accurate than I can shoot and I find if I can see hair through my scope I will hit it. The recoil is not objectionable. One of the main attractions. I will mention that I'm shot a Texas deer in the chest last year and even though it was dead it still ran 50 yds in the brush. So its still all about shot placement.
 
@LoonWulf, I am sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. How long did they give you? Have you tried the newly designed "Purchase and Range" treatment? I hear that one can compound this treatment with "Ladder Groups" and "Experimental Loading" sessions, whatever these are. I wish you good luck with the healing.

Sadly, I know just what you are going through. I have recently found out, from several oncologists studying my E.K.G. and chronograph sheets, that I too have Magnum-itis.
Apparently Fifty Action Express is a magnum cartridge. I should have known. I've been loading it with CCI Three Fifty Magnum Pistol Primers lately. It just shot so well, I just, I should have been more careful. I thought that Action Express meant something about cowboys. It is smaller than the Five hundred Smith, I said to myself. How could I be so naïve? The brass is based off the Fourty Four Mag case for Goodness sakes.

Anyway, the Doctors say with the new medical advances that I should have fourty five to fifty years left. Provided I keep with the treatments. But one never knows how long they've got, so I'm living while I'm alive.
Don't stop fighting, Wulf. Live strong. Hope for a cure, someday. (Just not today.;))
 
My limit for comfortable shooting is right around the .30-06 mark. Anything much more and I don't want to sit down at a bench for a day shooting.

However, I used to hunt with a guy who had a bad case of "magnum-itis". But he could shoot that blasted thing. Very accurately and very far away.

I won't knock the guns. But I don't have much patience for people who think you can buy skill.
 
Demi-human said:
@LoonWulf, I am sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. How long did they give you? Have you tried the newly designed "Purchase and Range" treatment? I hear that one can compound this treatment with "Ladder Groups" and "Experimental Loading" sessions, whatever these are. I wish you good luck with the healing.

Sadly, I know just what you are going through. I have recently found out, from several oncologists studying my E.K.G. and chronograph sheets, that I too have Magnum-itis.
Apparently Fifty Action Express is a magnum cartridge. I should have known. I've been loading it with CCI Three Fifty Magnum Pistol Primers lately. It just shot so well, I just, I should have been more careful. I thought that Action Express meant something about cowboys. It is smaller than the Five hundred Smith, I said to myself. How could I be so naïve? The brass is based off the Fourty Four Mag case for Goodness sakes.

Anyway, the Doctors say with the new medical advances that I should have fourty five to fifty years left. Provided I keep with the treatments. But one never knows how long they've got, so I'm living while I'm alive.
Don't stop fighting, Wulf. Live strong. Hope for a cure, someday. (Just not today.;))
Click to expand...
It appears i have some time yet, my eyeballs are still attached properly, and my shoulders mostly functional...tho i suppose if i contract the medium or large caliber strain it may change that prognosis.....
6-8 months till i can afford another round of treatment, it seems ive finally shot out the tube on my 7 mag so ill have to get another before moving forward.....
 
There's nothing wrong with a magnum round if you can shoot it well.And there's nothing wrong with a non-magnum round if you can shoot it well.I own one rifle that is a magnum,it's a 300 Win mag in a beautiful M700FS,a rare variant of the 700 with a Brown Precision stock.It's killed half a dozen or so elk,and a dozen or so whitetails.Plain and simple,it's light,and with 180 gr Accu-Bonds,very accurate,but not at all pleasant to shoot.I also have a similar setup in 35 Whelen,and with 225 grain bullets,it's no more pleasant to shoot than the 300.A rifle doesn't have to carry the magnum moniker to be nasty to shoot.Around my part of the country,the big factor that results in misses or cripples is marksmanship.One of the worst things I see is that people are trying to get kids involved in deer hunting before they are ready.They use some sort of blind,a pile of corn or other chum,record what's coming in with a trail camera and take Junior deer hunting.Junior has shot his rifle twice in his whole life,and is expected to shoot well enough to kill a deer when he's ate up with buck fever.They try to cover up bad shooting with horsepower,and bad hunting ability with bait.The magnumitis disease is a very interesting malady indeed,and most experienced shooters have seen hunters go afield with an extremely powerful rifle that costs a lot to shoot,kicks like a mule,and has the muzzle blast of a Howitzer.Some states used to have a proficiency test,and I think that is a good idea.I shoot a lot,and can handle the recoil from any of my rifles,but there's no doubt in my mind that the best shooting I do is with the rifles that have low recoil.There is enough going on when a deer is in the sights,and this stress can really exacerbate a flinch from a hard kicking rifle.The last deer I shot was 75 yards away,and the bullet placement was perfect.The deer simply folded and never moved.The round was the 35 Whelen.It is relatively easy to find good used rifles in big kickers on gun shop racks because people buy them and can't handle the recoil.Last year a local hunter was talking about how he was going to have to replace his old rifle,a M700 in 270,because it just wouldn't kill any more.I asked if I could have it for a couple of days and see if it had any problems.The scope mount was loose,the barrel was filthy,the bolt stop was stuck from rust and the bedding bolts were ready to fall out.Magnum or not,a rifle in that shape shouldn't see the woods.Magnums are cool,lots of fun to blast hell out of stuff and all that,but a miss is a miss no matter what the velocity.
 
I've had a Savage Mod. 10 in 300 Winchester SHORT MAGNUM since 2004, ( that's it in my avatar ). Now the question is; should I seek professional help before this affliction becomes more acute? Also....... Is this condition contagious? Perhaps my affliction could have been traced to contact with a friend and his 300 and 30-378 Weatherby Magnums. Although he shoots them very well and even the 30-378 is not unpleasant to shoot, recoil-wise, with the top quality muzzle brake (forgot the name of it) that he had professionally installed. First time I ever fired his 30-378 I was braced for the worst.......... But it was nowhere near as bad as I had imagined. So if some of those people afflicted with Magnum-itus are diagnosed as terminal then could muzzle brakes qualify as a medical device that could be covered under an existing health insurance policy? ( insert sarcastic image here ).
 
22250Rem said:
Now the question is; should I seek professional help before this affliction becomes more acute? Also....... Is this condition contagious?
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As to contagious, yes. It can be fairly contagious in many circumstances, most definitely from contact, as well as audibly from conversation, either direct or overheard. An interesting form of transmission comes from visual stimulus, such as YouTube or hunting magazines. In fact, early on researchers underestimated the rates at which Magnum-itis spread via contaminated paper.

Contrary to insurers claims, non-professional assistance can be employed in treatment for this affliction. In many cases the inoculating firearm can also be used in the treatment of the infection, as well as the afore mentioned protocols.
To use the contaminated firearm is often the most effective and immediate way to start treatment. Asking this said "Friend" to the range for a medicinal shooting session can alleviate acute symptoms as well as begin the recovery process. Buying a box or two of eighty seven dollar premium hunting ammunition will also facilitate healing.

Alternatively, a professional approach can be taken at any local gun retailer, outdoor sports center or outfitter. A two stage procedure is used in the "Purchase and Range" treatments. The first step being the purchase of the new magnum firearm. This is done from a professional salesman and "Magnum" should be in the name of the new cartridge, to avoid any confusion. The following step is to bring the new firearm to a range and begin treatments. Many will suggest three to five, cold barrel, shoulder injections for as long as the patient is able to hit a four foot by four foot plywood sheet with a seventeen inch bull's-eye at sixty three yards. Or until shoulder bruising limits the effectiveness of the injections, due to impacted blood flow. It should be noted that the bull's-eye is only there to simulate aiming and target acquisition, any hit on the board requires another round shot.

Though some appear to be immune to Magnum-itis, the so-called 'non-Maggies', good hygiene among shooters is paramount in prevention of the spread of this syndrome. Good hand washing and brass retrieval, as well as suppressing the urge to see another human fire an overly powerful firearm can stop the spread of this wallet-debilitating disease.

I hope this can help. Going so long before diagnosis is not ideal, but at least you didn't go online and find a place that sells great brass and a very heavy for caliber plated bullet at a fraction of the cost of a jacketed round, enabling you to handload a round more accurate and far cheaper than anything sold in a box of twenty, causing you to come in contact with the Magnum cartridges at a far greater rate.

I mean, at least you didn't do that, did you?
 
...Liposuction....or a good diet might help the waist line...nothing to be done about the short
 
MCMXI wrote:
...what's wrong with using a magnum rifle if you shoot it well?
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Nothing, but its the second half of your question that causes the concern - and elicits derision from people like me.

I know people who can't shoot a 223 because they flinch so badly as the round goes off that none of them can actually shoot a 5 MOA group even though they walk away from the firing line talking about "sub-MOA" shooting. And then when it comes to deer season, they all want to strut around and talk about how the local 85 pound deer can't be taken with a 308 or 30-06 so they "need" a magnum. With such people, the safest place to be around them is standing next to their target.
 
If anything magnums are declining in popularity. I believe they actually peaked in popularity quite some time ago so comments like those above are far less common than they used to be. The advent of better bullets and optics is a big reason why. I can literally use my 308 and have it perform better on large game with todays bullets than I could have done with a 300 magnum 50 years ago. Of course the magnums with modern bullets are even better.

And "magnum" is just a name on a head stamp. There are lots of non-magnum rounds that recoil more than many popular magnum rounds. I often see someone on the internet put down someone else for using a 300 magnum when they use rounds like 338/06. 35 Whelen, 444, 45-70, or 358. All produce recoil greater than 300 WM especially in the lighter rifles they are chambered in. A 7mm mag and 30-06 both shoot the same bullet weights at the same speed for nearly identical recoil.
 
I think a lot of people are over sold by inexperienced sale people.
What is important is that you have the gun you want and I have the gun I want.
We shall all go deer hunting and enjoy the season !!!
 
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