Most Underappreciated Rifle Caliber

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6mm remmy, gentle on bores and barrels, and is like a 243 on steroids.
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Same 7x57 based case, but a little bigger bullets is the .257 Roberts which got my vote much earlier in this thread. It can do anything a 6mm can do....better. :D I push a 100 grain Sierra game king to 3150 fps and 3/4 MOA accuracy out of my short action M722 Remington. I can push a 117 grain bullet to 3050 fps. That's treading on .25-06 ballistics in a short action gun. Ned Roberts formed the .257 back in the 20s and it's been around to see the birth of a lot lesser cartridges since. The .243 really put a stake in it with its popularity, but the .243 can't hope to outperform the Roberts in handloads. It was only because the ammo companies grossly underloaded .257 Roberts factory ammo all those years that it got eclipsed by the 6mms. The +P stuff Winchester came out with helped it for a while, but it sunk into obscurity again. I am very happy with mine, though. I've owned it for since my Grandpa finally gave it to me in the late 60s. He passed away in '81, but he didn't hunt anymore, so gave me his 870 and his .257 with which I took my first deer at age 11. I was stupid and sold the 870 when I was a broke student needing money (was into a 12 gauge then, the 870 was a 20), but I never ever had one thought of selling that old Roberts and never will. If I cared that much about 870s, could get another one, though it wouldn't be my Grandpa's. But, the .257 is priceless to me.
 
6.5x55 is awesome.

I wish 6.5-06 would get some factory backing. It surpasses 6.5 Magnum for velocity, and it would fit on every long action ever made. I dont see what the holdup is.
 
25-06

It's a great deer cartridge. It'll knock them down without too much damage to the meat.

.22 Mag is probably my favorite rimfire cartridge, but not very many people use it.

I think that the .308 Winchester is underappreciated in the fact that not very many people use it for deer.
 
8mm Mauser... without a doubt the most underappreciated round. The Germans got it right.

9mm Luger... it gets a lot of heat from American .45ACP/.40S&W fanboys but 9mm is still the most efficient balance of power, penetration, capacity, and recoil in a handgun. The Germans got it right, again. At least the rest of the world appreciates it.

7.62x54R... it seems that hunters and reloaders are only just beginning to appreciate this round's potential. I read that it can actually be loaded to exceed .30-06 performance.
 
9mm Luger... it gets a lot of heat from American .45ACP/.40S&W fanboys but 9mm is still the most efficient balance of power, penetration, capacity, and recoil in a handgun. The Germans got it right, again. At least the rest of the world appreciates it.
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Actually, this means the .45ACP is way underappreciated... which I previously would've found hard to believe. The rest of the world is just playing politics... which I have no trouble believing.

I say that as a Walther P-38 owner. I have this gun as something different and interesting. I'm under no illusions as to which round is the superior stopper.

But how many rifles do ya'll see chambered for 9mmLuger? A few camp carbine types and submachineguns, but not in rifles.
 
45 super. Probably 99 percent of the modern 45 acp guns can safely shoot it and it beats the pants off every round out there. Out of a 16 inch carbine the faster loads are over 1600fps. Using something like those Aguila IQ bullets in a 45 super and I think over 2000fps would be possible. Probably falls like a rock past 150 yards, but that would ruin someones day at the closer ranges.

It is supposedly "way hotter than +P" but is still only halfway between 45acp and a modern round like 9mm or 40S&W in terms of pressure.

45acp- 21k psi
+P- 23kpsi
super- 28kpsi
9mm- 35kpsi

Yeah I realize this is cheating in a rifle caliber poll, but I do have a rifle in this caliber.
 
Hmm.

I think the 7.92 is definitely one but what about its little brother 7.92k
the original intermediate round... well at least effective.
Doesn't sound very American I know but hey Germans are good with guns.
7.92k is kurz or kurtz 7.92 short.
They used it in one of the first assault rifles "sturmgewehr" mp44.
Which is referenced to by most experts as the predecessor to the ak
The only other one I know of in use was the 30 cal carbine U.S. round,
which was inadequate to say the least and only available in a battle rifle "semi-auto" and a full size machinegun
 
300 Holland and Holland "The Super 30"

The real grandpa of all 30 cal magnums. Still is the most efficient 30 magnum for fps per grains of powder and still the best feeding round ever designed. Will shoot anything from 130s to 250s with no powder room issues and no popping out of the magazine at inopportune times. After all what's a few 1000 thousand Euros between friends? A side by side 300 H&H...that is class!

Number two has to be the 30-06. There are lots out there but to hear some of the "experts" talk it might be adequate for small Coyotes within 50 yards, and that defines "unappreciated."
 

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I guess it depends on what you are shooting at. I cut meat several years at a family game processing shop in Wyoming and you cant imagine the damage I've seen done--not just sometimes but usually. We used to prod people by asking them why they shot thier animal in the butt and the belly when it looks like the one in the head would of done it. We always got accoused of taking peoples game because the box they picked up was so small. Truth is I will not eat game unless I shot it or know the person who did very well. People do me a favor and quit driving around with deer in your truck while your buddy is still trying to fill his tag and use plenty of water to get that animal cooled off and cleaned--a hose asap is the best but a creek or pond or anything will do. As for rifles--we dont have many elephants or rhinos in America--Leave your cannon at home. 30-30s are nice traditional American rifles especially Winchester 94s and work very well especially in the brush a perfect caliber for 100 - 200 yds with experience. Will kill anything in North America in the range that 90% of your shots should be. However, on the plains, some deer and most antalope may be a little farther away, My favorite rifle for the wide open is a model 99 250-3000 savage (out of production = underappreciated) This can be set dead on at 300 yds and is only an inch and a half high at 150 and two inches low at 400 (I think shots over 300 yds at large game should very rarely to almost never be taken anyway-- only at something broadside and unaware and no chance of you or the animal getting any closer and not much more than 300) If you can't get any closer your not a very good hunter anyway and would be doing the rest of us a favor by staying home. But coyotes are another story I've shot too many to count at 500+ yds. Remember the $80 coyotes and $40 coons, not to mention $350 bobcats and $60 foxes in the 70s? I bought my first pickup with fur money and wore it out chasing some more. A 250 savage is perfect for this (well coons work better with a Winchester 9422M with a mag light taped under the barrel). If I'm after Elk or Moose I still like my old 700 Rem. 30-06 with 180 grns. Make sure to put it where it counts and doesn't blow everything else up because this is plenty of gun to do it with. All of these choices are as American and as traditional as you can get. I wish you could still find 250 savage rounds at all the ammo shops you came to ( I load my own and take plenty with me) but even at a very limited gas station/bread and bologna/out in the sticks/ammo and three spinner tackle store, The kind you find all over Wyoming and Montana, You can always find 30-30, 30-06, .22, .22mag, and 12 gauge shells, and once in a while 250 savage. By the way plastic guns should be a sin.
 
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Rifle in .45 super?

LawBot5000 (a lawyer? :)) wrote of the under-appreciate .45 Super:

Yeah I realize this is cheating in a rifle caliber poll, but I do have a rifle in this caliber.
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What rifle is that? There are few enough in .45 ACP :)

And can you justify your claim that 99pct of modern .45 ACP guns can shoot the Super variety? :) I'd like to try a .45 Super sometime, just haven't been to a range that rents any.

Not seeking to do so (any time soon at least), but I wonder if my XD-45 could handle .45 Super. Frankly, I'm unlikely to try it (I like my actual ammo to match what's printed on the slide ;)), but a point of interest anyhow.

timothy
 
I'd love to own a .45 Super weapon. I know my S&W 625 can shoot supers, and I've heard reports that Sig 220s can shoot it without any modifications. From a rifle, I bet it would be a scorcher.
 
Bricky has it right

Most of the Elk hunters I see at home (WY) are overgunned and overscoped.

They read the crap put out by the bought writers on "you gotta have the latest greatest whatever" and show up with a 340 Weatherby and a 6-18x56 scope.

A good friend who is an outfitter keeps a circa 1952 721 30-06 with a Weaver K3 in camp.
When the dude can't hit the 12" pieplate at 100 yards because he is flinching like a goosed schoolmarm, he is handed to 06 with the half empty box of 180 silvertips and usually kills his elk.

I saw a recent story where some writer's wife killed every African plains critter
(no Buffs) with a Kimber 30-06 loaded with the new Barnes 180 MRX. The PH was astounded but finally cuaght on that a well placed 06 will do the job.
 
I can't realistically guarantee that any particular rifle will work with 45 super, but my hunch would be yes. I have an oly arms upper. Since that same company is making barrels in far higher pressure loadings (9mm, 40, 10mm, 223!), I would guess that 45 super is a nothing load. The case is fully supported so the only failure point I can think of is that the buffer probably isnt heavy enough for even heavier loads than 45 ACP. Using ultra high weight 45 super loadings will probably crack the stock. I can't think of a way around this. Lower weight bullets would probably be safe. Complete guess btw.

Besides the obvious liabililty concerns, I'm surprised that a high pressure version of 45 super hasnt come out. 400 corbon without the neck is what i am thinking of.
 
My vote is for the following (I have owned rifles & hunted with all of them)

6.5X54MS - so light & handy - drops deer dead with 160 gr hornadys.
6.5X55 sw - a bit faster than the MS & shoots further with the same results
358 Win - drops big animals in their tracks with little loss of meat.
9.3X62 - similar to the 358 but shoots to 300 yds - I need to blod this rifle soon!
 
Maybe not the most underappreciated, but it's underappreciated in one arena:
.223/5.56
Why are there no revolvers chambered for this round?
 
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