Rifle Cartridge You Love for No Real Reason

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When I was younger, I experimented with lots of different cartridges just to say I'd had one. I've had some less common rounds, including 45-70. In the1970's that was really out there.

I've owned 300 WSM, 280, 338-06, 35 Whelen, 16 ga shotgun, 22 magnum and 41 magnum. I've had opportunities to try 454 Casul, 416 Rigby, 8mm Rem mag, 375 H&H, and a few others. I've also had 7mm Rem mag and 300 WM, but I guess those qualify as mainstream.

But at the end of the day, I tend to be pretty rational like varminterror and I've sold most of the non-mainstream cartridges and could easily do everything I need to do with an AR, and 2 centerfire bolt rifles. One in 308, the other 223, a 12 ga shotgun, a 22 rifle, and a 9mm pistol.

The only 2 cartridges that I own that MIGHT be classified as non-mainstream are a 10mm pistol and a 6.5CM rifle. I don't shoot the 10mm a lot, but I have it for a very specific role. So there is a reason.

The 6.5 was one of those cartridges that I bought just to see what all the excitement was all about. I like the cartridge and think it lives up to the hype. I've had a chance to shoot 4-5 different rifles so chambered and everyone was exceptionally accurate.

But I don't think it is going to dethrone my 308's. At least not just yet. I believe the 6.5 CM is the better cartridge, but at this point I like the rifles I have in 308 better. At any rate it perfectly splits the difference caliber wise between 223 and 308.
 
My holy grail as a kid was the 300 HH. And at 71 it still is. Love the history behind it. I finally got a 721 in 80s. Would love a pre 64 M70, but it ain’t gonna happen in my life.
I was also intrigued by the Imp or 23 Savage HP. That’s one I’ve never held, shot, or even seen before. But I do have a handful of cases for it I got from my grandad. So I figure he must have shot it probably back in 1918 when he was on USMC rifle team.
 
I guess mine would be like already mentioned the 30 Remington AR, and I'll also throw in 7.92x33.

7.92x33 the grandfather of all other intermediate rifle cartridges.
 
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Kind of? I love my 243, even though my 6.5 CM does everything the 243 does better. I've killed lots of deer with the 243 in the past, and I intend for Mrs. Fl-NC to use it in the future. I also recently acquired an old Winchester 94 in 30-30 for free from someone I did a favor for. No special love for the round, but it is a cool gun. I replaced the buckhorn with a Williams peep sight, dialed it in, and shot a doe with it a couple weeks ago, just because.
 
My guns and cartridges are bought for a reason.
Here are the requirements for each:

#1. They must be easy to find and purchase while being relatively inexpensive. (.223, 30.06, etc.)
#2. They must serve a target range, hunting, or self defense niche. (.380, .22 rimfire, 7mm08)

The only exception might be if I acquired a neat gun of historical significance that use an odd caliber - but then it would be mostly a wall hanger.....
 
.348WCF

A pointless cartridge for me, and expensive cartridge to load for, in a generally expensive rifle... but I love it.

Back in the '90's, my brother and I were into lever-action everything. I was in a gun shop in Indianapolis, and they had a 4-gun set of Browning 71's from an estate... 1 each, rifle and carbine, Grade I and Grade V, with matching serial numbers, all in a giant box from Browning, unfired. I didn't know what the heck a .348 was, but I told my brother and he went and got the money to buy them. Me being me... I wanted to go shoot them, but my brother said 'NO.' Fine... I'll just go buy my own! I found a new Grade I carbine at a LGS and threw down the cash. Then I tried to find ammos for it. At the time, with the release of the Browning 71's, Winchester also released some commemorative .348 ammos, but it was about $40 a box (in 1990's $'s...) so I went ahead and bought 2 boxes for seed corn, and ordered dies and bullets from Midway. What a great rifle to shoot!

The .348WCF was the last of the big lever-actions... introduced at a time when bolt actions were taking over, with scopes and such... no one wanted some crazy, expensive (as the original Winchester 71's were...) rifle you couldn't put glass on, and they became an orphan. Some of my attachment to it is similar to my attachment to the .41MAG, again.. another orphan that was a good cartridge, just introduced at the wrong time.

A few years later, I stupidly passed on another Browning 71 rifle. Another LGS had one, but they also had a Browning 1886 SRC in .45-70... and I had been looking for one. He told me that his distributor made him take a 71 for every 1886 he ordered... to try to get rid of the 71's! The 71 on the shelf was a bargain... and I should have bought it, too.
 
.303British.
First center fire I ever shot.
First cart. I reloaded for. (My Brothers rifle, dies, components).

I envision all the exotic places around the world I’ll never get to hunt, though the .303Brit has “been there, done that”!
Moose in the muskeg of Canada, lions of the Kalahari, tigers of Bengal, Bears in British Columbia...
My lowly #4Mk1 handles like a H&H double but only kicks like a .30/30.
Shoots as accurately as one can shoot iron sights.

I’ve got most of those mentioned by others, and though many get meritorious recognition, the ole Brit is my #1.
 
I'm a 30-30 nut for some reason. The history of its use against all sorts of critters it was "too small for". It reloads easy and kicks mildly. It's just a great caliber all the way around. Handles cast real well. Mines a Winchester 94 made in 70.

Honorable mention for 348 Winchester and 41 mag. I have a thing for both, but have neither. Something about the mystique.

Then there is 33 Winchester. Never handled one but seen an 86 so chambered and just kinda got enthroled. Researched it and read about it some. Pretty neat.

I like turn of the century stuff and rimmed cartridges for some reason.
 
My overall favorite rifle cartridge for many years was the 300WM. Excellent range rifle that could pretty much put anything down if need be. Couldn't afford to own one nowadays though

Now I have two rifles chambered in 308, a AR10 and a RPR. So the 308 will likely be my favorite until I can no longer pull a trigger. :)
 
Charlie98 said:
.348WCF

A pointless cartridge for me, and expensive cartridge to load for, in a generally expensive rifle... but I love it.

Back in the '90's, my brother and I were into lever-action everything. I was in a gun shop in Indianapolis, and they had a 4-gun set of Browning 71's from an estate... 1 each, rifle and carbine, Grade I and Grade V, with matching serial numbers, all in a giant box from Browning, unfired. I didn't know what the heck a .348 was, but I told my brother and he went and got the money to buy them. Me being me... I wanted to go shoot them, but my brother said 'NO.' Fine... I'll just go buy my own! I found a new Grade I carbine at a LGS and threw down the cash. Then I tried to find ammos for it. At the time, with the release of the Browning 71's, Winchester also released some commemorative .348 ammos, but it was about $40 a box (in 1990's $'s...) so I went ahead and bought 2 boxes for seed corn, and ordered dies and bullets from Midway. What a great rifle to shoot!

The .348WCF was the last of the big lever-actions... introduced at a time when bolt actions were taking over, with scopes and such... no one wanted some crazy, expensive (as the original Winchester 71's were...) rifle you couldn't put glass on, and they became an orphan. Some of my attachment to it is similar to my attachment to the .41MAG, again.. another orphan that was a good cartridge, just introduced at the wrong time.

A few years later, I stupidly passed on another Browning 71 rifle. Another LGS had one, but they also had a Browning 1886 SRC in .45-70... and I had been looking for one. He told me that his distributor made him take a 71 for every 1886 he ordered... to try to get rid of the 71's! The 71 on the shelf was a bargain... and I should have bought it, too.
Click to expand...

That is one rifle I've often thought about getting. My dad had one when I was a kid. When he let me shoot it at age 10 it was one of my first steps into manhood. Why I don't own one is I know it would sit in the back of a safe. Especially for the money that they command. Still, one of the coolest rifles ever.
 
8mm Mauser, the only reason is because I needed a deer rifle back in the early seventies and I had little cash. I went to a small gun shop in town and asked what they had for cheap. The owner pointed at a wooden barrel in the back of the shop and said I could take my pick for $35.00. I chose the one with a smooth bolt and the least amount of cosmoline and I had my deer rifle. A K98k Mauser date stamped 1942 and loaded with swastika proof stamps. I often wished I had the means to buy the whole barrel full.
 
Out of 45 calibers and gauges, only the gauges, 243, and 22lr have a distinct purpose. The other 40 are just curiosities. 22 SHP, 300Sav, 221FB, 357/44B&D, 50B etc etc are all just because i like a plethora of calibers.
 
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