The 3 most underrated hunting calibers.

[earlthegoat2]

There is a huge and ever widening disconnect between hunters and shooters and what is also becoming an ever decreasing number of folks who are firearms enthusiasts and also do both hunting and shooting.

If your only a hunter and not much of a shooter, you are probably using old (at least older) school cartridges. 30-06 and its ilk (270, 25-06, 280, 35 Whelen), 308 and its older ilk as similar to 30-06, 30-30 (and any of the old school Winchester and Marlin lever gun chamberings) and a very few outliers.

Shooters (who are also generally firearms enthusiasts) who don’t hunt will opt for the latest round they think will make the smallest groups. More modern cartridges and rifles are attractive for these purposes. 6.5 and 6 CM are attractive to me from a purely target shooting perspective and that’s it. It should be noted that I do use a more modern round frequently for hunting and that is 450 BM.

There is a decent amount of overlap between these two categories. One thing is sure though. If your a member here, there is high likelihood you are a firearms enthusiast. This place also seems to have a higher number of hunters than usual.

There are a boatload of people out there like my dad who have never heard of a firearms Internet forum who go out to the woods every year with their old gun (in his case, a 20 ga H&R ultra slug hunter(also underrated)) and limit out their deer tags.

 

[tactikel]

.250 Savage
7 mm Mauser
.300 H&H Magnum

Yep I'm old school.

 

[zdc1775]

Lots of old timers from south Texas to the swamps of Florida use, and swear by, the ‘ol 22 Hornet for deer.

A Savage 340 that had been converted into a K-Hornet shooting 45 grain cast bullets was my grandfather's all time favorite hunting rifle. In my life time I personally witnessed him kill everything from squirrels to deer and even a couple of cows with it. Also never saw him need a second shot on any of the above. I wish that gun hadn't been stolen when someone, probably his son, broke into their house when I was a teenager because that gun had a lot of fond memories attached to it.

 

[HOWARD J]

7.62 x 39
243 win
3030 win

 

[.308 Norma]

7.62 x 39
243 win
3030 win

The last two fall easily into the "overrated" category too.

 

[HOWARD J]

The last two fall easily into the "overrated" category too.

i don't deer hunt anymore so I really don't care

 

[WisBorn]

The last two fall easily into the "overrated" category too.

How big of a war do you start with the three most overrated cartridges

 

[25wssmSS]

25 Wssm, 6mm Rem,

 

[Paul7]

Well... here's my 3.

6.5x55mm Swede. Underrated. Creedmoor became more special along the way. No clue why. Marketing?

I'll second that. Hits like a .308, kicks like a .243.

 

[Ivy Mike]

I'll second that. Hits like a .308, kicks like a .243.

The motion carries.
6.5 Creedmoor is nothing more than a 6.5 Swede in a .308 case. Seems like a lot of modern cartridges are just revamps of older cartridges. Better chemistry has yielded better propellants. Better bullet designs have come along. Now the 6mm Creedmoor is here and, surprise surprise, it's a hotted up 6mm Lee Navy in a shorter case.

The thing I really like about some of these is that they are attractive ways to rechamber old beater milsurp rifles that are otherwise too expensive or too difficult to feed and shoot regularly. For example, 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 Jap are about the same price, but 6.5 Grendel is considerably cheaper.

 

[H&Hhunter]

The motion carries.
6.5 Creedmoor is nothing more than a 6.5 Swede in a .308 case. Seems like a lot of modern cartridges are just revamps of older cartridges. Better chemistry has yielded better propellants. Better bullet designs have come along. Now the 6mm Creedmoor is here and, surprise surprise, it's a hotted up 6mm Lee Navy in a shorter case.

The thing I really like about some of these is that they are attractive ways to rechamber old beater milsurp rifles that are otherwise too expensive or too difficult to feed and shoot regularly. For example, 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 Jap are about the same price, but 6.5 Grendel is considerably cheaper.

All of these new wonder rounds in 6.5 do about the same thing and have about the same terminal performance on game for a given bullet. Which are about the same as the historical 6.5’s. There isn’t a nickels difference on game between a 6.5 CR, 6.5 PRC, .260 Rem, 6.5 Swede, .256 Mannlicher, 6.5 Jap, .256 Newton (6.5-06), .264 Win, 6.5 RPM 6.5/284, and I’d go as far as saying even a .260 Nosler or the mighty 6.5/300 Weatherby.

I am NOT saying that they are inefficient game killers, not in the least. The 6.5 has a long history of punching above its weight. I’m just pointing out that all of these Johnny come lately 6.5’s are nothing more than a reinvention of the wheel. And as mentioned are even better game killers now with modern bullets and are able to match or slightly out pace their historical siblings with improved powder and case design.

 

[Catpop]

35 Rem
32-40
30-30
300 HH
270 Win

 

[9x56MS]

For hunting only: 35 rem in years gone by before hunters became snipers it was considered a good elk round. 2) 358 winchester the under rated part due mostly to lazy gun writers who insist it is a short range woods round only due to their never actually shooting it at 300-350 yards ( my own limits for “long range” ). 3) 6.5x55 Swede due to the underpowered factory loads sold here in the US.

 

[PonyKiller]

I'll bite.
32 win special. Its a solid performer under served ammo wise.
.303 Brit. I reload for it in a pattern 14 enfield. Its accurate, a solid perfomer at the range ,can be loaded for deer, elk, bear. The 180 gr sierra pro hunter ours prefers is as my enough bullet for most anything in the us.
7mm-08 is again a solid all around performer on game and at the range. All 3 are sensible catridges With moderate recoil.

 

[Keyfer 55]

222 Remington

 

[9x56MS]

The three I'd pick:

30 Rem AR
280 Win
7x57 Mauser

Do they still even make the 30 rem AR? Not over rated just not even rated.

 

[Bwana John]

257 Roberts
7mm Mauser
9.3mm x 62mm

 

[Chuck R.]

The motion carries.
6.5 Creedmoor is nothing more than a 6.5 Swede in a .308 case. Seems like a lot of modern cartridges are just revamps of older cartridges. Better chemistry has yielded better propellants. Better bullet designs have come along. Now the 6mm Creedmoor is here and, surprise surprise, it's a hotted up 6mm Lee Navy in a shorter case.

The thing I really like about some of these is that they are attractive ways to rechamber old beater milsurp rifles that are otherwise too expensive or too difficult to feed and shoot regularly. For example, 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 Jap are about the same price, but 6.5 Grendel is considerably cheaper.

Performance wise, you're of course correct.

But the newer stuff was designed to meet parameters in addition to their interior/exterior ballistics. The Creedmoors for example were designed to feed in a short action AICS magazine with a heavy VLD bullet. My favorite deer caliber for stands and blinds is the .260 Rem, which for all intents and purposes has been usurped by the 6.5C. As much as I hate to admit it, the 6.5C is a better choice for those wanting a combination TGT/Hunting rifle and plan on shooting 140+ VLD bullets in a short action. I'm not getting rid of mine, and as a matter of fact I'm about to have it re-barreled in .260Rem again, because for my use a 120 or 130 hunting bullet is what I'm after. But, I do recognize that as the numbers of hunters decrease, the numbers of TGT shooters seem to increase.

My favorite "underrated" cartridge for example is the .350 Rem Mag, which pretty much duplicates the .35 Whelen, and comes close to the 9.3x62 (up to 250 grains), but in a short action. It can also be loaded down to .358Win level and can use .357 pistol bullets for plinking practice. On introduction it was "ground breaking" but now teetering on obsolescence. A 225 Nosler Partition at 2700+FPS from a 20" barrel, from a 7lb compact gun that can deal with everything on the continent should be a great seller, but we all know how that goes.

 

[George P]

Now the 6mm Creedmoor is here and, surprise surprise, it's a hotted up 6mm Lee Navy in a shorter case.

Seems to me that the 6mm CM is more like an elongated 6mmBR

 

[DocRock]

30-30
30-06
25-06

All underrated in favor of the cartouche du jour.

30-30 will do for anything from elk down at the distances that most people are actually capable of ethically hunting at.

30-06 will do for anything that most people will actually ever hunt.

25-06 is just sort of glossed over despite its awesome versatility. It could really do with a refresh as an AI with a 1:8 twist to modernize it.

 

[DocRock]

And by contrast, food for thought. 280 AI is going to ruffle some feathers!

https://www.fieldandstream.com/10-m...TPW-1GK2UX-1c-eIaS-1c-1GJWMm-l5idSK0riK-NLJXa

 

[9x56MS]

30-30
30-06
25-06

All underrated in favor of the cartouche de jour.

30-30 will do for anything from elk down at the distances that most people are actually capable of ethically hunting at.

30-06 will do for anything that most people will actually ever hunt.

25-06 is just sort of glossed over despite its awesome versatility. It could really do with a refresh as an AI with a 1:8 twist to modernize it.

Can’t say I consider any of those 3 under rated but then I am what my grandchildren call “old school”.

 

[DocRock]

Can’t say I consider any of those 3 under rated but then I am what my grandchildren call “old school”.

Same boat. I think they are underrated among the short action velocity worshipping long range fixated millennial types. And among hook and bullet writers who have to flog the latest, greatest most amazingest cartridge.

 

[9x56MS]

My son has a 6.5 Creed or but it really doesn't do anything the Swede and 6.5 MS hasn't been doing for over 100 years. Now the 6mm creedmor is the new 6mm Remington? Worshiping at the alter of all that is new and shiny.

 

[HOWARD J]

222 Remington

My early hunting was with a 222--MI rangers always told me the 222 was no good for hunting. 5 am during deer season a ranger sitting on my trailer tongue was invited in out of the cold. He said MI rangers buy 10,000 rds of 222 for winter deer management. WE USE THEM KAUSE WE IS BETTER SHOTS THAN YOU HUNTERS--