What is your "nearly perfect" cartridge?

[cdb1]

When I was a teenager it was the 30-06 because that was all I had and knew. From 20 to my early 50's it was the .270. For the last three years it has been the 6.5x55 in a modern action(CZ) with 130 Grain Berger's. The only thing that could change my mind might be a 6.5-06 if I ever get one. Second choice for me is the .22 WMR. Doesn't have to make sense, I just love that cartridge.

 

[jdh]

You can do everything you mentioned in your original post by substituting 35 Remington for 357 Max with readily available brass. Once upon a time you could even buy chamber adapters to fire 357 mag/38 spec in it.

 

[Johnny Lightning]

I don't think there is a one size fits all cartridge.... variety is the spice of life!

 

[RustyShackelford]

Funny....

It's funny how you can harbor a misconception for many years & base a belief on something that turns out wrong.

As a teen, I saw the Chuck Norris action film; Lone Wolf McQuade(1983).
I saw it a few times on home video & basic/pay cable over the years.
I always thought the JJ character(Norris) used a 30/06 hunting rifle in a early scene because of his marksmanship & the "power" the fired bullets displayed.
In the 2010s, I learned of www.IMFDb.org & read that surprise; Texas Ranger McQuade didn't shoot a 30/06 rifle but a Styer(check spelling) SIII NATO 7.62x54mm rifle. It was still cool but not quite what I expected.
I fired a 30/06 a few times but I wouldn't feel the need to buy one.
A 7.62mm semi auto or bolt style wouldn't be bad.

Rusty
PS; I also thought Ranger McQuade packed a cut down Remington 870 12ga but it was really a semi auto A5 Browning from the WWII era.

 

[Officers'Wife]

I don't think there is a one size fits all cartridge.... variety is the spice of life!

One of my cousins claims there is no such thing as the perfect car, perfect purse, perfect husband or perfect life. You make do with what you have.

I suspect that would apply to cartridges as well. I like my 32-20, whatever chore I may have use of a rifle it can and will complete. Still, there is just something about watching a chicken killing coyote being hit in the chest by a .303 Brit @ 300 yards.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

owever my favorite round for function is probably the 30/30 for its effective use as a hunting round, it will break brush and still take its target at a decent range

This is a myth that needs to die.
NO ROUND will break through brush and reliably take game on the other side. NONE OF THEM.
You have no business shooting at medium sized game like deer on the other side of a bush. Wait for a shot or don't shoot. No caliber will make up for poor decisions to shoot through brush. Don't care what you read on the interweb.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

.30-06 Springfield. Never disappointed.

From whitetails in Wisconsin to ostriches in Abyssinia to tit-mice in Timbuktu, as Townsend Whelen said, "The .30-06 is never a mistake."

 

[Scot43]

As perhaps a final note to this thread…..the one size fits all thinking is best left to the liberal left (lol). It never makes good sense to try to make something out of a particular caliber that it was really never meant to be. A lot of guns have been ruined by a constant diet of hot, high pressure loads in an attempt to squeeze every last bit of muzzle velocity out of the gun. Firearm manufacturers make firearms in a variety of calibers for a reason and suited to specific usage. Besides more guns in your gun safe means more fun.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Besides more guns in your gun safe means more fun.

That's a fact right there.