What is your "nearly perfect" cartridge?

[ZGunner]

Previously I would have said .223. But seeing as I'm just getting into deer hunting, I'll up it to .308. A .308 loaded with 110gr Sierra Varmint HP is more than enough for any vermin that come around. With 150-180 loads covering everything else.

 

[js8588]

9.3 x 62 and 6.5x55

 

[Vern Humphrey]

As the late, great Townsend Whelen used to say, "The .30-06 is never a mistake."

With light bullets (110 to 130 grains) it can be used for varmits -- the FIRST Winchester Model 70 (Serial Number 1) was a .30-06 and the buyer put a Unertil scope on it and used it for coyotes.

With heavy bullets (180 grains and up) it will do for moose and grizzly (and bison, should you be so lucky.)

 

[midland man]

30/30 hands down for me been using it for years and still works all the way!!

 

[M1key]

7.62x39...Shoots MOA in just about any bolt or auto (like an AR). It meets all the OPs requirements.

M

 

[Robert]

Depends on what I am doing but I have three main calibers:
.223
.308
375 H&H

If I can't do it with one of those it don't need doing. (I do have a 12ga but this is a rifle thread)

 

[moxie]

Given the list of targets in post #1, a .223 with the right load will get the job done just fine. Perfect for the varmints and with good bullets more than adequate for "close" shots on "small white tail and hogs." Many of the rounds noted above are more than adequate for the deer and pigs, but are way overkill on critters like possum and dillers. As rifle rounds go, the .223 is probably the least expensive to shoot and reload for.

Actually, the best medicine for most of that small swamp vermin is the .22LR or .410.

 

[Unlicensed Dremel]

For North America, .260 rem if you don't include coastal brownies, polar bear, yak, and bison. Or .280 rem if you do include those. Hon. mentions to .243 win, 6.5x55, 7mm-08, .30-06.

 

[wyohome]

I have been shooting .308 Win since 1967. I own 4 and have never wished I had more rifle while hunting.

 

[witchhunter]

I carry a S&W 651 in 22 Magnum when I am in the woods. I also have a Winchester 9422M 22 magnum in the truck almost anytime I am in the woods. it will kill anything, plus you can eat a squirrel or a rabbit that you shoot with it. I say "in the woods" when I am in the mountains, but it works good in the desert too. I will usually have a 22/250 for coyotes mostly when I go to the desert. I live right at the edge of the woods, pine trees in my back yard and sage brush across the road and on out from there. I love the .357 Magnum in rifle and pistol, but when I leave to go fishing or hunting or just bumping around, I grab the 22 Mag. and 50 rounds of ammo fits in your pocket.

 

[swampcrawler]

I hadn't really given the .22 mag much thought. Excellent point man.

 

[elkhunterCO]

300 win mag, affordable off the shelf ammo, manageable recoil. For my elk hunting ground there is always a chance to need to reach out and touch something across a wide open canyon. And I have seen what a 300 does to bull elk compared to 7 mag or 30-06. Don't get me wrong, I've killed elk with a 30-06 just fine but I've shot several with a 300 including the one last year, a broadside bull at 250 yds, the 180 grain core lokt went right through breaking 2 ribs on the offside. Now if I could get into reloading... nosler partitions........barnes...........swift a frame.................I really need to get into reloading!

 

[Skylerbone]

I felt like a pariah after page 1, stepping out of the shadows on page 2 to cast a vote for 22Hornet as a really swell all-around (no dangerous game) cartridge. That and the 6.5 X 55 Swede might do for anything but squirrel? May not be my favorites but a pair of middling powers can do quite a bit, each of them probably eclipsed by newer and improved chamberings but neither a bad choice IMO.

If this were a "Favorite Rifle" thread, .22 Long Rifle in a bolt for S, L, LR including Velocitor etc. to harvest squirrel to whitetail with. I know, crazy talk.

 

[swampcrawler]

Skyler, I actually HAVE taken one of literally ever game animal we have here from squirrel to whitetail (I was young and not quite the game law following fellow I am these days).

If only .22 lr weren't an obsolete and unobtainable cartridge

 

[Manny]

.357 as I can use it in a flyweight Snubbie for discrete carry or starting this year, in a .357 rifle for deer here in Ohio. It works superbly in either instance and in a extraordinarily wide range of in-between uses as well.

 

[WTBguns10kOK]

.243

 

[WestKentucky]

.256 win mag. Light, quick, explosive.

 

[moxie]

.22 Mag doesn't kill the varmints any deader than the .22LR (at the reasonably short ranges stipulated in post #1) and is useless against deer and boar.

 

[witchhunter]

Westkentucky. I had to laugh at the 256, I am looking at one now in a 10" contender barrel! I love the oddball stuff, but I can't seem to justify a 256, I have compared it to a 25/35 in a 10" contender and there really is not much difference on paper. The guy has one of each and I can't decide. Maybe I should get both, I don't know if I would hunt anything with it though, it seems too big for squirrels and too small for deer.....plus, I ain't packing a contender fishin! Swampcrawler, if you know someone who has a 22 mag, go shoot something with it, not just paper, go kill something and get back to me.

 

[cpt-t]

IMHO: The Old 30-06 is just top of the line for me. My 30-06`s go from 55gr thru 220gr and a whole lot in between. I have had a love affair with the 30-06 since I was a child, and I turned 70 this year.
ken

 

[sappyg]

Nearly perfect cartridge? 22 lr. It's not nearly perfect.... It's just right.

It's very likely that every single member here has at least one.

 

[aarondhgraham]

I'm very close to the OP on this topic,,,

I'm very close to the OP on this topic,,,
But for me a perfect cartridge must be rifle/handgun.

I opt for the .357 Magnum rather than the Maximum.

In reality the .38 Special is my favorite handgun,,,
A model 15 S&W is near perfection in my eyes.
It is more that adequate for self defense,,,
And is a gentle enough plinker at need.

But while the .357 can be loaded down for leisurely plinking,,,
It's also capable of being loaded to barrel melting power.

It is actually a more practical cartridge,,,
I would need to get a model 19.

Aarond

.

 

[Water-Man]

For me it's the 6.5x55 Swede.

 

[Float Pilot]

I already said I really think highly of the 6.5x55mm Swede....

However,,,,,,,I also think that the 22 Hornet ( with modern powders) is a very good all around cartridge in the small bore range.


It can easily break 3,000 fps with half the powder and half the noise of a .223 rem.
It is small and allows use in very small actioned firearms.
Plus all the 22 Hornets I have ever shot were pretty accurate.

 

[blue32]

32-20 does it all for me