The Old Debate: Cartridge Expectations

[stagpanther]

Funny--the more new better stuff comes out--the more I drift back to older rifles and cartridges as my "better." I have a 280 AI--and while it's performance is impressive, I find it a "touchy" cartridge. I personally am not that fond of the case design (I know--heresy) and prefer a Weatherby case over it.

Case in point, my 77 Hawkeye in 35 whelen. It drives a .358 225 gameking at 2700 fps flat (for a hefty bullet) and far. A classic cartridge in a classic rifle.

[bamaranger]

I think most eastern whitetail hunters, for the most part, are largely overgunned. Meaning, that most of the classic deer rifle calibers, are more cartridge/power than one needs to cleanly take whitetails. I'm as guilty as the next guy, I own and hunt .270, '06, .308 rifles regularly, and will continue to do so. But I've come to the conclusion that you just don't need all that horsepower. More and more, I find myself hunting .44 mag , 7.62x39 and .243 carbines. And these milder cartridges are chambered in shorter, lighter rifles, my 3 favorites all have 20" tubes or less, and all are very easy to shoot well.

The way I hunt and the cover I hunt in, ranges are short, nearly all of my whitetail rifle kills are under 100 yds, many of them are half of that or less. A big whitetail in my area will still weigh less than 200 lbs live, most meat bucks will run in the 150 lb range. I just don't need a cartridge that is capable of taking animals the size of an elk, say 500-700 lbs. Sure I still hunt with full power cartridges, I bought an 18.5" Ruger .308 last month and expect I'll hunt it a lot this season. But what was really appealing was its tidy dimensions and light weight, not the horsepower it generates.

[jackstrawIII]

I think most eastern whitetail hunters, for the most part, are largely overgunned. Meaning, that most of the classic deer rifle calibers, are more cartridge/power than one needs to cleanly take whitetails.

Bamaranger, I agree wholeheartedly, with 1 caveat: using traditional jacketed lead bullets. When using lead, the slower cartridges like the 7.62x39, 44 mag, 30/30 etc, are perfect.

However, I’ve been experimenting with all copper (lead-free) bullets since my kids starting eating so much venison. With the copper bullets, speed is vital and “traditional deer cartridges” like the 270 and 30-06 are much more effective than the slower cartridges previously mentioned.

[bamaranger]

No doubt about it, the traditional long action cartridges, or the short action .308/7mm with any bullet is more gun than the 3 I listed previously. I would also agree that the bigger cartridges are more versatile as well with their added range. If your toting the .44 mag carbine one morning, and the buck of a lifetime steps out on a R.O.W. at 250yds, you might as well just wave at him. The full power cartridges allow more options on quartering shots as well. Of course you can hunt larger game with the same rifle also.

I can pick and choose my whitetail hunting spots, which have a direct bearing on the nature of my shots and the rifles I hunt, not everybody has that option. Were I limited to one or two rifles and fewer locations, the modest carbines would not be my choice.

[stagpanther]

The majority of modest soft shooting hunting calibers are fine within their limitations and the limitations of where you're hunting. On the other hand, a medium bore that's good out to 300 to 400 yds is going to make a reasonable candidate for "good anywhere for most anything" versatile choice IMO for the traveling hunter. Can't prove that, though.