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JohnK
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| Posted: March 23 2006 at 3:58pm | IP Logged
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lovesrugers started a thread on great rifle cartridges to get a list of contenders for a new poll. So the question is: What do you think the greatest rifle cartridge is? As always there isn't a right/wrong answer to this but my vote goes to the 30-06. 100 years of history and can do pretty much anything you'd ask of a sporting cartridge.
1. 45-70
2. 30-30
3. 30-06
4. .308 win
5. .223 remington
6. .22 long rifle
7. .270 winchester
8. 375 H&H magnum
Don't forget to
Go Vote
View the Current Results
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gstanfield
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22LR, it's even older than the 30-06 and it's taught more people to shoot than everything else combined.
George
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Rex
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I agree with George. Don't know how a man could keep house without one.
Rex
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doghawg
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I've got to go with the '06 because it can do it all, whether it's winning wars or matches or hunting.
Randy
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Paul5388
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| Posted: March 23 2006 at 6:16pm | IP Logged
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I kinda looked at the age factor, but that certainly doesn't tell the whole story.
The .45-70 has been around a long time, but it has only recently enjoyed any degree of acclaim after a long rest and almost falling into obscurity.
The .30-30 can also make claims on longeviety and has been in continuious use for long time, but lacks an all around usefulness.
The .22 rimfire also has been around a long time, but falls very short on being an all around cartridge.
So, I'm just going to have to vote for the most flexible out of the old timer bunch, the .30-06! As has already been said, there isn't much it can't do. From hares to bears, it'll do the job! 
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Slick
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The .45-70 is my personal favorite, but the 7.62x51 / .308 win gets my vote for overall versatility.
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Boomer
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| Posted: March 24 2006 at 6:06am | IP Logged
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06, hands down. It's been the "parent" of just to many others.
Was kinda surprised not to see the 7X57 on the list though.
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ghostwalker
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I have to go with the 06 also but other rounds are missing that have had a great impact on the firerms world.
I don't see the 7mm or 8mm both have been used in war and peace.
Were is the 44-40 or the 25-20, 32-20 I know these are considered pistol rounds but rifles were chambered for them and they did see lots of use.
If you want to go back in history just a little more you have the 54 and 58 hawkins that opened the west in the first place.
Now if we are talking just the oldest round that has been in constant use and popularity then everything goes back to the 06.
my thoughts
ghost
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gstanfield
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| Posted: March 24 2006 at 4:38pm | IP Logged
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OK, I'll chime in once again. I will say that the 30-06 is the most versitile rifle caretridge, but my vote still goes to the 22LR as the best just from a standpoint of it introducing more people into the sport than anything else.
Note: I only post this as I have such a passion for tyhe 22LR, so don't take this as a stubborn refusal to accept ya'lls opinions, just my added $.02 The 22LR was introduced in 1887 by J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. as an improvement on the much older 22short (released in 1857 for S&W's first model revolver) It's original loading was 5.0grs of very fine black powder with a 40gr bullet. It is the most popular match rifle cartridge in existance as well as the most widely used small gamne and varmit round. It's parent case, the 22short is the oldest American, commercial, self-contained, metallic cartridge.
there, so now you know the rest of the story 
George
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Yeti
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Why didn't the 7mm SAUM make the list? 
I don't shoot it any more but I will go with the '06 for history sake.
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JohnK
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| Posted: March 24 2006 at 8:08pm | IP Logged
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Yeti wrote:
Why didn't the 7mm SAUM make the list?
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8 slots for answers and about 6 million different rifle calibers.
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old06
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One vote for the 06 the 22lr has a history but as far as just one vote well the ought six has that spot for me
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ghostwalker
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Well Gstandfield
If you could have picked more than one I would have also picked the 22LR just like you. I can't think of a round that has kept more people shooting then the little 22 in all its varaions up to and including some centerfire versions.
but as Jhonk said only so many spaces and only a few choices
ghost
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Young Buck
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| Posted: March 25 2006 at 6:48am | IP Logged
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Good ole .30-06.
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USA Joe
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Hi  In center fire, it is the ole 30-06 in my humble eyes. and has proven it self time and again!
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ancien
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The 30-06 is probably the most popular of all those listed. But there isn't anything the 30-06 can do that can't be done by the 308 Win. And where one is marginal, so is the other. My first rifle was a Springfield '03. Maybe that's why I've never "fully" appreciated the 30-06. And maybe it's not fair to compare a military rifle with a sporter. I found it interesting that when
Col Hatcher and others were developing the US 30-cal cartridge, they used a heavier bullet than what would become the standard, 147-, 150-gr FMJ bullet. Seems when the Germans reduced the bullet weight in their 8mm, M98 Mausers, that increased the range, the US followed in- kind by going with a lighter bullet for the US 30-cal.
Yet, the 30-06 set the standard by which all cartridges
were compared. When Holland & Holland introduced their 300 H&H and Roy Weatherby his 300 Weatherby Mag, they were both compared first against the 30-06, second against each other! All the 300 mags which followed including the 300 WM, were reduced to splitting a couple hundred fps, MAYBE! Depending more on barrel length than anything else. But as Ken Waters used to say, the 300 mags are really "improved" versions of the 30-06. I think
many folks agree with Ken Waters.
As for the 22LR, yes there have probably been more 22LR rifles sold than all of the above collectively. And yes,
many a novice's first rifle was a 22LR. But popularity alone, in my book, doesn't make any cartridge the greatest. Not to mention many of those 22LR rifles had a difficult time hitting the target regardless of the shooter's skill. I think it was T. Whelen who coined the phrase that he only found accurate rifles interesting.
(Regardless what cartridge they were chambered for.)
And my two 22LR guns are accurate (Ruger 10/22 & TC Contender w/10" bull barrel), and dropped many squirrels. But the 22LR is a short range cartridge limited to small critters (mostly rabbits & squirrels).
Ironically, I don't shoot a 30-06, or a 300 mag of any flavor anymore. But I do appreciate those who do, and what this cartridge has been to big game hunting & shooting in the US.
Dennis
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Rev Dr
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I gotta add a vote for the .22--cheap, fun, quiet, effective within its considerable limits (and let's face it more big game's been taken with that round than anyone wants to admit), plus the pure nostalgia. Is there a shooter on the planet who doesn't have fond memories of childhood plinking?
I hear all the advocates of the 30-06. But in this part of the country anyway, the 30-30 is still THE standard big game hunting cartridge. And I might venture that historically more big game has been taken with that round than any other single round (and most three or four other rounds combined). And it's a more pleasant and fun cartridge than the 06, softer speaking, less kick, easier for younger, lighter, and less experienced folk to shoot....
I can feel myself convincing no one.
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M700
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Rev Dr - Where do you hunt?
Just asking because I honestly don't know ANYONE who hunts with a .30-30. I'm 50 years old and have hunted since I was just a pup, but NOBODY I ever hunted with actually carried one afield. A few friends have 'em. Heck, I owned a Win 30-30 for a couple of years, but never got around to hunting with it before I swapped it off for something more useful.
Dad taught me to shoot with a .22 Marlin, then I graduated to the .30-06, which is about the best doggone hunting cartridge I've ever run across. There are better varmint cartridges. There are better dangerous game cartridges. But the good old .30-06 can, and has, done it all. Doubt I'll ever be without one.
Oh yeah, I've got a soft spot in my heart for the .22, the .308 and the .45-70 as well. A few favorite rifle cartridges didn't even make the list: the .243 Win, 6mm Rem, .25-06, the 7mm Rem mag and the .300 Win mag. Those are some mighty fine hunting cartridges, used by most of my hunting buddies.
The .270 is every bit as good as the .30-06 for most purposes, only lacking in the ability to hurl 180 - 220 grain bullets downrange. I've never owned one, but have deep respect for the cartridge. Sorta got it bracketed with my .25-06 and my .30-06!
Regards, Guy
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drinks
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Those who are supposed to know claim the .30-30 has killed more big game than any other, but they admit it took over 30 years in service for the .30-30 to surpass the .44-40, which is indeed a rifle, not pistol cartridge.
The .38-40,.32-20 and .25-20 are all rifle cartridges that were chambered in pistols.
By all accounts, the .22 rf has killed more game of all sizes than any other 3 or 4 cartridges put together.
Don
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gstanfield
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| Posted: March 30 2006 at 3:31pm | IP Logged
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Down south where I spent the first 24 years of my life a 30-30 is perfect. There is no need or use for anything bigger in thick woods when your game is deer that are less than 200lbs. I did come close to voting for the 30-30, just as any goos southern should
George
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Handloads.Com Forum : General Discussion
Topic: Poll: The greatest rifle cartridge is..
