Caliber popularity

K

kcub

New member
In descending order of quantity and selection presumably for deer/pig hunting:

  1. .30-06
  2. .223
  3. .308/7.62x51
  4. .243
  5. .270
  6. 30-30
  7. .300 Winchester magnum (surprised the heck out of me!)

Next was 7.62x39 but mostly FMJ so doubtful hunting was criteria. Some 7mm Rem mag., .300 blackout

7mm-08, 25-06, 6.8, .270 WSM had 1 - 2 types.

I've never known anyone to use 300 Win Mag on deer or pig. Always seemed like more of an elk load to me.

I guess all the assorted short mags have all but killed each other off.

This was at Academy in Austin. I'm curious how it compares to other locales.
 
J

jmr40

New member
Lots of people hunt deer with a 300 WM. They shoot the exact same bullets as 308 and 30-06, just faster. It doesn't kill bigger game such as elk any deader. It just has more speed, making it more effective at longer ranges. With "typical" factory loads a 308's speed drops off to the point where expansion and penetration becomes questionable beyond about 400 yards, the 30-06 at about 500 and the 300 WM around 600. Premium bullets and good hand loads will extend the range of all 3. For the guys wanting to shoot deer at longer than normal ranges any of the 300 mags have traditionally been very popular.

I'd say those are probably the most common around here too, and roughly in the same order. There are a lot of other popular calibers though. Most hand loaders seem to avoid the more common stuff found on store shelves and hunt with other loads. Also anything very expensive to purchase over the counter is going to be hand loaded too. Lots of guys shooting 35 Whelen, 280, etc, but you almost never see loaded ammo in stores.

I guess all the assorted short mags have all but killed each other off.
Click to expand...

The 300 and 270 WSM are alive and well. I haven't been in a store that carried 30-06 in years that didn't also have at least a few boxes of each of those. But they are primarily a hand loaders round. Still pretty popular.
 
2

2damnold4this

New member
One of the guys in my club hunts deer and pigs with a 300 Win mag. Other popular cartridges are .270, .308, 7mm-08, 30-06 and 30-30. Almost all of the muzzleloaders are .50s but there is one .54. Handguns are not often used for hunting but Ruger Blackhawks in .45 Colt and .44 magnum are used as is one TC Contender in 7-30 Waters.
 
9

979Texas

New member
Well I know I'm still in the same state as the original poster, kcub, but i'm located 2 hours southeast of Austin. And alot of the same calibers are popular down here even though we are in a totally different environment and climatic zone than Austin, Texas is a huge and diverse state, Austin is in the Hill Country, while I'm located on the edge of the Post Oak Belt and Piney Woods.

But around this neck of the woods I would say that the .270 is the most popular and used caliber. After that probably would come the .243 or the .30-06. The .308 is really not very popular or common at all down here but the AR market its really big and popular around here too so in the last 5 years or so the .223 has become pretty common due to the AR platform. And 6.8 are noticeably more popular than the .300 Blackout. But overall the .270 is by far the most popular around here followed by the .243 or .30-06.

And I agree about the .300 Win. Mag., I don't see any of those down here at all and the few you do see are just owned by people that use them for hunting in far West Texas or out of state on bigger game. No one uses them for hunting around here. And for the WSM's I don't know of anyone down here that has any or has ever used them for hunting or shooting period around here. But the 7.62 x 39 round is a little popular down here due to the old timers that strictly kill all their wild hogs with old SKS's. There is quite a few old timers down here that swear by that old SKS for pigs and coyotes.
 
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B

Boogershooter

New member
Over here in Louisiana it's 30-06, 270, 308, 243, 30-30, then the magnums. The wsm aren't as popular now as they were 5 years ago but I have a lot of love for my 300wsm. I believe the power you get vs the recoil it's a win win situation. The problem I see is now everybody is building lightweight rifles and except for very few shooters the combo of lightweight rifles with magnum recoil just doesn't mix well.
 
R

RaySendero

New member
The 270 Win is by far the most popular on our lease.

Rest just consists of a 30-06, a 7-08, a 7RM, a 308 and a 300WSM.
 
G

Guv

New member
kcub,
Why do you think these were all bought for hunting? I've bought alot of 223 but not for deer hunting.
 
G

Guv

New member
I do have some .223 64gr Winchester PP that is advertised for "Medium Game". It shoots pretty darn good out of my old 110 Savage. I am surpised that the 7mm Rem Mag was out sold by the 300Win Mag.
 
B

bamaranger

New member
public range

Up to about 10 years ago, a pal I used to scavenge brass at a nearby, state run, public range. This was before the AR craze, and the scrappers picking up even .22 lr for cash. Now, its not worth the drive over there, everybody picks up brass, but.........

By far and away the most common case left on the ground in those dasys, was.....30-30. No kidding. I suspect that nobody reloaded 30-30, even then. We both had buckets of the stuff. If you wanted a scopeable, affordable deer rifle, you had a Marlin, or somebody's hand me down Marlin. "Course that has changed with the advent of the price point poly rifle.

Next was .270/30'06, about in even amounts. Buckets of that stuff too, and I'm still using the '06 brass from those days.

The mags were next, 7mm Rem Mag and .300 Win Mag, occassionally .300 Weatherby. I once found some .300 Win that had been fired in a Weatherby, creating the new, Freedom Hills .300 Short Neck!!!

The short action cartridges were in about the same amount as above, .......243,7mm-08,and .308, seemed just not as common.

SKS's were around $100 or less, and 1000 rd case sold for about as much, and spent steel cased 7.62x39mm was everywhere, but not used so much as a hunting rifle but as a blaster.

That has all changed. Nobody leaves brass behind now, I've seen scrappers with their toddlers over there, picking up .22 lr.
 
S

samsmix

New member
Here in Montana the 300 WinMag & WSM see a lot of deer hunting, both for their extended effective range, and dual ability as an ideal elk rifle. 7mm Rem Mag popular for the same reason. .243 is seen as a "kids gun" though many older gents come back to it. The .308 is seen, right or wrong, as a "brush gun" by most.

The informed seem to think highly of the '06 & .270, while those who hunt mostly elk are best served by the fast .33s

...no idea about sales figures though.
 
C

Coppershot

New member
All this is good and well but I can tell you that there are a lot of 6.5 caliber guns in use where I hunt in western Virginia. After the 6.5's tend to come the short mags.
 
S

Savage99

New member
Little 223 is No Good for deerhunting.

The tiny 223 is not legal nor humane for deer hunting.

It's a weak cartridge thought to be good for battle because it wounds the enemy.

That was wrong and it proved to be a looser cartridge.
 
W

Wyosmith

New member
Doing the smithing for a few gun stores here in Wyoming I have a good feel for what sells.
#1 caliber is still the 30-06 for hunting rifles and #1 for sales all around is the 5.56/223.
For big game the 270 Winchester is still probably #2.

7mm Rem and 300 Winchester are both close to the same popularity as the 270 Winchester.

In 3rd place would be a tie for about 4 shells. 7-08, 308, 25-06 and 338 mag. And despite the fact that we have a LOT of wide open space here, sales for the old 30-30 are still steady.

Now as a custom builder the orders are somewhat similar but not the same.

#1 is the 270 Winchester, but probably at least 2X. (I know because of the number of sharpenings and worn out reamers I have gone through)
#2 is no surprise. Yup----30-06.
#3 is a toss-up between the following. 300 Win Mag, 338 Win, 22-250, 25-06, 6.5 Swede, 7-08, 375 H&H and one that is surprising, the 338-06. Most shops done even carry ammo for the 338-06 and I don't know if Weatherby is even chambering it anymore, but the custom market is different, and many men love the shell.

Another surprise is that the 7mm Rem Mag almost never gets a custom order here. According to the sales manager at the big store in Riverton, (Rocky Mountain Sports) the 7MM Mag is always in the top 3 sellers for ammo, but in the custom market it's way down at the bottom.

But someone is making a lot of them. Todd at Clymer tool says it's a top seller for his chamber reamers. Just not many going to Wyoming I guess.

In the last 20 years I have only used my 7mm Rem Mag reamer to make custom rifles 2 times.
But I sure see a lot of factory rifles in that caliber. Kinda weird.
 
S

samsmix

New member
Here in Montana I agree with Savage99: the .223 is too small for deer. I'd use it if it was all I had, but keep bullets heavy and range short. This I came by with (bad) experience. I could maybe see it for the smaller southeastern deer.
 
S

Saltydog235

New member
'06
.270
.243
.308

Lots of guys are making the switch to the 7mm08 for a all purpose round here. A few used 7mmRM and 300WM for the range on beanfields.

I'll stick to my 7mm08's, it's just what I'm comfortable with.
 
S

skizzums

New member
The tiny 223 is not legal nor humane for deer hunting.

It's a weak cartridge thought to be good for battle because it wounds the enemy.

That was wrong and it proved to be a looser cartridge.
Click to expand...
may I ask what was PROVEN exactly?
 
S

samsmix

New member
Oh. It never dawned on me to "do my part". Was I supposed to be aiming for a specific part of the deer?:rolleyes:

Seriously though, I have seen deer and antelope hit VERY well with the .223/5.56, sometimes multiple times. Only one of 8 was BOOM! flop: dead right there. This with hits in the heart, double lingers, things like that. 55gr SP & 68gr SP on most, a varmint bullet from someone else @ 60yards on the DRT shot.

Use what floats your boat, YMMV, but I decided that while it would kill if you do your part, it wasn't what I considered a "true" big game cartridge.
 
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