Which Calibre Should Be Consigned to the Grave

[AZDAVE]

I don't think that any should be consigned to to the grave. as someone took the time to develop or wildcat the round and should be respected. It is up to us as shooter and hunters to pick a round that is proper for the target hunted or shot on paper or steel. Quit listening to the internet writers that keep a chair seat warm and do your own testing at the range and in the field. That's my .02 worth.

 

[Rifleman97]

@Rifleman97
Great video but gave me a bit of a chuckle.
I don't know anyone that's stupid enough to put their hand around a muzzle brake or their head close to one.
I do know some very dumb people but none are that dumb
Bob

For sure, but also, sound is just pressure. Shows why standing next to someone with a muzzle brake can be so much more damaging on hearing than someone without a muzzle brake shooting the same cartridge.

My response was about someone posting about a 460 weatherby with a brake shot off the hood of a truck breaking (pun intended lol) the windshield of that car, and blowing the eardrums of one of the guys standing nearby. Someone else thought that a muzzle brake couldn’t do that much damage.

I also don’t know anyone dumb enough to put a hand next to one, but just remember… Think of how dumb the average person is, and then remember that half of all people are dumber.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I'm going to sacrifice a small animal to the ammo gods to make sure that never happens!

@odanata
If'n a cartridge needs a belt to hold its pants up it not for me.
The only TWO EXCEPTIONS being the 300 & 375H&H. Those two are the original and exude class the others are a waste.
The 300win mag ain't doing nothing the old 30 Newton didn't do. No need for anything 338 when you have a Whelen or an 8mm even the 8mm-06 is a great round.
No belt no worries.
Bob

 

[odonata]

If'n a cartridge needs a belt to hold its pants up it not for me.
The only TWO EXCEPTIONS being the 300 & 375H&H. Those two are the original and exude class the others are a waste.

I'm a big fan of the 375 H&H (that's why I have two!). As a lefty, no one ever made a commercial 300 H&H offering so that's a bit of a unicorn. Just like no one ever offered a LH 35 Whelen either (that should evoke a bit sympathy ).

Of the small subset of left-handed offerings that manufacturers have provided over the years, 7mm Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag and 375 H&H rifles were findable without too much effort. Even the occasional 338 Win Mag would pop up. So my "love" of the belted parent case isn't based on any technical superiority. It's just something that is readily available for me to rechamber or rebarrel as a donor rifle to try to get something that was never made for people like me.

For example, I upsized a Ruger MkII in 7mm RM to a 458 WM simply because locating a left-handed 416 Rem Mag, 416 Rigby, 458 Lott, etc. can be a challenge sometimes. The 458 WM was the affordable / doable southpaw option in a larger bore.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I cannot disagree more. The problem is with using wrong bullets for the task. I have been shooting the .25-06 for more than 45 years and everything I have taken with has dropped like a hot rock. People just choose the wrong projectiles!

@375er
A 25-06 loaded with a 100gn TTSX @3,400fos or a 117gn SST is fine for any deer and a lot of plains game.
My PH thinks it's just the ticket for leopard.

Not so! The .222 is really good for one thing it sounds really cool when you say “Triple Deuce”! I want one just for that

@wildwilderness
The triple duce is a great small game cartridge that set the world on fire in its heyday and is still a great hunting round.
Bob

 

[CBH Australia]

@Grumpy gumpy
I think it was called the 17 mighty might by aa bloke out at broken hill. He also designed another one that no one has ever been able to duplicate. A tapered bore rifle with gain twist rifling. Fired a standard 22lr and squeezed it down to 17 cal with the standard 40gn lead 22 bullet.
I think his name was Arthur Langsford, he also designed a heap of cartridges around the 222rem ranging from 243,25 and 27 cal from memory.
Bob
You may also remember the 22 fieldmam rifles that used an aluminium barrel with a steel liner. Not pretty but practical and very accurate.
Bob

Bob,

@Grumpy gumpy is correct. Arthur Langford was a lovely old fella. He named his business Myra’s Sports Store after his wife. It was located in the Oriental Arcade. She survived him by a number of years. It’s been said she held a patent for the Extruder design.

They had an Ammunition factory in the industrial area. I don’t have the detail but I believe that was some sort of forced closure and I think he said the government should compensate him. I don’t recall exactly what he told me. He should have made a lot of money but he liked to chat. I bought ammo there as a kid and my first few firearms from him.

Unfortunately I did not have the money for an Extruder rimfire. The .20 cal version was exceptional but he could not get the .17 to stabilise or meet his expectations.

He invented the Mini-Mite and the Tini-Mite.
Being the .22magnum case and .22lr case respectively. He had difficulty getting primed cases to produce ammo. He cut his own dies for reloading these prototypes. They set a world record in Canberra at the time.

They are the precursor to what is now the .17hmr and .17mach1 I think.

You could supply an action to be rebarreled in the Extruder version or there was a hand written sign on cardboard showing the pricing of a rebarell or having it built on a new Norinco JW15 or a Brno Model 2 purchased in store. These days I wouldn’t hesitate but it was a fair stretch on my budget of the time.

Exact details are hard to remember but the conversations I had I remember. Arthur passed away probably 30 years ago but I would have frequented his shopfront over a period of time of 10 years I guess making small purchases and listening to to his stories.

The was sold and relocated but closed after several years although they tried to expand.

I think for Arthur other than being a true gentleman and an old school gunsmith he had the experience and knowledge to service what he sold.

 

[thriller]

Have you thought "The 416 RM and 416 Rigby are just too practical and dont cost nearly enough"? Then the 400 H&H is the cartridge for you! It offers absolutely no benefits or history and exists soley to be expensive and exclusive.

My kind of cartridge! A pain in the ass while serving little to no purpose!!

 

[Tex .416]

@375er
A 25-06 loaded with a 100gn TTSX @3,400fos or a 117gn SST is fine for any deer and a lot of plains game.
My PH thinks it's just the ticket for leopard.

A TTSX is a whole other kettle of fish compared to the more frangible BT and even more frangible SST. The TTSX is my preferred first choice for where I hunt.

We aim for the high shoulders to drop the deer where they stand. The bucks average 200# on the low end, 225# is average, and a few will go 240 - 250# each year. Those weights are on real scales. My heaviest ever was 265# on the scales. We let the better bucks get old, which also produces some big bodies. We tend to use larger and heavier bullets if cup and core or bullets that reliably penetrate like the TTSX.

Looking for the ones that run into the thorn brush is quite unpleasant, tedious, and slow. One of the younger hunters shot a buck in the lungs, which took four experienced men an hour and a half to find. It had not run even 100 yards from where it was shot.

Personally, I am getting too old and impatient to crawl on my hands and knees through thorn brush looking for blood trails and watch out for Texas Earth Worms.

 

[yamoon]

.25-06 and Nosler Ballistic Tips. I spent two days chasing deer and pigs wounded by this combo when helping a hunter in a group hunt. I finally gave him my .308 with Barnes. He dropped every animal from there on. The very next week he bought a .308 and has done well ever since.

Anytime a hunter showed up with a nice shiny new Weatherby rifle, the ranch owner would turn and whisper to call the man with tracking dogs and have him on standby.

The ranch owner also imposed a requirement of a .270 Win as a minimum and that reduced problems a lot. In reality, hunters with .270, .308, 7-08, and .30-06 seem to deliver more consistent results than all others.

Killed a lot of deer with a 25-06 Ruger #1.
Mike

 

[Tex .416]

Killed a lot of deer with a 25-06 Ruger #1.
Mike

Congratulations.

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

To Chris, Arthur passed in 98, two years after the lying rodent stuffed the gun laws, and Myra in 06 or 07.
Gumpy

 

[matt85]

@matt85
Muzzle brakes have their uses. I have one for my Whelen that allowed me to shoot it after shoulder surgery. That way I was still able to enjoy my rifle.
Now I don't need it but do enjoy pissing loudmouth know it all's at the range by using it sometimes. Quietness their mouth down. Sometimes I just like being mean.
Bob

Funny you say that, one of my worst experiences at a gun range was when a guy sat next to me with a 300 h&h. I was focused on carefully aiming my next shot when suddenly "BOOM"! It felt like someone just slapped me across the face and my right eye started burning. To add insult to injury all my papers and empty cases were blown off the bench onto the ground. After i expressed my extreme dissatisfaction at what he had just done to me, he thankfully agreed to take the brake off.

That instance was one of many that helped me develop my hatred for the devices.

 

[Flbt]

@matt85
Muzzle brakes have their uses. I have one for my Whelen that allowed me to shoot it after shoulder surgery. That way I was still able to enjoy my rifle.
Now I don't need it but do enjoy pissing loudmouth know it all's at the range by using it sometimes. Quietness their mouth down. Sometimes I just like being mean.
Bob

I don’t like the muzzle brakes. And I have rifles with them and or flash hider on them
Part of that was being in a shoot house with 11.5 in ars and the little fome ear plugs move a bit
Or a buddy fire off a 10 in blackhalk 44 mag with out warning with mag na port because of. A rattler .
Or not paying enough attention that a guys fixing to shoot a 7 mm stw and having muffs on. Yea I know my fought but 4 days of ringing ears lol

The 7 stw is loud