Full circle

[postoak]

You still need a .338-06! I’ve given up on my idea of thinning the herd, but if I kept only one caliber this would be it.

 

[CBH Australia]

I started my big game hunting activities here in Canada using a "standard" of the time in our part of the world, .303 British. Graduated to the very similar .308 win shortly thereafter, and used it for everything, including whitetail, mule deer, moose, and elk. Never a complaint or failure over many years and numerous critters..

But I wanted to try more "capable" cartridges with more range or more speed or more power for the big stuff. So I shot some elk and moose with everything from the .270 and 7x57 on the light end of the range and many with the .35 Whelen on the heavier, slower end of the spectrum, and lots in-between. I killed a few elk, a bear and a moose with a .375 H&H lately just to get experience with that grand old cartridge. I used a 30-06 on my only African hunt so far, and took 8 plains game species with it. And my conclusion is that they all seem to work well if you shoot them well, and all the time spent agonizing over cartridge choice is pretty much a wasted, but fun activity if you choose good bullets.

I took a 16 year old kid moose hunting last week and he killed a cow at a measured 200 yards with a .308 and 165 gr. Nosler partitions loaded to 2600 FPS. He shredded the heart, busted the lungs, and made one gut hit with his three quick shots. All 3 shots exited the "Eland" sized moose. Internal damage was massive. I just ate what was left of the heart for supper. My .375 would not have killed quicker, or my .35 Whelen, or my 7x64, or my 25-06, 30-06, 8x57IS, 45-70, 9x57, etc, etc. I just might go back to the .308 and 165 Noslers for everything smaller than African buffalo and call it good. Am I losing my enthusiasm for rifle trivia? I need help!

The last line is correct, you need help!

We won't let you suffer, keep reading and hunting I'm sure you will see you need everyone of those rifles ND chamberrings, that's why you brought them.

In 1996 I thinned what I had due to law reforms and an uncertainty for the shooting future.o did not need the 16firearms I had so I surrendered to totbe buy back and sold a few because with the introduction of registration I thought I would need justification for every firearm, we do but so long as we have legitimate use it's ok,

So I have 21 total, I may need one more
I only load for 7-8 cartridges but hey 16 is not so bad. Just like Redleg each rifle means something or has a intended use so I try keep it real but it isn't interest still.

 

[Tra3]

@Bullthrower338 this is an old thread. Are you still reloading for that many different calibers, or have you also settled on only a select few?

 

[Bullthrower338]

@Bullthrower338 this is an old thread. Are you still reloading for that many different calibers, or have you also settled on only a select few?

I have added to that number in the past 6 years actually! I have started loading 30-40 krag, 303 British, 338 RCM, 458 SOCOM, 9.3x64 and most recently(just got dies) 7x64 for a new M77 I just acquired. Some of the cartridges very rarely get shot or reloaded, of course a guy has a fling with a new to him cartridge then it cools off and he goes back to the same old 338 WM and 220 Swift that he brought to the party. It is all part of the fun to me to work up the best load I can for a given rifle, clean it and put it away for awhile.

cheers,
Cody