What's your one favorite caliber?

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I think I know what it will be with the same amount of certainty that I know what it won't be...

@odonata
Me thinks you will be surprised
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I’m glad the question is “favorite” and not “if you could only have one”

257 weatherby mag. It’s such a good looking round, it flies a bullet at Mach Jesus (my loads are 100 grain at near 3700fps, I know guys that sacrifice a bit of brass life to get 3850) so lead time is almost nonexistent, drops deer like crazy, can blow holes through AR500 steel if it’s any thinner than 1/2”, it has killed just about every non dangerous game animal on earth. Plus at least one Buffalo from Roy Weatherby himself. He didn’t intend to kill Buffalo that day but they were hunting non dangerous game and got charged and he shot it.

It’s just a great little round, it’s definitely not a do it all round, but it’s hyper specialized for what I do most often, deer and antelope hunting without a rangefinder with shots up to 400 yards. With a point blank range of roughly 400 yards, and flight time low enough to make wind almost not matter at that distance, it makes a lot of shot opportunities exist that wouldn’t otherwise with a slower cartridge. No need to measure distance, dial, hold for wind. Just aim middle of vitals and you’re good to go.

@Rifleman97
There's just something about a fast 25. My own that I designed is right up there with the Weatherby. It just kills out of proportion to its size. Like you I love the ultra flat trajectory.
Point, shoot, collect game and go home.
No need for dial up scopes or range finders or other technical stuff that boggles the brain.
Dang with the right high BC projectile I reckon you could shoot stuff in the next county but it would be to far to walk to collect it.
There's just st about the 25s that makes you love them.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

There seems to be a misconception here as everyone is li sting their favorite cartridge which is not the same as caliber. My favorite caliber is 35. My favorite cartridge is a whole nother matter

@MS 9x56
Well don't keep us in suspenders.
We both love the 35s as our favourite calibre
BUT what's your favourite cartridge????
Bob

 

[Rifleman97]

@Rifleman97
There's just something about a fast 25. My own that I designed is right up there with the Weatherby. It just kills out of proportion to its size. Like you I love the ultra flat trajectory.
Point, shoot, collect game and go home.
No need for dial up scopes or range finders or other technical stuff that boggles the brain.
Dang with the right high BC projectile I reckon you could shoot stuff in the next county but it would be to far to walk to collect it.
There's just st about the 25s that makes you love them.
Bob

That’s exactly it. I just love a 25. Only reason I would ever sell my 257 weatherby would be to buy another 257 that’s nicer than the one I have.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I know Bob will say .243 is his favorite, and I don't want to steal his thunder, even though I've killed a lot of North American game with it and even more PG with it.

7MM REM MAG is till my favorite...

@NIGHTHAWK
I just wish they made 243s with 30" barrels. That way I would only have to weld two together to make tomato stakes. The shorter barrels need up to four barrels welded together to make them the right height but that's not a problem. The more barrels I use the less 243s available so that suits me just fine
Bob

 

[spike.t]

@cash_tx
I won't keep you guessing any longer mate
As everyone knows I love the 35 Whelen
BUT
My favourite for most of my shooting I reach for my 25. It is my own design and will take all the game I hunt here in Australia.
What's not to love with a 25 cal with a 75gn VMAX at over 3,900 fps to reach way out and explode little fury critters
Or
Switch up to a 100gn Barnes TTSX at over 3,600fps to take on anything up to big deer out to any sane range
Or A 115-117 gn Nosler combined technology Silver tips or SST at over 3,300 fps for general shooting.
I can pick up this rifle and cartridge and have full confidence in it. It shoots sub half inch groups, the bullets fly fast and hit hard and to top it off it gives me great pleasure knowing I'm shooting game with a cartridge I DESIGNED in a rifle that's over 100years old. What's not to love. There's just something about the 25s they just seem to kill out of all proportion. Even Nathan Fosters ballistic studies confirm the 25s just seem to work for some reason.

Don't get me wrong tho I still love my Whelen and it comes out to play. It's great fun knocking the snot out of big pigs with a big gun. Overkill definitely but the fun factor and cool factor are right up there. Plus I know anything out to 3-400 yards isn't safe if'n I do my part. It's just such a pleasant cartridge to shoot, has more than enough power to handle big game anywhere in the world and is accurate to go with the power.
What's not to like.
So my answer is my 25-303 Epps Newton improved has to be my favourite. To me it has the cool factor, accurate, fast and recoil like a gentle woman's kiss and is very, very effective one game. Point, shoot skin eat. What's not to like.
Bob

You still need a 7x57....just saying.........and this hyper velocity stuff is a bit ....mmmm.....other side of the Atlantic from us thing.....oh OK a yank thing

 

[SCHUNTER73]

.280AI

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

303 British. I don’t see ever not having at least one rifle in this caliber. It works in every rifle format and a heavy for caliber bullet in a tapered and rimmed case is about as pretty as it gets.

@Josh P
I do have a bit of a soft spot for the old three O.
It was my first centre fire and have great respect for its ability. It's off spring in 22,25,27 cals are also great and the 25 cal version accounted for a heap of game up until the late 70s and is making a bit of nostalgic revival with some younger shooters. They are discovering the old 25-303 will do all and more the horrible little 243 will and has been doing it for the last 80 odd year.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

My favorite is the .270 Win. I grew of age reading everything Jack O’Connor wrote. The .270 was my first big game rifle. The more the years have rolled by, the more certain I have become that Jack was a pretty smart fellow.

The most utilitarian chamberings I own and use are .375H&H and 300 Win Mag.

@Red Leg
Jack brain washed a lot of people
Elmer was in a different school but sill correct
But the good colonel ( Whelen not Saunders)got it right. Then again so did Roy ( not Rogers) got it right with the great 257.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

You still need a 7x57....just saying.........and this hyper velocity stuff is a bit ....mmmm.....other side of the Atlantic from us thing.....oh OK a yank thing

@spike.t
I agree mate the 7x57 is a great round and the beauty of it is when necked down to 25 it makes a fine and dandy deer rifle that's gentle on the shoulder fe the young uns. Oh that right it's called, wait for it yes, the 257 Roberts.
Necked up to 35 and given the Ackley treatment it equals the standard Whelen. Therefore I deduce young Watson the 7x57 in its original form is a grand cartridge along with its offspring.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Bob

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

@cash_tx
I won't keep you guessing any longer mate
As everyone knows I love the 35 Whelen
BUT
My favourite for most of my shooting I reach for my 25. It is my own design and will take all the game I hunt here in Australia.
What's not to love with a 25 cal with a 75gn VMAX at over 3,900 fps to reach way out and explode little fury critters
Or
Switch up to a 100gn Barnes TTSX at over 3,600fps to take on anything up to big deer out to any sane range
Or A 115-117 gn Nosler combined technology Silver tips or SST at over 3,300 fps for general shooting.
I can pick up this rifle and cartridge and have full confidence in it. It shoots sub half inch groups, the bullets fly fast and hit hard and to top it off it gives me great pleasure knowing I'm shooting game with a cartridge I DESIGNED in a rifle that's over 100years old. What's not to love. There's just something about the 25s they just seem to kill out of all proportion. Even Nathan Fosters ballistic studies confirm the 25s just seem to work for some reason.

Don't get me wrong tho I still love my Whelen and it comes out to play. It's great fun knocking the snot out of big pigs with a big gun. Overkill definitely but the fun factor and cool factor are right up there. Plus I know anything out to 3-400 yards isn't safe if'n I do my part. It's just such a pleasant cartridge to shoot, has more than enough power to handle big game anywhere in the world and is accurate to go with the power.
What's not to like.
So my answer is my 25-303 Epps Newton improved has to be my favourite. To me it has the cool factor, accurate, fast and recoil like a gentle woman's kiss and is very, very effective one game. Point, shoot skin eat. What's not to like.
Bob

Sounds like you’ve built your own lil wildcat version of something very similar to a 257wby. That was my 2nd choice I just couldn’t bring myself to give up DG Game Hunting. I love my quarter bores, and really love that lil Weatherby Mag I have. It hits way above its weight class, it’s a point and shoot gun well past 400 yards with my handloaded 100gr TTSX leaving the muzzle at 3805 fps. I personally think I could kill all the Dangerous 7 without any issue IF I only took specific shots. It’s the first gun I reach for when I’m going hunting (aside from Africa) and I affectionately refer to it as the Hammer of Thor.

Again 275 Rigby/7x57, 280AI, 308, and 300WM also all get honorable mentions.

 

[Erny]

300 Win Mag

 

[spike.t]

@spike.t
I agree mate the 7x57 is a great round and the beauty of it is when necked down to 25 it makes a fine and dandy deer rifle that's gentle on the shoulder fe the young uns. Oh that right it's called, wait for it yes, the 257 Roberts.
Necked up to 35 and given the Ackley treatment it equals the standard Whelen. Therefore I deduce young Watson the 7x57 in its original form is a grand cartridge along with its offspring.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Now Bob will explain that you are just reaching

@MS 9x56
No mate he's not just reaching
Me thinks ALL 338 Wimpchester magnun owners just suffer delusions of grandeur thinking it is a good as the Whelen. Those in the know tho actually realised it can't hold a candle to the Whelen especially in the CLASS status.
You never know with the right medication nowadays they can be helped
Ha Ha Ha Ha
Bob

 

[RR 314]

.300 Jarrett is likely my favorite chambering. Really not much distinction between it and the 300 Weatherby, but the two rifles I have chambered in .300 Jarrett are exceptionally accurate. Guys who know a lot more about rifles than I do have explained how the case design is inherently accurate, but that is over my pay grade. One rifle was built by Speedy Gonzalez of S&S Precision (at the time) and the other by “Stick” at S&S. Man, they are killers!

 

[Longwalker]

"Favourite" is difficult to define...
The most useful, practical cartridge for me is the .308 Win. What I started hunting local game with and in reality nothing I've tried since is demonstrably "better" for hunting our various deer, elk, moose bears etc. I like the ammunition and bullet choices available to me, and my rifles that are chambered in .308 handle nicely and shoot precisely.
But the cartridge I currently LIKE the most is the 7x64. What a capable, well-balanced and well designed cartridge. Equally at home in open plains or in the bush. Easy to shoot, easy to handload, no quirks or problems. It just works, with a wide range of bullet styles and weights. And I really appreciate the fine European rifles my collection that are chambered in 7x64.

 

[Rifleman97]

Sounds like you’ve built your own lil wildcat version of something very similar to a 257wby. That was my 2nd choice I just couldn’t bring myself to give up DG Game Hunting. I love my quarter bores, and really love that lil Weatherby Mag I have. It hits way above its weight class, it’s a point and shoot gun well past 400 yards with my handloaded 100gr TTSX leaving the muzzle at 3805 fps. I personally think I could kill all the Dangerous 7 without any issue IF I only took specific shots. It’s the first gun I reach for when I’m going hunting (aside from Africa) and I affectionately refer to it as the Hammer of Thor.

Again 275 Rigby/7x57, 280AI, 308, and 300WM also all get honorable mentions.

257 Weatherby is also what I grab these days for basically everything (I have not hunted africa yet)

If I could only have 3 rifles for everything under the sun, I would do 257 weatherby, 416 rigby, and 22 WMR. 257 does everything up to elk wonderfully and down to coyote (albeit I'm not a pelt hunter, the weatherby does basically ruin the pelts lol) and 22 mag for Badger, beaver, rabbit, and squirrel. Even though that would be a great 3 gun battery I do admit it is nice not being limited, I like owning more than 3 guns xD

Roy was definitely on to something when he said that velocity kills for north american game, and the TTSX is also my go to for everything. Although on my next barrel I want to try some of those 135 bergers to see what they do for long range target shooting. While I would never shoot at an animal at 1000 yards, I do target shoot to that distance somewhat regularly (or I did before I moved, need to find a range close to me now. I don't live far from Hornady headquarters so maybe I can call them and ask what range they go to haha)

For context, with the amount I shoot my weatherby I'll need a new barrel about every 5 years haha

 

[Huvius]

@MS 9x56
No mate he's not just reaching
Me thinks ALL 338 Wimpchester magnun owners just suffer delusions of grandeur thinking it is a good as the Whelen. Those in the know tho actually realised it can't hold a candle to the Whelen especially in the CLASS status.
You never know with the right medication nowadays they can be helped
Ha Ha Ha Ha
Bob

I stumbled upon some 35 Whelen rounds I loaded when I had one.
Must admit, a very handsome and capable cartridge.
Got me thinking, I’d like something like a 35 Whelen Flanged in a single shot ie. Ruger #1.
Have a 9x57, 35 Win 1895 and once had a Rigby 350 No.2 double so have some experience with the mid level 35s.
So naturally I grabbed a 7X65R case, gradually opened it up and then ran her into the Whelen die.
I know this is more or less the 9X65 Brenneke but there is a dearth of info on that online.
I could see making this a reality sooner or later.
May be my new favorite cartridge!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I believe it would depend on where I'm hunting. In Africa, I've become a huge fan of the 375 H&H; the more I hunt with this cartridge the more I like it. In the US (no Grizzlies), I would choose my 7mm Weatherby Magnum. In urban conditions, my Glock 19, with two spare magazines.

@PARA45
Forget the little 9mm
Nothing say more to bad guys than a nice 45, they know it's going to hurt
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I stumbled upon some 35 Whelen rounds I loaded when I had one.
Must admit, a very handsome and capable cartridge.
Got me thinking, I’d like something like a 35 Whelen Flanged in a single shot ie. Ruger #1.
Have a 9x57, 35 Win 1895 and once had a Rigby 350 No.2 double so have some experience with the mid level 35s.
So naturally I grabbed a 7X65R case, gradually opened it up and then ran her into the Whelen die.
I know this is more or less the 9X65 Brenneke but there is a dearth of info on that online.
I could see making this a reality sooner or later.
May be my new favorite cartridge!


View attachment 683595

@Huvius
All you need to do now is move the shoulder forward and make it one calibre long.
Being a rimmed case easy to fireform as no headspace issues. This would increase your case capacity and give it a real set of balls.
Loaded in a nice Ruger No1 with 310s to between 2500-2600 it would be an awesome beast that will handle even the biggest buff. Dang I would even say with such a high SD projectile ( a flat point solids) with the same sd as a 350gn 375 I dare say it would punch thru an elephant skull from ear to ear where legal.
Bob