My list:

• 7x61 Sharpe and Hart
• .30-40 Krag
• 6mm Lee Navy
• .318 Westley Richards
• 9x57 Mauser
• .425 Westley Richards
• 7.35mm Carcano
• .310 Rook
• .25 Remington
• .44-77 Sharps Bottleneck

Yes, i know it's silly, but it's no sillier than the original list.

My list for all critters from rats to elephants:

.22LR
.22-250
.243
.257 Wby
.270 Win
7mm Rem Mag
.300 Win Mag
.338 Win Mag
.375 H&H
.458 Lott

If you could only have 5:

.22LR
.22-250
.30-06
.338 Win Mag
.416 Rem Mag

Only 3:

.22LR
.30-06
.375 H&H

Only 1:

.30-06 (Gonna have to snare the rats and brain shoot the elephants. )

Pretty good list, I can't argue with those.

Well they gotta write something!

some thing you are all missing, he is an outdoor writer. we are supposed to believe what he says.
Had an uncle that 20-30 elk with a 243, of course that was the old 243(much stronger) he also neck shot every thing.

at least in the original list you can find ammo on the shelf....

I had no intention of being taken seriously. I was simply illustrating that I too could come up with a list of ten cartridges that were unrealistic. The 28 Nosler is the most glaring example of poor judgement in the original list, but there are others nearly as bad.

NP, do you currently have a rifle chambered in .458 Lott? I was wondering what the recoil was like.

No Choctaw, I do not. 416 Rem is as big as I go. That's the only one I based off of reading the preferences of others - as an elephant gun. I have never and will never hunt anything bigger than cape buffalo.

The original list is what their advertisers are pushing.

M

That's interesting...the .243 used to be much stronger?

Lets just say it was and is less than marginal for big game, a problem recognized over 100 years ago. And before you say the old "30-30 has killed more deer than any other rifle BS" you better have some data to prove it. History seems to give that edge to the 30-06 starting with the 1895 Winchester.

Hwyman I thought that award went to the ol tried and true .22!

evidently!

Less than marginal? I would say that's a bit of a stretch. I would say that is the minimum for deer, much like a .243 with heavier bullets

if you are hunting in west texas....of course guys are not gonna be using 30-30's. go back east and a lot of hunters use them use, same thing with hunters in the southern states like Alabama, Lousiana, Florida and Georgia. You wanna see how popular they are, go look up how many Model 336's Marlin has sold in 30-30.

I know lots of guys who own a 30-30 and while its not anyones main deer gun, they do work within reasonable ranges. I've killed a few with my 30-30's and they work fine when ranges are short

as far as the "more deer have been killed with a .30-30" statement....it was true at one time. I doubt it has been true for the past 20 years or more.

In my opinion the .300WSM is a great one, but is so underrated and never make any of the lists. My guess is they are just not as popular as the other calibers. It is a great choice to go with for big game.

That's probably truer than the 30-30 claims.

I consider the .300 WSM and .300 Win Mag basically the same cartridge. I have a mountain gun in .300 WSM simply because the short action saves a little weight. Which is really the only reason the cartridge exists.

28 Nosler is probably in the top 3 on that list! How is it poor judgment?

I believe the title says big game! In my opinion that would put deer close to the bottom. As far as how many have sold I don't know but an old nostalgic lever action seems to be in everybody's collection, I have 2, one in 45 Long Colt and the other in 35 Remington. In all the years I've had hunters on the place only one brought a 30-30 and she shot it quite well, we're talking well over 150 people. As for the more deer killed with the 30-30 comment again I asked for data. The 30-06 was available in the 1895 shortly after the introduction of the 30-30 in the Model 94. The abundance of Military surplus ammo for that caliber was also available and cheaper than 30-30. Just like the 30-30 I have no data to support the claim but I do have memories of the old timers hunting deer, elk and moose back in the early 1900's and rarely was the 30-30 mentioned. My fathers history goes back to the 20's and mine the 50's and even then a 30-30 on a big game hunt was a rarity not the norm.

I personally like another posters claim that the 22 probably hold the title of most deer killed, that little caliber has put allot of food on the table for many decades.

I think I would like to have one for no other reason than to just have it. There is a lot of mystique in those big African dangerous game cartridges.

Deer, whitetail, blacktail and mule deer, are classified as big game.

Also, the Model 1895 was chambered in .30-06 in 1908. they Winchester model 94 was chambered in the .30-30 in 1895 giving it a pretty good jump on the 06'.


I know two Yankees....one from Minnesota and one from maine, both shot moose with their .30-30's. Pretty much all they used were .30-30's. You have different rounds gain popularity in different regions. a .30-30 is not going to be a popular western game cartridge because of its trajectory as well as the rifles they are chambered in, just like long barrel sporter rifles chambered in magnum cartridges are not popular in pine forests and swamps. Also, the people traveling from long distances away are not the ones shooting elk with .30-30's. the cowboys, ranch hands and local folks are the ones who did that.

even way back when, people like teddy Roosevelt did not hinge his western expedition success on a .30-30....he used more powerful cartridges, just as any modern hunter today would.

The .30-30 would make anyone's top 10 list if history and nostalgia are part of the criteria.

It's much tougher to include it if the criteria are strictly performance based.

That's true but it was available in 30-40 (30 US) in 1895, a much more powerful cartridge than the 30-30. The 06 was a natural replacement.