TOP 5 OVER RATED CARTRIDGES

Given The opinions on the under rated cartridge thread, I think we need a over rated cartridge list.

Let's see your list!

300 WM & 7 Mag

To each his own. I have killed animals all over the world with 300 WM. Rarely do they not drop in their tracks. If it ain't broke don't fix it is my motto

The .300 win mag is pretty much universally recognized as one of the most versatile cartridges in existence

.30-30 Winchester- it was fine when model T’s were the only form of automobile transportation, but thankfully travel has advanced and so has the cartridge world. It’s slow, sloppy and shoots all over the place.

7mm Rem mag - lot of recoil and muzzle blast for what you get at the other end the barrel. If you don’t mind the recoil just move up to the .300 win mag.

.223 Remington - why would anyone want a 3rd place .22 centerfire? The .22-250 is vastly superior in performance

.308 Winchester- I wish the movie “ shooter” had never come out. It’s perfectly adequate but people talk about it likes it’s the second comming

6.5 creedmoor- See above.

.243 Winchester - too sporadic of performance on deer yet it continues to be pushed. This is a round that needed to be put out to pasture a long time ago


Yes I know I named six cartridges

It all depends on the application as to what is "overrated", IMO.

Lol I still hunt with 4 of those on occasion lol.

I do prefer the 22-250 over the 223. I also prefer the 222 over the 223 for nostalgia reasons though.

I love grabbing a set of horns and going on a walk about with 30-30

I am not sure about "overrated", but here is my list of "completely unnecessary" cartridges.

1. 26, 28 and 30 Nosler (I know that is 3, but they are all in the same boat).
2. 257 Weatherby Mag., unless of course having bullets blow up on game is your thing.
3. 338 Winchester Mag. - with today's bullets, a heavy 30 caliber or 7mm bullet will do the same job with less recoil.
4. .220 Swift - unless, of course, you like to burn up barrels for very little performance gain
5. .270 Winchester - again, with today's powders and bullets, you can get much better ballistics and terminal performance in a short action.

Disclaimer: I know you can take every cartridge on my list and go kill stuff

1) .223- I love shooting it. It is anemic as a military round. Same thing as a hunting round. A nice varmint round.

2) 270- I have killed several truck loads of animals with a 270. Although it never failed to get the job done, due to limited available bullet selection, I view the 280 as superior. The 270 surpasses it in popularity but only due to a lot of favorable press and the model 70 Winchester.

3) .243-kills stuff plenty dead but on game I like a heavier slug.

4) .257 Roberts- never saw what people went so gaga for back in the day, other than a catchy name.

5) (tie) 30-30- immensely popular due to the era of the lever guns that were most often chambered for it. My first deer rifle was a Winchester 94. It still works but it’s time has passed. If not for lever guns, it would have faded into obscurity long ago.

5) (tie) 300 blackout-way too anemic for my taste. Only place I see it performing well is loading subs for ultra quiet suppressed plinking.

pulled 110 grain Nosler accubond slugs out of Elk, Aoudad, and Mule Deer....never had one blow up.

the .257 wby mag is one most useable magnum cartridges ever created. Light recoil and 7mm rem. performance. The ballistics out to 400 yards is incredible. Yes, if you shoot a soft bullet then it will come apart....but the availability of bonded bullets has all but nullified that.


As far as the .270 is concerned, yes, with moden powders and bullet weights you can get .270 performance and ballistics from a round like a 7mm-08.

But with modern powders and Bullets you can get .270 wby performance out of a .270 Winchester and stomp any short action out to any reasonable hunting range. I still think a stock .270 outperforms a 6.5 creed out to somewhere ridiculous range like 700 yards.

Well, here’s where we find out who does and doesn’t understand what overrated means.

Anything SAUM, RUM or WSM.
Anything Blackout, SPC or Grendel.
.223
.25 - 06
.475 A&M mag

Interesting thought process backed up by exploding partitions?

6.5 creedmoor, its accurate but I have not been impressed on the wound channel it creates compared to older calibers.

1. 223/5.56
2. 308
3. 6.5
4. 6.8
5. 7 mag
6. 300 b.o.

definitely an interesting few threads, interesting opinions

You are probably correct, I remember about 2000 I went into a gun store and there were a bunch of 7mm magnums on the used rack. I ask the owner why?!?!?! He said “everybody wants the 300wsm”... turns out the 270 and 300wsm are great rounds..... but.... now if you want to kill a whitetail it’s going to take a Creedmoor or Nosler to get the job done.

Don’t tell anybody about the prc huh?

Bad news..... I’ll be hunting with many of the cartridges listed in this thread.... this weekend will be a 30-06 and a Remington 6mm. I hope I don’t have to call one of y’all to come finish of the deer with your 7mm-08!

Negative. Never seen or heard of a .257 launching a 160 grainer 3100fps?

The Weatherby will get there quicker but the lighter, lower BC bullets give up about 20% in ft/lbs out past 300 yards... However- when I have my fast twist .257 put together... 131gr @ 3400 will outperform the standard 7/160 combo in velocity, wind drift and energy. But then bump the 7 up to a 180 @ 2900 and it wins again.

I wouldn't say the Bee- is overrated though.

What comes to mind with overrated is--
1. 26 nosler
2. 6.8spc
3. Any WSSM
4. 350 Legend
5. .17wsm

I've never seen of a 7mm launching a 160 grain bullet at 3100 fps. Nosler lists a speed of 2925 fps for the 160 grain accubond load.

I only know which caliber is the most over hyped on this forum.....300 bacon or pork chop I can’t remember but geeez enough with the infomercial.

6.5 creedmore my sons use hammeres them. 143 grain no typical ammo. At 85 to 100yrds its nearly ripped her should off on the exit with low recoil. I think its am amazing youth caliber.

My goodness. I thought overrated would trip some people up. Apparently, ballistics is even worse.

2) 270- I have killed several truck loads of animals with a 270. Although it never failed to get the job done, due to limited available bullet selection, I view the 280 as superior. The 270 surpasses it in popularity but only due to a lot of favorable press and the model 70 Winchester.


Just sayin’

How many different bullets are all of you actually shooting?

Last season. 303 British, 30/30, 6mm, 300WM, 30-06, 270, 44mag, 308 I’m sure that I’m forgetting one.... drives a few friends crazy..... different gun every hunt.. before I get a bunch of questions... yes I hunted MLDP.

And why I had a disclaimer at the top of my post. The 270 had a meteoric rise to prominence similar to what the creedmore is currently experiencing. Introduced in a rifle that was referred to as the riflemans rifle and given a very credible stamp of approval by Jack O’Connor it was the darling of its day and remains a mainstay. It’s not as good as the also 30-06 based 280. Not much difference In dia from .277 to .284. With a 270 for the most part you are limited to 130-150 grain projectiles. Loading for 280, a readily available selection of 120-175 grain projectiles has existed for a long time.
Just sayin

If the 270 is overrated don't tell the 800 million animals that have succumbed to it. lol
The most overrated caliber I have ever owned is by far the 45-70. Everything I ever shot with it ran off a long ways before falling. I read where an African PH said more animals lost to the 45-70 than any other caliber, not sure why.

Most people pick a load and stick with it in a given caliber.

If they need a heavier load most change rifles not bullets

Most often it isn't the caliber of the rifle, it is the caliber of the person behind the trigger.

Folks around here talk like deer are hard to kill and their tuff ness has increased 10 fold over the last few decades.
And pigs, wholly smokes, they are armor plated beasts like some mythical mini rhinoceros on steroids wearing bullet proof hide.


I hunt grizz with a .22 wmr.

In the end most of this stuff is just fun Internet forum talk.....these discussions are not like the ones we have with our buddies over a few beers while we watch college football, where experience and knowledge are recognized and understood. On the World Wide Web any nameless, faceless poster may join or even start the discussion, regardless of their level of first hand knowledge.
Do you think the 270 is superior to the 280?

I always wonder when people tout the effectiveness of a caliber by mentioning how many hogs they kill with it.

I was always taught to shoot hogs below the ear. I also kill a lot of hogs with a .22 LR

8 in the 257wby, all on animals also

5 on 6.5 CM, all on animals

Do they even have 8 different loads for a .257 wby?

300BLK also preforms exceptionally well for recoil sensitive kids. 125 gr SST is a good deer and pig round out to 150 yards.



YES!!

You haven't tried 72-73g Retumbo then. Not that tough.

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.

Yes
100 Spire
100 spritzer
80 TTSX
100 TSX
110 AB
100gr partition
120 gr partition
115vld


Honady has a 117 sst I think also

If you apply the above logic towards a 243 or even 223 you may change your mind.

Holy Smokes, you guys badmouthed just about everything in my gun safe except for the 30:06 and I gave that to my grandson.

I'll go with shot placement using any 1" moa rifle.

Interesting Bobo. All from 1 rifle or multiple?

I am impressed with the amount of time that you have available to test that many different loads! Between kids and work, if I want to work up a new load, it takes me almost a year to load, test, load, re-test, and then hunt with them!

Most of those are all OTC loads(all sub moa ore better except spritzer and AB) minus the 115vld(both hand loads)

Bull frog -Two, but most from one.

Most people state the something as the “best” because that’s what they use or read, not on what they have actually tried against each other. I tinker a bunch, gear included.


It’s like the exploding bullet statement made on here. Out of all those loads I have exploded one (bullet combo) out of a close to a hundred animals with all the bullets stated above, 115vld loaded hot at almost 3400. I had two bullets actually blow up at the skin level with minimal penetration on a Pronghorn. At 3250 ft/s no more issues and lots of chin thumps to the grounds. Could of been a lot issue or speed/jacket integrity issue. Regardless a true skin level failure

My second favorite load is 80gr ttsx true lazer but energy drops sharply at 300 yards. And third is the 100gr partition

243 I’ll take the 80 gr TTSX it nasty medicine “if” your gun likes them.

^This man knows

I shot an antelope at over 700yds in the late eighties with a 257 Weatherby, I would call it far from over rated

30'06 was my favorite cartridge for years, but it is a kicking sob, the 300 WSM will do everything that it can do and with a ton less felt recoil

My list
Creedmoor anything
Nosler Anything
30'06
338 Lapua
338 Federal

I have several of those on my list in the safe

.204, even 40 grain, is hell on cats and foxes but sub par on coyotes.

Come again?

Sure the WSM does whatever the 30-06 does, but it doesn't recoil less at all, actually more.

I'd say... of the calibers I have owned... and for being overrated for whitetail deer...

30-30 - not very accurate compared to what else is available and only acceptable for close range. Crazy how many times I hear it is recommended as a first deer rifle.
223 - I had a buddy who wanted to hunt deer with 223 on my property. Told him he'd have to find a bigger caliber or use one of my rifles. It'll take down a deer with proper shot placement, but we can't always except optimal shooting conditions. Makes me cringe when I hear people talking about hunting whitetail with 223.
243 - This was the caliber of my first deer rifle. Certainly works and is accurate, but personally I feel it's a tad on the light side. Not as forgiving as larger calibers. One of my best buds uses it with great success though I'd prefer he use a larger caliber. To give him credit... he's dropped all the deer he's taken on my place with it.
300 blk - same as 30-30. Maybe a little more accurate, but not good for anything other than close range. Personally I feel it's only good for those who want a quiet round when shooting suppressed at close range. Fun caliber though.
30-06 - I grew up hunting with 30-06 and hunted Africa twice with it. Great caliber and certainly enough stopping power for whitetail... but the recoil made it hard to be a consistent shooter. I think my success with it was due to it being more forgiving. Not a great caliber for beginners in my opinion because of the recoil. Still love the cartridge but there are many others available now that'll do the job with less recoil.

Over rated.

17 HMR, the 22 magnum is far better for what I need.

6.5 Creedmoor, Not a durned thing it can do that many older cartridges haven't been doing just fine for years but if it replaces the semi worthless 243 that would be a good thing.

243 Winchester works fine if you treat it like a 223 but when you start using it like a real deer cartridge the tracking begins.

300 Blackout, What for?

280 Remington Not one thing it can do better than the 30-06 or 270.

You would be wrong, I had this conversation with JG, perceived recoil is lower because of powder selection. Bullet weight for bullet weight the 300 WSM wins the lower perceived recoil contest.

How many bench rest shooters use a 30'06 rifle vs 300 WSM? (That tidbit was via Judd)

well if you want to load one down etc. ok then its not a true comparison either. I loaded some 125's at 2000 fps in my 30-06 and it shoots like a 223.

Head to head the wsm recoils more.

How dare y'all speak bad about the .270. I hope you all get coal in your stocking this year. You know who you are.

If you would vote for the .243 then you would vote for Hillary.

Now, you're just getting all wound up over nothin'. Breathe in. Breathe out. Look up. Look down. Look around. What do you see??

Hillary supporters!!

I don’t see any deer, that may be the problem

I have both, 178gr ELD-X out of the 30'06 recoils more than a 200gr ELD-X out of the 300 WSM, same rifle this isn't some recoil calculated bs, this is real time behind the trigger.

I've been waiting for this thread to devolve into name calling...we have arrived...

More like pouting.

It's the HAMMR and there is a 467 page thread on it.

308

I don't think anyone talks about the 308 anymore. Everything has switched to ultra high BC cartridges.

Not to sure I can say any of them are over rated, but I can say some do better than others depending on your needs. Somebody up thread mentioned prowling around with an open sight 30-30 and that's a game changer. You have to adjust to it's limitations and that can make life a little tougher. Had a customer come down several years in a row that hunted with a 50 cal black powder, you couldn't get him to sit in a blind. He never missed taking a nice buck and always hunted the thickets. Slow and easy, three steps and stop, the man could hunt.

Bullets matter not the head stamp. Hint

The 243 bashers have problably never shot a deer or anything with the 95 gr sst. Sheet flat out dies

The .308 is so 2007

I am a fan of the 308, been doing the job perfectly for years. Lately I have been a fan of the 7-08.

It's practically a muzzleloader compared to new cartridges.

I think the 6.5 Creedmoor is a fine cartridge-maybe the best ever for shooting at distance.

That said, everywhere I go guys attach mythical qualities to it. In Alberta about to leave a mule deer hunt right now and 3 of the 4 guys there were touting it as the be-all-end-all for everything from Coues deer up to and including the big bears. To listen to them that 143 grain bullet traveling about 2800 fps somehow takes on powers that have to be seen to be believed. Everything it hits is practically vaporized.

So I’d say it’s one of the most overrated cartridges I’ve seen in a long time. Not because it’s a poor cartridge at all, but because so many ascribe otherworldly qualities to it.

This is definitely a problem on both ends of the scale. Some say it's the best killing and shooting cartridge ever developed and nothing can touch it (wrong), and others say it's not worth a **** and is nothing but marketing and hype (also wrong). I happen to love my 6.5 CM and it's my primary hunting and target shooting gun, but I have no illusions of it being anything more than it is. It kills things exactly as dead as my .308, 7mm-08, .270, etc., no more or less dead.
If you look at all of the people ranting on both ends of the scale, the 6.5 Creedmoor actually qualifies for the overrated and underrated lists.

Hard to say on the others. Maybe:

.223 - overused and a .22-250 is much better even for what it is good for.
.30-06 - just a little step up to a .300 Win gives so much more.
.257 Roberts - I agree about it being an anemic nostalgia cartridge.
7mm Rem Mag - I just have never liked the round. Seems like a lot of bluster and blow for not much actual performance advantage.

That’s why I don’t have one. I want something left over to eat.

7 Mag - just get a 300 mag
375 Ruger - just get a 375 h&h

7 mag
10mm
6.5 creedmoor
Any "deer" cartridge in an ar 15
4570

Two cartridges come to mind as being overrated.
1) 7 Mag. It’s a fine cartridge, but I’ve hunted with people who thought all you had to do was point it at a deer
up to 800 yards away and the deer was dead. Also, I have learned that a .270 will do everything I need in a deer
rifle and shoot cheaper ammo and kick less than a 7 mag
2) 243. To be honest I’ve never used one because of so many stories about lost deer or deer that traveled
farther than expected after a solid shot. I have used a 7-08 quite a lot and figure if you want to shoot a
short action rifle, it shoots a bigger bullet than the 243 and at comparable speeds and recoil is still quite light.

When you look at the 308 it is outclassed by just about anything. I’ve never understood why anyone wanted one in the last 50 years with all of the better options out there. I’ve never owned one and probably never will.

I like my .308. Replaced a .270 with shot out barrel with a Remington 700 w/5R stainless barrel. Most accurate rifle out of the box at 200 yards that I’ve owned. Recoil is like a .243, not bad for a .30 caliber bullet.

Back when I bought most of my rifles I chose calibers that were available at the local service stations, 30-06, 308, 243, 270 and 30-30. I have added other calibers, but not based in the performance of the round, it was because it was good looking gun with a wood stock. I have some pickup cab beaters, but even those are in common old calibers. If I had to only choose one caliber, it would be the 243, not because of the bullet performance, but because the beauty queen in the safe is a 243.

Life is too short to shoot ugly guns are chase ugly women.

Anyone who bad mouths a .243 for Texas game has obviously spent more time being a keyboard expert on the internet, vs real life experience with one. Or..maybe they just made a bad shot, maybe shooting a crap bullet, and blamed it on the caliber, which is common. These experts are almost always from a certain demographic North of I-10 that almost always includes San Antonio and Dallas/ Ft Worth.

I have killed hundreds of animals with calibers that I am now being told are “too small”. Lol.

There is no better cull shooting rifle than a 220 Swift or a 22-250. 223 or 222 works just fine too if the shooter is capable.

There are too many internet caliber experts on this forum that loooooooooooooove to tell you what’s best.

this x100

Overrated?

1. 6.5 Creedmoor

2. 6.5 Creedmoor

3. 6.5 Creedmoor

4. 6.5 Creedmoor

5. 300 BO

Think these types of questions exist for only one reason: to get folks riled up. Each of us get defensive when someone makes a comment that is not in alignment with how we feel.

Take the 243 or 30/30. Both are popular and have killed tons of deer. I'll never own either one since neither does anything for me. I have calibers that are much better suited to where, what, and how I hunt. From this perspective these rounds are overrated; however, for another individual either could be the perfect round.

Folks should feel blessed that we have so many options to bitch about which calibers are overrated.

Yes! A Weatherby does kill them deader.

Ditto this - silliness IMO.

Ford or Chevy? For me a rifle is nothing more than a tool I use to kill my prey. If it does that well for me then that is the caliber I will continue to use.

Our fore fathers would think we are silly, round 45-54 caliber balls was all they ever needed or wanted and theirs would say all you need is a long bow

I think our forefathers would have been beside themselves with joy to have the equipment we have today

.45 & .54 caliber round balls were far from ideal projectiles

Hogwash.

Yep, they would be envious to some degree (some hard headed farts probably would think it's silly). They used that stuff because that's all they had. One day our great grand kids will be talking about how we were able to survive with the primitive garbage we're currently using. I believe anything that would have made it quicker and easier to put dinner on the table would have been welcomed.

pioneers much preferred conical bullets to roundballs. Indians dropped longbows for hunting when they acquired Kentucky rifles and later on Winchesters.

So.... a .243 is not big enough and a .308 is no good but a 7mm-08 is a great choice.... they are basically the same thing!

Welcome to the interwebs - where all things are possible.

.243 Win, 270 Win, 308 Win, 30-06 are Joe Sixpack rounds. Thank God for Joe Sixpack.

Lol I obviously don't know as much as everyone else in here, but I love my .243! Hasn't let me down yet.

It's one of the best options for a 16"-18" barreled suppressed hunting rifle.

1. 6.5 creedmoor
2. 6.5 creedmoor
3. 6.5 creedmoor
4. 6.5 creedmoor
5. 6.5 creedmoor

Ditto

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

I find it interesting you "cullers" seem to think that actually hunting and riding around at night shooting deer are the same thing. I have found a lot you you 243 swilling "cullers" have little real life experience actually hunting in difficult conditions. I have used the 243 a lot and found it no better or worse than my 22-250 and 223 as long as I treated all three the same, as guns adequate with perfectly placed shots that don't require a lot of bone breaking or penetration to get what you need. If you use tough controlled expanding bullets you get narrow wound channels, if you use fast expanding bullets you get shallow penetration and if you use a compromise bullet you get compromise. I have never lost a deer shot with a 243 but have trailed a few that went much farther than the same hit with a 7-08 or 308 would have allowed. I have also had do trail many deer shot by others that left poor blood trails, made it into thick thorn brush and were hell to recover that were shot with 223,22-250 and 243 rifles. Some of which were not recovered. Sooner or later it will happen to you, your luck will run out.

Never had a 243. There's a pretty well known ranch south of Corpus where the guides almost all used to carry 243s. I bet they still do. As sensible as these people all were, I can't imagine it was because the cartridge was not effective.

I have never shot a deer with either of my 223s. Just haven't. My 22-250 is a different story. It's a head & neck shot genius. BAM down again. I would not put the sights of my 22-250 on the body of a large deer. That's asking for issues.

This is an interesting sentence, "I have found a lot you you 243 swilling "cullers" have little real life experience actually hunting in difficult conditions." This is the conundrum provided by someone who might have something useful to provide. It helps to demonstrate "a know it all" attitude, diminishing the value of the experience of others and also diminishes much of what is said later in the post.

Been using a 243 (and tons of other calibers) for about 50 years now. In your expert opinion, when will my luck run out?

I've culled well over 100 whitetail does, and almost that many aoudad sheep. NONE of them at night. Just because you haven't had the best luck with a 243, it hardly equates to labeling it an inadequate cartridge for medium game. You've either used the wrong bullets, made marginal shots, don't understand how certain bullets are designed to perform, or a combo of the three. If you had much experience at all actually killing deer sized game you'd also know that you could use the exact same cartridge, rifle, bullet combo on numerous animals and they could possible behave differently upon impact every time. You seem to believe that marginal shots with bigger calibers/cartidges make up for poor shooting, which is a farce.

Agree with this 100%

When my son and I returned to camp last year with his first buck ever I couldn't believe all the responses. "Man what rifle did he shoot that with?" "Look at that exit channel"

Weird looks all around when I said "60 year old Winchester .243 with $15 dollar Remington Core Loks"

Say what? I'm taking this as being directed at me. I've done quite a bit of cull shooting on several ranches but never at night....


I've hunted the brush country of South Texas exclusively for over 35 yrs, several of those years I worked as a guide often taking paid hunters out on foot....in the brush. I don't need a lesson on bullet construction and wound channels. Most of the deer in my life that I wasn't able to recover were shot by hunters with LARGE caliber rifles. The 22-250 and 243 have served me well all of these years. When is my luck going to run out?

Anyway what do I know. Adios, carry on...

I still love my .243 's have a Ruger and a Sako. Light weight and accurate. However I have been shooting a Sako 75 .270 for seven years. Long walks at the lease I would rather the lighter weight!

I have found the lighter the weight of the rifle, the harder it is to steady.

Breaking news

.243 fan here!
Been killing deer for many, many years, and probably going to run out of luck soon if I don't retire my .243!

It’s all opinions but it’s hard for me to believe the .308 is considered overrated.

I’ve found it to be an excellent caliber for hunting