Most Underrated Cartridge

[Geojag]

I would say the .243 Win is underrated, not in popularity, but in performance. Most folks that hunt whitetail with it have probably have been told it is a marginal caliber by others. With modern loads suitable to the game pursued, it is a very capable cartridge for whitetail and larger.

 

[CaptnC]

I already posted on page 2...20th post in this thread...

But I've been shooting the 264wm since that post and it continues to impress me.

I'm not sure how much my gun weighs but is not real heavy. But this thing is pleasure to shoot...low recoil but still one of the faster 6.5 out there!

I have several magnum rifles (2) 7mmRM, 300wsm, 300wm and just sold a 7mmRUM. The 300wm weighs almost 16lbs, but the rest will beat you to death during an afternoon of shooting...

And I still say the 280rem doesn't get the love it should...

Then the 6.5-06 fell off the radar...WTH...why, I one built for the wife earlier this year...it is a hell of a shooter!

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I already posted on page 2...20th post in this thread...

But I've been shooting the 264wm since that post and it continues to impress me.

I'm not sure how much my gun weighs but is not real heavy. But this thing is pleasure to shoot...low recoil but still one of the faster 6.5 out there!

I have several magnum rifles (2) 7mmRM, 300wsm, 300wm and just sold a 7mmRUM. The 300wm weighs almost 16lbs, but the rest will beat you to death during an afternoon of shooting...

And I still say the 280rem doesn't get the love it should...

Then the 6.5-06 fell off the radar...WTH...why, I one built for the wife earlier this year...it is a hell of a shooter!

Why the 6.5-06 is not a factory chamber I will never know. Fantastic round.

Steve

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

Why the 6.5-06 is not a factory chamber I will never know. Fantastic round.

Steve

You can probably thank the 270 and 25-06 for that.

 

[MudRunner2005]

You can probably thank the 270 and 25-06 for that.

Not to mention the .280 and .280 AI...

 

[CaptnC]

I've been out of the shooting and hunting game a little while (8ish years) and from what I can tell the 6.5-06 kind of fathered the 6.5 craze.

It and the 260 Remington came on the scene before the 6.5x284 and 6.5x47 Lapua and certainly before the 6.5 Creedmoor.

The 6.5-06 out performs all of them...I guess the 6.5x284 comes real close. I chose the 6.5-06 over all of them even though I have to make my own brass, at least that can be done with the most popular calibers brass out there...

If you really research it it's got a lot of horse power and is still on a standard bolt face.

What's not to like about it?

 

[baddaddy]

8mm Rem mag and the 35 Whelen

 

[MudRunner2005]

Yep, the 8mm RemMag definitely got screwed over by the gun and ammo manufacturers. Just like all the .25 caliber guns.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

Not to mention the .280 and .280 AI...

I don't think it was so much as the 280. I think the 270 probably killed both the 6.5-06 and the 280 (thanks Jack) and the 25-06 really sealed the 6.5-06's fate. For the longest time America wouldn't touch the 6.5mm because it was "European " so instead they decided to invest into 25 cal and 27 cal which the 6.5mm and 7mm cals already did just fine. Now look at us, years later, back to the 6.5mm and 7mm cal cartridges.

 

[catch 22]

All of the "new" calibers in the last 80-100 years still can't do anymore than the "old" warhorses (6.5×55, 7mm Mauser, 30-06, 270, 300&375H&H, 256 Newton and his 250-3000 Savage) especially when handloaded in modern firearms (may as well throw the 45 Colt, 9mm, and 45acp in with them). I've been loading 6.5×55 for about 40 years now, in a modern firearm (Ruger #1/Howa 1500) I can match 270 factory ammo. Oh, and the 6.5-06 is no more than a copy of the 256 Newton from the 1920's

 

[JaoeyP]

All of the "new" calibers in the last 80-100 years still can't do anymore than the "old" warhorses (6.5×55, 7mm Mauser, 30-06, 270, 300&375H&H, 256 Newton and his 250-3000 Savage) especially when handloaded in modern firearms (may as well throw the 45 Colt, 9mm, and 45acp in with them). I've been loading 6.5×55 for about 40 years now, in a modern firearm (Ruger #1/Howa 1500) I can match 270 factory ammo.

If you're only considering the ballistics of a cartridge I would agree, but there are more factors. For example, 6.5x55 can out perform the 6.5 Creedmoor, but it's not an option if you want to run it from a short action platform, especially if you want it from a detachable magazine.

I also like the oldies, though!

 

[Canhunter35]

This thread is fascinating to read through. There's the people who throw out cartridges that are obsolete or obsolescent or darn close. Which I had intended when starting this thread. Yet there is a surprising number of ppl who feel the popular cartridges are underrated. Yet they are the cartridges that crush the sales of the others lol. Interesting how the psych works!

My favourite cartridges listed are the 280ai, 264wm, 340wby, 250-3000, 6.5 rem mag, 6.5-06, and 240wby(although I'm the only one who likes it lol)

 

[Antonio m]

How about the 303 British? The Surplus rifles were awful but if it were chambered in a classy modern Bolt action rifle it would put up good numbers.

 

[6mm06guy]

This thread is fascinating to read through. There's the people who throw out cartridges that are obsolete or obsolescent or darn close. Which I had intended when starting this thread. Yet there is a surprising number of ppl who feel the popular cartridges are underrated. Yet they are the cartridges that crush the sales of the others lol. Interesting how the psych works!

My favourite cartridges listed are the 280ai, 264wm, 340wby, 250-3000, 6.5 rem mag, 6.5-06, and 240wby(although I'm the only one who likes it lol)

+1 for the 8mm remington magnum and 240 weatherby, I don't shoot the weatherby because of brass cost but my 6mm-06s are the same thing.