Are Sportsmen Migrating away from Magnum Cartridges?

[Magnum_Willys]

.243 has ALWAYS been a one shot kill on deer for me ( and I usually pack a .338 wm or .338 lapua)

[Stein]

Yeah, .243 kills them dead but I like a bullet hole I can't pass a baseball through.

[BigGoonTuna]

I think if you really look at ballistics, there isn’t a whole lot of gain to be had with magnums inside of typical ranges that game is shot at. What’s an inch or two at 300 yards realistically?

But then again, we seem to be in a trend where people are bragging up the distance of their kills, you see a lot of posts talking about looking for a rifle that going to “only” shooting game out to 600 yards, like that’s some normal thing. Out of the guys I’ve come across locally, the .300 win mag with a scope of 20x+ on the top end seems to be very popular to use for black tails in the brush, “just in case” a looong shot presents itself.  I would bet that most take a couple of sight in shots a year, and have no business taking a 200 yard shot, much less anything “long range.”

Disclaimer: I’ve owned all sorts of different rifles over the years, some magnum, most not, hell I even have a .375 ruger for no good reason.

[OutHouse]

I have a 7mm magnum but that is as high as I'll go. I like it, but I have never understood the big bore thing. I suppose if hunting moose or brown bear? For me they just aren't any fun to shoot after the third donkey kick to the shoulder.

[huntnphool]

 My kids shoot their 7mm08’s very well, and while my go to hunting rifle is a 7RM, I do really like my 260 Rem too.

[elkaholic123]

I only have 2 hunting rifles, 300 WM and a 28 Nosler. I like magnums 

[jackelope]

What are we calling big bores?

[MountainWalk]

I've come to reach for the old  Thirty 06 almost always line nowadays.  The big ones just sit idle.

[ghosthunter]

What are we calling big bores?

Anything with mag. In its name.

[kselkhunter]

Bullet construction and powder formulations have definitely changed things.  Magnums still have their place for bigger animals and longer ranges.


But the improvements in bullets and powders, as well as research from the bullet companies on better matching which powder is best for their bullet....has seen significant advancement, even in just the last couple of years.  If folks haven't looked at the most recent Speer load data, they went back and pressure tested with different powders across various cartridges.  Example: 2700fps for 250gr bullet in 24in barreled 35 Whelen.  Simply by trying a powder they hadn't tried before (2000-MR).   Similar updates/improvements across other cartridges.   


Am doing lots of load development right now with Hammer Hunters, Nosler (various models), Berger, and Speer in 243 Win, 25-06, 7mmRM, 30-06, 356 Win, and 35 Whelen over the next month.  Because, well I'm bored, plus some of these are friend's rifles.  Am noticing improvements in the load data for some of them.

[PolarBear]

I have been using my .250 Savage or .243 for everything except elk for a few years now. My
magnums are waiting in the safe for a moose hunt.

[Magnum_Willys]

I only have 2 hunting rifles, 300 WM and a 28 Nosler. I like magnums 

MY thoughts are Duplicates ?   215 Berger in the 300 wm will match or exceed nosler in energy at 1000 or vice versa.    Drop one and add a 6.5 or 338 ?

[salish]

I have been using my .250 Savage or .243 for everything except elk for a few years now. My
magnums are waiting in the safe for a moose hunt.

Surprised to read that, you don't find too many .250 Savage shooters. I've been using a 99E .250 since 1973. Great caliber. I think the .243 might be the best cartridge ever for anything under elk-size. That said, I also have vintage.30-40 & .30-30's that I like as well.

[buckfvr]

Unless I expect a longer poke, Im opting for the 6.5 instead of the 7rm for the foreseeable.  That being said, Ive taken more with the ol .270 to date than anything else to include 6mm rem, .243, 6.5,7rm, .308.

[birddogdad]

always been and will remain a big bore guy