THE BEST BIG-GAME CARTRIDE?
A discussion developed yesterday, June 27, 2016, in my former gun shop, as to what's the best all-around big-game cartridge. That's not an easy question to answer, as anyone might ask, "What kind of big game?" The cartridge is likely to be much different for the person who never intends to hunt outside of Tennessee, compared to someone else who can't wait to get back to Alaska. So the conversation led back to refining the question.
The most popular big game in the continental United States is whitetail deer, and the subject was changed to focus on that particular animal. At that point I wanted to drop out of the discussion. Seemed like kind of a cop out. The number of effective cartridges for whitetail would easily use up the fingers of both hands, and well into your toes. That direction alone could lead to more questions, starting with expected hunting conditions and range. The conversation was headed toward useless, so I left to run on an errand while the others talked (argued).
I returned a full hour later to find that no progress had been made. Instead of useless, the discussion had made it to stupid. Everyone was touting the perceived advantages of rifles they already owned, and they were still stuck on whitetail. It was time to restate the question, so I threw in some politics: "Suppose some federal law is passed that allows you to have only one gun... what would it be?" In addition to that, I asked them to take on a frame of mind that put them in the location where they would really like to live, rather than where they reside right now (which was Iowa for everybody). That premise led to more useless discussion, such as, "Well, if my grandkids still lived in Iowa, I'd wanna stay here." See what I mean? They just couldn't break away from reality and move on to the core of the question.
After downing a couple of bake-them-yourself pizzas and I don't know how many liters of Dr. Pepper, most of the sidetracking had worn itself down. The group had moved on to wanting to live, or at least hunt, within reach of western Montana. That included northwest Wyoming and Idaho. Interesting. I thought that if enough jobs were available in that region, it would be the most populated area in North America. You know darn well that every real man living in New York City would rather live in Missoula. Thank God for the limited industry and remote location!
Excellent cartridges, such as the 243, the 257 Roberts, and the 25-06 fell out immediately. Now the gang was thinking everything from pronghorn and mule deer along with whitetail, and beyond to elk and moose; realizing that the odds to draw a moose tag were mighty slim. All of a sudden, the lightest cartridge being talked about was the 270 Winchester. The 7mm-08 and 308 were already bypassed because, for just a little over than half an inch more action length, you could have a more powerful 280 Remington or 30-06.
The 270, 280, and 30-06 were all contenders. Nobody there but me had ever owned a 280 Remington, so I opened a file and showed them groups and velocities with various loads. The cartridge is impressive, but is unfortunately all but unnoticed in the marketplace. This is the fault of inadequate advertising, and no one like Jack O' Connor touting its performance (as he had for the 270 Winchester). Of these three cartridges, the arguments were about equal. But, with the continual reminders of "elk," only the 30-06 remained. Only it had the punch to get to the vitals from about any angle at a range of up to 300 yards. The 280 -- with its ability to handle 175-grain bullets -- was a solid contender, but an unsure majority decided to stick with the 30-06.
There was, however, a great deal of interest in the ballistic advantage of a 175-grain 7mm (0.284") bullet over that of a 180-grain 30 caliber. With several loading books on the table, the comparisons of 7mm magnum cartridges began. There were the short magnums, of which no one had any interest; and there were the longer and much longer variety. To be practical, the 7mm magnum list was pared down to: 7mm Remington Magnum, 7mm Weatherby Magnum, 7mm STW, and 7mm Remington Ultra Mag. Within 15 minutes, the STW and Ultra Mag fell by the wayside.
Then the 30-caliber magnums were examined, with everyone agreeing that there were advantages with those 0.308"-diameter bullets. Then the discussion took a bit of a turn; it went the direction of recoil. "It's a proper thing to consider," was the argument; and everyone agreed. Bullets have improved considerably in recent years, and the beautifully controlled expansion and retained weight make many 7mm bullets much more effective than most 30-caliber bullets were a couple of decades ago. Therefore, why can't a 175-grain 7mm bullet do essentially everything a 180-grain 30-caliber bullet can do, plus have the added advantage of somewhat better ballistics and better penetration? Further, a 7mm can effectively use lighter bullets than a 30-caliber rifle. This appealed greatly to some of the group who were imagining long shots at mule deer more so than a 200-yard shot on a well-stalked elk.
A few of the fellows already have 300 magnums, all of them the 300 Winchester Magnum, and they freely admitted that their rifles cuff them pretty hard. They minimize trips to the range, and then limit rounds fired to a dozen or so. From there we got out the calculator, and used the recoil formula to compare a variety of 300 Winchester Magnum loads to those of the 7mm Remington Magnum. While the differences are not day and night, the 300 Winchester Magnum does produce significantly heavier recoil; enough to be quite uncomfortable to several of this bunch, aged from mid-50s through mid-70s. It was back to a closer look at the 7mm magnums.
Poring over the figures in the loading manuals, they discovered that there was something almost magical about the 7mm Weather Magnum. I think it has to do with the double-radius shoulder, having had some experience with gas flow and fluid mechanics in industry. Whatever the reason, it is obvious that the Weatherby version has a neck-length advantage over the Remington. The other advantage is velocity. For whatever reason(s), the Weatherby can be loaded to roughly full case capacity with a variety of powders; something that the 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm STW, and 7mm Ultra Mag cannot do nearly as well. The bottom line is that this Weatherby cartridge, about the same size as the 7mm Remington Magnum, outperforms the Remington and essentially equals the STW and Ultra Mag.
Further checking into the 7mm Weatherby Magnum revealed that the Mark V Rifle has a 10-inch twist, which will limit the use of some of the highest ballistic-coefficient bullets. Most factory rifles chambered for the 7mm Remington Magnum have a 9.25-inch or 9.5-inch twist, which improves things just a little if heavy boattail bullets are desired. At that point, I stepped into the vault and brought out three of my 7mm Weatherby Magnum rifles: a Mark V Accumark with 10-inch twist that shoots 160-grain Accubonds into 0.6" regularly, a Cooper 52 Excalibur with 9-inch twist that loves the 175-grain Swift A-Frame, and a Cooper 52 Montana Varminter with 8-inch twist that has yet to be fired.
No final decision was made, nor could one ever be made in determining the Best Big-Game Cartridge. This discussion merely demonstrates the process that a group of retired or vacationing friends took on a hot, humid day in June. However, ending up with the 7mm Remington Magnum and 7mm Weatherby Magnum, and leaning toward the Weatherby, certainly showed me that I hang around with a bunch of intelligent friends. I take back some of the things I said about them.
JDC