MIDDLEWEIGHT
The Middleweights are the all-around most useful class of cartridges for big game hunting. We regard them to start with the .270 Winchester and end with the larger .300 magnums. At the starting end we have a classic deer-sized game cartridge, and at the large end are truly capable elk cartridges. These general game size ranges translate to Africa and other locations worldwide. As bore size and cartridge case size increases, so does recoil. There is a huge difference between shooting a .270 Winchester and a .300 Weatherby Magnum out of a same-weight rifle. Two of the absolutely world’s best cartridges fall into this Middleweight category; the 280 Remington (and 280 AI along with it) and the 30-06 Springfield. The 270 Winchester doesn’t quite make the cut, simply because it doesn’t handle bullets we consider to be quite heavy enough for bull elk standing across the clearing at a rearmost angle.
When it comes to long-range target and tactical, we still favor the 30-caliber rounds from the .308 Winchester to the .300 Winchester Magnum (and others similar) over the 6.5mms. The effort to get 6.5s to come out on top has been ongoing since the 1960s, and they aren’t there yet.
7mm Remington Magnum
Here's a hugely popular cartridge that was and is chambered in rifles that most anyone can afford. Essentially, it's the 264 Winchester Magnum necked up twenty thousands of an inch to accommodate bullets of 0.284 inches in diameter. The cartridge was announced in1962 at the same time as Remington's new Model 700, which in long-action version replaced the Model 721. Rifling twist was set at 9-1/4 inches (some manufacturers now use 9-1/2 inches) so bullets of
7 MM Weatherby Magnum
There are all kinds of tales as to the mental framework of why shooters choose one cartridge over another. Back in the early 1960s, it was said that the 264 Winchester Magnum could barely compete with the beloved 270 Winchester, and that American hunters didn't like the metric designation. I don't know to this day whether most gun writers actually believe what they write, if they're writing to fulfill an editor's directive, or if they just don't know any better. The 264 is a big cartridge case launching a relatively
30-06 Springfield
Moderation. How many times do you have to be told? The 30-06 Springfield celebrated its 100th birthday in 2006, just by being there. In the hands of Carlos Hathcock, it was a Winchester Model 70 in 30-06 that made most of his 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam. The actual figure has been estimated at more than triple that number. This writer saw a woman, who was at the limit of her
300 Holland & Holland Magnum
This wonderful cartridge probably makes me smile more than any other. It debunks the claim that short and chubby cases with sharp shoulders and without belts are what we ought to be shooting. On the contrary, the 300 H&H is long, has a sloping shoulder of just 8 1/2 degrees, and has that wonderful belt. Without the huge case capacity of some later 30-caliber magnums, it falls somewhat short of their blistering performance. However, it has
308 Norma Magnum
Do you kind of remember how it was, or is the 308 Norma Magnum a new name? Well, it has been around for quite awhile. It was introduced in 1959, and started to show up in the United States within about a year. As the name says, it's a Norma creation, and that means Sweden. At least part of the original intent was to provide a magnum-performance-level cartridge that could be adapted to existing 30-caliber surplus military rifles, such as
300 Winchester Magnum
The 300 Winchester Magnum is one of the more useful and effective all-around cartridges in existence. In 1956, Winchester introduced the 458 Winchester Magnum with a case length of 2.500 inches. This was the first true commercial short magnum from a major manufacturer, as it would function in standard-length actions. Of course, there came even shorter magnums in later years, able to function in short actions because they were no longer than
300 Remington Ultra Magnum
The 300 Remington Ultra Magnum, 300 RUM in the shortened designation, is an excellent cartridge. It's a large case with no "belt" for headspace control, and has somewhat more capacity than the 300 Weatherby Magnum. Consequently, out of an appropriate 26-inch barrel, it has a marginal velocity advantage over
300 Weatherby Magnum
his cartridge has been around since the mid-1940s, and is probably the best of the large 30-caliber magnums. It has performed splendidly in long-range competition, and is reasonably efficient compared to some of the other big-capacity 30s. The beautifully long neck and
7mmx300 Weatherby Magnum
This cartridge is a “wildcat,” in that it is a handloader's-only proposition. It is simply the 300 Weatherby Magnum necked down to 7mm, as far as the cartridge itself goes; but it is so much more. That all started back in October of 1970, when Mary Louise DeVito of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, used her unlimited-class benchrest rifle in 7mmx300 to set a new World’s Record. And when that record was finally toppled about four years later, it was