stubblejumper

Well said Red .I personally feel that many people hate the magnums simply because they have never used them.Then there are those that are intimidated by the recoil of some magnums.Lastly there are those people that don't have the shootingskills to take advantage of any flat shooting cartridge be it a magnum or not.As to the part about the magnum shooters being lazy and lacking hunting skills,I hunt big gameonly with magnum rifles but I do hunt with and have been successful with a bow and arrow which requires much closer ranges and the skill to get within thosecloser ranges.

Vapodog

I've used a .300 H&H and a .300 Win Mag as well as a .338 Win Mag for years to hunt elk and African plains game. Then I witnessed a guy using a .30-06 on an Eland and it went down like it was hit with a lot more gun. Same thing with an Gemsbok and the rest is just a matter of asking.....what do I use the bigger guns for.....and the answer was not forthcoming. The real reason I like the .30-06 is that it's available in a lightweight M-70 featherweight rifle and I like the lighter guns. Further I can get 2,800'/sec in a 22" barrel and 180 grain bullets in the old '06 and that's serious power so now the magnums stay in the rack and the ole '06 goes hunting because it is clearly enough gun and it's lighter to carry.....

If one chooses to use more gun that's ok with me.....but I'll continue to make my point about the great old cartridge in the lightweight package.

If one chooses a heavier gun he might as well get a .300 Magnum and have the extra twenty yards of range in his hands.

biscuit jake

I don't carry anything under 44 caliber 'cause i don't want to get eaten. So no 30 06, all due respect to this grand and proven cartridge.

Charley

I have no problem with any large rifle cartridge but I refuse to call them magnums, that is simply a marketing word for suckers. I have seen a lot of hunters that can effectively use the added power of larger cartridges, butI have seen far more "once a year shooters" who can't hit the ground with one, and are afraid of their rifle to boot! Unless I KNOW the person, and their abilities,I won't recommend more cartridge than an average shooter can handle.

James B

I get into my share of these debates but it all from expirence. I have had many more than my share of Magnum rifles. Two 338's Five 7MM Rem Mags, Three 300 Win Mags and a 300 Weatherby Mag as well as a 416 Remington Mag. I have also hunted a lot with my Uncles 375 H&H although I have never owned one. He let me keep it for doing his reloading. If he needed it he would come and get it so I never needed to buy one. My bad shoulder which I am going to have to have changed this winter, won't stand to much recoil any more so I don't shoot the big guns much. I am probably done with trips to Africa, and the Artic circle so I probably won't need them again. However when the debate starts for me is just the opposite from Red A. I brissel a bit when people tell youngsters that they need a Magnum in order to hunt big game. This is crap. A decent shot with a 270, 280, 308 or 30-06 can take all game in NA without any problem. Many on this site have done it and know that this is true. My 45-70 will take anything on the planet out and thats why I still have them. I don't care what rifle people shoot and as a Guide for several years, I have seen game taken with rifles from 22 Hornet to 458 Mag. I have seen people who have wounded game show up with a bigger rifle every year. Their LUCK didn't change with the caliber. There are poor shots and poor hunters out there carring every caliber made. Show me a hunter who shoots well with whatever the are using and I will show you a successful hunter. I will However argue every time someone insists that it takes a Magnum or any big boomer to take NA game.I know better, I have done it and seen it done. My pet peeve is the FEW that think a Magnum makes 500 yard shots doable for anyone. If a guy can't hit a critter with a 280 at that range then he sure ain't gonna hit it with Mr whizbang either.

NVMIKE

magnums arent required, but they are better if the shooter does his part and can handle it. There are more slob hunters shooting 30-30, 30-06,308 and 270 than 300mags....by the same margin that those rifles outnumber the 300mags. More people useing them = more slob hunters. The shooters part is made easier w/ a magnum, they kill better w/ all other factors being equal. The problem w/ these boards is that everyone is a one shot-crack shot-drop em in their tracks - never lost an animal-never missed a shot-never placed a bad shot, hunter. (Yeah ...right.)When everyone is so perfect no one needs another caliber. If you dont beleive that the power over 1000lbs makes a difference, try useing a 243 on elk, a 223 on big northern deer, or 250 savage on griz. you may do fine, for a while...but sooner or later...[:@]trouble will come your way.

gorse

I have no use for magnums now, though I have owned one in the past (for Elk and Mule Deer). It makes no difference to me what any other shooters or hunters choose to use. It is certainly true that magnum rounds are unnecessary for most game. However, if that is what an individual wants and enjoys, so be it.

I wonder, could it be that the starter of this thread...who has complained so forcefully that others are, in essence, persecuting those who like magnums.... is a bit too sensitive on this issue ? If those people who express an opinion that is counter to his are such "pansies" (as he describes them)....then why would their opinions matter to him at all ? Obviously they do, or he would not be so upset. Could it be then, that he is not really convinced himself about the "need" for magnum rounds ? Or, could he just be intolerant....yet complaining about other's intolerance ?

James B

I guess I missed the printed facts about the nunber of slob hunters who use non Magnums. The Margin of error theory never flew with me and never will, You can gut or leg shoot a critter with any caliber and I would venture to say its done as much with Magnums as with 243's. I would never go after a Grizzley with my 250 Savage but have and would again with the 30-06 and 200 grain Partitions or the 45-70 with 475 grain loads.

Nobody with or without a Magnum rifles does the old perfect shot every time but a good hit with any rifle with enough power to get the vitals will do the job. 270 or 300 Win Mag. Makes no difference. I have hit enough critters with both calibers to know this for a fact.

johnch

How dead dose the game need to be ?
Inside 300 yds where 98% of game is shot is the same bullet going 2800 fps compaired to 3300 fps a muzzel going to kill the game any better if both hit the lungs ?

I have seen a 160 lb deer hit thru both shoulders with a 7 rem mag at 60 yds and the whole front 1/2 was blood shot

IMO too many guys feel the the exrta speed some how helps their shooting skill.

Lets face it way to many of the general shooting public don't shoot enough to use even the 270 or 30-06 in full.
Way to many of them see some show where a hunter shoots a deer at 400 yds with somesuper duper magnum rifle and it falls over ( great editing or luck) dead.
They then go out and buy that cal thinking thats they just bought a magic wand.
They then buy 2 boxs of ammo (some only 1 ) to sight it in and hunt with.
How is the " magnum" any better than a 30-06 in their hands ?
The extra BANG and recoil will start them flinching .
More deer will be gut shot and lost .
Then some do gooder will raise a stink about slob hunter and try to close down the seasons .

How many guys spend enough time on the range ( not the bench) to use the big boomers past what a 308 could give them ?
IMO 1 in 50 maybe

Not saying there is no need , just not the hype the mags give them to sell there adds.

Give me 20 hunters with 7-08 to 30-06 rifles against 20 with Magnums and I bet more meat is put on the table by the first group and if a deer is lost it's by the 2 group thru a miss in wind drift or hold over.

JOhnch

North Texan

My experience suggests. Of course, this is just deer country around here, so it probably doesn't hold true for all areas. But on average, the folks around here that typically shoot the best and kill the cleanest do it with smaller calibers. Several use .222's, and the range is on up to 25-06 and 270. These folks have guns they like to shoot, so they shoot them often. I know of some others that use bigger rifles. Like Charley said:

They are afraid of their rifles. They bought a rifle that has noticeable recoil, and they don't like to shoot it. I hadn't really given it much thought until a fewfolks were watching me shoot my .223 for target practice. I got a few of them shooting, and they had a flinch that was unreal. After about 20 or so rounds, they got to where they could shoot some pretty nice groups. One of them had his son there, and I never could talk him into shooting it. He was afraid it would kick like his dad's rifle. I asked them if they wanted to shoot their rifle some before hunting, and it was a universal "No."