I like things that are a little different...

That's why none of my hunting rifles have ever been chambered in .270, 30-06 or 7MM Rem Mag... Nothing against any of these, they are all fine cartridges, but EVERYBODY has one.....

My "general use" cartridge is the .280 Rem...It will serve nicely for any of the game that the above 3 chamberings work well for, and when I bought it 20 years ago, it was relatively obscure...

My " big game or anything in grizzly country" rifleis a 9.3 x 62...

It's popular in Africa and Europe but relatively unknown in the states...It kicks less than a .338 but comes fairlyclose to a .375 in performance and shoots essentially as flat as a 30-06 ( with 180 grain bullets) but with a much heavier bullet ....It's not so big to be considered "overkill" on deer, but it's powerful enough that's with the heavier bullets it's considered adequate for cape buffalo in Africa....

Neither of these rifles has ever had a factory load fired through them...Once again, nothing against factory loads, but I prefer to shoot and hunt with my own handloads...

WEll out of the three tht i have... I have my 12 gauge for pheasant quail and so n the reason why i have that is beacause there wasn't much of a selection at the time and it was onethat caught my eye...

My 30-30 was givin to me for my 10th birthday as a start out hunting rifle for close deer and really close on elk or to teach me to be patient to when i can shoot and when i can pass a shot.. and now its a rilfe that if i had to go in to thick timber i would take that bad boy in and hunt with it, or if i feel like i need a challange in a hunt one year i just use that rifle it s myfavortie rifle to own right now me n that 30-30 have been threw our ups and downs... from bad shots but still finding the game to 20 feet away from the kill shot...

And the 7mag was a gun that i have been researching on for the past year when i was gonna get one a lil over a year ago and i didn't.. Well the reason why i chose the seven mag at the time was because i was a 14 going on 15 5"4 and like 100 even pounds( i am now 5"9 and 120 pounds asofmonth ago.) so now i think i'm a perfect fit for that rifle.n i didn't want a 30-06 cause every body in my party that i hunt with has one n i wanted to be different from every one in my party but still have a gun that is pretty much capable of most north ammerican game, and ammo is avalible most every were i go. And pretty much my dad said that i have the maturty to get another riflethat canbe handle to my fit n i would grow up to love.. And i have heard a lot of good things about the 7mag to make memore convinced, aswell as ballistic performance and knock down power that as been brought to my attention..

These are my reason why i got my cartridge. I plan on getting a bigger selection when i am older i am only 16 n i have many hunts ahead of me that i would love to do n i hope to have the cartride to match to the game.

I can't agree with EKM. Its just not my nature. However its pretty hard to argue with his logic this time. I have bunched my calibers up a few times just trying to try everything. However I would have to have the .22 RF ,223, 12 Ga BPS and a 30-06 or 308 or 270. The 30-06 would offer themost versitility of my upper three. Most calibers I have tried just to see how they compared to others. For my hunting anymore, I would add the 45-70 to the top. If younger, the 375 H&H or my old favorite, the 416 Rem Mag. The latter is maybe a bit less versitile but a real thumper.

Looking back now at my little "arsenal" I also believe in "Cartridge Spacing" but I really didn't know I was doing it!
It makes sense.

I tend to also buy guns that are chambered in "different" cartridge as some of you mentioned you do. I'm not sure why though!

For example:
I simply LOVE my 444's. You don't know how many times I've been asked"why didn't you go with the 45-70?"
My only answer is, I personally prefer Winchester lever guns, and at the time 444 was the biggest they offered so that's what I bought and fell in love with it. I've since bought a 15" Encore barrel in 444 and I'll be darned if someone didn't ask me the same question! "why didn't you go with the 45-70?"

I'm now looking into buying a .264 Win mag barrel for my Encore, and I've been asked "why don't you geta 270 instead?"

Heck I don't know? My father-in-law has a 35 year old model 70 264 win mag and I love it! I've watched him shoot a 5X5 Bull in Colorado and lots of ground hogs and yotes with it, plus he said he's shot a couple of mulies with it.
I guess I just think it's agreat, and very effectivecaliber. No other reason for wanting one.

I just really wanted to see if anyone else picks out guns or cartridges based on weird reasons like this!

Keep em coming guys, I think this kinda thing is neat!

I started with they typical classics, mostly with the mentality that it worked for Dad and Pop, why not me? Stick with what I know.But after a whileI started the weird cravings of odd cartridges, the .260 when new, played with the .280, a handful of european based rounds, always looking for something different to try out, don't know why and I still do it so I guess I haven't found what I was looking for yet.

I'm partial to the 270 Weatherby. I've had 6 or 7 of them. They shoot REAL FLAT and are not fickle to load for. I'm waiting for another one in a Ruger #1, to sit next to my accumark. If it's a situation where I'm shooting 250 yards or under, then the 45 70 #1 is the ticket. I've had every concievable combination from the hornet to the 458 win mag, and found that this combination will handle any situation that has or can present itself. With the Weatherby, I can and do shoot farther than most people can see, with smoa accuracy. No critter has ever needed a follow up shot. Can't say the same for the 300. I even use it on gophers. Nothing wrong with the 27 bore. Proper bullets and shot placement is the key. You can be out there with a 458 monstermasher, but if you don't do your job properly it isn't going to help one bit. I have seen so many people at the range with their super magnums and they are terrified of them. If you are cringing before during and after the shot, you have too much cannon. What I have works, and I'll never change. Oh, I do have a few 22's as well that are fun to play with while my other stuff is cooling.

I guess my 1st gun (which was chosen for me at age 11) was equally weighted on all of the above. It was Remington 788 in .243 Win, & I harvested a 10 pt. buck with it the next year.

When I decided to go out for elk this Fall, I guess I weighted those factors equally once again when I chose a Remington 700 CDL in .30-06.

I would have said the recoil was given more bearing in my choice, since I pickedthe '06over the 7mm Mag (which I've used on Mulies) and the .300 Winnie Mag. Then again, I did choose it over the .308, because I thought a bit of extra reach would be wortha bit of extra recoil.

Naturally, choosing among those particular calibers is pretty much splitting hairs, but you have to make a choice that you can live with, & let the flamers say what they will.

I also hear what the others are saying about spacing calibers. I've got a pretty good case of lust for a Savage 14 American Classic in 7mm-08, but I've blown so much $$$ on guns, ammo, and associated trinkets this year, that I really ought to "stick to my guns" for a while. The well-reasoned side of me says I'd be foolish to get yet another gun, when the 140's it shoots will be so close to150's out of my '06. Plus, I'm not even planning any whitetail hunts.

But MAN, does that Savage look like it'd be one sweet shooting setup! It appears that I've been bitten by the gun bug!

.243 and .308 occasionally, the 243 because It can take deer down easy, shoots flat, less recoil, fast bullet, good for larger small game IE coyotes and 308 because it is almost perfect for deer in my sense.

Well this is a good question, I choose my rifles cause I like Ruger and Browning. I choose the caliburs for different reasons. Like I got my .220 swift cause it has ans still is the most compared to varmit round on the market. I chose the .243 for me and my 14 year old daughter to shoot together. I choose my .270 wsm to replace my .270 win just cause it was new had to try it.Now I love that round in my browning a-bolt.I choose my .300 win mag in my ruger m77 to shoot with my brother cause he has a bar in that cartridge.I got my RSRH .44 mag just to hunt with. I got my 45/70's just love that old friend I cant stop shooting it, Marlin lever, & Buffalo classic. I dont own a shot gun I just dont bird hunt. I also built my 6.5x284 to practice shooting long range ,I am trying to get into competitive shooting . Its alot harder then it looks. I have a rem 597 .22 mag ( stop laughing at me ) for just plinking. I sold 5 more that I wish I had back but oh well !!!!

when i bought my 3006 i based it on the following

good variety of bullets to choose from for reloading
good all round caliber for anything I would be hunting
knock down power and decent distance