Like ole' sayings that are spoken over and over again because there is truth in them.

Let's be honest, classic cartridges work even better than they once did.

It is very simple; how many guns are manufactured, sold and still being used in that caliber ?


New is just that, NEW ............................ only time will tell if they can stand the "test of time" !!!

If I'm hunting whitetail or smaller, I personally consider the 7mm08 to be the best all round whitetail cartridge ever designed! If I want 1 rifle for everything including elk the 30-06 is the obvious choice for ME personally. Since I'm not into the extreme long range or tactical game, if a 30-06 won't do the job I figure I have no business shooting at it in the 1st place! If I'm hunting strictly nothing bigger than whitetail, the 7mm08 is plenty and less recoil than the 30-06.

The 308 Win. has been my favorite "deer rifle" cartridge since early 1970's. I'd ssy it is what I carry to the deer woods 80% of the time. My first was a Win. Model 88, which was stolen in the fall of 1978. I have used a Styer Pro Hunter, Mountain in 308 Win. now for decades. It is what I carry to the deer woods 75% of the time. I use a 165 gr. Game King or 165 gr. Nosler Partition in the hand loads I make up. I have been able to find excellent grouping loads for each. Interestingly enough, of the 16 guys I hunt with in a "Hunting Club", only 2 of us use the 308 Win. ... me and my son-in-law.

.308 Win. is a great round and one I have used to years for deer. I did have a problem with it this year though. Gave it to my buddy to use for his hunt. He killed his 7 pt. nicely, but I was using Sierra Pro Hunter 150 gr. bullets. He didn't get a true-n-thru shot. The bullet hit a rib going in and shattered. It took out both lungs, but pieces went down into the ponch and made a mess. I will be looking for a new bullet for future hunts.

As an aside, I didn't over load this round. I used 47.5 grs of IMR4895 if I remember right. That is a mid range load in the Sierra reload book.

A .308 case with a small bullet installed!! It may be a little faster, but that would be splitting hairs when killing a deer.

It's not just a "smaller bullet" that makes it a better round raf. Significantly less recoil offers 2 things. Better option for younger hunters or those that are highly recoil sensitive, and less muzzle rise for faster target re-acquisition. It's flatter shooting and you can get better performance out of a shorter barreled rifle. Fantastic selection of bullets from the 7mm lineup makes for a VERY good cartridge for everything up to and including Elk. I just had a .338fed built to replace my longer range shot rifle in 7mm08 for the simple reason I wanted a bit more authority on impact at 400 yards on Hogs. The 7mm08 performed well but I wanted something with some more "thump" to put those long range hogs on the ground quicker on "vitals" shots. 338fed is yet another cartridge based on a .308 parent case. The case is wonderful but the .308 is mediocre when there can be SOOOOO much more done with that case.

The caliber wars will never end and that's one of the things that keep deer hunting interesting. Deer aren't that difficult to kill so no wonder all the different caliber flavors.
Anyone for a 300 Savage w/modern bullet and powder?

I re-read (for the 900th time) this statement today and for some reason it got me thinking about it... I really don't have an answer for this one, and I'm tempted to do some calling around to see if I can find out...

Are there REALLY more 30-06 or .308win rifles being produced today than other cartridges?

Even if you exclude the dominance of MSR's in the market right now, I don't think I expect that 308win has a dominating sales volume in the market among other cartridges today. I'm not sure that any given cartridge enjoys that station any more.

I'm gonna be sitting in airports tomorrow, monday, and wednesday next week, believe I'll make a few calls to certain manufacturers to see if they're willing to share their relative production numbers for "top selling" cartridges.

It's pretty easy to check in your own area what sells the best by looking at what is stocked the most at your local Walmart and other Big Box stores. I'd have to imagine the top 3 in your Rural Southern areas are still the .30-06, .30-30, and .270. Most all the hunters in my significantly huge family in the Southern states primary goto deer rifles are .30-30 and .30-06. They always tell me "if it aint broke, don't fix it and we been using those for 100 years now". Of course you have your wildcaters like me that was always tinkering with this cartridge or that one just for something to do. I was toying with the 7mm08 years before Remington decided to pick up the round and "claim" it for it's own.

My feelings are that the younger shooter/hunters of today like the idea of "newer" rounds simply because it's "new" technology so they automatically think since it's "new" then it's better. Then you have the brilliant young ones like Mercy that are always tinkering like I did as a lad (still do) because they, as engineers and such, are never satisfied with "good" or "proven over time" and always coming up with fantastic ideas for improvement.

Then of course you have the "magnum" crowds that think whitetail deer have grown kevlar hides and need 10 feet of penetration through solid concrete just to take a scrawny little ole whitetail. Or the folks that can't hunt worth a tinkers damn and have to have 700 yard rifles/cartridge capabilities because they don't have the skills in woodsmanship to get to a reasonable range.

I'll pay closer attention to confirm or disprove this, my wife and I tend to keep a close eye on what's on the rack at Cabela's and Gander near us, and - without exaggeration - I don't recall seeing rifle chambered in 30-06 on a shelf in a few years (before Gander Mountain in Wichita remodeled their store.

Most of the Walmarts in Wichita no longer carry guns, but the one on the West side that I know does stock guns hasn't had a 30-06 that I have seen since they built it (I don't go over there too often though).

That's kinda the curiosity that drove my question - I haven't seen 30-06 or 308win rifles on shelves in a long time, so even though I'd REALLY like to believe they're still popular, I really don't think that's true.

I won't touch the 30-30 notion with a 10ft pole while wearing a rubber glove - it's very clear where leverguns in general stand today. 25yrs from now, unless there's a levergun revival between now and then, the 30-30 might be obsolete!

I'll do some calling over lunch tomorrow and over the holiday week, I'll see what companies, or at least which gun counter guys will share their numbers. While I think I'll be disappointed to confirm the 30-06 and 308win don't hold top spot any more, I really can't decide if I have a good idea what cartridge might hold that title these days.