Jan 3, 2015 4 min read

For many who enjoy outdoor activities, winter time is a break between hunting and fishing, and it offers a chance for discussions and heated arguments around the wood burner.

Of course, wood burners are non-existent in today’s gun shops, so we must use our imagination. But the discussions are still present in most shops. This is the one advantage the small shops have over the much larger box stores.

In my case, most arguments end up being about the merits of cartridges or rifles.

There was a time when muzzleloaders ruled not only the battlefields but also in the realm of hunting. The men that went afield after a grizzly bear with one of those smoke poles had to be of immense courage.

Around the time of the Civil War, the self-contained cartridge started to appear. The Vulcan was a funny looking lever-action rifle or handgun that contained a propellant in the hollow base.

Then came along Benjamin Tyler Henry with the start of the traditional lever rifle the 1860 which utilized a rim fire .44 caliber cartridge. The Henry was a quantum jump in rifle design.

While I have read much about the early rifles and rounds, it is those designed after 1900 that I find most interesting. Many of these cartridges are still being used after more than 100 years of production.

Some of them really stand out and remained popular or reasonably popular over that century. The two most popular rounds are probably the .30-30 and the .30-06.

While the introduction of the .30-30 predates the 20th century, it comes close.

As for the 30-06, it would be difficult to name a more popular round than the old reliable 109-year-old cartridge. While the early shooters didn’t trust the high velocity of the .30-30 can you imagine what they thought of the speedier 06?

But it was 25 years after the change of centuries that a favorite of mine came into being. Charles Newton was a gun guru who designed the little .250-3000 produced by Savage. Have you ever wondered why many .25 caliber cartridges are loaded with an 87-grain bullet instead of 85 or 90?

It was at this weight the bullet (note not cartridge) could be loaded to the unheard of speed at that time of 3000-feet per second. On deer and antelope-sized game, this is one of the lightest kicking big game rounds. It’s a great cartridge that is adequate for deer, which is what most of us hunt out to 300 yards.

Big changes in cartridge development occurred in the ’30s and ’50s. There was not much in the way of rifle development in the ’40s because of the war.

The ’30s saw the introduction of rounds such as the Swift and the .257 Roberts. While the .300 magnum was around for some time, it didn’t become popular until it was used to win the Wimbleton match in 1935.

I bypassed the .270, which came into being in the mid-’20s and was little more than an improved .30-06. I’m going to hear about that statement.

It was during the ’50s that a large number of our most popular rounds came into being. The greatest small cartridge of all was introduced in 1950. Argue all you want but the .222 is far better than the imitations that came later.

While little more than a 250-yard cartridge, it is one of our most accurate rounds and more than a few groundhogs are shot at this or shorter distances. If I were a bit younger and wanted to compete in benchrest matches, this is the cartridge I would choose.

I know all about the P.P.C. rounds but I would still fill a .222 with the right load of RE7 or 4198 and give them a run for the money.

During this period, we find the birth of the .308 and its offspring, the popular .243, .358, .7-08 and, later, the .260.

It was the ’50s that also saw the growth of the magnums, the .264, .338 and the great .300 Winchester magnum.

Of the group it, is the .300 that draws the most attention, as well it should. This round is capable of dropping any animal found in North America, and does it well.

Ammo can be found anywhere and most .300 Winchester Magnums are super accurate.

There is one fault with all Magnum cartridges, which can be summed up best by quoting an old friend, Dick Mellon. “They are hard on the wood, the metal, the cartridge case and the shoulder.”

One of these days I will do an article on what would be my idea of the best of the bench rest rifles and cartridges. After all it is the time to discuss around a pot bellied stove the merits of our pet rifles.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.