Why so many calibers?

[milkman]

Sorta like tractors, in the late 40's and early '50's, there were three size tractors around here, B John Deere, H Farmall, and N model Fords, the really big farmer had an A JD and a G JD, but most around here couldn't afford to run that size monsters.

 

[Birdhunter1]

For a 3 rifle plan, .22lr, .243 Winchester, and a 7mm Remington mag. This combination and you could safely hunt any of the North American game.

For a 4 rifle plan I'd keep the same cartridges and add a .204 Ruger, simply for varmints and better barrel life than the .243.

 

[rtimgray]

I really appreciate all of the civil responses (in my opinion, that's every post so far). I certainly am not trying to stir a pot, but just wanted to see everybody's reasoning on the subject (which seems pretty much in-line).

1. Marketing and sales of something new
2. Personal preferences
3. Niche markets for big game, varmints, target shooting
4. Evolution of needs (the 10mm to 40 cal, etc.)

If I had to only have 3 rifles, it would be a .22, .223 and .308, simply because I can usually find ammo for the centerfire rounds cheaper either via military surplus or the cheaper steel cased russian stuff (I don't shoot enough to bother with reloading).

I'm just tickled to be living in an area where I don't have to be limited in the number and types of firearms that I own.

Now - we need to decide what is going to be the best round for zombies! Max Brooks says .30 carbine (and I love mine - probably my favorite, as I mentioned), but ammo is far more scarce than others. Funniest thing to me - our local Gander Mountain doesn't stock .30 carbine ammo - but my local hardware store does.

Thanks again everybody. Good reading. Take care.

 

[beenthere]

Choice is good, and apparently has paid off on marketing of guns.

Why so many? One person doesn't need more than 3, or 4, or maybe 10. But that is their choice.
So to rtimgray....you don't need to buy them all. Just stick to the ones that work good for you.

 

[JC-jetro]

I have .22 rifles and a pistol, 12 Gauge shotguns, a 30-30 (just for sentimental value, old west) and a working gun chambered in .270 caliber. I have 44 deer in the last 20 years with it and have shot less than 100 bullets with it all these years. .270 is the right medicine for many of the big games in U.S but probably 30-06 all around provides better choice with bullet sizes toward dangerous carnivores... I just let the carnivores be unless I'm their main entree .


JC,

 

[s78wingrider]

An important thing that I didn't know until I lucked into one, is a rifle that fit's you! When I got that one, it was like, almost instantly I became a good shot! Even though I head or neck shoot now, It probably helped when I got that gun, that it didn't seem to matter where you hit a deer, it would drop it right there!

 

[Sigarms]

In a word "sales"

BINGO!

That and gun magazines need something to write about

 

[RobertN]

Nice list. But, I would have a 22lr, a 308, and a 12 gauge.

22lr most small game
308, most anything besides Grizzly
12G, Most anything. Slugs for large animal. Small shot for rabbit ect. And, regular shot for duck, geese, pheasant

Maybe even, have one of those under/over's with 12g for upper barrel, 22lr for lower barrel...

For a 3 rifle plan, .22lr, .243 Winchester, and a 7mm Remington mag. This combination and you could safely hunt any of the North American game.

 

[RobertN]

Partly. But some of the plethora of catridges comes down to improved metallurgy, powders ect.

Look at the 308 Winchester/7.62NATO. It is basically an improved 30-06. It made use of better powders, metals, and new design techniques for the case neck and shoulder.

Actually, the 300 Savage was an improved 30-06. Shorter catridge, better burning powders, better case shape and neck/shoulder design to take advantage of the newer at the time powders. In the 1920's, it pushed a 150gr bullet pretty close to the same as 30-06.

The 308 Winchester was an improvement on the Savage. A little length on the catridge, improved neck, and again 30 years newer on powder improvements. Now, it was really equal to 30-06 in the up to 150gr bullet weight range.

A lot of catridges evolved that way. All three still see use, even though ther are even newer improvements out there.

30-06 is still a totally useful cartridge. 300 Savage has faded a bit, but is an exceptional cartridge; it did two thing. It made a smaller sized cartridge on par with 30-06. It also, gave an incredible boost in lever action performance compared to that other 30 cal lever gun, the 30-30. 308 just upped the ante more.

Imagine the impact in the 1920's. The Savage 99 lever action was a strong action. And, they had a 30 cal catridge that was faster than the 30-30, and could use newer spire point bullets for better performance.

Here again though, you have the 30-30 that is still around today, even though it is a relatively low power catridge with flat nose bullets that have the ballist coefficient of a brick.

So there are three cartridges(30-06, 300 Savage, and 30-30) that have been updated or sigificantly improved upon. And, all of them still enjoy popularity.

In a word "sales". When velocity and accuracy are nearly identical, a new name on it will sell. The 100+ yr old 30-06 would kill things dead. The new super dooper .30 cals kills deader than dead. Barrel and action technology has improved making some of the new calibers more accurrate.

 

[patrick_g]

Great responses, especially how a 30-06 will kill anything in NA. Just maybe not fast enough for your safety and comfort.

There is a little cross purpose confusion here too. Why are there so many calibers? Well some of the them are not really intended for hunting, might work good enough but were never intended for hunting. Take for example the 6.5mm Creedmoor based on a 308 case. It is regularly used in shooting targets out to a thousand meters. Stationary targets posing no threat to the shooter. Mine weighs a ton and is virtually too heavy for off hand shooting and too heavy to lug around the woods.

My M-1 semi-auto gas operated carbine was designed for shooting people and will of course kill deer etc but I don't think many people use it for hunting. Mine pokes holes in paper and the occasional unruly tin can.

I don't hunt much any more for food but a .22, .410, and 12 ga are what I choose. All my other calibers, rifle and pistol, are used to kill paper mostly, and the occasional varmint.

Patrick