#1: .30-06 Springfield
Unquestionably the reigning king, this cartridge was listed first by all except Federal, who had it as number two.

The .30-06 Springfield was adapted by the government as a military round in 1906. It featured a few design changes from its predecessor, the .30-03, along with a lighter bullet than the .30-03’s 220 grains. Success as a sporting round was almost a forgone conclusion because the .30-06 Springfield may well be the most versatile cartridge in existence for North American big game hunting. With 125 grain bullets it is suitable for varmint hunting. The 150 grain bullet shoots flat enough for antelope and western deer hunting. With 165 grain bullets it may well be the perfect deer cartridge. Moving up to 180 grain bullets, it becomes a viable elk and moose cartridge, particularly when using premium bullets. While the .30-06 is light for dangerous bears, it has taken more than a few over the years. Here, a 200 grain premium bullet is the way to go, although none of the majors currently load this weight, so handloads are necessary.

#2: .223 Remington.
The .223 Remington first appeared in 1957 as the 5.56 mm NATO. It was adopted by the military in February 1964 and by the sporting public as the .223 by Remington one month later.

This round probably sees a more diverse listing of uses than any other currently manufactured. It continues as a military round and is popular with civilian shooters of AR-15 and other quasi-military semi-auto rifles. It is highly favored for shooting prairie dogs, gophers and ground squirrels for its good accuracy, flat trajectory and mild recoil. It will kill tough coyotes well and is usually not too destructive of the fur, even on foxes and bobcats.

Finally, the “Service Rifle” category of the National Match course is usually fired with a .223 Remington in an AR-15 type rifle.

Popular factory loads feature bullet weights from 40 grains to 75 grains. The heavier bullets are best left to target shooting with specialized rifles, while the 55 grain bullets work well on tough predators like the coyote. The 50-53 grain bullets are good for most hunting, but a lot of shooters are building an attachment to the fast 40 grain loads, such as Winchester’s new Ballistic Silvertip.

#3: .270 Winchester.
When it was introduced by Winchester in 1925 the .270 was pretty hot stuff, it still is even today. The origins of this oddball bullet diameter are a bit murky and without high praise from Jack O’Connor, the .270 Winchester may have found itself as a listing in the obsolete cartridge section of most references. Instead it is one of the most successful “modern” cartridges ever designed.

The bullet most often associated with the .270 is the 130 grain. With this, it is a great long range cartridge for antelope, deer and even sheep. Many hunters, though, prefer the heavier 140 and 150 grain loads. While the .270 is pretty light for elk or moose, it does see use on these critters.

#4: .30-30 Winchester.
It’s old, antiquated, under powered, poorly designed and simply past its time, but guess what - the old “thirty-thirty” outsells most of the so called modern cartridges by a wide margin.

Everybody knows that the modern bottle-necked, high velocity cartridges have replaced the big straight-walled black powder cartridges of the last century as the choice for serious hunters. What most fail to realize is that when it was introduced in 1895, the .30-30 Winchester was the cartridge that led that revolution. It was the first sporting cartridge to use the new-fangled smokeless powder and little bullets at high (relatively speaking) speeds.

The .30-30 is a deer cartridge, pure and simple. It wasn’t made for varmints, it’s not big enough for elk or moose and using it on dangerous game can get you dead. But in that function it has probably made more venison than any other cartridge in history.

Current factory loads are 150 or 170 grains, although Federal lists a 125 grain load.

#5: .308 Winchester
The .308 was introduced by Winchester in 1952 while the military adopted it as the 7.62X51mm NATO in 1954.

Think of this as the .30-06’s little brother. It’s a half-inch shorter, but it works hard to keep up and factory velocities only run about 100 ft/s behind the ‘06, mostly because the .308 is loaded to slightly higher pressures.

Its biggest asset for the hunter is that the .308 will fit in short-action rifles, which are shorter and lighter. The .308 Winchester will do almost everything a .30-06 can do when using lighter bullets, but when the heavy pills are loaded the lesser case capacity makes the gap start to grow. It is a great deer cartridge and popular bullet weights run from 150 to 180 grains.

#6: .243 Winchester
In 1955 Winchester necked down the .308 to 6mm and created the .243 Winchester. It’s primary competition was the 6mm Remington and the .250 Savage, they both lost the race.

The .243 Winchester is often touted as a “dual use” cartridge that is a varmint gun that works for deer or vice versa. With good 100 grain bullets it is a pretty good deer cartridge if its limitations are understood and adhered to religiously. With lighter bullets it is an outstanding coyote gun with little or no compromise. For prairie dogs and the like it may have a little more recoil than the .22 centerfires, but it bucks the wind better so it becomes a shooter’s choice.

Bullet weights range from 55 grains to 105 grains.

#7: 7mm Remington Magnum.
By far the most popular of the belted magnums, the 7mm Remington Magnum was introduced in 1962. It offers a flat shooting, hard hitting cartridge with recoil levels that most shooters can endure. In the hunting field it is in the same class as the .30-06 and anything that can be said of that cartridge applies to the 7mm Remington Magnum. With 140 - 150 grain bullets it is great for deer, antelope, sheep, etc. For moose or elk, use 175 grain premium bullets. The big bears can be taken with this cartridge, but it’s not the best choice.

#8: .300 Winchester Magnum
Winchester introduced their medium bore belted magnum in 1963.

If I could have one rifle for hunting North America it would be a .300 Winchester. It may not be quite as popular as the 7mm Remington Magnum, primarily because it kicks quite a bit more, but for those who can handle the recoil it offers a lot more versatility. Bullets from 150 to 165 grain shoot flat for antelope, deer, sheep and goats, while the 180 grain bullets work great on tough trophy deer and black bears. The 200 grain loads are perfect for elk and moose and even the nasty bears of the North Country.

#9: .22-250
The .22-250 Remington is likely the most popular long-range varmint round in common use today. It is a well behaved, but high powered varmint cartridge that is inherently accurate, shoots very fast and very flat. It was created by necking the .250-3000 Savage down to .22 caliber. The parent cartridge was introduced in 1915 and it is thought that the .22-250 wildcat appeared shortly after that. Remington domesticated it in 1965 as a factory load.

The 50 to 53 grain bullet weight range is the most practical, however, the heavier 55 grain has a strong following, particularly with coyote hunters. But if it’s speed you crave, a 40 grain bullet can easily be pushed past the magic 4,000 ft/s mark from most rifles. Federal lists it right at 4,000 ft/s in their catalog. Hornady and Winchester have it at 4,150 ft/s.

#10: Take your pick!
This is the one that nobody could agree on and there was no overlap. Federal has the .30 Carbine as number eight. RCBS has the .25-06 in tenth place, Winchester places the .22 Hornet in the number five slot and Remington lists the .222 Remington in ninth place.