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Tim Covington
14 years ago

What is your opinion of using a Handi-Rifle in 357 magnum to hunt deer here in Texas?

stephen
stephen
14 years ago

Great episode Jack. A Tikka T3 in 6.5 swede is high up on my wish list. I love my 30/06 but at 6.5lbs it’s not fun to shoot.

Also, Chuck Hawks has a great article on the 6.5×55mm Swede and sectional density. (hope it’s ok to post the link)

http://www.chuckhawks.com/want_better_sd.htm

Another problem with “popular calibers” is that in a SHTF situation the military would probably need to acquire even larger quantities of ammunition and likely buy up a lot of what would have gone to the civilian market, making it even harder to acquire.

ElyasWolff
ElyasWolff
14 years ago

I love my Marlin 1895 in 45-70. It is a hoot to shoot and fun to reload for.
You can load those rounds hot enough to bruse your shoulder, or light enough to plink all day.
Black powder, smokeless, light or heavy bullets. With the right handloads you can drop a white tail or defend yourself from a angry Grizzly.
Still hoping that one day I can get an elk with that rifle…

I called in to you during the height of the “Great Ammo shortage of 2009” about my observation of the absence of “common” calibers. That experience led me to buy my Savage .17HMR, since I could find ammo everywhere.
So you could say the Obamammo shortage led me to a rifle that will shoot 1/2inch groups at 50 yards!

As always thanks Jack!

frank
frank
14 years ago

I’m surprised you mentioned some wildcat rounds I’ve never even heard of but did not mention 8mm mauser or .300 savage. It was an interesting topic, regardless, Jack.

Bob
Bob
14 years ago

Jack, we don’t have 350 pound white tails here in Maine. Anything over 200 is considered big. Now, moose are another story…

Gunslinger
Gunslinger
14 years ago

Outstanding show Jack. I truly appreciated the discussion of rifles and different calibers. I actually observed the same exact situation of availability of these odd ball cartridges when the ammo was thin at the stores. I had to listen to the show 3 times, it was that good!

Dan Hunter
Dan Hunter
14 years ago

Now that i have a 357 handgun it really makes me want to get Handy-Rifle.Or a lever action.

Scudder
Scudder
14 years ago

Rifles chambered for pistol rounds have become popular in recent years. After a fair bit of research it seemed to me that the .357 Keith cartridge was well suited in a lever action, and could also shoot .38 caliber too. Have you ever stopped to wonder why a .38 isn’t really thirty eight thousandths?

What does .45-70 signify? The first number is the nominal diameter of the bullet (though see above); the second number
is how many grains of the old, smoky black powder were used behind the bullet. The advent of modern smokeless propellents allowed for completely new cartridges, but many (like .38) continued on.

Using .38 “cowboy” loads recoil is nothing and fine for plinking and having fun. I have a Henry lever action, it is a wonderful rifle, but technically speaking an Uberti might have been a better choice, it is identical in function to the original.

.38 and .357 also have the advantage of being simplest to reload, being straight wall cases. Don’t reload yet but have that in the back of mind, saved the brass. We set back quite a bit of ammo before buying the rifle.