2 of the most underrated rifle cartridges

Its strange that someone would pick two of the most popular cartridges in the world and label them as under rated.
There are many others that would fit that discription better.
 
Its strange that someone would pick two of the most popular cartridges in the world and label them as under rated.
There are many others that would fit that discription better.
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They may not be over rated, but they certainly are not under rated. What ever happened to the 44-95 Peabody "What Cheer"?:)
 
If anything is underrated, it's 6.5x55 Swede. Americans have scoffed at this cartridge for decades. Hell, we still can't come to terms with it. We have to go off and have a "sister" cartridge to it...the .260Rem.
 
Underated ??

I suspect that you are a new shooter.

The .223 and .308 are the MOST popular because of their performance.An under rated cartridge will pop up on your post, that no one has ever heard of, or seen. It will probably be some whacko wildcat that someone took a deer with back in 1956.
 
The .308 isn't underrated, gunnies just get bored easily and keep trying to improve on perfection :D. I mean, how boring would this site be if .308 was the answer to all hunting-size caliber questions for the last ten years? So we invent new rounds "different" enough to have numerically different performance, trumpet their superiority, and convince folks to buy in. Only for the next, best, enhanced round to take over.

Personally, I believe the forgotten 7.5Swiss is an underrated round ;)

TCB
 
I vote for the 222 Remington Magnum as the most underrated cartridge. It has more horsepower than the 223, but nobody even mentions it anymore. As for what was said about the 223 and 308 being most popular, that has nothing (or very little) to do with the actual performance of those rounds, but more because they are acceptably sized, give acceptable performance, are small enough to allow for more ammo being carried and are therefore our most recent military cartridges. And that is the basis for why you and I are using them. If it wasn't for Uncle Sam deciding on those two, you might not have ever heard of them. Neither is 'best of the caliber'. They've just been tweaked till they have maximized their potential peformance.

Ya know...looking back, just maybe the 6mm Lee Navy was the better cartridge choice than either the 308 or the 223, except for that rimmed case. Get rid of the rim and get a new bullet design and blow out the shoulder and you have a pretty darn decent round. Likely better than the 223 for most uses, though maybe not as good as the 308 for those really long shots. Just thinking. :)
 
OK, the most under-rated gun is that old clunker you already own, the most over-rated is that fancy new gun you want to replace it with and can't live without.

(Visualize Ralphie Parker saving his family from burglars in his BB gun fantasy scene in "A Christmas Story")
 
also check BC and terminal ballistics of competing round.

There is a reason why 223 is not commonly used as a 1,000 yard cartridge, even with a long range setup.

Also, why other rounds are preferred over 308 at distance over 600-800 yards.
 
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OP said "under-rated" not "under-rated 100 yrds cartridge".
@603Country... the triple deuce is a couple hundred foot pounds behind .223. Are you thinking .222mag?... which is pretty much the same as .223.

The .223's terminal ballistics are spectacular IMO. Not saying it's good at 1000 yards, but out to 400 or 500 modern projectiles have made that round shine.
-SS-
 
sweetshooter, I had to go back up and check, but yes I did mention the 222 Rem Mag, which had been my intention. Uncle Sam killed two birds (222 and 222 Rem Mag) with one stone (223). That said, the 223 is a good round.
 
603Country, the 222 is still alive, but the 222 mag is dead. I reckon the 222 mag wasn't around long enough to be chambered in very many rifles like the 222 was. The 5mm remington rimfire is another example of this kind of fate. It was a great round, but only chambered in one rifle, and that's why it died. If I had a choice between the 5mm rimfire, and the 17hmr I would choose the 5mm if it were still alive.
 
Rev Geo

I believe you have nailed it, both of those are two of the nicest cartridges, for a large variety of game, and neither gets the credit it deserves. The 8x57 Mauser is my Pet Cartridge and I love it.
 
coyota1, the 222 Mag might as well be dead, but I do believe that Cooper and Wichita and at least one other rifle maker will make a 222 Rem Mag for you if you wanted one. In that regard, the cartridge isn't any more dead than the 220 Swift was in the early 70's, when Ruger started putting it in the 77V. Still, with the 223 all over the place, there's no need for the 222 Mag any more, so I expect that it will soon be officially no longer chambered. The 223 has 95.5% of the case capacity of the 222 Mag, so it's virtually identical.
 
Yes, 603Country, custom rifles can be made in just about any caliber you want. However, the 222 mag is listed as obsolete. They are no longer manufactured, although brass is available for loaders. Yeah, the swift almost bit the dust, but it somehow made a comeback, as did the hornet. Your are right about 222 mag being about identical to 223. The 223 isn't that much more than 222. With a faster twist, I could load the 222 (pushing pressure limits of course) to keep up with 223. I would not be surprised if the super short mags go by the way of the buzzard in another decade or so. Only so many ways to skin a cat.
 
coyota1, it's interesting that you mentioned barrel twist in your last post. I hadn't considered that, but with the 222 Mag I believe all the options you had in the past were slow twist. If you can't shoot the bigger bullets in the 222 Mag, that's all the push needed to kill it off. As I mentioned earlier, the 223 (and 308) have by now been tweaked to maximum performance, which is why they have grown so popular for many uses. The bullet I like so much in my 223, the 65 gr Sierra GK probably wouldn't work in a 222 mag.

Anyway, somebody mentioned the 300 Savage as the most underrated cartridge, and he's probably right. That one gets no respect, but should.
 
I would say that the .223 Rem. is probably grossly over rated ! The .308 Win. can hold it's own in any arena though .
 
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