Rifle Caliber Families

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MattyT

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Forgive me if this has been covered before.. I am interested in consolidating my rifle bullets for reloading and would like to know which caliber "family" would cover the most ground and be the most versatile. (For example, 308, 30-06, 300 WM can use some of the same bullets).

Has anyone thought of this before, and if so, what are your opinions?
 
6.5 covers everything in North America shot of big bears, and excellent varmint and target bullets are available.
 
If you go with a .50, you only need 1. My Barrett .50 BMG is good for anything in the world :D Some might think it's a bit overkill for very small game.
 
That was the big push for reloading years ago. "Shoot varmit loads in your 30-06!" "Use one rifle for all your hunting needs!" It rarely works out. Most rifles have a twist rate for a certain bullet configuration and when you start to change length and weight of the bullet, accuracy starts to suffer. I have had rifles that were actually brand specific for accuracy.
 
Heh. A double-ought buck ahead of five grains of pistol powder makes an '06 into a good squirrel gun. An 80-grain pistol bullet makes for a wonderful load for jackrabbits. :D Lead gas-check for plinking. 110-grain for coyotes, 150-grain for deer and 180 for elk. A 1:10 twist works quite well for all. Has for me, anyway.
 
I thought about something similar several years ago. It doesn't work real well as far as I'm concerned. What I found that works to simplify your bench is to find one bullet that your rifles like and stick with it.

I have a .30 Carbine, .300 BLK, .30-30, .300 Savage, .30-40 Krag, .30-06, and .300 H&H and none of them use the same exact bullet. I found what each rifle likes and shoot that bullet in that rifle. I just buy a few hundred of what each rifle likes and it keeps me shooting for a long time.

I do the same thing for ever caliber rifle I own, it's the best way I found to simplify my bench. I just haven't found a way for one caliber to do everything I want, I shoot a lot of prairie dogs and hunt big game up to the size of elk. .308 caliber bullets suitable for shooting large volumes of varmints are expensive and recoil takes a toll on you after a while even in the .300 BLK. I don't like the idea either of getting down to one caliber, there is no fun in it.
 
I believe the OP is talking about families of shells like 30-06, 25-06 270, 280, 338-06 and 358.
Or 243, 260 7-08 308 338 fed 358 ---

Not bore diameter.

Am I correct Matty?
 
"Shoot varmiNt loads in your 30-06!" was the marketing spiel Remington used for their Accelerator brand of ammo. Stuff was horribly inaccurate.
"...can use some of the same bullets..." Matty seems to be talking about bullet diameter.
Don't think any "family" is more versatile than the .30's. Both the .30-06 and .308, for example, tend to shoot 165 grain bullets, regardless of construction, really consistently well. You can use any 165 hunting bullet in either cartridge and be set for any game in North America. Ditto for a .300 Win Mag, except there's no game in North America that requires a magnum, of any kind, to kill.
 
I like the '06 for the reasons Art listed.

Some of the old Army Marksmanship manuals have gallery loads that work well.

200 gr. cast bullet loads equal the factory or military loads of the old 30-40 Krag round that was used as a back up round for hunting large bears and other dangerous game about the turn of the 20th century,

And accurate if you take care in your casting.

When I was heavy into High Power, shooting for the guard, I used cast 30 cal bullets for indoor winter practice shooting NRA 50 ft. Small bore targets.

Easy to duplicate 30-30 loads using cast bullet in he '06.

Too many guns around to control them. Any control will be in the form of ammo. With lead always being available, primers and powder needs to be stockpiled to keep shooting.

Nothing in NA cant be had using 200 gr 30 cal cast bullets pushed to about 2000 fps.

Any one can get fancy jacketed target bullets to shoot. Its an art getting super accurate cast bullets.

In the old days, many militias, later converted to the National Guard, didn't have access to rifle ranges and did much of their target practice using gallery loads in in-door armory ranges.

As things change, the stay the same. In the 70-80s Guard units used sub-cal. devices in M16A1s for indoor practice. I have a belt buckle somewhere from winning the NGMTU CNGB matches for my state shooting the Sub Cal device.

Long ago, I read a story about NG units using cards on toy trains to teach shooting moving targets with gallery loads in the Springfields.
 
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.308 caliber is going to offer you the most in bullet selection and in versatility, with 7mm trailing shortly behind. It won't be able to do everything, but for most kinds of hunting, and for target shooting, it has you more than covered.
 
I believe the OP is talking about families of shells like 30-06, 25-06 270, 280, 338-06 and 358.
Or 243, 260 7-08 308 338 fed 358 ---

Not bore diameter.
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If you read his post again I think you will see that caliber (bore diameter) is exactly what he means.:D
I am interested in consolidating my rifle bullets for reloading and would like to know which caliber "family" would cover the most ground and be the most versatile. (For example, 308, 30-06, 300 WM can use some of the same bullets).
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Given that, 30 caliber (.308 diameter) would be the most universal choice.
 
If I want to cast bullets, I will buy a muzzle loader. If I want to go back to being a Hillbilly I will just make my own bows and not worry about lead either.
 
Hey Art, what do you use to plug up the cartridge in the squirrel loads,...wax??? I've always used my 30-06 as a multitasking rifle as you described, but never for squirrels.
 
If I want to cast bullets, I will buy a muzzle loader. If I want to go back to being a Hillbilly I will just make my own bows and not worry about lead either.
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What exactly does any of that have to do with picking the most universal caliber family for someone with enough intelligence to hand load his own ammunition, experiment with, and work up the best possible ammunition for their particular rifle?
 
Cheapshooter, universal says it all. There is no "Universal" rifle. You would be better off with a shotgun. Unless you have a handful of quick detach scopes, it is REALLY a waste of time. I am left over from the open sight days, and it was aggravating having to reset the sights just changing brands of ammunition. You really think you can go from 180 grain '06 to squirrel load and use the same sight setting? I have a lot of take-down guns. The only one with a scope is a dedicated 30-30. Some I have two barrels for. Each barrel has it's own sights. Are you getting my drift?
 
Reading the OPs post, I really don't understand how this would make anything easier.

He is asking for a common bullet for different chamberings, which means different rifles. Even if you simplify on a caliber "family", you still need dies for each cartridge in that family, and from the sounds of things, a box of bullets for each rifle. What difference does it make to have a box of .243 bullets instead of .308 bullets.

I really don't understand how using a common bore diameter would simplify anything.
 
.308 (aka 7.62 mm) IS the 30 cal bore family (OK, with maybe slight variations, but you get the point). When viewed from the perspective of simply the widest range of rifles and loads--nothing else is as versatile IMO.
 
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