Comparing Rifle Calibers

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Just for curiosity's sake, what criteria do you all usually look at when you're comparing many different rifle calibers to choose from when it comes to buying a rifle?

There's velocity, energy, bullet diameter, cost of brass and other components, the trajectory, anything else?
 
If you don't reload then it is the cost of ammo, and don't let anyone tell you any different, the novelty of that sexy new caliber will wear off really fast. And it will end up at the back of the safe and stay there, because you are to proud or stubborn to admit you got caught up in the hype.

A good solution that I came up with is, you buy gift cards from lets say Cabella's or Basspro and they will give you 20% off, so $80.00 for a $100.00 card then they give you another 10% if you spend more than $150.00 with those cards. So with these heavy discounted incentives you buy lets say 6.5 Creedmoore at $20.00 to $25.00 a box. And then sell the spent brass which there is always a demand for 50 cents a piece, when it is all said and done it costs 40 cents a round, not to bad.

Dean
 
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If you don't reload then it is the cost of ammo, and don't let anyone tell you any different, the novelty of that sexy new caliber will wear off really fast. And it will end up at the back of the safe and stay there, because you are to proud or stubborn to admit you got caught up in the hype.

A good solution that I came up with is, you buy gift cards from lets say Cabella's or Basspro and they will give you 20% off, so $80.00 for a $100.00 card then they give you another 10% if you spend more than $150.00 with those cards. So with these heavy discounted incentives he buys 6.5 Creedmoore at $20.00 to $25.00 a box. And then sells the spent brass which there is always a demand for 50 cents a piece, when it is all said and done costs him 40 cents a round, not to bad.

Dean

Let's assume reloading, not buying whole cartridges off the shelf. Or buying loaded ammo just to harvest the once-fired brass.
 
The next one that comes to mind is Recoil, don't kid yourself anything with the word magnum sounds very manly, but recoil is like drinking you can keep going but you will pay for it the next morning.

Dean

PS: I just mentioned that 6.5 Creedmoor, because it is an inherently accurate round and fills a lot applications, But also applies to a few other calibers.
 
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availability at Walmart,

Might I add to this, availability during a SHTF scenario. 6 months after the lights go out, the only ammo you're gonna get your hands on is NATO calibers. Fortunately this goes hand in hand with local store availability.

Of coarse if it were to REALLY hit the fan, probably 7.62x39 and 5.45x39 as well.
 
Might I add to this, availability during a SHTF scenario. 6 months after the lights go out, the only ammo you're gonna get your hands on is NATO calibers. Fortunately this goes hand in hand with local store availability.

Of coarse if it were to REALLY hit the fan, probably 7.62x39 and 5.45x39 as well.

That reminds me, I should get some of those Commie rifles in case SHTF. I got NATO covered.
 
to me, .223 and 7.62x39 are the 9mm and 45acp equivalents of rifle, respectively. anything other than these cartridges needs to have a good explanation, otherwise not worth it.

i appreciate .223 for the velocity and range. it is a very capable cartridge at distance. easily to 300+ yards.

7.62x39 has a special place in my heart. it is so pleasant to shoot and yet puts a good thump on a steel target. i freaking love this cartridge.

Might I add to this, availability during a SHTF scenario. 6 months after the lights go out, the only ammo you're gonna get your hands on is NATO calibers. Fortunately this goes hand in hand with local store availability.

Of coarse if it were to REALLY hit the fan, probably 7.62x39 and 5.45x39 as well.

not so sure about this. during sandy hook the most easily accessible handgun ammo was .40 because demand is low. while I have no firsthand experience in any SHTF scenarios, I would hypothesize that in such a situation the most available ammo is the ammo one has already stashed away.
 
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If you don't reload then it is the cost of ammo, and don't let anyone tell you any different, the novelty of that sexy new caliber will wear off really fast. And it will end up at the back of the safe and stay there, because you are to proud or stubborn to admit you got caught up in the hype.

A good solution that I came up with is, you buy gift cards from lets say Cabella's or Basspro and they will give you 20% off, so $80.00 for a $100.00 card then they give you another 10% if you spend more than $150.00 with those cards. So with these heavy discounted incentives you buy lets say 6.5 Creedmoore at $20.00 to $25.00 a box. And then sell the spent brass which there is always a demand for 50 cents a piece, when it is all said and done it costs 40 cents a round, not to bad.

Dean

+1 I bought most of my .223/5.56 and .22LR this way. Cabela's has pretty good prices on those two types of ammo.
 
Ammo commonality among my family members and my buddies. Get to the point where everyone uses the same magazine and you are winning the SHTFantasy.
 
Not nearly as common but there is also a 375 and a 400 Whelen, the 400 just did not have enough shoulder to make it a viable cartridge.

Dean
 
Rifle for what? Home defense? Target shooting? Competition? What sport? Hunting? Small game big game or varmints? What type of big game ? Your first and only rifle or first of a dozen?

That said for hunting Jack O'Conner wrote if a man had a 30-06 and a .22 rifle and a 12 gauge shotgun you could pretty much go any where in the world and hunt anything (excluding largest African game) and not be handicapped
 
Depending on the application:

Bullet options (Ballistic coefficients, terminal performance, etc), Max supersonic range, barrel life, component cost & availability, trajectory & wind drift (goes back to ballistic coefficient of available projectiles).

Barrel life isn't a factor for many people, but IMO the barrel is a consumable and the cost should be factored into the cost of each round fired.

It's a lot cheaper to reload for .243 than .308, but a .243 is going to get 1500 rounds out of a barrel and a 308 will get closer to 5K. When you factor that in, the cost to shoot each is about the same.

Personally i really like the 6.5's for a precision bolt gun.
 
What you want to shoot, and if you already have a caliber that will do that, why stock more different calibers?

If you don't already stock a caliber that will kill what you want at X distance, then by all means, find the best caliber for that.
 
As a reloader were I to pick another rifle caliber it would be something I could make out of 30-06. In a sloppily? chambered Ruger I fashioned 22-250 out of 30-06 with no problems. The cases would neck split after 2 or 3 reloads but if annealed?
 
Just for curiosity's sake, what criteria do you all usually look at when you're comparing many different rifle calibers to choose from when it comes to buying a rifle?

There's velocity, energy, bullet diameter, cost of brass and other components, the trajectory, anything else?

You forgot budget....
Unrestricted budget
Target shooting... one of those crazy space or TUBB guns that cost 7k plus in on of those crazy 6something cartridges. 6BR, creedmore or what ever
Hunting well a 308 or 30 06 will do
Small bore
Anschutz target rifle in 22 not the crazy Olympic style one just a nice wood stocked one. Could be used in the field also.
I have 9,pistol cal and and 10 rifle cal. I only really stock up on
22 , x39 and 223
Right now my most versatile cal for covering a large area of uses is my RRA national match rifle.
 
My definition of SHTF is that you are scavenging door to door looking for abandoned stashes of someone else.

This is fantasy for sure if you're in MA.

My answer:

How much can I buy and store.

Goals: (and I am well on the way)
enough .22LR to hunt small game until there isn't any left,
enough .223 soft point to hunt bigger stuff,
enough birdshot for upland bird hunting, in 12 and 20
enough buckshot for deer
enough 5.56 and 7.62x39 to repel anyone unwelcome who comes,
enough .50BMG to stop anything unwelcome driving too close.

add in at least 2 of everything to shoot it, optics, slings, and mags, Lots and lots and LOTS of mags.

The last group shooting has a higher probability of being the last group standing, and there won't be any re-supply.
 
I like my buddies SHTF definition...... when your looking for water ammo won't mean shit to you

I'm not so sure about that. I bet that having ammo and matching launcher would certainly make water acquisition easier than if you didn't have it.

Just sayin'...


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