nautical_bouy,
my bad on the .308/30-06 parent case. i form most of my .308 cases from 30-06 brass so i was not thinking about true lineage. sometimes i forget just because you can reform one case into another they are not necessarily related. in fact all of my .308's, .270's, 22-250's are head stamped 30-06. i like forming down cases so that i can turn the necks to the exact outside and inside dimensions i want.
my reason for using a 7mm is the combination of wide selection of bullet choices and being able to keep a high sectional density when using the lighter bullets. in 7mm a 140 grain bullet and a 160 grain bullet keep almost an identical sectional density. even the little 120 grain ballistic tip has a sectional density of .213 and a ballistic coefficient of .417. compare that to a .30 at the same weight with a s.d. of .166 and a b.c. of .300. so for specific tasks the 7mm fills quite a niche for me.
as i stated in my last post, what just one person observes in the field is not enough empirical evidence to warrant any kind of overall judgment on a particular caliber. while it may sway us personally it does not affect the overall effectiveness of that particular cartridge. the bottom line is proper bullet placement is critical no matter what the caliber and sometimes the will of the particular animal plays into the picture.
but if we want to quote ballistic charts then there is nothing the the .270 will do that the 30-06 won't do. couple that with the increased bullet selection available for .30 calibers then the numbers swing us to the venerable oughtsix as the king in this class of calibers. the funny thing is that knowing this, i only own one -06 and it very seldom gets used.
i realize the very argument i just used for the oughtsix/.308 over the .270 also applies when comparing the 300 win mag to the 7mm mag. it doesn't change my "warm fuzzy feeling" for the 7mm. just like my .30 caliber won't sway your love of the .270. this is the great thing about ballistics. folks like us can sit and split hairs about minuscule differences in performance for entire lifetimes. if it wasn't rifles we would be arguing about dodge vs. chevy vs. ford. which is better? the 360 mopar, the 351 ford or the 350 chevy? i am sure we all have our own personal opinions and assume our opinions are correct.
to address some of the other ideas in your post. i understand the drawbacks and advantages of free bore in weatherby's. a weatherby is a specific tool for a specific purpose. it is not a match rifle in my opinion. but if you want to get a .30 caliber bullet running close to 4,000 fps then it will do it. since e=mc2 then an increase of velocity is the easiest way to get more energy out of the equation. i have seen .257 weatherby loads that were still going over 4,000 fps at 100 yards. that is hard to do without free bore. throat erosion is not a factor to me. when the throats look bad on one of my rifles we unthread the barrel, cut a little length off the back and recut the chamber. if this trick is not feasible then we just put on a new barrel and start the process all over again. same as blowing up a motor in my hotrods. just gives me an excuse to try and do it better the next try...
now to get back on topic. i would suggest the .270 over the .243 myself. on that we are in complete agreement. i have never really liked the .243 except as a transitional caliber for medium sized kids who are not quite physically large enough for a real rifle. but then i would split a hair and suggest the 25-06 or the 30-06 over the .270. and so on and on it goes until were taking pot shots at possums with our turnbolt .50 bmg's. where are you at? someday we may need to get together and bust some caps.
michael
p.s. some day we are going to have to find a place to debate the nuances of bigger rifles. .338's, .350's and .375's really spark me up. it will be a stretch to tie this class of rifles into a chicken forum unless somebody has a grizzly bear eating their fowl.
my bad on the .308/30-06 parent case. i form most of my .308 cases from 30-06 brass so i was not thinking about true lineage. sometimes i forget just because you can reform one case into another they are not necessarily related. in fact all of my .308's, .270's, 22-250's are head stamped 30-06. i like forming down cases so that i can turn the necks to the exact outside and inside dimensions i want.
my reason for using a 7mm is the combination of wide selection of bullet choices and being able to keep a high sectional density when using the lighter bullets. in 7mm a 140 grain bullet and a 160 grain bullet keep almost an identical sectional density. even the little 120 grain ballistic tip has a sectional density of .213 and a ballistic coefficient of .417. compare that to a .30 at the same weight with a s.d. of .166 and a b.c. of .300. so for specific tasks the 7mm fills quite a niche for me.
as i stated in my last post, what just one person observes in the field is not enough empirical evidence to warrant any kind of overall judgment on a particular caliber. while it may sway us personally it does not affect the overall effectiveness of that particular cartridge. the bottom line is proper bullet placement is critical no matter what the caliber and sometimes the will of the particular animal plays into the picture.
but if we want to quote ballistic charts then there is nothing the the .270 will do that the 30-06 won't do. couple that with the increased bullet selection available for .30 calibers then the numbers swing us to the venerable oughtsix as the king in this class of calibers. the funny thing is that knowing this, i only own one -06 and it very seldom gets used.
i realize the very argument i just used for the oughtsix/.308 over the .270 also applies when comparing the 300 win mag to the 7mm mag. it doesn't change my "warm fuzzy feeling" for the 7mm. just like my .30 caliber won't sway your love of the .270. this is the great thing about ballistics. folks like us can sit and split hairs about minuscule differences in performance for entire lifetimes. if it wasn't rifles we would be arguing about dodge vs. chevy vs. ford. which is better? the 360 mopar, the 351 ford or the 350 chevy? i am sure we all have our own personal opinions and assume our opinions are correct.
to address some of the other ideas in your post. i understand the drawbacks and advantages of free bore in weatherby's. a weatherby is a specific tool for a specific purpose. it is not a match rifle in my opinion. but if you want to get a .30 caliber bullet running close to 4,000 fps then it will do it. since e=mc2 then an increase of velocity is the easiest way to get more energy out of the equation. i have seen .257 weatherby loads that were still going over 4,000 fps at 100 yards. that is hard to do without free bore. throat erosion is not a factor to me. when the throats look bad on one of my rifles we unthread the barrel, cut a little length off the back and recut the chamber. if this trick is not feasible then we just put on a new barrel and start the process all over again. same as blowing up a motor in my hotrods. just gives me an excuse to try and do it better the next try...
now to get back on topic. i would suggest the .270 over the .243 myself. on that we are in complete agreement. i have never really liked the .243 except as a transitional caliber for medium sized kids who are not quite physically large enough for a real rifle. but then i would split a hair and suggest the 25-06 or the 30-06 over the .270. and so on and on it goes until were taking pot shots at possums with our turnbolt .50 bmg's. where are you at? someday we may need to get together and bust some caps.
michael
p.s. some day we are going to have to find a place to debate the nuances of bigger rifles. .338's, .350's and .375's really spark me up. it will be a stretch to tie this class of rifles into a chicken forum unless somebody has a grizzly bear eating their fowl.
