Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

What is your favorite caliber and in ONE (1) sentence ONLY describe why?

Mine is 17 Mach II so far because of its cheapness, speed, accuracy, and takedown power in a round of its size.

260 Rem... light recoil, 1000 yrds, solid penetration with lighter loads, good barrel life.

.22 Long Rifle.
It is the king of plinking rounds and is a good round to shoot when introducing newbies to the shooting sport.
.357 magnum is also magical.

Parry

.308- Long distance is the next best thing to being there.

If you told me I could only have one caliber: 45ACP
Why? I could take you out at a 100 yards, use it in a pistol and carbine!

I have to assume that you mean your favorite rifle and your favorite handgun ?

My favorite handgun cal. is the .45 I know that at 100 yards I can put you down with it.
My favorite rifle cal. is the .270 it has speed and knock down power that is equal or better then most others out there.
Bill

SgtBill wrote:I have to assume that you mean your favorite rifle and your favorite handgun ?

My favorite handgun cal. is the .45 I know that at 100 yards I can put you down with it.
My favorite rifle cal. is the .270 it has speed and knock down power that is equal or better then most others out there.
Bill

270 is my second favorite caliber.

For handguns, .40 S&W. Why? For me, it offers a good balance between 'stopping power' and penetration.

For rifle, too many variables. What's the intended use?

Aroooo wrote:For handguns, .40 S&W. Why? For me, it offers a good balance between 'stopping power' and penetration.

For rifle, too many variables. What's the intended use?

Intended use? Personal Preference. I said a Mach II round. Ever seen one of those? One of the smallest calibers out there.

.22 Hornet in a TCR-83 - simply vicious! Plus by handloading down, all the ballistics of 22LR and under.

Hey John,
The TCR - 83 is that the single shot rifle. If so I have one the Mag. - 8 in .270 and a 22-250
Bill

Yep, set triggers and all. Mine is 25-20, 22Hornet, 223, 7mm-08, 30-06 and 12ga. Love that gun - way more accurate than I am...

The other Palliden

anything slightly faster than the other guy has...

Yep, mine has double set triggers also and it is just a lot better then I am.
Bill

My favorite caliber is the one that the particular firearm I'm shooting at any given time (regardless of what I'm shooting at its the one I chose for that particular purpose).

Okay, the other answer is .22lr is it is relatively cheap, (usally) easy to find and has put more food on our table than any other caliber since I began shooting 40+ years ago.

Cheers
Chris

Im interested in that 17 cal weapon. I was talking to a guy the other day and he was telling me how a 22 will drop in 100 yards. The 17 will go 500 yards and not drop as far as the 22 at 100. Any comments?
Any model recommendations? Id really like to get one of these little guys.

navvet wrote:I was talking to a guy the other day and he was telling me how a 22 will drop in 100 yards. The 17 will go 500 yards and not drop as far as the 22 at 100. Any comments?

There are fewer makers of 17M2 rifles these days than of 17HMR. You might want to check out RFC subforums for specifics and I suspect others will chime in here. I converted a 10/22 to 17Mach2 with a Rimire Tech Quantum barrel, bolt and charging handle. With Eley ammo I can keep 3-shot groups into tight 'cloverleafs' (or smaller) if I do my part and this is with a stock (crappy) trigger!

The 17Mach2 & HMR are flat shooting within their practical limits and the M2's spread of POI from 0 to 100 yards is around 2" compared to the 4" of the 22lr when both are sighted in at 100yards. That spread at 150 yards is around 5" for the M2 to the 22lr's 13" high/low. Out to 100yards I simply don't worry much about hold-over/hold-under. As to 500yards... I wouldn't push the m2 much past 150 yards on a still day due to wind drift of a very light bullet! Both the 22lr & WMR have the edge on ft-lbs due to a higher bullet weight but with a flatter tragectory I tend to go for head shots with the smaller bullet.

One thing I like is the fact that when the little .17 bullet hits a solid object it tends to fragment into very small pieces dumping its energy quickly which minimizes (not elminates) a chance for a ricochet. This thing is lethal on crows and tree-rats! I've had far too many 22lr punch right through crows/squirrels/rabbits/prariedogs and a few woodchucks even using hollowpoints. I admit I'm a fan of both the .22 and .17 and they both have their places/purpose which is why I own a matched pair of .17m2 and 22lr

There are tons of charts out there such as http://www.shootingtimes.com/ammunition/17M2/

Semper Fi!
CW

For me it's the .308 168gr., for my Savage 10fcp, great long distance round. For my Beretta 92fpc its 9mm and for my Kinber classic its the .45. For my A2m4 it's .556 and for my Mossberg 590 its 3 1/2 mag. It just depends on what I like to shoot at the moment.

IMO a .17 cal bullet at 500 yards is useless unless you're just having fun with targets which I assume you are. Having said that the drop at 500 yards of a light bullet isnt as consequential as how far it drifts left or right due to wind currents.

navvet wrote:Im interested in that 17 cal weapon. I was talking to a guy the other day and he was telling me how a 22 will drop in 100 yards. The 17 will go 500 yards and not drop as far as the 22 at 100. Any comments?
Any model recommendations? Id really like to get one of these little guys.

Some one fed you a big pile of BS