THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS
Because I’m both a handloader and an aficionado of metallic cartridges, the choice between buying a rifle or pistol chambered for one of the proven—and readily available—cartridges and one of the more obscure, yet “cool,” cartridges has been a struggle.
Yes, ammunition for the .30-06 Springfield, .270 Winchester and 7mm Remington Magnum are available at pretty much any store that sells ammunition, and they’re also very effective hunting cartridges, but it’s great fun to carry an equally effective, yet more obscure, cartridge you’re personally passionate about.
If you’re on any form of social media where cartridges are discussed or perhaps one of the hunting forums, you’ve surely seen the fervor (and sometimes, venom) with which certain cartridges are attacked and/or defended. Shooters will insist that 100 fps or 100 ft-lb of energy will make the difference between anemic terminal performance and blinding devastation.
We hunters feel the need to quantify all things (John Taylor’s Knockout System is a great example of a demonstrative, yet admittedly flawed, means of
