“gold medal”

There are a few times when a company gets a cartridge design right the first time around; Holland & Holland certainly got it right in 1925 with the .300 H&H Magnum.

If you want a cartridge that will handle deer and bear at woods distances in any state while providing the capability of being a rock-solid defensive cartridge, the .450 Bushmaster should have a place near the top of the list.

Over the century, Federal has risen to become one of the most dominant brands in the hunting ammo market. Here’s a look back at how it all happened.

While there are many great predator cartridges to choose from, these practical choices rise to the top.

Introduced in the mid-1940s, the 7mm Weatherby Magnum case has minimal taper, maximizing powder capacity, and the correlative muzzle velocities show Roy Weatherby’s penchant for speed. Anything the popular 7mm Rem. Mag. will do, the 7mm Weatherby will do just a bit faster.

Just about every case shape imaginable has been modified to hold both 7mm and .30-caliber bullets, but it was gunwriter Layne Simpson who saw a gap in the lineup: there was no 7mm cartridge based on a full-length .375 H&H case. In 1979, Simpson took the excellent 8mm Remington Magnum and necked it down to hold 7mm bullets, giving his wildcat the name “Shooting Times Westerner.”

Winchester and Browning have collaborated to produce the 6.8 Western—a new take on the concept of the .270 WSM, using heavier bullets and a faster twist rate than previous iterations of the Winchester cartridges have used. Essentially, the 6.8 Western picks up where the .270 WSM leaves off, and delivers a whole lot more.

While there may be a shine on some of the modern releases in the 6.5mm bore diameter, the 6.5x55 Swedish still makes a sound choice for the practical hunter due to its combination of terminal ballistics, flat trajectory and minimal recoil.

The modern trend in cartridge design is to shun the belted magnum case to avoid the stretching associated with it, and embrace the beltless, rimless designs. If you agree with that sentiment, the 28 Nosler will appeal to you.