“.300 winchester magnum”

The myriad selection of rifle cartridges today has a metric ton of overlap, duplication, and some downright silly designs. Some of these designs boast wonderful claims, but not all of them measure up. In order to be overrated, you have to be rated at all, so let’s leave some of the more obscure designs off the menu.

Even with a super-accurate Beanfield Rifle from the legendary Kenny Jarrett, you have to do your homework to hunt at long range.

Here are five cool wildcats that ammunition aficionado Philip Massaro has come across in his years as a gun writer.

In this age of ballistic superiority, where our projectiles more closely resemble the Apollo-era spacecraft, where the bullet continues to evolve in both shape and method of construction, the round nose projectile is often overlooked as if it were a relic of a bygone era. Don't let that fool you, though. The good, old-fashioned round nose bullet, which seems to have been passed over in the history of bullet evolution, is still a viable choice for many hunters.

In this, its 150th year in business, the history of Winchester firearms is well known. After all, “The gun that won the west” was a Winchester, the Model 1873. The Winchester Model 70 is known as the “Rifleman’s Rifle” and the Model 1894 is perhaps the most successful sporting rifle in history. The company also shook up the scattergun market with classic shotguns like the Model 1897, Model 21 and Model 12. The raw truth, however, is that none of these guns could have made their mark in history without ammo to shoot out of them. It’s kind of the red-headed stepchild in terms of glory and glamor, but Winchester has been in the ammo business as long as they have been in the gun business.

The idea of a bullet lacking lead core is a relatively new one, yet it’s a sound design. Here are five of the finest monometal expanding bullets currently on the market.

Big game hunting is a fantastic proposition, from deer to elk to moose to hippo to elephant, but the true rarities—the mythological beasts—that require a serious time investment to find, and an even more serious financial investment are the ultimate hunting adventure.

The Browning name is a staple in the firearms community; it’s impossible to deny that John Moses Browning had an incredible effect on the development of many of our iconic designs. The Browning label—and its associated BuckMark logo—has long stood for dependability and reliability, and those traits have extended into the new line of Browning ammunition.

There is something unique and romantic about the concept of a single-shot rifle. Especially if that rifle is the venerable Ruger No. 1.