“.454”

Despite its rarity today, we all owe the .450 Nitro Express a debt of gratitude for the simple fact that it established a ballistic formula upon which so many dangerous game hunters rely.

The .17 Hornet, son of the classic .22 Hornet, is a well-balanced design. Sharing the rimmed design of the parent case, it feeds nicely in a bolt-action repeating rifle, provides pinpoint accuracy and minimal recoil, and checks all the boxes for varmint hunting.

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.”

Read on for our Members' Best hunts of 2021.

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.

The .375 Ruger is simple, effective, affordable and shootable, and truly mirrors the velocities of the H&H case in a cartridge housed in a standard long action with a beltless, rimless design.

Undoubtedly one of our nation’s favorite cartridges, the .223 Remington is capable of hair-splitting accuracy in a properly built rifle, has enough velocity for a respectable trajectory, and with the heavier bullets with a higher BC, can resist wind deflection rather well.

Taurus has expanded its Raging Hunter line of pistols with a new chambering: .460 S&W.

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.