Thread: Calibre Choice in the 1970's

Originally Posted by Bagheera

Ah ... The Mohawk 600.
Any calibre you like as long as it was 222, 243 or 308.
I could never get the money together to trade up from the 303.
Some friends had 3006. One was an American P17 and another a Midland. Considered a real cannon in thosxe days.

Got one in .222, it’s done a few k’s


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@GWH Make sure you ask the old man for any stories from back in those days as well ,always great to hear & send him best regards from us bunch of rough nuts

When l was Pro rabbit & fox shooting while shearing in Oz back in the 80's ,once you got to numbers the bosses o the Chillers were happy with for a few months ,you got a custom Brno 22 Mod 2 that a gunsmith in Sydney did for them a Heimo Pretz or something a european guy with big mustache ?? Fuck he had some stories from the shop being right in the middle of the city & he would point out bullet holes in the ceiling from over the years where the old Yeh mate of course it is unloaded BOOM & cops coming in looking to hock guns taken off crims . Another rifle regret selling he never let them out of the shop till they shot 3/4 MOA at 75 yards .

I remember my dad on the farm convincing mum she should take a shot with his jungle carbine 303. Carbine a brutal little bugger with no real recoil pad and a real kick. She gets down into prone position, he tells her to keep firm grip, then pull the trigger. She does. They have different ideas on what's a firm grip. BOOM ... and the rifle leaps right up out her hands, smacks her hard on the cheekbone and falls back down. Mum silent for a moment, gets up, doesn't look at him, and without a word spoken walks back to the farmhouse. Dad's lookin up at the hills, across at the trees, anywhere he can really.... Then gathers up rifle, gear, "that'll be it for today kids" and walks quietly back home. Never heard a word spoken but I think he was on the couch for some time. And the subject of further shooting practice never saw the light of day.

Many of the cartridges that were popular in the 70’s have stood the test of time and are as popular as ever 50 years later. 243, 270, and 308 are still hugely popular, and the 30/06 to some extent as well. The 7mm REM Mag is still going strong too. The 7x57 has fallen by the wayside but through no fault of its own, it’s just that the 7mm08 offered the same ballistics in a short action. Same deal for the 6mm REM vs the 243. The 222 is hanging in there but is semi-obsolete due to the 223. The 303 is obsolete but not really; there are still truckloads of SMLEs out there so it’s probably more popular than what you think

When you think about it, much of the true innovation in ballistics over the last 50 years has been in high BC projectiles and twist rates; and to a lesser extent shorter and fatter cartridges designed specifically to allow these high BC pills to be seated out. And you can throw some improvements to propellants in there as well. But the designers of the 30/06 and 308 were certainly onto something for both of them (and their derivatives) to remain so popular many decades down the track

Originally Posted by 7.62

Many of the cartridges that were popular in the 70’s have stood the test of time and are as popular as ever 50 years later. 243, 270, and 308 are still hugely popular, and the 30/06 to some extent as well. The 7mm REM Mag is still going strong too. The 7x57 has fallen by the wayside but through no fault of its own, it’s just that the 7mm08 offered the same ballistics in a short action. Same deal for the 6mm REM vs the 243. The 222 is hanging in there but is semi-obsolete due to the 223. The 303 is obsolete but not really; there are still truckloads of SMLEs out there so it’s probably more popular than what you think

When you think about it, much of the true innovation in ballistics over the last 50 years has been in high BC projectiles and twist rates; and to a lesser extent shorter and fatter cartridges designed specifically to allow these high BC pills to be seated out. And you can throw some improvements to propellants in there as well. But the designers of the 30/06 and 308 were certainly onto something for both of them (and their derivatives) to remain so popular many decades down the track

If you have a look at the new Remington website they are now making the Model 7 in 6mm REM with a 1:9 barrel.

I did see a Remington 600 243 on trademe 4-5 years back, rebarrelled and in very tidy condition. Went for about $700 scoped. Agonised over it and left it - like a bloody clot. Would love one in 243 or 222 - a little rifle with real character.

Old man had a 600 for a time in 308 but he liked his Rem 760 pump more for quick bush shots.

@Maca49 My first car was a 1961 Morry Minor. Bought it in 1979 for $600; it was all I could afford. Again; with wages of $48 a week (gross) I had to borrow off mum to buy it. Holy sh$t the garage scored some coin off me for suspension repairs due to taking it pig hunting on corrugated metal roads every weekend..... I actually had a running account with them paying off my garage bills.

In those days the Whangamomona Saddle was gravel and if it was raining any cars coming downhill had to pull over to let the ones coming up past. If you had to stop in the rain on the way up, you couldn't get enough traction in the slushy metal. So had to turn around, go back down and start from the bottom again to get momentum!

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

@Maca49 My first car was a 1961 Morry Minor. Bought it in 1979 for $600; it was all I could afford. Again; with wages of $48 a week (gross) I had to borrow off mum to buy it. Holy sh$t the garage scored some coin off me for suspension repairs due to taking it pig hunting on corrugated metal roads every weekend..... I actually had a running account with them paying off my garage bills.

In those days the Whangamomona Saddle was gravel and if it was raining any cars coming downhill had to pull over to let the ones coming up past. If you had to stop in the rain on the way up, you couldn't get enough traction in the slushy metal. So had to turn around, go back down and start from the bottom again to get momentum!

Should have wound rope around the spokes? My second car was a 62 Morry 1000 $800.00

I thought everyone hunted with spears in the 1970's.

Originally Posted by Frodo

I thought everyone hunted with spears in the 1970's.

Yep .311 tips

1970BC...........

Finnwolf cost me $241 ( from memory) and I got a free rifle sling with it for paying cash. Sling was priced at $1…

.222, .243, 308. 7x57, 270, 7mm mag, 30-06. If we were to be really honest with ourselves we could ditch every other calibre and new fangled slightly different offering and be perfectly well catered for, for anything and everything still. Ah, the 1970s. Back when Sako was forging the reputation for quality that it is still living off now and has been for some time Right that should get a few comments coming in..................

Back in the mid '60's BSA Majestics were 42 Pounds ($84) except for .222 and .308 which were about 38 Pounds. Parker-Hales were slightly cheaper. 20 rounds of ammo was about 2 Pounds for .308 etc.

I bought a secondhand Winchester Featherweight in 30-06 about 1983-84.
From memory $660 when my shepherding wages were about $160 a week before tax.
So a months gross wages.
I had got into reloading for a .303 before this because a box was $45 bucks.
Then free trade kicked in.....