Among the .30 calibers, these are the ones the author would keep: (left to right) .30-30, .308 Win., .30-06, .300 WSM, .300 Win. Magnum and .300 Ultra Mag.

The rationale for such lunacy? None has much of a future as far as sales are concerned. The Hornet represents a tip of the hat to history, to "Townie" Whelen and to the embryonic days of varmint cartridges, but it's anemic, old fashioned in its case design, and what can it do that the .223 Remington can't do infinitely better? The same goes for the .222 Rem., an epochal cartridge to be sure, but as a varmint round, the .223 is better. And with it being the U.S. martial cartridge, its continued popularity is assured.

To not produce the .225 Winchester is a no-brainer that needs no explanation. As for the Swift, I can hear the howls of derision now. But c'mon, we're talking about an old-fashioned, semirimmed case with too much body taper that offers less than 100 fps advantage over the .22-250. If it's such a great cartridge, why do so few manufacturers chamber for it?

As for the new .223 WSSM, I'm going to hold off on this one because the jury is still out. This and the other two members of the Super Short Magnum family are so short and fat that they require special actions (read: a new rifle rather than rebarreling an existing action if you want to build one up), and I'm not sure that an extra 150 fps is worth it barrel-life-wise. Having said that, my varmint-rifle lineup would look like this: .204 Ruger, .223 Rem. and .22-250 Rem. A pretty sparse lineup to be sure, but all calibers I'd sell a ton of.

As to his favorite caliber, the author would load only for the 7mm-08 Rem., .280 Rem., 7mm WSM, 7mm Rem. Magnum and 7mm Rem. Ultra Mag.

Next up are the 6mms. From an ammo manufacturer's standpoint, I'd go with the .243 Win., only because it outsells the 6mm Rem. by a wide margin and remains a popular caliber. As for the .243 WSSM, it just doesn't offer enough of a ballistic edge for me to consider worthwhile, at least not in the context of a "dual purpose" cartridge.

All three make fine long-range woodchuck/marmot rounds, as well as predator cartridges, but that's about all. All three are needlessly powerful for high-volume shooting, such as at prairie dogs, gophers, ground squirrels, etc., and not enough for long-range (300 yards and beyond) antelope and mule deer hunting. I've come to consider the 6mm as being a compromise caliber--too much for half of what it's supposed to be used for and not enough for the other half. My 6mm offering, then, would consist solely of the .243 Win. and only because there's a lot of 'em out there.