Most readers have probably noticed that on the Rifle Cartridges index page of Guns and Shooting Online there are articles about all of the popular sporting cartridges in use in North America and much of the world, as well as most of the less well known cartridges.

The web stats available to me tell how many page views each individual article on Guns and Shooting Online has received. This made compiling a list of the most popular articles about individual rifle cartridges possible.

What follows is a list of centerfire rifle cartridges. These are the cartridges whose articles have gotten the most page views on Guns and Shooting Online during the last complete year for which I have statistics. These are the cartridges in which the greatest number of you, the readers, have been most interested.

1. .308 Winchester - The .308 is one of the best selling cartridges in North America and the world, so it is no surprise that it interests many readers. It is the premier all-around cartridge for short action rifles.

2. .270 Winchester - The thousands of page views garnered by my article "The Great .270 Winchester" shows that interest in this classic all-around cartridge remains high. The .270 has been the standard of comparison for long range hunting cartridges for three quarters of a century and it may be the best combined all-around and long range hunting cartridge ever devised.

3. .30-06 Springfield - This is one of the most popular big game hunting cartridge in North America and it is one of the elite worldwide cartridges. Many experts regard it as the best all-around hunting cartridge. The .30-06 is in use on every continent where big game is hunted, so it is no surprise that its article gets a lot of page views.

4. .45-70 Government - The interest shown in this cartridge by the readers of Guns and Shooting Online came as a surprise. My article "The Good Old .45-70" must have been well named, as it has gotten a great many page hits. The .45-70 is, indeed, a very good cartridge and the most popular big bore in North America.

5. .30-30 Winchester - The .30-30 is one of the top selling rifle cartridges in North America. Interest in the cartridge remains high, partly because of the popular, effective and handy lever action rifles in which it is chambered. It is one of the best 200 yard deer and medium game cartridges ever designed.

6. 7mm Remington Magnum - The 7mm Rem. Mag. is a fine all-around cartridge, deserving of its world-wide popularity. It is not surprising that my article "Long Range Power: The 7mm Remington Magnum" regularly gets thousands of page views.

7. .223 Remington - This cartridge owes its great popularity to its adoption by the USA and NATO as a standard military round (5.56mm NATO). However, it is also a fine, accurate, varmint cartridge and a pleasure to shoot at the range. Ammunition is very widely distributed and relatively inexpensive.

8. .300 Win. Mag. - The world's most popular .300 Magnum is the Winchester version. This popularity is evidenced by the strong interest shown in this cartridge by Guns and Shooting Online readers.

9. .243 Winchester - The .243 is one of the lightest recoiling, long range, medium game cartridges in the world. It is also a capable, long range varmint cartridge. The .243 is a popular cartridge worldwide and It deserves the interest its article receives.

10. .300 WSM - The .300 WSM is the most popular of the WSM/SAUM/WSSM short, fat magnum lines and the only one that has become a commercial success. (Rifles for most of the others have already been discontinued.) It seems to have caught the attention of a significant number of Guns and Shooting Online readers.

Note: All of these cartridges are covered in detail on the Rifle Cartridges page.