How to Build a Hunting Rifle Setup Using Only Pre-1950 Rounds

On Ron Spomer Outdoors, Tate Bradfield tossed a fun gauntlet at Ron Spomer: build a complete North American hunting battery, but every cartridge must predate 1950. No 6.5 Creedmoor, no PRCs, no 7mm-08. Just the classics our grandparents trusted. Spomer grinned and dove in, proving – round after round – that many of yesterday’s designs still check every modern box: accuracy, reach, reliability, and ethical terminal performance.

I’ll walk through their picks animal by animal, add a few practical notes on bullets and optics, and show how you could assemble the same “retro” battery today without feeling under-gunned for anything from antelope to grizzly.

Ground Rules: Why “Old” Doesn’t Mean Obsolete

Bradfield’s rule set was simple: cartridges had to be commercially introduced before 1950. Spomer reminded viewers that these “old” rounds were engineered around field realities – smooth feeding, sane recoil, and bullets that work at practical hunting speeds. Many modern gains come from bullet tech, not case design, and that’s the cheat code here: pair classic cases with today’s bonded or monolithic bullets and good glass. You’ll get flatter flight, deeper penetration, and more consistent expansion than hunters of the 1930s could dream of – all while honoring the challenge.

Elk: The .300 H&H Magnum Sweet Spot

When Bradfield first said “elk,” Spomer reflexively reached for the .338 Win. Mag. – then laughed and corrected himself because it’s a 1958 cartridge. His pre-1950 answer: the .300 H&H Magnum. As Spomer told Bradfield, the long, slope-shouldered case is famous for butter-smooth cycling, and it pushes 180–200-grain bullets at speeds that are remarkably close to modern .300 Win. Mag. loads. On elk, that means decisive penetration through bone and boiler room at sensible recoil – “not much more than a .30-06,” Spomer said. For today’s hunter, pair a .300 H&H with a 180- or 190-grain bonded or copper bullet, and you’ll have a forgiving, all-angles elk rifle with century-tested credentials.

Mule Deer: The .270 Winchester Lightning Rod

For mule deer, Spomer barely paused: .270 Winchester. He loves the classic 130-grain recipe and, with modern all-copper designs, argues that a 130 behaves like yesterday’s 150 – more penetration, less breakup. He and Bradfield noted the cartridge’s real superpower isn’t just flat trajectory but how confidence-inspiring it feels from field positions. In windy muley country, Spomer favors sneaking inside 400 yards – where a sleek 130–140-grain bullet flies true with manageable drift. My two cents: if you frequent big wind, hedge with a 140-grain high-BC option, but don’t overthink it – the .270 built its legend by making medium game tip over quickly.

Whitetail: The 7×57 Mauser’s Gentlemanly Authority

Eastern woods? Western draws? The 7×57 Mauser handles both. Bradfield volunteered a family anecdote – his grandfather even killed a bison with the 7×57. Spomer nodded to its versatility: 140- to 175-grain bullets, mild recoil, and admirable sectional density. In today’s trim rifles with modern 140–150-grain controlled-expansion bullets, the 7×57 is a whitetail artist that stretches responsibly when the beanfield opens up. If your season ranges from tight timber to open pasture, this is the round that always seems to print right where the crosshairs settled.

Moose: The .30-06 Springfield Does the Heavy Lifting

Asked for a moose pick, Spomer went classic American: .30-06 Springfield. Moose, he said, “aren’t hard to kill; they just take a while to realize they’re dead.” A stout 180- or 200-grain bullet into the heart/lung triangle is the whole job. Spomer added a neat bit of lore: John Nosler’s .30-caliber bullet failures on mud-caked moose hides in the late 1940s led him to invent the Partition in 1948 – proof that bullet construction, not case capacity, often decides outcomes. My advice mirrors Spomer’s: run a bonded or copper 180–200 and prioritize angle and calm shot execution. The ’06 is the field-craft cartridge.

Pronghorn: The .257 Weatherby’s Flat-Shooting Edge

When antelope came up, Bradfield and Spomer lamented that many “obvious” speedsters – .243 Win., 6mm Rem. – are post-1950. But the .257 Weatherby Magnum makes the cut, originating in the mid-1940s. Spomer highlighted its velocity – think a 115–120-grain bullet at Ferrari speeds—and emphasized that the real challenge on pronghorn isn’t drop (modern rangefinders solve that) but wind drift. A sleek 115–120-grain soft point or monolithic with a decent BC lets you hold less in Wyoming’s cross-breezes. From my seat, the .257 Weatherby is the most “modern feeling” pre-1950 round: blistering flat, quick to anchor, and just plain fun to shoot.

American Bison: The .45-70 Government, Respectfully Loaded

For bison, Spomer went straight to the .45-70 Government, born in 1873 and still punching tags. He acknowledged you could also step up to the .375 H&H (1912), but the .45-70 has history on its side. The caveat is yours and mine: shoot modern, pressure-appropriate loads in a strong action, pick heavy, tough bullets, and keep shot distances honest. Bison soak up energy; pick broadside, break big bone if needed, and be ready for a quick second shot. I’d also add that iron-sighted romance is fine, but a low-power scope or robust peep will help you thread that heavy slug precisely.

Black Bear: Exit Wounds and the .35 Whelen

“Anything that kills whitetails will kill black bears,” Spomer told Bradfield, but he likes a bigger hole for better blood trails in thick cover. Enter the .35 Whelen – a 1922 brainchild even if it wasn’t commercialized until later. Heavy .35-caliber bullets at .30-06 speeds give you the mix black bears dislike: diameter plus controlled expansion plus enough shank to exit. Spomer also noted the 7×57 can do the job, but if you bait or still-hunt in tangles where tracking matters, the Whelen’s “two holes are better than one” mantra is sensible, practical advice.

Grizzly: The .375 H&H’s Calm, Confident Authority

On grizzlies, Spomer surveyed history’s picks – .300 H&H, .35 Whelen, even the .416 Rigby if you can find a rifle – and still landed on the .375 H&H. It feeds like silk, hits with authority, and with modern 250–300-grain controlled-expansion bullets, gives you both the penetration and bone-breaking insurance you want when animals get big and close. Recoil is real but manageable in a properly stocked rifle. My view aligns with Spomer: the grizzly cartridge you shoot smoothly, fast, and accurately beats any paper ballistics. The .375 H&H simply makes that confidence easy.

The Mouse, the Magnum, and the Moral

Bradfield nudged Spomer into a lighter moment, and Spomer answered with a camp legend: a tent-raiding mouse met its end at the muzzle of a .375 Weatherby. Funny as that image is, the story’s moral is serious – “use enough gun” is always contextual. The best cartridge is the one that fits the task, the terrain, and your ability to place the first shot cleanly. (And please, unlike that mouse, make sure your backstop and surroundings are safe before you ever touch a trigger.)

Elephants, Bell, and Modern Limits

When the conversation leapt to elephants, Spomer nodded to W.D.M. Bell, who famously brain-shot hundreds with the 7×57 Mauser and 6.5 Mannlicher using tough solids and surgical shot placement. But, as Spomer reminded Bradfield, modern African rules typically require a .375 H&H minimum – and that’s exactly what Spomer carried on his own elephant hunt. He took a PH-advised heart/shoulder shot with a 270-grain copper bullet, and the bull crashed so quickly he thought his guide had brained it. Two lessons there: know and obey local law, and respect how much shot angle and bullet construction matter. Caliber opens the door; placement ends the story.

Your Pre-1950 Battery, Modernized

If you want to copy the “Spomer & Bradfield” setup, here’s the spine: .300 H&H for elk and big mountain work; .270 Winchester for mule deer and general Western hunting; 7×57 Mauser for whitetails everywhere; .30-06 for moose and “one rifle for anything” sensibility; .257 Weatherby for pronghorn and open-country speed; .45-70 for bison and close-range thump; .35 Whelen for black bears in the brush; and .375 H&H for grizzly and anything that might argue back. Layer in modern bullets – bonded cores for broad versatility, monolithic copper when you want maximum penetration with lighter weights – and sensible optics. Spomer repeatedly emphasized that these cartridges shine brightest when paired with today’s bullets and rangefinding glass. The cases are classic; the performance, with the right components, is completely contemporary.

Hunt Honest, Shoot Straight

What I loved about watching Tate Bradfield prod Ron Spomer through this challenge is how naturally the “old” cartridges fell into place. Not because of nostalgia, but because they were, and are, well-balanced answers to real field problems. Smooth-feeding designs like the .300 H&H, practical killers like the .270 and .30-06, flexible gems like the 7×57, and deep-driving hammers like the .375 H&H still do exactly what hunters ask of them. In Spomer’s words, hunt honest and shoot straight. With this pre-1950 battery, you can do both – and never feel like you left performance on the table.

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