I'd be surprised if anyone's experience of gun shops and "recommended" cartridges is much different to mine.
My thought being that with all the possible options, there's only about a dozen that ever get a mention.
If you want a rifle for varmints the first think you'll get told is 22lr, 22mag or more recently 17hmr. Maybe .223 Rem.
If you want a target rifle the first thing you'll get told is either .223 Rem or .308 Win. 300 Win Mag if you want to shoot "long range".
If you want a hunting rifle they'll tell you .243, 270 or .308. Maybe 30-06 Springfield or .300 Win Mag if you're just after larger game.
If you want a lever action it's probably going to be 30-30, .357 mag or .44 mag.
There might be a few others dotted here and there but you get the idea. There is nothing wrong with any of the above of course, just there is some much more out there that doesn't get much time. Without already being a reasonably experienced shooter I dunno where first timers are expected to pick up any of this info, as shops aren't forthcoming with it.
There are plenty of plenty of others that would be just as good if not better than some of the common options, or have some nostalgic to them, or whatever... Just something different for fun. Off the top of my head and in no particular order...
- .204 Ruger
- .220 Swift
- .224 Weatherby Magnum
- 25/20 Winchester
- .25-06 Remington
- .257 Robert
- .257 Weatherby Magnum
- 6mm BR
- 6.5mm Grendel
- 6.5x55 Swedish
- 7×57mm Mauser
- .310 Cadet
- .375 Winchester
- .45-70 Government
- .30-40 Krag
- 8x57 Mauser
- .35 Whelen
- 9.3x62mm
Can anyone tell me they've had a shop recommend any of the above to them for anything, over the usual dozen?