what’s your favorite ’parent cartridge?’

i'd have to give my sentimental favorite to the .30/06. i realize that the true parent of the /06 is the x57 (if memoriy serves), but the .270, .25/06 etc. aren't famous for coming from the 8x57.

2nd place, for me, goes to the venerable .308~

Fella's;

Any of the .473" case head cartridges are descendants of the parent 8X57 Mauser.  The .30-06 is one of them.  That's not to say that, as has been pointed out above, the venerable .30-06 doesn't have a lot of other cartridges based off it, but the leader of the pack is most assuredly the 8X57.

If you want more, go to the bench & hit the Cartridge Of The Month thread.

900F

CB900F wrote: Fella's; Any of the .473" case head cartridges are descendants of the parent 8X57 Mauser.  The .30-06 is one of them.  That's not to say that, as has been pointed out above, the venerable .30-06 doesn't have a lot of other cartridges based off it, but the leader of the pack is most assuredly the 8X57. If you want more, go to the bench & hit the Cartridge Of The Month thread. 900F

Right on, neighbor...........Any .473 case from 51mm to 63mm owe everything to the ol' 8x57 Mauser.  She has spawned some mighty good offspring!

Ol' John

I'll have to go for the .308. Maybe not the biggest family, but one that covers most North American bases. .243, .308, .358 Win, pretty much will do, what needs doing.

I did fire form some cases for my .458 Win Mag today, from some .338 Win Mag cases I've had laying around. Had to anneal the necks, so pulled down the loaded rounds. About 50 gr. 4064, as the original cartridges had 67 gr in them. This gave me enough powder to split up between tear down rounds, and fired cases. Added some Cream of Wheat, and seated a bullet on top. Only split three case necks, out of a couple dozen. 

My fav's an easy one     ...     .375 H&H.

As far as the old mauser case being the parent case to all things .473 rimmed, I agree with TG.  Not as I define a parent case.  By using common means available to the handloader (trimming, fireforming), if you can't make a new case from an older, it simply is not the parent.  The '06 is just to long for the mauser case to be useable.  I guess here's where the waters get muddy.  The .308 can be made from the mauser case (trim, size, false shoulder, fireform, yada, yada, yada) but since it's generally recognized that a shortened .30-06 case was the inspiration behind the initial short-action military round, in my eyes, that would still make it the "official" parent case to the entire family of short action, .473 rimmed cartridges.  I will grant that the mauser case may have inspired retaining the a .473 rim diameter with a lengthened body, but this in no way constitutes parent case status.  Again, as I define a parent case.  Later fellas.  >>  klallen

You can use any criteria you want to determine a "parent" case, including the ability to transform it into another case without the benefit of a brass foundry and stamping machine. Historicly speaking, though, in the US there has almost always been a progression from shorter to longer cases, which could NOT be made from the parent case, but obviously descended from the shorter case. You have a tough time making the arguement that the .22 rimfire (which wasn't called the .22 Short until longer cartridges were introduced!) did not spawn, and was not the parent of, the .22 Long, the .22 Long rifle, and the various .22 hyper-velocity cartridges.

Using the criteria of being able to produce  the "developed" cartridge from the parent is the same as stating the .22 Short was not, in fact, the "parent" cartridge of the later developments. because you cannot produce .22 Long Rifle or .22 Longs cases from the short case.

If you want to consider big bores, the .45/70 spawned the .45/90, the .50/70 the .50/90, and so forth.

Maybe it isn't your criteria, but that seems to be the prevailing notion among firearms historians.

I didn't think the issue of parent cases could be so confusing. 

Well from hunter shooter use, the 308 is clearly the best.

The 308, 243, 260, 7-08, 358 and a zillion wildcats.  All some of the most accurate rounds made.  And remember the '06 has been around a lot longer, so it should have breed longer.   And for 30 years or more,  the '06 was available in lots of low cost (under $20) bolt action military rifles.

So if you look at quality of the offspring the 308 wins hands down.

BEAR