300 WSM or 7 Rem. Mag or a 300 Win. Mag are all great choices.So since I'm old and have shot deer, antelope, moose, elk, mountain sheep and a mountain goat, the .270
If you had to choose one rifle to hunt everything from antelope to elk, what would it be? This rifle must use components that are readily available. It must also be a caliber that is inherently accurate. No need to waste 600 rounds of 1000 round barrel life doing load development. I want to build a rifle but can't decide what to build.
270 wsm. Just big enough without extra recoil. You can get a 130 gr to 3050-3300 fps. At elk attitudes, 7500', it carries 1200#'s to 1000 yards. Flatter at 500 yards then my 300 wm or 7 RM by .6 mils. My 270 wsm has taken a cow elk, a couple mule deer and white tails all 1 shot kills. I would look at the model 70 Tungsten in 270 wsm. Put in a Timney trigger and bed it and done. For a little better performance out pasted 600 yards a 7 RM 8T with a 180 vld-h. Getting 2944 fps, very good LR ballistics with only slightly more recoil.If you had to choose one rifle to hunt everything from antelope to elk, what would it be? This rifle must use components that are readily available. It must also be a caliber that is inherently accurate. No need to waste 600 rounds of 1000 round barrel life doing load development. I want to build a rifle but can't decide what to build.
That's my favorite setup but I push mine a bit faster. And my 300 RUM is always a good choice for even longer options..30'06. Barnes 168 TTSX at 2900 FPS.
With the plastic sabots you can even push a 55 gr out of the 30-06....at a blistering pace!There are a lot of opinions stated here, and I have many of the calibers listed in this thread. I have four 6.5 calibers and my 6.5 RemMag is one deer killing S.O.B., but I'd take my .26 Nosler for elk. My Creedmoor, I'd rank below my RemMag and I'd use the Grendal in a pinch for deer. My .300 and 338 RUMs and .338WM are way too much to be considered for everything. I'd rank my .243w with the 6.5CM. The .26 Nosler, 7mm RM, .257 Roberts, 8mm-06, .30 Gibbs, .300 SAUM, 280AI, .350 RemMag, 35 Whelen, and 25-06AI .45-70, and 40-65 are candidates. I'm sure I could kill an elk with my .17 Rem, 32-20, .204 Ruger, .22 hornet, .223, .22 Valkyre, .220 Swift, or 22-250 if I had to. But what stands out is the good old 30-06. I can shoot bullets 100 to 220 grain factory bullets and lighter if want to try some .311s. I cast bullets for my .30 Carbine that I can use, loaded down for potting rabbits or grouse. I also cast 176 and 190 grain bullets that duplicate the good old 30-30W which has killed many elk. Also if you need a heavy solid, in a pinch, you can seat a 220 gr. round nose backwards. The same argument could be made for the .308W, but I prefer the 30-06 because of its larger capacity and faster twist. Yep, if I could only have one rifle, it would be a 30-06! Could I also keep a .22LR pistol. Holy Crap, I just started another argument!!!
30-06.If you had to choose one rifle to hunt everything from antelope to elk, what would it be? This rifle must use components that are readily available. It must also be a caliber that is inherently accurate. No need to waste 600 rounds of 1000 round barrel life doing load development. I want to build a rifle but can't decide what to build.