If you could pick only one cartridge for all NA game except the big bears...

[GonzoK34]

300WinMag

I have several different caliber rifles. They all perform exceptionally well. I keep them clean. When taken from the safe for a specific game animal, they serve me and friends
to our satisfaction.
The question as I understand it:
One cartridge for all game

Response:
Availbility where ever in NA I choose to hunt
Capable of humanely killing the animal pursued
On long hunts like humping all day or backpacking, I can stay focused on the hunt and not any discomfort from lugging a counterweight around.

Over 59 years I've been hunting big game. When I joined the Marine Corps I was fortunate to pull butts for the 1st Marine Divison Shooting Team. When they shot at 1000yds many of the shooters would breakout 300WMs once the training sessions were done. They would share they knowledge and skills for shooting at distance with us young Marines. Later during 3 combat tours in Vietnam, those lessons and BS sessions no doubt save many of my Marines lives as well as mine.

I've been shooting My 300WM since 1968. It's been rebarreled 3 times. It shoots and hits where I point it. When it has to be killed, it does it's part 100 percent.
Sergeant of Marines
SEMPER FIDELIS

 

[Joshuak12]

Sometimes the boring answer is the best answer. The .30-06 can be loaded so many different ways. You can shoot squirrels, rabbits, and birds with bullets moving at 22 LR speeds. You have more good load options for deer size game than you could ever shoot. You can go heavy and shoot long. One rifle with a 24" barrel and a scope that can crank from 3x or 4x up to 12x to 16x will allow a handloader the opportunity to take any NA game animal in a wider variety of realistic hunting scenarios than possibly any other setup whether you hunt stationary or on the move.

 

[befus]

With all due respect to the venerable 300 WM and its supporters, All NA game would include prairie dogs, squirrels and the like, and I just don't see a 30 cal as utilitarian enough. Nothing larger than 6.5, or 7mm could be loaded down efficiently for all game. I'll stick with my 280 ai (or a 6.5x284) which easily can shoot 100 grain bullets all day long.

 

[FEENIX]

With all due respect to the venerable 300 WM and its supporters, All NA game would include prairie dogs, squirrels and the like, and I just don't see a 30 cal as utilitarian enough. Nothing larger than 6.5, or 7mm could be loaded down efficiently for all game. I'll stick with my 280 ai (or a 6.5x284) which easily can shoot 100 grain bullets all day long.

No one is saying anything wrong about anybody's personal preference, just pick one and be counted.

 

[Toecutter]

There are no wrong answers, its just gonna be public record now that u were completely wrong

 

[bayou shooter]

I would select the 6.5x55 Swede. It is a very efficient round. It is by far the best rifle I have ever used. The 6.5 bullet has great wind resistance due to its long bullet length. There is virtually no recoil which helps when you have a bad shoulder or tired of feeing as if your were kicked by a mule when shooting the larger magnums. It is by far a favorite in Europe. It can take anything on the North American continent as far as game animals and has been used in Africa on some types of big game. Ammunition is readily available for this round and it is easy to reload if you so desire. It is a round that seems to be inherently accurate. A good friend of mine put me on this round many years ago when I was looking for one rifle that I could hunt coyotes, deer, elk, moose and even bear if I so desired. I was looking for 1 gun. I have yet to have any game animal run off after being hit with this round. Once I used it I was hooked on this old time round. You can take game animals at short distances as well as long distances with this caliber and some practice. The open sights on the old Swedish military rifles had calibrations on them for up to 1000 meters. This is the one weapon that I will not part with.

 

[moosekiller99]

270 Winchester. If that won't suffice you need educating

 

[dhaidak]

...what would it be?

And why?[/
agree with all those supporting .280 AI as their choice; so easy shooting and very accurate; 160 gr nosler partition; will take anything; i use it on hogs, deer and antelope; longest shot: 800 yds on an antelope in eastern montana

 

[MudRunner2005]

Oh sure, there is a like-new Remington 700 chambered in 7mm STW in the closet, waiting on a riflescope, along with maybe 10-boxes of factory 140 gr ammo. But I don't really have any personal "confidence" in that rifle...yet.

You should give it a whirl... You just might love what you discover. Some of us have been STW nuts for decades. I had wanted one since I was about 10 when I first read about it in Shooting Times magazine. Then got my first one Rem 700 Sendero SF 7mm STW when I was 16, and still have it. It shoots sub-1/2 MOA all day long with handloads.

 

[Biggs300]

It would be easy to concur with those who have chosen the 300 WM. I like my 300 WM as it is a good all around rifle. But, if I could only pick one, it would be my 358 Winchester. I would not feel under-gunned for anything in NA. For the ranges I normally hunt (under 300 yards) my 358 loaded with 225 grain partitions, over a stout charge of Ramshot TAC is accurate and hard-hitting. It works for most all NA game including bear at a reasonable range. May not be the best choice for p-dogs, but neither would the 300 WM.

 

[7magcreedmoor]

I built a pair of savages in 280Ackley. One pushes 168s @3015fps, the other sends out 180s @2875fps.

 

[cynicrit]

30-06. All the bugs are worked out. Factory ammo is plentiful with an impressively broad range of loads. Reloading data and components (excellent ones) are available from multiple sources. And, in skilled hands, it can do anything the whizbangs can do well past a reasonable range for the majority of hunters. It won't reach as far as the super performers that are being developed nowadays, but the hunter who can truly work out to the edge of the envelope with something like a .30 Nosler is our fraternity's version of a fighter pilot. Really not that common.

 

[milkie62]

Just in case you forgot your 30 Nosler or 280 AI shells when leaving on a hunt you cannot go wrong with a 308 win or 30/06. My go to gun is my trusty 308.Bullets if necessary can be bought anywhere.

 

[RWRacine]

Well I've read a few post and could not keep up with all of them. So I decided to way in.
I'll say 30-378 would do the job well.
Yes it has a break and yes it is loud. Just don't stand next to the barrel.

I would say if I did not already have it that I would choose 300WM.