One Gun Hunters

[mnoland30]

I have killed deer, elk, javelina, ibex, aoudad, and bear with 7mm 168 gr. Berger at 2850 fps. It has worked like a charm. I usually hunt javelina with my Thompson Contender carbine, in 7mm TCU, just because it is a joy to carry at 5 lbs. I decided years ago to settle on one caliber to simplify life. I chose 7mm because of the high BCs without excessive weight. Trying to get my grandkids to shoot, I've deviated from this with a 308 and 243, that I don't reload for. Someday, I may pick up a 6.5 Creedmoor for the grandkids. I shot my first deer with a 6.5 Swedish Mauseri and have a soft spot for that caliber.

 

[BrentM]

I tend to stick with 1-2 bullets and call it good. For example my rifle is going on a buffalo hunt and it'll run the 156. Otherwise it runs a 135 for everything else.

 

[ButterBean]

270 with a 130 grain pill for everything

 

[Pacecount]

I have one primary hunting rifle w one load for everything beyond 100 yds.
7mm RM w AMG 6-24x50…180 gr VLD @ 2950

For heavy brush and under 600 yds.
308 win w NF 2.5-10x 44…ELDX 178

 

[rcs33]

For those of you that hunt all your western game with one firearm. Do you use the same bullet for all big game you hunt or do you change the bullet grain depending on the animal your hunting (150 gr. for deer, 180-220 for elk)? I have a few hunting rifles, but I'm contemplating selling and using the 300 Winchester for everything.

I shoot a 340 wthby and i do exactly that— 200g hornady spire points w/H4831 for all deer and antelope and 225 and 250 Swift A-Frames and IMR7828 for everything else in north america– im probably going to have to switch to 4831 or 4350 if i dont find some 7828 soon- getting really low. Theyve got a bunch on gun broker but im not going down that road.

 

[Pro2A]

When you become wise, you will realise that twirling knobs, re-sighting every time you switch bullets and the number of times you discover that ONE bullet weight will do it all, you will have saved yourself some invaluable time.
I have dozens of rifles, all but a handful use a single load and bullet for everything.
My load testing might take 3 bullets and 3 powders generally, whichever shoots the best is what it is fed.
I also have switch barrel rifles…finding a load that shoots close to each other in separate barrels is a challenge, but totally doable.
For example, a 30-06 is perfectly adequate with 165g-180g pills for everything including elk and moose, a 300 mag of any flavour is perfectly adequate with 200g-230g bullets for the same animals.
No animal knows what you hit it with, some go the middle of the road, me I like heavy bullets, not too heavy but on the heavier side of the scale.

Cheers.

"..... saved yourself some invaluable time." Every resource is replenishable.........except heartbeats. Use those precious allocated heartbeats, represented as time, wisely. The older one becomes, the more one realizes.....too late.....how precious those heartbeats are. Is it really worth the heartbeats re-sighting, reloading multiple bullets, etc. One's personal choice. In my 70s, I view opportunities very differently. July was 50 years since I married my wife. Unfortunately, she ran out of heartbeats just shy of our 30th anniversary. Wish now that I had spent more heartbeats with her instead of chasing the American dream. We had planned to spend retirement traveling in a 45ft motorcoach enjoying adventures across our beautiful country. Well, I am.......unfortunately alone. Money flows in faster than I can spend it, but it won't buy her even one more heartbeat. Old too soon; smart too late.

 

[flyguy1]

For years, 300 WinMag with 180 gr Partitions, or, later, Barnes TTSX for deer, elk, caribou, and antelope.

Had a lot of rifles I played around with but always grabbed the 300 regardless of what I had planned.

 

[Pro2A]

"..... saved yourself some invaluable time." Every resource is replenishable.........except heartbeats. Use those precious allocated heartbeats, represented as time, wisely. The older one becomes, the more one realizes.....too late.....how precious those heartbeats are. Is it really worth the heartbeats re-sighting, reloading multiple bullets, etc. One's personal choice. In my 70s, I view opportunities very differently. July was 50 years since I married my wife. Unfortunately, she ran out of heartbeats just shy of our 30th anniversary. Wish now that I had spent more heartbeats with her instead of chasing the American dream. We had planned to spend retirement traveling in a 45ft motorcoach enjoying adventures across our beautiful country. Well, I am.......unfortunately alone. Money flows in faster than I can spend it, but it won't buy her even one more heartbeat. Old too soon; smart too late. YMMV, but I expect not.

 

[M Poling]

I use a 338-06 for everything. It's what I've put all my time and research into. I use 1 load for everything deer, antelope, bear, and elk (lots and lots of elk).
I don't have the money to have a dozen hunting rifles all setup with my favorite scopes and reloading equipment. I use a 265gr Nosler Accubond Long Range at 2540fps.
I have found that the lower velocity heavier weight bullets have significantly less meat damage. Also the ABLR bullets are exceptionally good at those lower speeds. They also have super high BC wich helps with wind and other factors you might loose with a slower bullet.
Just my 2 cents. If I could I would own a dozen hunting rifles all setup with my favorite loads etc.
This is just what works for me.

 

[nomspc]

I like the idea of rifle, load and reticle all working together. I have a Brockman custom Dakota 76 in 300WM topped with a Leupold VX6 2-12X. I shoot the Barnes 180 TTSX at 2900 fps. The factory reticle lines up perfectly with that load out to 500 yards, my personal limit for a shot on game.

I've taken elk, red stag, aoudad, Sika deer, scimitar oryx, hartebeest, warthog, mountain zebra, gemsbok with this combo in all conditions; very dependable, no dialing.

 

[TBell]

For those of you that hunt all your western game with one firearm. Do you use the same bullet for all big game you hunt or do you change the bullet grain depending on the animal your hunting (150 gr. for deer, 180-220 for elk)? I have a few hunting rifles, but I'm contemplating selling and using the 300 Winchester for everything.

I use a 300 WM 208 grain eld-m with H1000. I'll admit I have only had opportunity for Whitetail and turkey for over 15 years but I found bullet placement especially on turkey is the Key.

Believe or not have not lost any meat even on the turkeys (17- 18+). Note feathers missing 2" below the head.

 

[amyjune]

I don't hunt elk but for hogs and antelope I use a Model 70 in .270 Win with 140gr Barnes TSX.

 

[Tommy T]

Me I like the big caliber rifles I use my CA 338 LM AND 30 NOSLER by fierce and by nosler and my 300 RUM and the reason for that is I like to make sure they are down and not just wounded as I am 74 so my shooting is not as good as I use to be and it all comes down to making a good shot no matter what caliber rifle you are shooting . I have killed elk at 400 yds with 270 wsm 150 gr. Bullet but I have found out that the 130 gr. Nosler accubon works just as good if not better

 

[jshepherd61]

For those of you that hunt all your western game with one firearm. Do you use the same bullet for all big game you hunt or do you change the bullet grain depending on the animal your hunting (150 gr. for deer, 180-220 for elk)? I have a few hunting rifles, but I'm contemplating selling and using the 300 Winchester for everything.

I'm not a one Gun hunter but even so I always change the grain and type of bullet for all my hunting even between species (blacktail, whitetail mule deer) ect. I have loads for all my guns. 7mm STW- 129gr ABLR for Antelope, 150gr ABLR for mule deer 168gr ABLR and 195gr EOL for elk. 26 Nosler- 140gr RDF for yotes 142 ABLR for deer and 156 EOL for elk. Just an example I have 12 to 15 rifles set up in the same manner for hunting. As for my steel shooters I have one predominant round set up for each of them