One gun/caliber to rule them all?

[Mallardsx2]

30-06 IMHO.

 

[buffybr]

Interesting that I own one of the more common calibers mentioned on here, .300 WM. Yet I almost refuse to take it out. Nothing will kill your ability to make a clean kill the thinking about the kick to the shoulder you're about to receive.

Gimme the .270 all day everyday.

The brake on my .300 Weatherby reduces it's kick to less than the kick of my .270.

 

[Drake4]

Even though I don't have one, I've always thought the 280AI is near perfection if a person could only have one rifle for the rest of time.

I would say even a 7-08, but the 280AI just does a bit better with heavier bullets.

Agree

 

[Sheltowee]

Not seen it mentioned yet, but currently building a .338-06 (Tikka T3X action, Lilja barrel, Mesa Precision Altitude stock) as a do-all western rifle.

Is it going to prevent me from buying a dozen more rifles chambered in specialized cartridges? Lol, absolutely not.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Interesting that I own one of the more common calibers mentioned on here, .300 WM. Yet I almost refuse to take it out. Nothing will kill your ability to make a clean kill the thinking about the kick to the shoulder you're about to receive.

Gimme the .270 all day everyday.

 

[mstep23]

30-06 is the best for my hunts here in NM.

 

[tzone]

.223 Rem

 

[coleslaw]

I’ve taken deer with slugs and with buckshot.

A 12 gauge with slugs is more or less equivalent to a .45-70, in terms of energy/range.

Wouldn’t be my choice for still hunting timber for elk simply because an 870 weighs significantly more than my rifle.

Yeah, I should have been more specific when I asked... has anybody ever used slugs for an Elk or a Moose. I forget that deer are considered "Big Game".

 

[rjthehunter]

.338 Win Mag. It'll kill anything on this planet! Oh also, I'm not afraid of a little recoil. I'm not huge on the loud bark, but a suppressor should solve that.

 

[Mustangs Rule]

35 Whelen definitely checks all the boxes here. It flat drops anything you point it at.

I have had two 35 Whelens. One was a custom Mauser. I loved them dearly. Hunted with them for decades when I was shooting big tough wild boar literally by the truckloads on depredation permits. After I got my 280AI and used it for a few years I sold lots of other rifles, my last 35 Whelen included. Times change.

 

[Mustangs Rule]

Even though I don't have one, I've always thought the 280AI is near perfection if a person could only have one rifle for the rest of time.

I would say even a 7-08, but the 280AI just does a bit better with heavier bullets.

Since I got my 280AI in a 5 3/4 pound real accurate Kimber Hunter it has sent rifle after rifle either packing or becoming a safe queen. I sold my 2nd 35 Whelen, sold my 300 win mag. (I had already sold my second 338 Win mag)

It is a half pound lighter than my Sako Finnlight 308, shoots flatter and adds 75 yards to my point blank aim range.

The 280AI is so efficient it is only 30-40'/sec less than a 7mm mag. It uses so much less powder and recoil is way down even in light rifle.

I love my old pre/64 model 70 in 270. One day I even decided to hunt with it but as I was carrying it the truck, it felt so heavy I just put it back and took the 280AI

Once, I took my 6.5x55 Swede out to the Arizona Strip to hunt those huge big Black Russian boars that had escaped a canned hunt operation. At a distance the little Swede felt right, but tracking a big boar into the cactus tangles it felt really wrong.

Decades ago gun writer of note, Ron Spomer, took up this topic. He concluded that when all the numbers were figured in, BC. SD, velocity, recoil, efficiency/grain of powder, bullet weight, trajectory, muzzle blast, the .284 caliber had the very best combination of all these numbers.

I have had two .270's two 7x57's, one 280 Remington and five 30-06's now the 280AI represents my final evolution of calibers from .264 to 30 cal.

My only criticism lies in really needing to lube your bullet well when seating it. The 280AI case is so steeply angled that it can get crushed easy if seating a bullet is harder.

 

[EastTNHunter]

Funny rifle cartridge journey for me…

Got my first payroll job at 16yo. First thing that I saved up for was a rifle. Bought a cheap REM 700 ADL in .270 win from… Kmart. Used exclusively for deer for years. Super accurate, low recoil, and dropped most of the deer that I shot in their tracks. And I shot a lot of them due to hunting between 2 states with liberal bag limits and my love for venison.

Time rolls on and I decide that I want a cartridge “more suitable” for elk in addition to deer. I didn’t have the money or the know-how to hunt elk, but I wanted to dream and be ready whenever my time came I wanted to be able to go to a heavier bullet weight, even though I knew that the .270 had been taking elk for decades. Magazine articles and advice from buddies went something like, “ you may only get one chance to hunt them, and you may not get a standing broadside shot, so make sure that you have something that will get through the shoulder.” Even though that advice led me to “upsizing,” I still resisted the magnum urge. I bought a savage 116 in 30-06. Loved the thing. Crazy accurate with 165s and 180s, tolerable recoil, dropped deer like crazy, and gave me lots of confidence. What more could I want…

Until I heard a friend or two (and maybe a relative) that continued to tell me that I needed a magnum to hunt elk. And lo and behold I found a deal on a .338WM in a Tikka T3 lite. That would be the rifle to rule them all!!! But one minor problem. It wanted to detach my retinas when I squoze the trigger (emphasis added with “squoze”)! It was no fun to shoot. I did manage to make a good shot on a fair sized doe with it using a 225gr SST. She actually ran! What?!?!? This was supposed to be bigger and badder than my ’06 or .270, but I was used to those rifles dropping deer in their tracks 90% of the time!? It was at that point that I realized that I DID NOT need a magnum.

I sold the 338WM and bought a Tikka T3 SS in 30-06 with the proceeds as a backup to the Savage. I actually liked the Tikka better, so I hunted with both. Gave the REM 700 .270 to my daughter for her deer and antelope rifle, and then I realized how much I missed that cartridge. Then I started to get diminishing accuracy out of my savage 30-06, which gave me a good excuse to come full circle and rebarrel it in… .270 Win.

So now I am a 30-06 and .270 guy, knowing full well that the .270 is fully adequate for elk, but feeling good that I can use 180s out of a 30-06 when I get that chance. I will use the .270 with 140s as my primary rifle on deer and antelope to save my shoulder some, then when I go for elk the .270 will be my backup to the 30-06.

If I had to choose just one then it would be a lean to the .270 since I will hunt deer FAR more than I hunt elk, and it will do for both.

But what fun would that be?

 

[Rzrbck918]

I've shot a 270 WSM for a long time. Out of all the rifles I own, its still the one I reach for on almost every hunt. I think something in the 7mm/.270 family would be hard to beat for top to bottom performance.

 

[old roper 42]

I always carry back up rifles. I have 2-30-06,2-30-338mag and 2-280AI. I have 270 with Lilja barrel and was going have another build one but decided on 270Wby. I couldn't do one rifle. I try and keep about 10 for hunting same for varmints.

 

[brymoore]

Agree

Agree agree. 280ai for the win.

 

[ImBillT]

30.06 -- FACT!
7mm, damn metric tools.

.284 PRC?

 

[ImBillT]

My only criticism lies in really needing to lube your bullet well when seating it. The 280AI case is so steeply angled that it can get crushed easy if seating a bullet is harder.

The shoulder angle has absolutely zero to do with this. Chamfer your case mouths and double check your expander ball diameter. Something is happening that should not be. This is not a 280AI problem. Something else is going on.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

300 WM. Yet I almost refuse to take it out. Nothing will kill your ability to make a clean kill the thinking about the kick to the shoulder you're about to receive.

Put a nose button on it.

 

[Rell]

Gentlemen, a fast 30 or a 35 Whelen does have its appeal but … there is only one caliber you can truly hunt predators to elephant with. The perfect 9.3x62!

Light 232 grain loads to heavy 300 grain loads and everything in between.

The smallest animal I have taken with it is a 20lbs red duiker and the largest a cape buffalo. I’ve also taken all four eland with it. East African, Cape, Lord Derby and Livingston.

Low recoil, enough power and penetration for everything that walks.

 

[gouch]

The 45-70 Govt. belongs in this discussion. What are you going to tell me it can't do?

QQ

Not too good for mountain quail, iffen you're gunna want to eat em.