How many rounds of ammo to take?

memtb

Active Member
People who shoot 30-06’s know they can hit an animal in the right spot to kill it. Therefore a larger caliber is superfluous and would be just for show.

The 30-06 is a great “all around” cartridge for all of the lower 48, and much of the world......provided the bullets are suited for the game beening hunted!

However, for the “one gun hunter” with aspirations to hunt larger, potentially dangerous game and in some places that have minimum caliber restrictions.....there are better options! As there is no such thing as “overkill”, at least with a reasonable weight, shoulder fired rifle.....a .375 H&H or a .338 WM are pretty difficult to beat. They are also very popular cartridges, factory ammunition, should someone have to stoop to such, can be readily had where large, big game or dangerous game is on the hunter’s agenda! JMO. memtb
 
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Colorado Cowboy

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Personally I don't think there is really "one gun" suits all, Sure you can kill anything with a 30-06 with the right shot placement and I think it comes closer to my definition of one gun than anything else. If I had to pick one gun it would be it with my handloads.l

I just can't see shooting an antelope with a .338 or .375. Sure it will do the job, I could kill one with a .50 sniper rifle too, but it's not my style.
 

JimP

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One of the common rifles that a lot of hunters shoot some of the smallest big game over in Africa is the 375 H&H. It handles everything from the small dikers all the way up to elephant. However on the smaller animals they just use solids which are legal for any game over there.

It is one nice thing with being a hand loader, you can custom make your loads from very light ones to full power ones and choose which one you are going to use depending on the situation.
 

Winchester

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As I said, I was joking guys.
Maybe I hit a nerve.
I agree with CC that there isn’t really “one gun” that suits all … at least not if you’re bringing Africa into the discussion. But for North America, the 30-06 will handle anything there is and is a pretty fair “one gun”.
I do believe there is such a thing as overkill and certainly shooting an Antelope with a .375 would qualify.
 
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memtb

Active Member
As I said, I was joking guys.
Maybe I hit a nerve.
I agree with CC that there isn’t really “one gun” that suits all … at least not if you’re bringing Africa into the discussion. But for North America, the 30-06 will handle anything there is and is a pretty fair “one gun”.
I do believe there is such a thing as overkill and certainly shooting an Antelope with a .375 would qualify.
I’ll prety much guarantee that I will have far less tissue damage and boloodshot meat on an Antelope taken with my .375 than that of an equally placed shot at the same distance by someone shooting a 270 Win with 130 grain bullets! We’ve (wife and I) have taken many deer and Antelope using our hunting rifles and lose very little meat!

Again....no such thing as overkill! Perhaps not necessary.....but, not overkill. If we want to talk overkill....anything more than a .22 RF could be classified as overkill. Properly placed at it’s effective range a .22 RF is a guaranteed quick kill ! Jus Say’n! 😉 memtb
 

Winchester

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I’ll prety much guarantee that I will have far less tissue damage and boloodshot meat on an Antelope taken with my .375 than that of an equally placed shot at the same distance by someone shooting a 270 Win with 130 grain bullets!
I’m glad you’re happy with your choice of caliber.
I’m sure it works great. That’s awesome.
I have a real question though … how can you guarantee that canon will cause less tissue damage than a .270?
 

memtb

Active Member
I’m glad you’re happy with your choice of caliber.
I’m sure it works great. That’s awesome.
I have a real question though … how can you guarantee that canon will cause less tissue damage than a .270?
Thanks.....it simply works!

I’ve seen many animals harvested by high velocity rounds, 270’s (including a few by my wife before she moved up to a little larger caliber), 264 Mags, 300 Mags, ect and nearly always there was much more bloodshot meat than with the .375 H&H. When I went to my AI, it makes noticeably more blood shot meat than did the H&H. So.....you try to put it in the ribs behind the shoulder to minimize meat loss!

The 30-06 and the 375 H&H are near ballistic twins (when bullets used are in the typical/standard weights)....the “aught 6” has not been noted as a meat destroying cartridge!

In the more common rifle weights, the .375 H&H is quite tame! Forty or more rounds from the bench in an afternoon is quite doable. Many shooters quickly discover that it’s actually very pleasant to shoot. In fact, in the aforementioned rifle, it has far less felt recoil than my wife’s .338WM. The same cannot be said for my 9 pound AI......20 rounds at a sitting is plenty! 😉 memtb
 

dan maule

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Jan 3, 2015
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The .280 Rem does it all. Oh, I use a bipod. 😜

I took 19 rounds w/me to WY this week. I brought back 17 rounds to IA...😆
I purchased a .280 rem for my wife about 25 years ago. It became my son’s gun when he turned 12. We’ve killed lots of stuff with it over the years. I agree it does it all, I personally think it’s the best of all the 30-06 based rounds. Very large variety of bullet weights and types available for it.
 
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Winchester

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Interesting insights memtb, thanks.
I certainly do see the advantages of using the same rifle & load and really learning it’s ballistics, etc. It seems to be working well for you !
 
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billdoe708

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May 10, 2015
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Thanks.....it simply works!

I’ve seen many animals harvested by high velocity rounds, 270’s (including a few by my wife before she moved up to a little larger caliber), 264 Mags, 300 Mags, ect and nearly always there was much more bloodshot meat than with the .375 H&H. When I went to my AI, it makes noticeably more blood shot meat than did the H&H. So.....you try to put it in the ribs behind the shoulder to minimize meat loss!

The 30-06 and the 375 H&H are near ballistic twins (when bullets used are in the typical/standard weights)....the “aught 6” has not been noted as a meat destroying cartridge!

In the more common rifle weights, the .375 H&H is quite tame! Forty or more rounds from the bench in an afternoon is quite doable. Many shooters quickly discover that it’s actually very pleasant to shoot. In fact, in the aforementioned rifle, it has far less felt recoil than my wife’s .338WM. The same cannot be said for my 9 pound AI......20 rounds at a sitting is plenty! 😉 memtb
I have have buddy that says you can eat right up to the hole using a 375.
 
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