What Is Your Favorite All Around Caliber...And Why????

Catahoula12

Very Active Member
Apr 26, 2013
709
123
Colorado, was Az.
I have a few different calibers in the safe but I have to say my .270 Winchester handloaded with Accubond 140s has to be my go to for deer and elk. Real thumper.
 

badgerbob

Active Member
May 18, 2015
397
72
Eastern Oregon
If I had to pick just one, it would be hard for me to pick between my 30-06 and .300 Wby. I think it would be the .300 because of better performance with 180 gr and above bullets.

I shoot a 25-06 on deer, antelope and feral hogs and love the caliber, but I don't think it has enough oomph (shooting a 117 gr bullet) for elk or moose.
CC, it seems like I'm in agreement with about everything you post. I shoot a 300 win mag and a 25-06. Pretty much handles anything I hunt. 180 accubonds shoot real well from my 300. If you don't mind my asking, what do you shoot in your Wby?
BB
 

Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,074
4,301
82
Dolores, Colorado
I shoot 86.5 gr Reloader 25, 180 gr Nosler Partition & Lg Rifle Mag primer. Getting right at 3200 FPS. I also have a load for 150 gr but don't remember exactly what I'm using powder wise. Bullet is a 150 gr Sierra Game King BT.
 

7mag

Active Member
Sep 1, 2014
155
0
Wyoming
For me it is tough to pick between my 7 mag shooting 160 grain partitions or my 280 with 140 grain accubonds
 

Kentucky hunter

Active Member
Jul 22, 2013
275
0
loretto ky
300 RUM a lot of people dont like them mine shoots a 168gr barns at 3280 fps probably the flattest shooting 300 out there its a little heavy but its dead on for a long poke
 

Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,074
4,301
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Dolores, Colorado
300 RUM a lot of people dont like them mine shoots a 168gr barns at 3280 fps probably the flattest shooting 300 out there its a little heavy but its dead on for a long poke
I beg to differ with you. I have a .300 Wby that gets 3200 with a 180 gr Nosler Partition. My son shoots a .300RUM that we hand load for and we have compared a lot of different loads on the chronograph and shooting distances up tp 500 yards. In most loads, his rum is slightly faster than my Wby, but it takes about 10 more grains of powder to do it. Ballistically they are almost identical, except with 220 grain bullets where his rum is better.

Just my experience.
 

SansSouci

Active Member
Nov 3, 2013
207
0
It was enjoyable to read about hunters' favorite cartridges. There are a lot of excellent cartridges.

The way I see it, what's right for one hunter might be all wrong for another. If a hunter prefers a .300 mega-magnum, who am I to say he's wrong? He knows what's right for him, not me.

I see it as preference. When I was far more intelligent than I am now, I had to have a 7MM Rem Mag because it was the definitive elk cartridge. It will kill the largest elk dead, and there's only one degree of dead and that's dead. Big game doesn't get any deader than dead.

To me, rifle design is as important as cartridge. I prefer 22" barrels and on the light side of the weight scale.

The two best might be the .280 Rem and the '06. I own neither. And I'm not buying another hunting rifle. I didn't need the last one I bought.

If we exclude the largest bears, I'll go with either of my .270 Win rifles. Both shoot very tiny groups. I could live in Alaska with a .270 Win and a .45/70 Gov't for the largest and meanest bears. But then gain, I could put a .308 Win carbine to a whole lot of good use.

You guys own lots of excellent cartridges.
 
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HogsFly

Active Member
Apr 8, 2018
298
0
Parker, Colorado
My first rifle was a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .30-06. Some guy convinced me if I wanted to shoot-more-better, I needed a .308 Win. That worked for a while until someone invented the Internet and a YouTuber created the 6.5 CDMR. Some other gun-guy said nothing was as good as the 6 CDMR for shooting long distance. Now, I just watched a big-brand-marketing guy tell me that the 6.5 PRC is the best thing since canned-Spam. I see a trend. Only took me several years to see it's always about the next great caliber.

I'm sticking with my 7 Rem Mag.
 

280ackimp

Active Member
Jul 4, 2017
166
28
New Hampshire
SansSouci--- who you trying to convince !!??? "The two best might be the .280 Rem and the '06. I own neither. And I'm not buying another hunting rifle. I didn't need the last one I bought."

I tell myself that all the time ....However, I have no willpower
 

Jdd2035

Active Member
Sep 12, 2016
186
91
30-06 its a classic and can knock down most every thing except maybe a bison. Not to mention I own one and don't have enough money to buy anything new lol.
 

JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
7,070
8,347
70
Gypsum, Co
30-06 its a classic and can knock down most every thing except maybe a bison. Not to mention I own one and don't have enough money to buy anything new lol.
It will work quite well on a bison also. I know quite a few hunters that have shot one with the old 06