Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Pet Caliber? Which do You Favour? And Why?

6.5. because.

300 Savage and 6.5 Swede

Keep the bullets, sell off the 7 mag rifles, get a proper 7x57...which is my favorite.

Same here. 7mm-08 and .308 are probably my top two picks in those calibers.

I guess I've got more Swedes than anything. But this is kind of like asking a mechanic which tool he favors..they all have a purpose and he needs them all.

I own more 22 caliber rifles than anything else. I like shooting them and reloading for them. I guess I could probably use them for everything I do. Only problem is that I like shooting different rifles and cartridges

"There ain't nothing you can't fix with $700 and a .30-06."

308, because I don't have to think about it.


Okie John

I’m a 7 mag guy, got five I think. They work well is why I like them, but after watching grandkids slay deer and pigs with 243’s, could do just as well with a Creedmoor. I have 6

Been a 300mag lover for nearly 40yrs and still my overall favorite, but the past few years I've become a 7mm Mashburn fan and it's becoming harder to pick a 300 over it.

Hard to say. 6.5

7mm

You .284 guys are communists.




P

I like em' all! Why? Well, loonyism is a thing ya; know.

90% of my hunting is whitetails within 300 yards. I haven’t found anything I like better than the 257 roberts for that. Don’t really have any connection to the cartridge and it’s the only 25 caliber I’ve ever owned. Just works and works well for me. I currently have 6 rifles chambered in 257 roberts and every one of them will shoot any factory ammo I’ve tried in them or any of my handloads plenty good enough to do everything I’ll ever ask of them.

It depends on how I’m feeling and which stand I plan on hunt. 240 Wby, 7 mag, 30/06 or 35 Whelen.

My big game experience pales in comparison to most here but I've taken big game with
6mm (243win)
6.5mm (PRC)
7mm (280rem)
.308cal (30WCF, 308WIN, 30-06)
For deer I've lost taste for the 243win due to inadequate blood trails. The PRC was a loner for an audad hunt and worked perfectly. Killed several deer with the 280 but ammo has become hard to find and secretly wish the role stamp said "270". 308 has become my go-to for local deer, it really is the easy button. My 30-06 is my "out west" rifle and will be headed to Colorado at the end of this week for mule deer. guess I've become a 30 cal guy but who knows what will happen down the road? I have a 270WBY, 7mmRemMag, 9.3X62 and a 375Ruger that haven't seen blood. Need to fix that!

As far a versatility for big game, the 06 is still king. Our general season is both deer and elk, so an 06 with 180's is a pretty good choice IMO.

I have 7mm-08's, 6.5 PRC, 338WM, but the 06 usually wins out unless I feel the need to pull out the 50 cal BP rifle.

In our youth, pre 40, we shot thousands and thousands of ground squirrels with 30-06, 270, 25-06, and maybe 15 percent w/ 22-250.

Yeah, we are not so tough anymore. I no longer enjoy four hundred high power rounds per day from prone.

I did my first deer hunt at age 11 back in 1949. Did very few hunt until age 16 but then with friends who had wheels got in a few more hunts. Rifle at that time was an old 1894 Winchester carbine in 30-30. Sometime in the middle of that period I got a 1917 Enfield 30-06 and cobbled up a sporting rifle in my spare time. I guess I use that old rifle and others all in 30-06 until 1973 when I broke down and bought a Remington 660 in .308 Win. Frankly, I was no fan of the .308 but I was an extremely heavy chain smoker at that time and hunting up around 9,000 feet MSL breathing was a problem. I finally quit in 1975 for good, smoking that is. I used that .308 until I transferred from Nevada to Arizona in 1979. I'd once owned a neat 6.5x54 MS carbine that someone stole from my truck in Elko Nevada and had looked for some time for a clean replacement. Never found one I likes so when I saw the Ruger RSI in .308 I new I'd have to get one. Finally found one dirt cheap as the man selling it said he could not get any decent hunting loads in the rifle. I liked the feel and looked at the light switch on the wall, closed my eyes and snapped the rifle to my shoulder. The sights were dead on the switch. Tried it a few more time with the same result and decided I'd gamble on making that gun shoot. It took a while but I found success. I got the 165 gr. Speer Hot Core to do 2550 FPS and group at 1.5 inches consistently. It's one deer killin' load in that rifle.
I played off and on with other cartridge, the .243, .270, 7x57, .300 Win. Mag. and still have a few rifles in other chamberings I haven't worked with. I fell into the .35 Whelen and it's been my go to rifle for elk. All the elk I've taken except two were with the .35. One with the .300 Win. and one with the 30-06.
Currently I've been working with the 7x57 a lot and have a couple of good loads and one very fine load with the .280 Rem. Whether either one ends up on a hunt depends on whether I can find a guide who handles handicapped hunters and is reasonably affordable.
I guess, based on all the above, if push came to shove, the 30-06 would be #1 with the .308 a close second place. Those are the two I've used the most over many long years.
PJ

22LR is the standard for pets.

Knew a guy who used to clip kitties right on people's porches.