Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Pick your North America big game battery.

Lots of good choices made

.22 rimfire is not for big game, so I would assume its a given in any man's battery.

For Big Game in NA:

.243 Win
.270 Win
.338 WM

Two rifles setup the same in:
7mm-08 / 7X57
.338-06

My answer almost 12 years ago has essentially not changed, the only caveat would be:

2 qty 7-08's

-or-

2 qty 270's

-or-

2 qty 308's

-or-

2 qty 30-06's

Coupled with a no.2, 24" bbl'd 300WSM (or whatever) with Hubble Scope.

I suppose the only two hunting rifles I own right now would suffice:
-300 win mag(200gr Partition or AB)
-6.5X55 Swede w/some variety of 130 or 140 gr bullet.Probably an AB,NP, or maybe the new Hornady ELD-X?

Of course, the likelihood of these being my only two rifles follows an inverse geometric progression with the amount of time I spend on the 24hr Campfire.

Duracoated savage 110 30-06 with a Leopold 3-9. Firmly believe that chambering can effectively kill everything in North America with the right bullet selection from short to longish range. I know suuuupppeeerrr boring but true. Did I mention I'm putting together that exact gun this winter.

MM

Tikka T3 - 7mm-08
Browning X-Bolt - 300 Win Mag
CZ 550 American Kevlar - 9.3x62 (in brown bear country), Ruger M77 Hawkeye 358 Win (my favorite of all my rifles) if not

Subject to change!

Rem 700 22.250 26" 8/12 twist hart stainless.factory wood (1962) 8x20x40 lupy w/turrets
Rem 700 25-06 mcmillan left hand 3.5x10x40 lupy Rem 700 280 mtn. factory kevlar left hand. 3.5x10x40 lupy

6.5 Creedmoor
30-06
50 cal muzzleloader
Creedmoor and 06 built the same with McMillan stock, stainless barrel, good trigger and scope. Both about 7.5 lbs

I could live with a 7-08 or 308 for everything

[email].243, 270, 45-70[/email]

A lever action 30-30 with a fixed 4x for everything 150 yards and in and a 7mm Rem Mag in some sort of bolt action with a 3x9 on top for everything else.

That said, my current battery is a Glenfield M30 in 30-30 with a 4x Bushnell and a Remington 760 carbine in '06 with a 3x9 Winfield in flip mounts.

Dad put that 760 together like that back in about '62 or '63, it still works.

Funny seeing this, 12 years ago it was the 264 Win Mag and 338 Win Mag.

Today,

6.5 CM
280 Ackley
300 Win Mag
(I do have a 338 RCM that will fill in nicely too)

270 and 375


7 Mashburn and 375

30/06 and 375

280 and 375.

7 Rem Mag and 375

I'd take #2

If I'd have done that 20 years ago I bet I'd be a little further ahead....

.223
.30-06

Ruger M77 All Weather Hawkeye .308, 2-7X33 LRD
150 Accubond
165 Accubond
180 Accubond

I get the concept, I just can't see the need for a 375 H&H in North America. A "world battery" yes, NA no.

Brad: I wanted one medium bore for here and Africa. I could build a 375 as light as a 338.

I don't know the difference between 338-250/225,and a 375 250/270. They cut the same swath.

ruger no 1 in 25/06 for stuff up to deer size and a custom mauser in 8mm mag for everything else

Bob, one of the better writers did a piece on brown bears years ago.. He talked with a number of Alaskan guides about the calibers they used or saw used on the big bears..

They felt the .338 was good, and the .300, but a real difference in dropping when one stepped up to the .375.. O'Connor used the .375 when he made his first brown bear hunt... Apparently he felt the 06 or .270 were not quite enough..