To me..... all-around would mean a rifle capable of punching any tag, under any condition, at any sane range, and has to be <8lbs all-up.
I thought we were talkin "all around" from Virginia to Florida ? If so, that means deer, maybe black bear and hogs and possibly some predators varmints, correct ? Anybody who needs a 7 mag., .35 Whelen, .358, .30-06 or even .308 for that needs shooting lessons or game anatomy lessons, one or the other.
That wouldn’t be “all-around”..... now would it? That would be “The South”. I love when “all-around” means “all-around my narrow hunting conditions”. Nobody needs a big 7 for white tails out of a tree stand, or bears over bait.... but that’s only a small part of “all-around”.... and anyone who thinks that the 7 ain’t effective in those situations, hasn’t hunted much.
If all-around truly means all-around... then sometimes you’re gonna be a little over-gunned, sometimes you may be a bit undergunned. I’d have no issue taking that rifle I pictured above to hunt almost anything, almost anywhere, under almost any conditions, from Alabama to Zimbabwe.... and I’d expect it to hammer anything I pointed it at.... with about 4 or 5 exceptions. Those exceptions are animals who are willing and capable of immediately rearranging my anatomy.
If “all-around” means whitetail and an occasional black bear, at treestand/woods ranges.... then you can pick about any chambering.... and have it “all” covered.
