Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Too many ‘One Cartridge To Rule them all threads. How bout a Top 3?

For the average NA hunting Joe, who may or may not reload, ISNT going to have a walk-in sized safe full of rifles, may want the variety of bolt and lever, short to long action, north to south, east to west, varmint to big/dangerous game, trying to avoid unnecessary redundancy/overlap....

You get THREE.

Which are yours and why?

223, 6.5C, 30/06
Littles, mediums, and bigs.

... And because some else will say 22, 12ga, 30/06.

22-250 with an 8 twist- from varmints all the way to deer. No recoil and just a fun darned cartridge.

270 Winchester- Great mix of deer and elk cartridge. Light rifle and easy to shoot

338 Win Mag - cause it works great for me on the elk mountain and kills poor littler deer just fine as well.

223, 6.5x55, 338 federal

Now you're talkin'

Of course. No shot/slug gun though. You can have them, just not in this discussion. You have the idea though - small, medium, big. Myself, I’m struggling with the small and big bookends. 308 is my middle ground without much thought at all, but it gets muddy fast over and under. Knee jerk I guess I could say .22 and .45/70, but it feels disingenuous.

Average N/A hunting Joe isn’t huntin’ coastal brownies at 25k a pop ... so I figured I’d leave out the 375 ;-)

I could get by with my .223. .260 and a 338/06, if I had to.

But I dont.

God bless the U.S.A!

.22LR, 223 REM and 308 WIN would do all I'll ever need.

If your talking any rifle cartridge you have to start with a .22lr but if your asking about centerfire cartridges only mine would be:
1. 223 Rem ( Varmint/Turkey )
2. .300 Win ( Deer )
3. 45-70 (Ohio gun season)
This is an interesting question as cartridge choice will be likely very different depending on a hunters/shooters individual needs......Hb

Mr Harry, #1 - 375 H&H. #2 - .338 WM. #3 - .223 Rem. memtb

Exactly. But not just in your personal ‘backyard’. Have few rifles, will travel. NA.

Dang, we got a heavy hitter right there.

I kinda lost my interest in shooting squirrels myself, but...

Didn’t read your post very well.....had to replace the .300 with a .223 REM. The wife and I share the .223 Rem. memtb

Still, interesting selections. Thank you. Wyoming...

Should probably have left the “average hunting joe” part out. Average avid NA hunter. Still 3....

+1

22LR - doesn't count, everyone has one or should.

223 - varmints and plinking
7-08 - medium game
375 H&H - large deer like moose n elk plus big bears, Africa capable too

I could do everything I'm ever going to do with .223, 6.5 Creed. and .30-30. I ain't rich and never will be so globe trotting isn't in the cards.