Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What's the biggest cartridge you'll ever need?

12.04 (.475) Bibamufu. Because I'm a masochist?

9.3x62...good to go for anything I will ever see in North America and a good candidate for a one gun hunter. Although I own and shoot a modern swede, a 270, & a 300winmag...if push came to shove and the deevorce maggots held me to just one shooter I might take the 270 or flip a coin over the ole mauser.
Ron

My 416Rigby has served me well even on a clients wounded Cape buff and drops Ele quite nicely so I cannot envision needing bigger but I keep fondling the double guns in 475#2....

375H&H..........I hope,cause that's the biggest I have.

9.3X62.
Actually too big for anything in Idaho except perhaps elk, but it would be great for BC or Alaskan moose/brown bears.

In all reality.. A 270 is all I will ever need.. But hey, were all gun nuts right? So, If I ever go bear hunting in Alaska Im gonna need a 375 Ruger Alaskan, and If I ever go to Africa, then id love to have a 416 Rigby... However, the Kimber Carprivi 375 H&H is a beautiful gun.. Even though Id like a 470 Nitro double gun, unless I win the lotto the Caprivi would be the most expensive gun I would ever own.. However, a 270 will kill any thing in N. America except for the big bears...

300 Win. Mag

my 338RUM she will put down whatever I point her at. HAPPY HUNTING

Need? Probably .38-72-300
Use? Definitely .45-100-500

Since Africa is prolly outa the question, and I still have a bunch of stuff left to kill in North America. A 200gr pill outa 300 of some kind.

My 35 Whelen should take care of all my needs, though I would like to get either a 444 or 45/70.

I'd grab for my 375 Ruger Alaskan.

Sweet!

For me, it has been .338WM since 1968, although I own .375H&H, 9.3s and .45-70s, several of them and am thinkin'on buying a .416 Rigby from a friend, gawd knows why a geezer like me wants such a thing......

So, a matched pair of tuned,, synthetic stocked crf .338s, with good scopes, ghost ring/post irons and QD mts. is it plus a light .270 or .280 as a deer rifle. But, this would mean parting with guns I worked/saved for years to get, nope, NEED 'em ALL!!!

Twin 50's Got to shoot one while I was in the Navy...Man what a hoot...Twin barrel 50mm cannon...You haven't really lived until you fire one of them suckers...With Bio-tech research & genetic engineering going on who knows.... Real life though...I'd feel confident enough with anything from a .270 on up, to go for a walk any place on earth...

"One of the nice things about having one rifle you like is you get to grow old with it."

That's the way it's worked out for me. I bought my Winchester 670 .30-06 new in 1978 when I was just shy of my 19th birthday from K-mart. I'm now 48 and the ol' '06 has worked as well for me as I could have hoped. Plus, it's still sub-MOA.

I think it was in American Rifleman that I saw a piece called "My Favorite Rifle," or something like that, a few years ago. In it, there was a photo of this old man holding a rifle he'd used since the 1940s and he'd taken umpteen deer with it. Although I doubt I'll have the same headcount by the time I get to his age (ASSUMING I get to his age), I want to be using the same rifle I've been using if I make it.

Sure, I could replace my rifle with any model/caliber I'd like, but I guess I'm just too practical and loyal to a piece of machinery that works. I love the .30-06 for its versatility, even though I know it can be beat by many other calibers in specific areas, save for said versatility. The .30-06 is the perfect answer to the one-rifle question. YMMV.

Now, it's time for a confession. If I had to do it all over again, I'd choose either a 7-08 or a .260 Rem. (of course, I don't think either were available commercially back in 1978). That's not a knock against the venerable .30-06, it's just that I still haven't found that I need all of its versatility. But it's nice to know it's there if I ever do figure out how to use it. (Actually, I made up some handloads using Speer's 100-gr. Plinker bullet that would be great for cottontails, but I prefer to use my ol' 870 12 ga. for that chore.)
DAL357

416 Rem. Mag., but only for lion, hippo, Cape buffalo, rhino, and elephant, plus Asiatic bovines such those hunted in Australia........

AD

I'm thinking I "need" a Marlin stainless Guide Gun in 45-70 for hunting BlackBear in the rain forests of western Oregon. (don't want to get my CDL 35 Whelen wet!)
Virgil B.

405 Winchester and a 45-70 Buffalo Classic. Got 'em both. No need for anything bigger. Got most everything else I "need" but I have a "want" for a quarter bore -- 257Bob is looking pretty good if they are all like my brother's new Ruger MkII. Sweeeeeeet!

6,5x55 Swede..with the .300 Savage for fun out to 250 yards..
Have a good 30.06 bolt rifle..but seldom have needed it..Jim