Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Most versatile caliber for medium to large game?

I don't think I'd want to use just one gun from deer up through big bears as your original questions asks. I've got a 270wby and 300wm for elk. 6mm Rem for deer. If I went after a big bear, I'd find something much bigger. Different tools for different jobs. I guess you could use a 375 for deer/elk/bear/caribou/moose, but I wouldn't want to. Buy something between 270wby and 300RUM for now, get a 375 if you ever head to grizzly land. My $0.02.

I would pick the 30-06. Other good choices would be the 270 Win, 270 Wby Mag, 280 Rem, 7mm Rem Mag & 300 win Mag.

I also vote .270. Shot placement is critical with any gun used.

With a 243 on the bottom end for deer and varmint and a 340 on the top end for elk, moose, and bear.....sounds like you are covered pretty well. But any excuse for another rifle is a great excuse.

My in between rifle would be a 264 Win but that is just me. Next choice would be between a 270 (either Win or WSM) and a 7mm mag of some nature. Again, mine is an STW.

The 270 would recoil a bit less and be suitable for any deer you will ever find.

The 7 mag will kick a bit harder (on both ends) and have a bit more lethal range on larger game.

.325 WSM sure don't suck... medium to big game, out to 600 yards. I pair it with a .358 and have the perfect pair- both of them oddballs, both impossible to find ammo for... perfect!

(seriously, though, .325 WSM is pretty cool...)

Did someone say 338WM?


If not.... 338WM

If So... +1

As you have likely seen from the # of listings a 7Mag or 30-06 can (and most certainly has) covered everything shootable in NA. I like to hedge my bets a little bit on elk size and up though so if I really had to go "one and done" from scratch for most everything it'd be some .300Mag. Preferably a Wby but you did say ammo availability is a factor and while Roy's Big 30 is common as Weatherby ammo goes it's not .300 Win available.

BUT you also said bears...and didn't stipulate blacks. Now I know there are people that take /06's after grizz and even brownies but I'd never be one of them if I had the choice. If that's really a consideration I wouldn't want less than a .300 or better still a .338. Or...

I wholeheartedly agree with those that, assuming it's not too much recoil for you, voted for the .340. Flat? My .340 with 210gr TSXBT's is dead even with my 7RM's trajectory with the 150gr TSXBT. It also brings more beer to the party when it gets there. Bears? A 275gr A-Frame is pushing the 300gr .375 H&H in umph and due to better BC is a good deal flatter shooting.

I know, I sound like a commercial. The point being if you're going to try to actually make one rifle work for everything from stopping a grizzly charge to picking off a mule deer on yonder ridge you'd be hard pressed to find a caliber that gives up less at either end of that criteria than the .340 Wby.

Is it the cartridge that makes a shooter versatile or the shooter that makes a cartridge versatile?
If it is the cartridge that would be nice as you can buy that.

.300 WBY.......it will do it all.

7 mm mag, 300 Winny

Springfield Special, the granddaddy and all of its descendants .280 and above.

Personal favorite: 35 Whelen
Sexiest to a loony: 338-06
Most practical: Good ol' 30-06

270, 280, 30-06, take your choice, all work with the right bullets.

MM

.280 Rem
7mm RM
.30-06
.300 WM
.338-06
.338 WM

The ones in my safe are the 7mm RM, .30-06 and .300 WM. For long range work I prefer the .30-06, 7mm RM and .300 WM in that order.

If I ever get to hunt big bear I might get a .375 Ruger.

Whats the advantage to the 300 WM over the 30-06 or vice versa?

100-150fps, wsm a fat cartridge that may not feed well, limited magazine capacity, cartridges that cost a way more than the 06, and for all the trouble not as much power as a 30 magnum.

I have a 30-06 myself. It'll do for everything I do.


for you,a 300 weatherby would be perfect.You could load it down to 30-06 velocity for deer,or load 'er up to snuff for the bigger stuff.A 150 gr at 3000 fps for deer,or a 200 grain at 3200 for moose.

A vote for clarity. The Great 358 win. using bullets fit for the weight of the animal hunted. 180grn to 250grn. 2700fps to 2400fps Whitetail to Brownies. The Ruger Hawkeye is a very nice choice. Good Luck.

I think time, experience, and the market place have answered this question:
30-06.

My brother in law was saying he wants a 300 RUM, havent heard a lot of talk about it though.

Ditch the .243. Get you a sporter .223. I mean a real rifle, not one of the black gun clones for going pop pop pop at the range. And get you a 30-06 and learn how to shoot both of them and you've got it covered.
Use the .223 up to antelope and the 30-06 for everything else. Folks talk about "load up; load down", I've never done that. I work up a good load and use it on everything.