cartridge would be your go to big gamer?? Now I'll assume most already reload for their favorite. But if it's a .260 or a 6.5-284 or say a 300wsm and you didn't like buying near $60 a box factory ammo. What ya gonna do?
Which cartridge is gonna be your go to big gamer??
.308...
Because if it comes to that, most of my shooting will be from a big box magazine...
DN
270 for me also, 30-06 and 308 get honorable mention.
270 win is first choice. followed closely by the 30-06.
.243 might be able to lower my standards down to the 30-06 though
30-06. aint a critter on the planet that cant be killed by it, and so many bullet choices available.
308 - for all the reasons muledeer listed and implied
Kind of a weird question, because if handloading is outlawed, hunting would be too, but if I had to hunt with store bought ammo, I've got a couple .30-06's that will do everything that needs doing.
To begin with, If I did not reload, I would sell whatever else I had to sell to get my hands on some loading gear!
This question did, however, get me thinking and remembering. It is illegal to reload in Zimbabwe and many other countries. In Zim, we see a lot of .375 H&H and .458 Win. For dedicated plains game rifles the 30'06, 270 and 7X57 are all well reprsented. In all truthfullnes, Any non thick skinned animal hit well with a good bullet from any of these will react about the same. No real difference between any of them save for ammo availability in your region or regions you hunt in. The new premium bullets best represented by the Barnes X and TSX series moves the three mentioned above up several notches in thier ability to handle larger game.
If it were me having to stick to one rifle and not reloading I would, immediately upon recovering from my attempt at suicide and re-aquiring my gun ownership rights after said attmept go forth and purchase a .375 H&H. From Dik Dik to Dinosaur we could git 'er done, but please don't tell my wife!
THREE-OH-EIGHT 
I would have to go with the 30/06 - just way too many chances for factory success. The 270 Win. would be my second choice.
308...and hope one of the premium loads would shoot in my rifle....
the few rifles I have had that would not shoot well with a Barnes Bullet got new barrels. Last I heard, they are making more barrels every day. Life is too short to go through it any other way.
I still say .375 H&H.
I almost wanted to say that it'd be 1/2 dozen 30-06 or 6 to the 308.
But then the 308 has a reputation for accuracy, and being rather un-fussy to load for.
So logic would dictate the same would hold true for factory ammo.
Therefore, 308 indeed. Remember like two years ago, you could BUY South African surplus for less than you could load "Blastin Ammo" And before that it was Radway Green, and Cavim?? Those were the days. The UPS man must've thought I was outfitting a Militia every month when he brought the next case of ammo. It got to be a running joke that it "was that time of the month, and my rifles needed tampons." Man I miss surplus 308 ammo...
270 Winchester and 375H&H.
Same as now, just not handloaded...
.25-06 Fed Premium 110 Accubond
.300 Winchester Fed Premium 180 Partition
.35 Whelen Fed Premium 225 Trophy Bonded or Nosler Custom 225 Accubond
Realistically, if I were starting again, I'd probably just get a .30-06, and feed it 180 Partitions.
.30-06 SPRG due to ammo selection availability and cartridge capability.
.30-06 SPRG due to ammo selection availability and cartridge capability.
Well said, and pretty much sums it up.
Besides the fact that the 30-06 will just plain work, if you can't find 30-06 ammo on a shelf in some store, chances are you're not gonna find any of the other choices mentioned above either.
It's pretty much universal.
Same as now, I just wouldnt shoot targets any more.
Odessa is right about the 30/06.
You can only shoot one load at a time and I'd look for max flexibility from one load,so in the 270 I'd buy the ammo by the case,same lot number,and shoot federal premium in either 130 Nosler Partition, or 140 HE Trophy Bonded bullets and shoot everything with them.
In the 375H&H,I'd reach for Federal premiums in 250 Trophy Bonded for North America, and 300 gr softs and solids in the Federal Cape Shock line up.
30-06...
The factory stuff is close to (but a touch less) than what a handloaded 308 runs at.
Of course HE stuff is available too, but I suspect we're talking economical loads here.
.308 Win Would likely be my second choice.
Safariman's choice of the .375 H&H is obviously best for the non-handloading traveling hunter, or those who live where there is really big game. It also works quite well on smaller stuff, as anybody who's used the .375 much knows.
I would also back up his statements about the legality of handloading some places. There are indeed jurisdictions where handloading is illegal, yet hunting is very popular. As a matter of fact, long before hunting was banned in Kenya, handloading was illegal. In fact Finn Aagaard never handloaded a round before he moved to the U.S. in 1977, for that very reason.
For my hunting in Montana it would be a .270, .308 or .30-06, simply because they have the widest variety of factory loads and always will. I'd probably lean hardest toward the .30-06, because even when used with "ordinary" bullets it works quite well on our heaviest game, whether elk or Shiras moose. The other two will also, but you don't have to be quite so choosy about shot angle with the old '06, and it offers a little more zip with lighter bullets than the .308. But any of the three would be fine.
That's easy. .30-06 all the way. Super versitile both up and down.
308...and hope one of the premium loads would shoot in my rifle....
using a .308, or a 30-06 there's honestly not much that you couldn't do with corelokts or power points...
and both have shot very well in the majority of rifles that i own...
in fact, rems 180 corelokt is very hard to beat for accuracy in either of my 30-06s....
in my .243 the rem 80 plhp is the second most accurate load ever shot, including handloads... the most accurate load was a federal premium factory load... the 70 nbt...
i would not worry about the performance of factory ammo.....
it's the price that gives me fits.....
.270
90% of everything that needed killing could be handled by 130 Core-lokts or Power Points. The other 10% by 150 gr of the same.
Mike
Definitely 308. Matter of fact, I may go on record with a prediction that the .308 will become America's version of the .303 Brit. It won't be long till every house that owns a rifle will have a .308 in it.
30-06, impossible to find 308 loaded ammo around here in the big stores (Walmart, Academy) right now, nice selection in 30-06 still. And yes of course I do have a 308 also
30-06. As far as I know it has the most loadings of any cartridge in the U.S., so you should be able to find a bullet that is accurate in your gun; for whatever your needs are. Seems like an obvious choice to me.
Definitely 308. Matter of fact, I may go on record with a prediction that the .308 will become America's version of the .303 Brit. It won't be long till every house that owns a rifle will have a .308 in it.
I like the way you think!
308 WIN
I haven't been reloading for long, but I don't want to go back to factory ammo.
For about 95% of my hunting needs, I could go back to my Marlin 336SS 30-30 which I still mainly shoot Hornady LeverEvolution ammo in anyway.
I haven't been reloading for long, but I don't want to go back to factory ammo.
For about 95% of my hunting needs, I could go back to my Marlin 336SS 30-30 which I still mainly shoot Hornady LeverEvolution ammo in anyway.
Me too, but the question was if you don't reload. I could probably get along in many cases with my 30-30 also, but 30-06 would take care of all the hunting I'm likely to do.
It would be back to the .308 for me, just like I started with.
223 and here is why: If I couldn't handload I would assume some sort of catastrophy had occurred. In which case there would be military ammo available somehow, and I could kill anything I needed to with it, plus carry more ammo with less weight (yeah I know it's the military arguement).
If we weren't talking that type of episode then why couldn't I reload?
Interesting...........I thought I would see a lot more magnums listed here.
30.06!!!
Well, if we are talking about a TEOTWAWKI type siduation, Then my choice would be the .308 Win because, you're liable to be shooting against oponents with .223s and you will need an edge.
So, I would not choose a .223, although I would sure like to still yet have one available, but not at the expense of giving my .308
If we are talking only about somekind of restrictions on gun ownership, but still able to hunt and purchase ammo at your favorite supplier, then I might very likely still choose the .308 Win not nessarily because of the caliber, but because of the rifle, in which case I have complete confidence in my older steel framed Browning BLR. And since I usually only get to hunt deer, and other simular game or smaller it would do just fine, and I would really only need one load anyway, which would be if I could get them, Winchester 180gr silver tips.
If I just had to have more versatility, then my choice would be the time proven 30-06. If you can't do it with a 30/06 then it probably can't be done.
30-30 because if I'm buying ammo, it's inexpensive, found everywhere and it does the job.
The 30-06, it has the widest range of factory loads with bullet wieghts from 55 grains to 220 grains. The 308 and 270 Winchester would be next.
I thought about the "vehicle" first... Since my "one" gun battery would be a light weight bolt gun, prefer short actions and barrels under 20"... .308 is the only choice.
Bob
Something common and easy to find like a 270, 30-06 or 308 good for poking holes in stuff would be my choice. Probably a 308.
Guess I shouldn't be suprised that the 7mm hasn't shown up. Ammo avaliability looks to truimp. local hardware store has 243,308,30-06,and 7mm ammo. More -06 ammo than the others and the .243 ain't a go to big gamer.
If I truly couldn't reload, the only reason I can think of would be no primers to be had. I read from one of the old timers, maybe Col. Askins, who talked about hunting with an '03 and milsurp ammo, because that was all he could get/afford, and nipping the tips off the bullets in hopes they would expand. Since neither '03s nor '06 milsurp are that cheap anymore, my first choice would be a cheap '98 Mauser 8x57 and cheap ammo (I already have about 2500 rounds) or a Mosin-Nagant and lots of surp 7.62x54R.
Of course, for either I would also buy some good hunting ammo, but I would have the milsurp stuff for practice and backup.
Otherwise, I would choose the .30/30 because it works, the ammo is loaded all over the world, and you can find decent ammo as cheap as the cheapest .223 and substantially cheaper than .308.
But I would figure out a way to reload. The Finns did, even in a time when centerfire rifles were outlawed.