Ok, just because survey. Pick two centerfire cartridges (no rimfires or shotguns) fired in a rifle for varmints to whatever in North America. Doesn’t matter if you handload or not.

Go.

.223 Rem
.308 Win

Just because

243 win. 338 win mag.

Omitting the big bears: 270 and 223

223
30-06

223 and 270

243 and 35 Whelen

22-250

30-06

6mm rem
35 whelen

.223 Rem
.264 Win Mag

221fb
300WM

A 7 twist 223 so I could shoot 75+ grain bullets, and some 7mm.

Make mine Kimber Montana’s in 223 (custom barrel) and 7WSM.

TinyTry,

For Big Bears and the ilk,make mine a 223 Bolt Gun. Though I can only speak to Kodiak,Afognak,Chichagof,Baranof and Admiralty,in the first hand...unless you count Mainland forays. Hint.

For the balance,I'll follow suit and add RPM to the fray,mainly because boolits matter. Hint.

BT/DT. Hint.................

.223
.308

.243 Win

.300 Wby

.270 Win. and .30-06 Springfield.

I've got several more that I love, but these two seem to be the two most popular overall. I've killed most of my game with them and they're easy to load for. And never a shortage of components to load them, that is since Obama left town anyway.

600 and 700 Nitro Express..............LOL

32-20 for small stuff and 30-30 for bigger stuff. Just because the specific guns that chamber them have a boatload of sentimental value. And if I ever make it to Africa, I'm sure Squeeze will let me borrow the up 700NE 😂.

375 Ruger
30 06 or .308

.222 Remington
.280 Remington

Just to be different.

+1

A Midweight 6.5 CM (under 8lbs all-up).
A Lightweight 6.5 CM (under 7lbs all-up).

Could substitute the 6.5 CM for a 270, 7-08, 308, or any other number of cartridges.

223
45/70

Or any combination thereof. Very sneaky Brad.

270 and 375H&H

I'm bad that way

Both lightweights in roughly the same platform action/stock:

1. .223 fast twist

2. .308....or 7-08.....or 6.5 CM ...or if I had to....30-06...or 280/280AI...

BUT what I meant was 2 of any.

A Medium and a Lightweight... two 270's, two 7-08's, two 308's, etc.

Current stable: .243 and .270...

Really depends on what varmint shooting you are doing and if you care about pelt damage or not. For me something that fires a 120-140 grain bullet and another that shoots a 165-200 is a nice combo. You can pick your level of recoil but I like light weight rifles for hunting so a 7-08 and 30-06 will do the job. Either of these will serve as a backup for one another in a pinch.

223
30-06
End of conversation

223 and 280

Narcissist

.223 and 338 Win mag

Hint, laughing

.257 wby
.375HH

. This covers it all twice.

.17 hornet .270

223 and 7mm08

Sounds good to me.

Have them in the safe,
243 winchester
338 win mag

270 win
338 win mag

Like Brad said, 2 6.5 creedmoors. One medium weight and one lightweight...

223 & 30-06 YES ITS BEEN POSTED ALREADY

BUT IF YOU WANNA BE WEIRD = 17 HORNET & 470 NITRO

Fast twist .223 in a solid bolt gun.
6.5 CM/ .260 in 8 twist/ 7mm-08.... any of those will do, again in a svelte bolt gun.
Both properly scoped.

Yeah I'll bet! Lol

.220 Swift fast twist
.375 Weatherby

223 and 30/06

OR

250 Savage
300 Savage

6mm Ackley
.375 Ruger (but not in a Ruger certainly)

222 and 270...

223 and 7-08

Probably a 243ai and a 7 Saum.

22-250 Ackley Imp.
358 Norma Magnum

30-06 and 375 H&H

.223 wYLDE 1:7 TWIST AND .30-06 AGAIN

How about a light 257 Roberts and a medium weight 338-06.

6.5-280 Rem & 300 H&H

17 Remington
400 Whelen

7x57 and 9.3x62 is my current 2 rifle battery.

Yup (from what I already own)

1. 223
2. 7x57 or 280 or 308 or 300H&H

just to list somethingi'd nott seen here yeti'd choosemyRobertsand my338rcm.

In the spirit of the thread, I suggest:

.243 Win
.30-06

This covers varmints, small deer and larger deer and black bears.

If it was a more general two rifle battery, then I would like some overlap for the cartridges. Keeping with the varmint theme, at a stretch, I would suggest

.25-06
.338-06

Other than that, I think this provides good coverage - lightweight mountain rifle /better wind bucking and something to hunt larger game

.270 Win
.338-06

I dont varmint hunt anymore so for Me..
.308 Win (light weight Hike in rifle)
300 Win ( everything else)
....Hb

Yep

PREACH!

.260
.338 WM

The cartridge shocked me a bit, but he did mention others. There is efficiency in one cartridge and two different setups. I certainly can't fault the 6.5CM from either the range or the field performance.

280 Remington
308 Winchester

.257 rob, .30-06
or
.240 Roy, 7-mag. , if ya don't mind hot-belted.

222 Rem
30.06

Yep, Yep, Yep

Did anyone mention 223 and 30-06?

30-30 and 30-06

375 H&H period. However, the old 30/06 wouldn't bad either.

.22K-Hornet
6.5x55

1. 6.5x55
2. 8mm-06 or .338-06

Nope...but those are good choices 👍...Hb

22-250 & 30-06

for the past 55 years

220 swift the 22-250 hadn't been offered by the factories yet

30-06

Close. 223 and 280AI

243 Winchester and 30-06.

223 and 30-06

223 and 30-06

.223
.30-06

.223 Rem and a .338WM or .375 AI or .375 Weatherby. Though, as a handloader.....if I had to, I could get by without the .223 Rem! memtb

I have thought about this for a couple of days.

Pragmatic thinking would be a 223 and 30-06.

But I would like a minimum of four.

.243 and 338-06

My 2 are
222 rem
8x57

m8x57

Quick non-scientific tally. 74 responses to-date. .223 Remington leading on the "light" side with 30 votes. .243Win in second with 9 votes. Not surprisingly, 30-06 leading on the "heavy" side with 23 votes. 338WM in second with 6 votes.

243 winchester
338 win mag

22-250 and .300 Savage

223 and 358wcf

or 243 and 300 savage

My 270 Kimber Montana and my tweaked NH stainless 375H&H M70.

223 and 30-06

I'll play

243 Win and 270 Wthby.

Cause that's what I have!

Elk Country

25-06 and either a 30-06 or 300 mag

.243
300WM

30-06 and .243

Yes. I'm not sure if I saw it before but the .223 and the 30-06.

kwg

7mm SAUM
6mm Dasher

22-250

300 WBY

Any of these pairings would be a good choice.

1. 7mm Remington Mag and 7mm-08
2. 30-06 and 308

All are excellent from elk to deer and you can use the same diameter bullets in each pair.

Been using 222 and 6.5 creedmoor the most. But one from each category, varmint and deer, would handle the same stuff.

223 Remington
30-06 Springfield

Easy answer - 223 Rem & 308, or 30/06 - depending on which cartridge you prefer, what one will do the other will do also.

drover

Ah, hell! .204 and 8mmMag. need some love.

204 and a 270

I‘ll play....
223 and 30-06

Or

243 and 35 Whelen

Thanks, Tom

Uugh... 223 and 308 I guess.


Two subpar military cartridges pushed by "somebody" in the US Military, when there clearly was better options on the table...
Classic Americana.


They are ok for hunting though..

25-06 - varmints to deer

35 Whelen- anything bigger

243 and 300SAUM

A pair of favorites I have-

.257 AI
.35 Whelen

Hi,

Two rifles:

.22 LR
.30-06

Three rifles:

.22 LR
7x57
9,3x62

Best!

PH

I have done this here (in Australia), I went with 22 hornet and 7x64 Brenneke.

308 Win.
338-06

It's all just for fun, right?

22-250
6.5x55

6mm Rem, (which I have or 243) and

7mm RM


Jerry

I'll be a little different

.224 TTH
300 H&H

1. .30-06
2. .30-06 (in case the first one falls of a cliff)

Me too.

.243 and .338 win mag

-Jake

I don’t care what calibers really.

6.5 pound all up 22 to 6mm for small stuff

8 pound all up 7mm to 35 cal for big stuff

The rest of it is up to the shooter at that point.

Out of my battery, I’m keeping a 22 Hornet and a 30-06.

If choosing two that I already own, 22 K-hornet and 270 Win.

7 mag & 325 WSM... 30-06 if I could only have one.

Todd

223
6.5X55 Swede

If I could only have 1 it would be 223

Trystan has the best 2. I am changing my vote

5.56×45mm NATO
30-06, in a pre-64 Winchester

I'd keep my 22 creed and 338-06.

Well played.
-------------------

I'll roll with the 6.5-06 for deer size and smaller and the 338-06 for deer size and up.

if you don't handload: 223, 308

if you do handload: 6x45, 7mm-08

1. 25-06
2. 30-06

6.5 Grendel in a Howa Mini and 358 Win in a Model 70 EW.

Thanks, Dinny

how about a 223 and a 358 win
or a 223 and a 300 savage
maybe a 223 and 35 rem
and then a 223 and 30/30
always in pairs that's good

22-250
338-06

then there is the small bores
223 and 243 win
and of course the 223 and 25/35 wcf

My vote:
.25-06
.338 RCM

mine are the

260 remington


280 AI

Pretty much the optimal performance out of both powder columns

Easiest dots to connect all?!?

223Rem and 264 Kreedmire...I'll take both 1-7".

Thanks.

Hint.................

^ This for me.....

7mm-08 Remington
.45-70 GOVT

22-250
300 Weatherby

The two I carry the most for everything from hunting to bear defense: a 223 in a light, accurate bolt gun, and a high-cap 9mm in a light, polymer-framed gun. Neither are my favorite for elk at 400 yds, but I'd prefer either for grizz at 50 feet than anything bigger, heavier, more recoiling, harder to shoot. I've seen too many times that "easy to shoot well" trumps just about everything else. Little bullets have been killing huge, dangerous stuff ever since there have been rifled barrels.

I wouldn't have come up with that combo because I never owned any of either, but I like it. Always thought the 8 Mag as a very formidable cartridge.

.17 Remington & .338 Win Mag.

Tom

25-06 and 9.3x62 would pretty much cover all my needs. May not be the best in all situations but would work.

Big Game only...hogs/coyote and up...

.257 Weatherby (in a long barrel rifle like a 700 CDL stainless fluted where shots will be over 150 yards)

.350 Remington Magnum (short light carbine for easy carrying, tree stands, short to moderate range hunting or bears)

...or to be boring...a .223 and .308 would work 99% of the time...

308/7.62 and 375 H&H.

5.56/7.62 lower 48. 7.62/.375 way up north in Russia.

For my needs..

30-30
24" barreled Marlin 336A , mfg 1976

30-06
-JC Higgins model 50 w/ B&C Medalist stock, Timney trigger.
-BACO USA Win m70 Extreme Weather..

For varmints or small stuff, it’s easy. 223 Remington. For bigger stuff, not so easy.........6.5 CM or 7mm-08 Remington or 308 Winchester. If I had to pick one of those three, it would be the.........................................

For varmints or small stuff, it’s easy. 223 Remington. For bigger stuff, not so easy.........6.5 CM or 7mm-08 Remington or 308 Winchester. If I had to pick one of those three, it would be the.........................................