If....and by if what I mean is it will never happen!

But if it did, and you were forced to pick one caliber, and one brand and grain of bullet for all of your lower 48 hunting needs,

Which caliber and bullet would you choose?

Mine would be a 270 with 150 partition.

Shod

30-06 Loaded with Hornady 165 grain BTSP Interlock

Pretty easy�.30-06, 180 Partition�.done

Lower 48 big game.....

30-06 with 165 Partition

.30-06 and Hornady 180 IL.

That's what I was thinking...

This.

IF...I could have answered that question 40 yrs ago, I could have saved THOUSANDS of $$. seriously!!

Having spent all that money, I'm very glad I don't have to put up with only 1 cal, cartridge, and only 1 bullet.


If FORCED to that limitation, there are a FEW that would get the job done. My choice would be nothing smaller than 270 Win and nothing larger than 300 WM .

.280 AI 140 TSX

For me, being limited to one rifle and one bullet would probably mean I also would lack the resources to hunt widely. In that case, I'd keep my trusty 270 Win and shoot 140 grain Accubonds. If I limited myself to one rifle just to prove a point, I'd keep my trusty 300 H&H and shoot 200 grain Partitions.

Forrest, that was some good thinking. Limit yourself to one rifle twice!

This way you stay within a OPs question but get to shoot 2 rifles.

A true rifle loony....

Shod

Forrest, has a good point!

To hunt the common game of the lower 48, I'd rely on my old .270 and the Hornaday 150 spire point...... or maybe I'd go big and buy a new .280 Rem and roll with the 154 Hornaday......

One rifle.....One bullet.....BORING

.308 Win. 150 gr. TTSX

30/06 180 TTSX

My 338-06 with 210 gr Partitions. Just have absolute confidence in that combo.

I'd gladly go with that combo.

That is, if I didn't decide to use a 154 Interlock in a 7x57.

Or... a 130 TSX out of a .300 Savage or a .308 Win�

Or� something in a .280 Rem�


What was the question again?

FC

what would not die shot with a 308 Winchester and a 165 grain TSX bullet?

Lower 48...mmm...mostly deer everywhere east and west, black bear,elk, antelope,a rare draw for moose or sheep(?)........no grizzly.

Pre 64 M70 FW 270 in McMillan stock. Handloads with 130 Bitterroot. Not because I think it's "best" but because I am used to it and know what it will do.

To answer jimmyp's question----- NOTHING ! maybe i'ts a vanilla cartridge but damn , I like vanila.

I would have to go with a 270 and 130gr GMX.

I'm speculating a 145LRX out of a 8" twist 7mm-08AI is the answer for me.

David

30-06 with 180 gr Nosler Partition

What if you include western Canada and include moose/elk and the distinct possibility of running into a grizzly (though not looking for one)?

Pat out of the stuff that I have presently ( and for the sole purpose of being a contrarian)...... either my 7 Rem mag or 7mm Mashburn with 160 BBC or Nosler Partition.I'd be as happy with a 175 NPT.

Not that I think the outcome would be much different from the 270 (I don't know how to measure that stuff)....but it would make me feel good .

Can I have a 375H&H, too?

What's the deal...I thought we all decided the 270 was either gay or for mouse hunts!?!?

That kidding aside, my 270 would be on the list, but PLEASE don't force me to decide on a finalist!

NTG nothin' here but a 30/06,a couple of 7mm magnums and a few 270's anymore.

I ain't looking for anymore BG cartridges so they are gonna have to do anything I plan...to do.


I would take the 270 if I did not intend to kill anything. Hilarious !

Show some imagination guys. 318 Westley Richards and 250 grain Woodleighs.

This is a different answer than I'd have given a few years ago, but right now I'd go with Shodd's choice, 150 Partitions in the .270 Winchester.

.30-06, 168TTSX

I'd stick with my 7mm RSAUM and 160 grain Accubonds.

I was going to answer that it'd be the .243 and 100 gr. Partitions, but on the off chance that I ever go after anything larger than white tails, I'm going to pick my 7-08 and a good 140 grainer like the Partition.

Geez John I always figured you for the 30/06 and 165's or 180's.....goes to show how lousy I am at predictions.

Keep going back and forth...

30-06 with 180 or .280 with 160

Pre-64 Model 70, .264 WM, 140 gr Partition.
Pre-64 Model 70, .270 WM, 130 gr Core-Lokt.

Wouldn't have a concern with either.

Yip

ALL is very broad since I do quite a lot of varmint hunting. If that had to be included, then I'd go with a .257 Roberts with 100 grain ballistic tips. I would lie, cheat, steal, and poach as necessary to make it work for everything else.

If it only for "game with tags", no varmints, then the answer would be very different. I'd go with a .338 Win Mag with 225 grain accubonds.

On second thought, if I were really forced to ONE GUN, period, not just ONE RIFLE, that one gun would be a 4-5/8" barreled Ruger single action .44 magnum. It would be shooting 250 grain home-cast SWCs over 24 grains of Winchester 296. I have such a beast and we're near inseparable.

Tom

Only if all of your shooting occurs at the same bench, on the same range...
There is nothing boring about hunting...

Humm, that is what I have and use. Has worked great on everything from Moose and Elk to Mule Deer for me. Now make that rifle a Pre 64 Win M70 and your in business.

A 45-70 with a 480 grain flat nosed hard cast bullet does it all, including the big bears. It ain't too shabby in Africa either.

As of today, I'd choose my 25-06 and the 100 Ballistic Tip.

But it was a maxim in my early education that "if you don't cheat, you don't eat".
Put me in a situation like that, and you gotta expect me to cheat on the bullet part, if not the whole deal.

Of the rifles I have in hand right now, it'd be a toss-up between a 22-250 and 62 gr ttsx, or my -06 w/ 180 gr Interlocks.

If not relegated to guns and loads I have on hand, then I'd slap a SS barrel on my -06 (it's a BDL) and retain the open sights and put it in a micky and use 180 gr partitions if they shot.

Or the 22-250 as she sits right now.

Just to be different. 6.5-06 and 140gr Partitions.

Lots of people do this anyway and think nothing of it. They mostly own .308's.

223Rem, 55gn bulk soft points.

30-06 and 180 grain partition would be first choice.

270 Winchester with a 150 grain partition would be second choice

Really?

That sounds like you're describing the "not very enthusiastic" hunter / shooter.

If so, around here, those folks shoot .243, .270, 7mm Rem Mag, '06, or .300 Win Mag.

Of course, so do a lot of pretty dedicated hunters and shooters who own many other things, too, but those are the common things in the hands of the "one gun wonders."

.308 just isn't seen here very often and when it is, usually it's a tactical rifle, not a sporter, and the people who play that game tend to own a bunch of rifles.

Tom

yeah, well how about a 10/22 and Thunderbolts.

Not to mention loads of fun to shoot (but then you already knew that!)

After wading through all this, it was the foregone conclusion I expected it to be. And we Canadians are excluded!

Yes, boring...

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

M70 in some type of SS version in 30-06 shooting 180 Partitions. I could also live with a M77 in like config. Wouldn't be too depressed with a 7 RM shooting 160 Partitions in M70/77.

Remington Golden Bullet! More Golden that way

Shod

Caliber: 308
Cartridge: 300 WSM
Bullet: 150 gr Accubond or Interlock

For all MY lower 48 hunting needs, I could be completely happy with a Remington 700 ADL chambered for 7mm/08. I'd load 150 grain Nosler Partitions and mount a Leupold 3x9 with a No. 4 reticle.

I'd really like to mount it in a McMillan 700 Classic stock.

After that, I could go around killing all the things I see walking in these parts.

308 Win. 165/168 BT.

300 Winchester Magnum 150gr Nosler E Tip.

I have never shot anything bigger than an elk, but from those on down I would feel confident in a 270 win with 130 grain partitions.
Adequate for elk, just about perfect for everything else.

Same here. The last time I saw anyone 'hunting' a 308 W was myself before 1986.

I'm thinking about taking my 270 win with 150 partitions tomorrow for elk hunting. They will run out in front of me in droves, laughing.....

Well , yes.
Quite the opposite, they are all dedicated hunters. They are just not gun nuts.
Here, probably a quarter of the hunting rifles overall are .308's. (Followed by 7mm08 and .270's.)

My usual 30-06 with 180's has been seeming like overkill this hunting season, so I'm going to go with a 280 and 160 Partubonds, which are the new tipped, bonded, boattail Partitions that Nosler is now selling in my imagination.

If I can't kill it with my model 71 throwing 200 grain Hornadys it don't need killin'.






P

Did the work you did for your recent .270 article have anything to do with your choice?

I'd have to go with my pre-64 .270, probably with 160 gr. Partitions. Lighter ones would be fine and maybe shoot a little flatter, but those 160s, seated out for my rifle just look like the business.

I've had that rifle for over 30 years now and it's never given me a moment's trouble. Everybody oughta have at least one.

No, my choice was one reason for doing the .270 article.

If I had to, I'd go with my 30-06, 180gr NPT and H4350 and I'd get along pretty well for all of the hunting I'll do for the rest of my life (unless I win the lottery).

SC

270 Weatherby Mag and 150 Partitions!

Sensible and deadly describes the 308 Win; a rimless 303 British. The other calibres are fluff. Playtoys. Much like your likeable, but slow cousin.

I wonder, to satisfy the math, could one opt for half a calibre, but two bullets?

One Rifle and One bullet? It would probably be my HVA lightweight 308 w/2x7 Leupold and 165's. As I shoot gophers to Moose I would use cast 165's at 1300 fps for goph's and book max loads of I-4064 w/165gr partitions on everything else. Or I would choose my HVA FN Lg. ring 7x57 and 160's as above. Muddy

338WM 200g Nos

7X57 with the 140 grain Nosler Partition. Works for me.

7x57 and 175gr Hornady Spire Points. Rifle would be my FN Mauser. Would hate to give up my other 7x57s though.

This

Pre 64 Mod 70 FWT in .308 with the 165 partition over RL 15. My first deer rifle, and I still haven't found anything measurably better for what I do with it. I've even used 125 gr. Ballistic tips for chucks, but haven't done that in years.

my 6.5x55 loaded with about anything

.308 and 155-165 grain projectiles.


Simple and deadly.

30-06 and 150gr Swift Scirocco II's.

260, 140 NAB.

Seen it do things it can't, with my own eyes. Save for one incident of pure curiosity involving 225 NABs, all the rifle hunting we've done, from antelope to coues to elk, has been done with one 260 or another for quite some time now anyway. Though the 260 killing has involved many flavors of 140s and a few 120s.

Right on.

In fact I have hunted with several people who did just that. They owned one rifle and shot everything with it using H-4350 and the 180 grain Partition.

Same but with a 160 Partition.

If it is the 7x57, it is the 140 gr AB.

So it's settled.
Everything works so take your pick?

30-06 with 180 partition +1

John,

That's pretty much been my experience: Shoot 'em in the right place and they all work.

I think I put my answer to this in the wrong post.

I'd take my 308win with 165gr nosler partitions

+1

30/06...165 gr. Remington Core-lokt PSP. All I've needed for the past 33 years. I figure it'll outlast me.

I would have a hard time choosing between the 270 and the 7x57.
Both loaded with a partition.

Well at least i got the 1 bullet thingy.

I could do everything I want to do with a 30-06 or 308 loaded with 165gr Hornady Interlock Flat Base.

Just give me a straight shootin rifle and a damn bullet!

Who in the hell asks a question like this anyways?

Shod

I keep thinking about this as for some reason I love games like this. Considering the hunting I have done in my lifetime and my affinity for Contender Carbines, I could pretty much be content with a Contender carbine chambered for .30-30 AI or .309 JDJ with 150 gr Nosler BT's.

Good answer.

People around here must be suffering from cabin fever. What's the best medium calibre bullet? If you could only have one rifle? One bullet?

How many angels can fly through the head of a beer?

'tis disturbing...

I could get away with my 44 Mag carbine and 310gr Lee cast bullets, I think. I'd rather not have to settle though. I like having purpose-built loads and gun setups. I hate settling for even one load per hunting trip. I have taken to packing a couple that hit to similar aimpoints with similar trajectories to certain ranges. I keep the same 4 in the magazine, but swap what is in the chamber, depending on the terrain or animal.

This worked out poorly to give me a 50 yd shot at a meat deer with a 180 Partition last week. The onside bruise was 12x14 inches. He didn't make it far. Different from what I am used to, as my preferred Berger load leaves a knitting needle entrance.

I guess the only sensible thing to do is talk about beer and a decent red?
John

.223 and a 50gr Vmax in a Kimber Montana.

I do way, WAY more varmint hunting/shooting than I do at big game and my shoulder simply could not take the .270 with 130 Partitions. I'd just have to get closer to deer, antelope, elk and bears with the idea that I'd shoot them behind the ear.

I would do the same, but make mine a plain old Hornady 55 grain Soft point.

What's the hardest part about loading a 55 gr soft point?