Best all around Caliber??

[hunting1]

I had a 7-6.5prc built, absolutely love it. Similar to a 7 saum or .280ai but with a 6.5prc case. Shoots the 175eldx at 2940 or the 160 accubond at 2975 with light recoil.

I would love to see this become a commercial cartridge!

 

[craigrh13]

What would mac effective range for elk be with a 6mm creed? What factory ammo?

 

[UnckleBob]

If this Texan could only keep one of my many rifles, my Browning X Bolt 6.8W would be the one.

It wouldn’t be overkill for deer and hogs, does not have excessive recoil, and can slaughter bigger game with the heavy for caliber .277 bullets.

 

[Bluefish]

I wonder the reasoning behind that law.

Bigger diameter bullets tend to have poor bc for weight ranges most people will use. In theory this limits range compared to typical 30 cal, 7mm, 6.5 mm hunting rounds. It’s hard to get a 400 yard gun in 35 cal or larger with less than 20 ftlbs of recoil in a light weight hunting rifle.

Iowa is 35 cal minimum for whitetail. Bottleneck is allowed. Used to be shotgun only, then straightwall, now 35 cal or larger. Once you did into the ballistics, it sort of makes sense.

The best 200g 35 cal bc I have found is .369 g1. Most are in the .2’s and its hard to even get to 300 yards before you are under 1800 fps. You can get better with 225 or 250, but recoil quickly is more than a 300wm.

 

[Chase4566]

Will start by saying your 270 will do it all. However, I too can’t help myself when it comes to buying a new rifle in a cartridge I don’t have, so I feel ya.

I mean, the 25-06 has a pretty solid following here in Texas for whitetail. 25-06, or 25creed would be on my list to add to the stable. It’s a fantastic versatile caliber, and the 25-06 specifically is time proven. I’m pushing a 120gr Sierra Gameking HPBT at 3100fps and it’s bad medicine.

The 30-06 can do it all, and is just a fun proven cartridge. I personally prefer “old school” over new school for the nostalgia. Same with 308win, it will do it. Buddy of mine in Colorado uses a 308 for all of his critter hunting(mule deer, elk, ect).

So, my suggestion to your question. Find you a rifle you like in 25-06. Then in a year when you get the itch again, look at something like a 30-06, 308, 7mag, 7prc. Rinse and repeat until the gun safe is full or your wife divorces you because you won’t stop buying rifles(I’ve hit the former… hoping the latter doesn’t happen )

 

[bdg848]

I wonder the reasoning behind that law.

Iowa. We were a shotgun, slug only, state. 5-7ish years ago they added straight wall rifle cartridges, At least that seemed to be the intention. AS I REMEMBER IT, The actual law only said something to the effect of "....slugs or rifle cartridges .35cal or greater with xxxxFtlbs of energy etc. , such as .357mag, 44. mag, 45-70Govt" etc. etc. but it never SPECIFICALLY said "straight wall". Then a year or two later the DNR starting taking public comments on if they should ad a "straight wall only" phrase to the law and overwhelmingly everyone said NO, so they didn't lol. Now the reg book does say "straight wall OR OTHER" and specifically addresses 358win and 35Whelen as acceptable cartridges in addition to their non-exhaustive list of straight wall cartridges but I think that 'straight wall "or other"' is new language. So, it seems like it was just a goof and a poorly written regulation that enough people took advantage of before it was realized. Lol. I remember them talking about ADDING "straight wall" language AFTER they had already put the reg out a year or two prior. There were a bunch of people in the FB comments on all of their posts complaining about how they had just bought a rifle that would now be illegal.

As to ballistics being the mitigating factor, A 225gr 35whelen only drops 3inches more than a 180gr 30-06 at 400yards and its still 1900fps and 1800ftlbs.....still pretty potent.......as to that being too much recoil, When has recoil ever stopped that one guy from shooting whitetails with a 300wm? Plus, I kinda think that played into the oversight.....if you are trying to exclude 6.5s, 243s, 270s, 308s, 30-06s, etc but don't have extensive knowledge of niche cartridges like 9.3x74r or 35Whelen, you may think that just saying "35cal minimum" would cover it because you think "well, anything over 35cal thats not a straight wall would be, like, an ELEPHANT GUN, right? Yeah, no one is gonna do that, this is good to go as written" and you didn't know there were some super niche 35cal intermediate bottle necked cartridges that create a loophole. I think anything they would say about ballistics is just trying to cover a big goof. If i'm wrong, then I'm wrong but I don't think so and anyway, its a much funnier story the way I remember it lol.