Best all around caliber?

[Darren Best]

7-08

Haven't met a person yet that doesn't like shooting it.

 

[Racethesunset]

As a hunting round, I think that 6.5x47, or any of the 6x5 variants, are tough to beat for all North American game except for Alaskan moose and brown bear, which I don't go after. Flat trajectory, plenty of energy down range and beyond, and low kick if you're building an ultralight. If you're concerned about popularity, reloading, or supply side economics, this might not be your choice.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

Lots of very good suggestions. Normally I'd have sided w/ the .30-06 fans.
But w/ todays powders and superformance factory ammo, the .308win is the new .30-06.

And I think the .308 brings other things to the table:
1. it's a short action and therefore lighter, more compact, and stiffer action (accurate).
2. Modern bullet technology allows this middle weight to perform at higher levels.
3. Ammo availability is un-surpased.
4. It's a military caliber and that hold certain benefits in a SHTF senerio.
5. the OP said this was for a beginner, and I'm not a fan of starting them w/ magnums.
Besides, he said whitetail are the main goal w/ elk a maybe. Nothing wrong w/ a .308 inside 200yds.

I say start w/ the .308 and grow. If elk becomes more of a focus, which will most likely be years down the road, he can upgrade if he outgrows it.
Anyway, my thoughts. No real wrong choices here.
Hunt'nFish

 

[luke moffat]

Lots of very good suggestions. Normally I'd have sided w/ the .30-06 fans.
But w/ todays powders and superformance factory ammo, the .308win is the new .30-06.

And I think the .308 brings other things to the table:
1. it's a short action and therefore lighter, more compact, and stiffer action (accurate).
2. Modern bullet technology allows this middle weight to perform at higher levels.
3. Ammo availability is un-surpased.
4. It's a military caliber and that hold certain benefits in a SHTF senerio.
5. the OP said this was for a beginner, and I'm not a fan of starting them w/ magnums.
Besides, he said whitetail are the main goal w/ elk a maybe. Nothing wrong w/ a .308 inside 200yds.

I say start w/ the .308 and grow. If elk becomes more of a focus, which will most likely be years down the road, he can upgrade if he outgrows it.
Anyway, my thoughts. No real wrong choices here.
Hunt'nFish

Yep, I started with the .308 win at 12 years old and still use one to this day. Great for everything up here, except the brownies. Still my favorite rifle to bring along for moose hunts even though most think you need something larger.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/ross-seyfried-busting-the-magnum-myth/


http://www.chuckhawks.com/ultra-long-range.htm

What more needs to be said here?

 

[kickemall]

Those are great articles. Thanks for putting them up.

 

[philw]

http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/ross-seyfried-busting-the-magnum-myth/


http://www.chuckhawks.com/ultra-long-range.htm

What more needs to be said here?

There's some good advice here but Chuck Hawks apparently has no business evaluating "Ultra long range" or "long range" rifles.

If he's talking about selecting a cartridge for the average hunter who is not going to go beyond MPBR that's one thing, but anyone who would evaluate and discuss "ultra long-range" rifles in terms of their maximum point blank range is pretty much showing his ignorance of longe-range shooting. Not to mention his bullet selection for the various calibers.

 

[Shrek]

There's some good advice here but Chuck Hawks apparently has no business evaluating "Ultra long range" or "long range" rifles.

If he's talking about selecting a cartridge for the average hunter who is not going to go beyond MPBR that's one thing, but anyone who would evaluate and discuss "ultra long-range" rifles in terms of their maximum point blank range is pretty much showing his ignorance of longe-range shooting. Not to mention his bullet selection for the various calibers.

I wasn't going there philw , but since you did I have to agree. Mr Hawks came half loaded there , if you get on his website you will find a lot of half way right garbage. He writes about all kinds of things he obviously doesn't fully understand or he is gearing it for the shooting equivalent of a 5th grade education.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

Agree with chuck hawks on reading what's relevant and what he shouldn't be going on about but enough relevant info in article to take from. The 270 win is a 600 yrd cartridge IMO and the 270wsm will drive same 140 gr accubond to same 1800 fps nosler recommended min impact to 750-ish, I have both and I set the mag up to take advantage of the extra distance with dial up etc. And set up recent gun for up to 550-600 and so chose the 270 win. More often than not the 270 win is a better answer to most cartridge selection questions.

 

[AZ Vince]

The best all around caliber?
It depends. With that said I don't think you'd go wrong, as a new shooter focusing on deer, with a .243, 7mm-08, .308, or .270 Winchester. Of all of those, being that this is a rifle for a new shooter, I'd opt for the .243 or .308 myself. Right now I have four hunting calibers, soon to be five, but my all around caliber is the .300 Win Mag. It is not for the new shooter and some days I don't enjoy shooting it all that much myself.
I'd focus on a deer gun and get real good with it. Then look at a second caliber for larger game if the opportunity presents itself. The reason I use a Magnum is to extend my range and buck the wind a little better not to give me more power in case of poor bullet placement.
No matter the caliber it's all about bullet placement. If reloading was an option I'd suggest the 25-06. I really like that round.

 

[FrankieP1988]

7mm mag gets my vote, been using it since I was 12 years old. I've shot antelope, deer, and elk with it. It's a flat shooter and the recoil really isnt bad at all.

 

[6mm Remington]

280 Remington - 30-06 - or 300 WSM would each fit your needs and would not cost a ton to load and shoot.

 

[Broz]

The 300 win mag is very hard to beat for a do it all antelope , deer and elk rifle. Mine takes more than a few of each every year. It is 22 and 0 for big game one shot kills right now. Closest was a cow elk at 180 yards, farthest was a antelope at 1285. Best all around rifle I have ever owned. And I have owned to many.

Jeff

 

[fire arrow]

The 300 win mag is very hard to beat for a do it all antelope , deer and elk rifle. Mine takes more than a few of each every year. It is 22 and 0 for big game one shot kills right now. Closest was a cow elk at 180 yards, farthest was a antelope at 1285. Best all around rifle I have ever owned. And I have owned to many.

Jeff

What he said.

 

[Salmo-Priest]

My brother in law lives in D.C. and is just getting into shooting and hunting. What would be a good caliber for him to start off with? He will most likely be hunting white tails but will also be coming out west to hunt elk and mulies. I've never hunted back east so I wasn't sure if a 7 mag is over kill or if he should look at the 270 /30-06 range.

Absolutely get him into reloading and grab a .260rem or a 7mm-08!

 

[E-2]

My brother in law lives in D.C. and is just getting into shooting and hunting. What would be a good caliber for him to start off with? He will most likely be hunting white tails but will also be coming out west to hunt elk and mulies. I've never hunted back east so I wasn't sure if a 7 mag is over kill or if he should look at the 270 /30-06 range.

I live an hour west of DC in Virginia and run a 7 mag at times. I say at times because it depends on the area I am hunting. I bought the 7 mag to eventually take out west and feel it is not over-kill on whitetail.

Just a suggestion, depending on where he will hunt, a shotgun or muzzleloader would be a good investment. Northern VA has some weird rifle rules because it is such an urban area.

 

[JP100]

7mm08 or 7x57 is fine for most stuff.
.270 or 7mm mag takes care of the rest.

 

[6rgunner]

300 win mag is best! 30-06 is a deer gun. There are old schoolers that who will swear by it and preach yes they have killed elk with it....but they also group in the great depression and won't spend a dime on anything either. No question get the 300.

 

[Yellowknife]

300 win mag is best! 30-06 is a deer gun. There are old schoolers that who will swear by it and preach yes they have killed elk with it....but they also group in the great depression and won't spend a dime on anything either. No question get the 300.

Dude. You should have just stopped after the first sentence.

Also the original post is a year old. Likely he's figured it out by now.

Yk

 

[6rgunner]

Dude. You should have just stopped after the first sentence.

Also the original post is a year old. Likely he's figured it out by now.

Yk

Bahahahaha yeah good one pink knife! That's funny because the post before mine was only a hour.