Personal preference rifle cartridge poll

If you could only have one, which of these rifle cartridges would you choose ?

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I view the 223 as primarily a varmint round that can be used for deer in ideal conditions. I view the 243 as a deer round that can be used as a varmint round. Neither would be anywhere near my top pick for game bigger than deer although they could work.

Everything else on that list will take every game animal in North America, but I just like 308 the best.
 
Creedmoor as it suits my needs very well. I spend lots of time at the range and hunt southern deer about 3 weeks/year. All the other typical Creedmoor bs, low recoil, good accuracy, etc. I really don’t need anything more powerful. If the Grendel was on the list that may have been my choice as I think it’s a little more flexible.
 
Where i'm from everybody has a 270 , so i got a 280!
I would of went with 6.5x55 , but where I live I might draw a moose tag again , and there is the possibility of running into a mad grizzly bear. So the bigger cartridge wins out for hunting in the mountains.
Being a reloader the 280 is about as versatile as it gets.
 
I picked .308 because I think it's the most reasonable and versatile, the .30-06 being a very close 2nd place. You could split hairs on which one is First, based on what you think it's purpose is... for example, I would pick the .30-06 primarily if hunting was topping the To-Do list. Because I go back to my theory of 'If you only get one gun or cartridge, it's because something has happened to the freedom to NOT have more than one gun or cartridge...' I pick the .308.
 
Lots of good cartridges on that list. If I could only own one of those listed, it would be the 7mm-08. I'd switch that to a .280 Ackley if it were on the list. The 7mms have better ballistics than the .30 cals and heavier weight than the 6.5s. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
 
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The 308 does anything I possibly need a rifle cartridge to do.

Plus the availability of inexpensive bullets for reloading. (At least there used to be inexpensive bullets for reloading).
 
I have lots of the ones on the list, what one of them I use is dependent on the job at hand.

I suppose I could say the same thing about hammers. I wouldn’t go busting concrete off pipes with a tack hammer and I don’t hang pictures on sheet rock with a sledge hammer.
 
Gotta throw in for the .30-06 here. It’s not the perfect cartridge for everything, but it’s never a bad choice for almost anything that you’d ask a centerfire rifle to do. And there’s no shortage of rifles for it in almost every configuration, nor shortage of ammo types.

I feel sorry for the poor 7x57 Mauser. Not a single vote so far. It’s kind of a textbook case of a nearly perfect round, but hampered severely by lack of rifles chambered in it, and lack of good factory ammo choices.
 
Mosin77 said:
I feel sorry for the poor 7x57 Mauser. Not a single vote so far. It’s kind of a textbook case of a nearly perfect round, but hampered severely by lack of rifles chambered in it, and lack of good factory ammo choices.
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The 7x57 is an excellent cartridge, surpassed by the 7mm-08 in a true short action. I like the 7x57 just fine, but it wouldn't be my first choice of 7mm.

As the OP has added to the list, I changed my vote from 7mm-08 to .280 Ackley ... but I'd be happy with either.
 
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.308 because it's accurate, big enough for anything I'm likely to shoot, can be loaded up or down for all needs, and the recoil is reasonable.

Also because I humped an M-14 way back when in .308 and I'm happy with my Browning lever action in that caliber.
 
I picked .308 because I really like that round but I noticed no one has picked my other favorite round, the venerable 30-30 so I picked that one as my choice.
 
.308 as it is still a current Military caliber and will be available for my life time. It is 90% of a 30-06 which is certainly more than adequate for anything I will hunt. It is an excellent fighting round, and lends itself to lightweight rifles also. It works in AR10 s, 30-06 does not . There are very good long range/match loads factory available for .308 .
 
308 will kill anything I need to kill and would do just fine in a semi auto like an AR or a SCAR, so it would fill any role I’d ever have. Given my preference I’d go with 6.8 SPC over 308 though.
 
My 1st choice is a 30-06, small enough to not blow rabbits & squirrels to smithereens.
provided you get 'em with a head shot.
Yet big enough & fast enough to dispatch larger game & predators.
 
30-06 because it'll do anything. I've killed little deer and an Alaskan bull moose and lots in between with mine.

I'm contemplating a 6.5 Grendel upper for a deer specific rifle, though. I've been dismissive of smaller calibers but after finally breaking down and buying an AR recently I kinda get it, and the idea of throwing a 6.5G upper on it with a good optic is pretty appealing. I think it would be a super handy little rifle with enough punch for mule deer and enough legs to handle 95% of the shots I'd take on game even out west.
 
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