All-around cartridge for North American game?

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are we done with the 30-06 vs .308win joke yet :banghead::banghead::banghead: with a .308win you only give up 120 to 150fps (in 150gr or 165gr) and you gain a lighter rifle with less recoil and the ammo is lighter and cost the same or less with some brands , you will find more target rifles in 308 than you will in 30-06 , M1 Garand vs M14 ???? anyone :banghead::banghead:
here is my cal list , 25wssm, 270win, 7mm-08, 7mmWSM, 7.62X39 .308win, 32rem, 35rem, 44mag, , see something missing ?? nope me neather !!:neener:
 
OP here...

Thanks for the discussion, y'all. I wasn't sure if .300 BLK could hang with the other two, but I figured I'd ask anyway. It seems the answer is a fairly definitive "no."

The choice between .308 and 7mm/08 was a toss up, but it sounds like a wash in the performance department, with .308 having an advantage in price and availability. That was what I expected to hear, but thanks for the second opinions.

I had already removed the 30-06 from consideration for my own reasons, but I do appreciate those suggestions.

Before I run out and purchase my first .308, would anyone care to make a convincing case for .243, .270, or some other similar cartridge?

Thanks,
R
I see you aded a 243 and a 270 as maybe's , I was leaning 7mm-08 as I posted before but hummmm I have a 7mm-08 and love it but I have 3 270win's I now I'm thinking of changing my mind,
 
Hands down it is the .30-06 Springfield, or the "thirty-aught-six", or the "thirty-oh-six", or the 7.62×63mm or what ever you want to call it, that`s your standard, but that`s my .02 cents...............& jmr40, NO !
If we are talking North America if a 30-06 can't kill it, I don't need to be shooting at it. Doesn't matter if it is mice, men or moose.
 
are we done with the 30-06 vs .308win joke yet :banghead::banghead::banghead: with a .308win you only give up 120 to 150fps (in 150gr or 165gr) and you gain a lighter rifle with less recoil and the ammo is lighter and cost the same or less with some brands , you will find more target rifles in 308 than you will in 30-06 , M1 Garand vs M14 ???? anyone :banghead::banghead:
here is my cal list , 25wssm, 270win, 7mm-08, 7mmWSM, 7.62X39 .308win, 32rem, 35rem, 44mag, , see something missing ?? nope me neather !!:neener:
You need a 30-06 in there.:neener:
 
That is why nobody here has suggested to the OP to chose a rifle that way.
Nonsense, several have suggested buying a rifle in a chambering easily fed from the local corner store. We have this cool thing called the internet. It's weird, we find what we're looking for, sometimes no matter how obscure, we enter in our address and credit card info and a few days later it arrives.


The OP should not use what everyone else is using....hmmmmmmmmm. What should he use then? What you use?
All I'm saying is that he shouldn't be afraid to use something not suggested in one of the canned "buy a .30-06" responses. Good Lord man, you hunt with a .460, you know all about trying something different. The point is that there are a HELL of a lot of cartridges to choose from and you don't buy to "buy a .30-06" because everybody else has one. If the 7x57 appeals to you, get one. If the 6.5x55 appeals to you, get one. If the 7mm08 appeals to you, get one. If the .280Rem appeals to you, get one. If the .303 appeals to you, get one. There are dozens of cartridges to choose from. Obviously there are a lot of hunters completely satisfied with their safe choice. Some of us like to try different things and understand that just because everyone is doing it, doesn't make it good. Think for yourself.

Same with 12ga shotguns, .50cal muzzleloaders, .357Mag revolvers, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Live a little, don't make the easy choice.
 
Why does friendly debate so often get disregarded as "bickering"? Are we just supposed to agree all the time or what???
 
The point I was trying to make. Is the 30-06 the only versatile gun out there? No, as has been stated...

And I alluded to that a little further down in the post.

Choosing a rifle because ammunition is available at Walmart is about the silliest thing I've ever heard.

Until you're slap outta ammo and you can't find a box of 7.33X55.25 Murphy Improved and the shelf is overstocked with the boring old standby that strikes the same blow and does exactly the same job. At that point, the silliness changes places while you hear a refrain to that song play over and over in your head:

-I know what I was feelin'...but what was I thinkin'?-

Call me old-fashioned, but I'll stick to what I can find at Bubba and Billy Bob's Gas and Go Fish Bait and Firearms gittin' place at 2200 hours on a Saturday night. Rifle or pistol.
 
I think they broke the mold when they made the 35 Marlin lever gun...Of all the nice semi's & bolt guns I have, I always grab the ole 35 Marlin. It carrys good, handles well and shoots great...I actually named that old gun "Marlin Perkins". If you see me in the woods you will probably see that ole 35 Marlin Perkins...
 
You need a 30-06 in there.:neener:
you did see I have a 308win , right? ,,,,,and a 7mag and a 35rem so I got the bases covered no need for a 30-06 , and in post #38 the OP said he didn't want a 30-06 ,looks like he is now leaning 308win or 270 , both great picks
 
you did see I have a 308win , right? ,,,,,and a 7mag and a 35rem so I got the bases covered no need for a 30-06 , and in post #38 the OP said he didn't want a 30-06 ,looks like he is now leaning 308win or 270 , both great picks
The OP lives in South Carolina where a .308 will work just fine for just about everything there. The .308 here in Idaho is quite a bit on the short side of what you might need with the bears we have here. Most up here start with 30-06 as the minimum caliber and about half of my friends hunt with the 30-06.

On the other hand, the 30-06 works just fine in South Carolina as well. Not sure why he wrote it off, but that is his choice.
 
realy ? :scrutiny:I was just in Jerome ID last week , and ended up talking guns , and in Idaho Falls ID, 270's and 308's are big there , then in Three Forks MT lots of 270's and 308's there too, found no one shooting 7mm-08's but a lot of big mag,s And I have family (inlaws) in Bellgrade MT and they all hunt , Elk, Mule Deer , White Tail , Antelope, and American Bison, with 270's ,, not that a 30-06 wouldn't work , but to say in is a minimum is a strech, :scrutiny:
 
realy ? :scrutiny:I was just in Jerome ID last week , and ended up talking guns , and in Idaho Falls ID, 270's and 308's are big there , then in Three Forks MT lots of 270's and 308's there too, found no one shooting 7mm-08's but a lot of big mag,s And I have family (inlaws) in Bellgrade MT and they all hunt , Elk, Mule Deer , White Tail , Antelope, and American Bison, with 270's ,, not that a 30-06 wouldn't work , but to say in is a minimum is a strech, :scrutiny:
Well, last time I checked which was a few days ago when I drove through it, Idaho Falls is prairie country, not deep woods with grizzly bear walking around. More antelope than bear in that area.

Three Forks MT and Bellgrade MT are in the eastern part of Montana which is likewise farmland and prairie as well. I see you didn't list grizzly bear, black bear or mountain lions all of which we have in the Idaho panhandle as well as way too many Mackenzie Valley wolves.

So, I will stick to the truth of what most up here in the Idaho panhandle talk about, 30-06 and up for their elk and bear/defense. Jerome Idaho likewise has long range shots out in this open farm land with antelope among the animals hunted there. That is not at all like the heavily forested areas up here just a couple hours below the Canadian border.

One of my friends is a .270 only hunter, but he has had ribbing for that choice for years in this area. Funny thing, he has shot more elk than just about anyone else in the area, so he gets the last laugh. As you know, the ballistics of the .270 and the 30-06 overlap in many of their loads.

I don't no anyone up here with a .308. One of the teenagers has a .243 for deer, but I am sure when he finally goes for elk, he will leave that behind. So, yes, 30-06 is considered the minimum rifle by many up here. My elk rifle is a .300 WSM and one of my other friends uses only a .300 WM. So, knowing your hunting grounds dictates what rifles are common. Once again, up here, I don't know anyone that hunts with a .308.

Lastly, for an all around rifle good for any part of the US and Canada, you just can't get a whole lot better than a 30-06 from North Carolina to the wilds of Alaska. Even though the OP left out the 30-06 option, who can deny it has earned it's place in history as well as still being one of the most popular and useful calibers today.
 
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can't say I have ever talked guns in the uper-panhandle, I stop in smelterville ID alot , but just to shop , however it is mutch like Belgrade (yellow Stone) only about 325 east of you , and lots of bear just ask the campers in Yellowstone lol.... anyway you would not be under gun with a 308 , so close to the good old 06 I see no need to have a 30-06,

Hey so what happen to the OP I'd like to know why he has counted out the 30-06 , I know why I did but I didn't start this post,
 
can't say I have ever talked guns in the uper-panhandle, I stop in smelterville ID alot , but just to shop , however it is mutch like Belgrade (yellow Stone) only about 325 east of you , and lots of bear just ask the campers in Yellowstone lol.... anyway you would not be under gun with a 308 , so close to the good old 06 I see no need to have a 30-06,

Hey so what happen to the OP I'd like to know why he has counted out the 30-06 , I know why I did but I didn't start this post,
+1, .308 isn't on my list, but not to discount the merit of that caliber, just not my choice. Your question about WHY the OP discounted the 30-06 is probably the most interesting aspect of this thread.

If folks feel comfortable in bear country with a .308, more power to them. Not my cup of tea with grizzly walking around these woods. It seems that is a pretty common sentiment up here.
 
in yellowstone they think all you need is pepper-spray :what: here in WI we have Black bear , wolfs and a few cougars so most deer rifles will do just find ,I carry a 44 or 357 when bow-hunting ,

I was thinking the OP counted out the 06 cause he had listed short actions , but then he listed the 270,?
 
in yellowstone they think all you need is pepper-spray :what: here in WI we have Black bear , wolfs and a few cougars so most deer rifles will do just find ,I carry a 44 or 357 when bow-hunting ,

I was thinking the OP counted out the 06 cause he had listed short actions , but then he listed the 270,?
Deer rifles are a better defense than just about any handgun most of us carry. I would rather have a .308 than a .44 magnum in a bear defense encounter. None the less, I would rather have a 30-06 than a .308 in the same situation.

I can't disparage pepper spray as long as it is combined with an effective firearm of one sort or another. I carry my .357 daily, and I add my .44 magnum when in the woods if I don't have a rifle with me.

Back to the OP, I think a lot of us would like to know why the 30-06 was excluded since it is would never be a wrong choice for the stated uses.
 
Deer rifles are a better defense than just about any handgun most of us carry. I would rather have a .308 than a .44 magnum in a bear defense encounter. None the less, I would rather have a 30-06 than a .308 in the same situation.

I can't disparage pepper spray as long as it is combined with an effective firearm of one sort or another. I carry my .357 daily, and I add my .44 magnum when in the woods if I don't have a rifle with me.

Back to the OP, I think a lot of us would like to know why the 30-06 was excluded since it is would never be a wrong choice for the stated uses.
well I'm not carrying a rifle to go bow-hunting
 
I was thinkin' about what I'd said in an earlier post last night in bed, where I said that by 800 yards, the 7 mag had passed the 300 mag in that "American Rifleman" article. I think actually what they said was it caught up to the 300 by 800

Back when the American Rifleman was a little bit technical, they had a test of a Winchester Model 70 in 7mm Remington Magnum. Why did they shoot a Winchester rifle in a Remington caliber? Who knows?
Any road, they gave actual chronograph data for the loads shot. As I recall, three out of the five factory 7mm RM loads used gave LOWER velocity than .30-06 I have shot in my own old M70. It is going to be a LONG way down range before the higher BC of 7mm over .30 catches up enough to matter. The other two were somewhat faster than similar bullet weights in .30-06 but I doubt by enough to matter at hunting ranges. I don't care what a hunting rifle is doing at 800 yards. And my target .308 does well enough I don't have to plot and plan over that, either.
 
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