What is the most versatile caliber?

Grog: "No way! I once hit a sabretooth through both lungs with obsidian, and he got up and ate my family...."

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Ch1966:

You got that right!
Rewind 10,000 yrs:

Grog: "Flint is the best!!! Everything from rock chucks to wooly mammoths!"

Oogie:"You're such a neanderthal! Everyone knows obsidian rules!"

Grog: "No way! I once hit a sabretooth through both lungs with obsidian, and he got up and ate my family...."


Sometimes I think evolution moves a little too slow........

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Ch1966 did someone hit you in the head this morning with an obsidian.

The term caliber refers to the diameter of the bore of a rifle or the diameter of the bullet for a particular cartridge.

The term cartridge refers to a complete round of ammo with all of its components intact.

The term 7mm caliber (i.e. .284) then refers to any 7mm cartridge from a 7x57 to a 7mm STW.
The term .30 caliber (i.e. aka .308/7.62mm) then refers to any .30 WSF to a.30-378 Weatherby Magnum.
The term 8mm caliber (i.e. .323) then refers to any 8mm cartridge from a 8x57 to a 8mm Remington Magnum.

I personally know a man killed that killed a charging rhinoceros that was charging his tracker with 5 shots from a .30-06 with 180gr Partitions.

So, Ch1966 would you be so kind as to tell me what I can not kill with a 7mm, 7.62mm or 8mm cartridge.

So if I’m a Neanderthal for knowing this, what does that make you for not knowing?


The Ol’ man said, “Son, don’t brag to me about the long shot you made! Brag to me about how close you got!”

I wasnt singling anyone out. My point is that pointless commentary about "Which *XXXX is the most xxxx" have been going on forever and probably always will.
I was poking fun at everyone who has participated in this type of thread for the past 10000 yrs, including myself, so don't feel like i was attacking anyone person.
Seriously, it's like people wanna argue about which color is purdiest. Why? Beats me. Doesnt really bother me even.

You can kill anything with those calibers, so I guess theyre the most versatile. Sorry I quoted you out of context.

Truly, one stick of dynamite will kill any game animal, but what fun is that?
-KeithCarter

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uhmmm........he he he....entertainment if it should ever become legal.

Seriously, while I love my .270, the .30-06 is probably the most versatile. Ammunition can be found almost anywhere, if you need a special load it is likely available from a factory load and if not someone has probably hand loaded it. Just go look at how many offerings it has on any website that sells ammo.

12 guage is pretty dang versatile.

If you asked 500 people this you would get at least 300 different anwers and none of them neccessarily wrong. Here's my opinion. The tried and true .30-06 will definately do the trick, but I tend to err on the side of caution. My personal choice would be 7mm Rem Mag.

6.5x55 Swedish

.30-'06 - I can load down to a cheap-shooting squirrel gun with 110 gr. cast boolits and up to match 7mm Rem Mag external ballistics with a 165 gr. jacketed.

With proper bullet weight and design, it's more than adequate for all North American game.

woops

Hello friends and neighbors // .30-06
Currently commercially available from:

55gr Remington Springfield PTD SP ACCELERATOR
to
220gr. Remington Springfield SP-CORE-LOKT

I prefer 180 gr. for Whitetail deer here in S.C.

6.5X55 or .260rem.

However, I don't own one. But I'll never get the chance to hunt Moose, so my go-to gun is a .257 Roberts...

30-06 is probably the best cartridge for the OP, I wonder what he went with??

most veratile

with my 7 rem mag I can load 100 gr varmint loads or I ca get a 210gr round nose. either way you look at it the most versitile gun is goin to be the one you shoot best with.

you guys ever see that utube video of the guy gettin chewed up by a lion he shot with his 06 and came back for the next day...wait what's that its still alive? hmm bet he wished he had a bigger gun

You guys are all wrong! A .264 Winchester Magnum WILL kill anything on Earth that has ever walked or crawled at some point in its life. Due to its high BC, a 140gr A-Max has more potential energy past 250m than a 150gr fired from a 7mm Mag and as much energy as a 160gr .308 caliber bullet at 300m. The 160gr RN 6.4mm bullet does wonders on larger game and the 120gr Spitzer BT kills, cleans and cooks vermin of most species. The 140gr Spitzer BT is capable of killing any large four-legged beast on the American continents and is the baddest mo-fo of all the 6.5mm's. You don't need a .30 caliber for anything. That fact that the .308 Winchester (7.62 Nato) and the .30-06 are so widely available makes them more common. A couple others have mentioned the 6.5 Swiss and I think someone even mentioned a 6.5 Carcano. Both fantastic calibers, but the .264 WinMAgmakes up for a lack of velocity and a provides a platform for a few different bullet types.

I was just kidding about the part about ya'll being wrong. My dad has two '06's and they have both killed plenty. One of them is a sporterized 1903 so it's probably killed Germans at one point in its lifetime and the other is a Remington. Both are great rifles and I wouldn't mind having either of them. Hell, I wouldn't mind having any high-powered rifles, even if I could only choose one.

You know, I've responded to this thread before, but the more I think about it and shoot my Rem 700 in .280 Rem, the more I think that a .280 with a 154-160 gr bullet is the ultimate North American jack-of-all-(biggame)-trades (or even a premium 139/140 bullet).


The 154 gr Hornady SST will penetrate enough to kill the biggest polar bear or bison with a heart/lung shot, even quartering, and give excellent external ballistics to boot, and not be a half-bad varmint killer with reasonable recoil. Good case can be made for .260 Rem, 6.5x55, 7x57, .270, and 7mm-08 as well, not to mention several .30 cals.

But there's no right or wrong answer from .257 Roberts to .35 Whelen or .338 Winmag.

30/30, .357, or maybe even the .223 would be my choices.

30/30) hardcast for the small stuff, copper jacketed for everything else

.357) heavy hardcast for the big stuff and .38's for the small stuff

.223) fmj. for the small stuff and jacketed soft points for the big stuff

6.5x55 Swede would be my first choice with the .270 Win. as my close second.

Well if you go by the numbers... The Winchester 1894 and Marlin Model 36/336 rifles chambered in .30-30 are the #1 and #2 hunting rifles of all time, in total sales. That tells me that my great-grandfather, grandfather and father knew exactly what was needed to get the job done. It also tells me what I need to know to tell my sons and grandsons about the best all-around hunting rifles.