Any shot you want: Three Centerfire Rifles for all big game, globally

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atek3

atek3

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Everyone has their favorite "Three rifle combination", a classic would be:
223, 30-06, 375 H&H Mag.

If you were planning to do everything from Florida Hogs to Namibian Cape Buffalo, what would be your three "do it all" cartridges?

For me:
6.5 Creedmoor- excellent performance on light and medium game, great long range ballistics
338 Win Mag- Popular, hard-hitting, great choice of rifles, ammo isn't exotic.
416 Ruger- Serious medicine for dangerous game, standard length, 400gr bullets
 
If you were planning to do everything from Florida Hogs to Namibian Cape Buffalo, what would be your three "do it all" cartridges?
Click to expand...

I have two of the three cartridges covered already but wouldn't cosider myself over-gunned or under-gunned using the .375 H&H for everthing.

.308 Win (Kimber 8400 custom, POF P308 for pigs)
.375 H&H Mag (Kimber 8400 Talkeetna)
.458 Lott (Kimber 8400 Caprivi) ... someday.
 
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For the small stuff,223
For the big stuff, 375
For everything else probably 308 for me. But anything from 243 up to one of the 300 magnums depending on the individuals tastes.
 
I'd have to keep three Winchesters
Model 70 .243
Model 94 32 Win spl
Model 1895 .405 Win

Bring on the Cape Buffalo
 
I'd go with:
Winchester 70 in 7mm magnum for the smaller stuff up through elk
Montana Rifle AVR in .375 H&H for the great bears, bison
Browning 1886 in .45-90 (magnumized loads) as a stopping/dangerous game rifle

All nice, reliable accurate rifles I own and have shot enough to be able to operate them by muscle memory. There's not as much history with the .45-90 as with the ballistically similar .404J or .450/400 NE, but I'm quite confident with the bullets and powders now available it'd get the job done and know of at least one person who put that to the test and got his elephant (and cape buffalo and...).

It'd be nice to have a light mountain rifle too (say a Kimber in .25-06) but if I've gotta stick to three I'm more concerned about the heavy end than having the perfect rifle on the light end.
 
Small bore - 308 Winchester/300 Winchester mag
Medium bore - 9.3x74
Big bore - 458 Winchester

Why? Because I can get them anywhere, although 9.3 isn't that popular here in Europe and Africa it's easy to find. I can't decide yet between the 308 & 300, have to give that some more thought.
 
My "heavy" choice would be bassed primarily on research of heavier rounds.

.223, med weight bolt gun or semi. Decent performance upto and including 100-150lb animals. Ammo availability amd reload cost.

30-06, light/med weight bolt gun. Excellent performance on all med game out to as far as i can comfortably hit. Ammo availability, reload cost

.375 H&H, med/heavy bolt gun.....Cause.....
 
I'd opt for a 22LR or 22 Mag for small game, a .30-ish cal and a heavy.

Any varmint you'd shoot could be done with an fmj in the same trim as your hunting loads. But face it, 30 cal for squirrel is over the top.

If you have a .375 you don't need a 30-06, unless its to save weight. 375 uses a heavier bullet at the same speed. You won't expand a .375 soft point in a dukier but you'll kill it.

I've only got to shoot a few of the .40+ calibers.

.458 Lott is a great deal easier for me to control (bolt gun) than the 470 Nitro Express (double). .404 Jeffery was a peach in a bolt gun. I could probably afford to shoot .458 of the three,

I think I'd rather opt for just 2 rifles, a .22 and a .375 (or a .30-06) and more ammo than 3 rifles. If I could literally sight my centerfire for two different loads (quick release scopes) say, a light fast bullet AND a heavy for caliber bullet I'd be covered for just about anything I'd want to shoot.
 
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I have accumulated many rifles and handguns. During my hard hunting days I used one rifle for the most part. My old Pre-64 .338 Win. Mag with handloads tailored for the game worked very well.
 
.223rem
300win mag
.458 Lott

I've hunted out of country a few times, taken two species of buffalo with classic safari cartridges, I'm hard pressed to favor the Lott over the .416 Rigby, but if I could honestly own only one, I'd want it to be capable of 500grn+. I've killed game with lesser cartridges than the 300, but again, if I were to only have one, it'd be the 300 - a close second bent the 7rm. As an avid small game Hunter and coyote killer, I will never be without a .223rem.
 
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i,ve used the .243 win, 9.3x62 and the 375H&H mag on four hunting trips to africa and didn,t feel under gunned. eastbank.
 
If I were trying to shoot all the big game in the world, I would want helicopter mounted mini guns with a FLIR helmet to start with, something that could be refueled in the air too. Not sure how much longer I'm going to live and that's lots of animals.
 
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Since the uses cover "hogs to cape buffalo" and not small game/varmints...

7.62x39 (CZ 527 Carbine)
6.5x55 (Sako Bavarian Rifle)
45-70 (Marlin Guide Gun)
 
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