Anything But A .30-06.....

[Chuck R.]

For me it's 300 Win Mag.

I can easily load it to mimic a .308, or 30-06.

My 2nd choice would be my M7 in 350RM. Same concept, it can mimic a .35 Whelan or a .35 Rem. Trajectory with a 225 grain is similar to a .308 Win. It puts .35 caliber holes on the way in and .60 on the way out. It will easily handle the game on NA at reasonable distances.

 

[Pat Riot]

308 or even a 30-30 would work for anything in the lower 48

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[DustyGmt]

I know a fellow who swears by his old sporterized 7mm 1895 Chilean Mauser. His trophy room is packed and even took it on safari.

I had an opportunity to buy one of them for $50
He worked at a gas station and that guy bugged me about buying that gun every time I saw him for years. "When are you gonna buy that 7mm?"

I shouldn't have procrastinated, he showed it to me one time and at the time it wasn't really my thing and it kind of turned me off because he said "it's got a whip in the barrel but it's still minute of deer". I don't know what he meant or if there was indeed a barrel problem but for $50 I should have rolled the dice. He doesn't work there anymore but I'm sure I could track him down and buy it if he's still got it....

As to the OP. Probably .308 or 7mm-08 as a good all round, all purpose gun for this continent. It will do everything within appropriate range expectations and most shooters can manage the short action and recoil of those cartridges..... For a long action cartridge, .270win.

 

[troy fairweather]

Somewhere between a 7-08 and 7 rem mag, depending on the rifle. If really large game was targeted more then 300lb or more I'd consider and 9.3 or 375 again depends on the rifle.

 

[Newtosavage]

Somewhere between a 7-08 and 7 rem mag, depending on the rifle. If really large game was targeted more then 300lb or more I'd consider and 9.3 or 375 again depends on the rifle.

Sounds a lot like my .284 Winchester. 140's at 3k and less recoil than an '06.

 

[Nature Boy]

This is too easy

.308 win

 

[wombat13]

All-around to me means capable of taking any big game and excellent for the most likely game. In that case, I don't see how you can beat a .30 cal magnum. A 220 grain partition with SD = 0.331 at > 2,800 fps can take a big bear. In fact, one poster here (JMR40 IIRC) likes to cite an Alaska state research study that found 220 gr .30 cals were the best at penetration on big bears. If you want a point and shoot laser out to 300 yards you can load a 130 grain TTSX at 3,600 fps or a 110 gr TTSX at 3,900 fps. I have a .300WM so that's what I'd go with right now. I'm warming up to the idea of switching to 300 PRC if I ever need/want to rebarrel.

Second choice would be .338 win mag. My FIL uses one now with 200 grain bullets for whitetails and I gotta believe that a 250 gr partition at 2,700 fps would get it done on big bears.

 

[338reddog]

338 win
“A little big for mice, a little small for elephants but just right for everything in between.”
Not my quote, it was in a article about the 338
I have killed more deer with this cartridge followed by my favorite the 30/06

 

[Choctaw]

375 H&H because I really want one and it just sounds cool.

 

[herrwalther]

One rifle and one caliber is a tall order for all hunting on an entire continent. Long distance shots in the mid west can easily be over 1000m. But in east coast forests you have a hard time seeing 50 feet in front of your face in thick growth. That being said the one I would pick would be 6.5 Creedmoor. Fits in an AR with a few good bolt action options too.

 

[Eagle103]

I'll go .280 AI. Similar case capacity but with a better B.C. bullet.

 

[Buzznrose]

Interesting discussion…One gun for all game. I suggest the answer is mainly dependent on “the link” between the buttplate and the ground…I.e. the shooter.

30-30 & 30-40’s have killed every critter in North America at one point or another, including big bears and moose.

7MM/.280 and .308 caliber families have mostly all done the same.

.270/6.5 family just seems too light for the biggest critters but have definitely killed them as the 6.5 Sweed is a recognized moose slayer in its homeland.

Proper bullet, reasonable distances, and accurate shots make caliber wars more fun fiction than final fact…

All IMO and YMMV.

 

[2ndtimer]

.270WSM, ballistic twin to a .280AI, Fits in a short action, more punch than a standard .270 Win. Can push the Nosler 160 gr Partition over 3,000 FPS. For the recoil sensitive, a versatile cartridge. If you want long range, I suppose the faster twisted 6.8 Western might be a better (near identical) option.

 

[mgmorden]

If you can't do .30-06 and want a definite "all around" cartridge I'd just switch to 7mm Rem Mag.

Honestly though while I'd probably use one of those two for Elk, Moose, etc, 99.9% of my rifle hunting is for Whitetail. I'm looking at taking an out of state trip this year but its still for Pronghorn which is even smaller. So for my uses the slightly lower powered cartridges in the 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08, .257 Roberts, etc class are better suited to the size of the game I hunt. Plus I'm up to around 10-11 deer with my 7mm-08 with not a single miss/lost animal so at this point if I'm grabbing a rifle I trust that's the one .

 

[.308 Norma]

375 H&H because I really want one and it just sounds cool.

I'll second the 375 H&H, and for the exact same reasons.

 

[Varminterror]

If I lived with big game within my state and my backyard such true big game hunting was more like my regular deer hunting - meaning if I were able to scout and know the terrain better, and had more than a handful of days per year, I’d likely choose something like in a 284 win/Shehane, 7-08AI, 7x57AI, 280remAI, 7wsm/saum ballpark, rather than the 30cal magnums I mentioned above.

That does retain a bias on perceived opportunity, however, as I simply picture far more opportunity to hunt elk, caribou, black bear, etc rather than moose, Buffalo, or big brownies… so I’d be conceding to be “capable, but slightly under-powered” for my preference on the largest of game, and we’ll suited for more common species.

 

[caribou]

7.62X54R

Make mine a Mosin!

 

[Speedo66]

Want some fun.....6.5 swiss, for todays change hungry generation.

Swede? They really are different people. lol

Agree, the 6.5 Swede would be a good all around cartridge for most of NA.

 

[bigpower491]

My home built VZ 24 in 06.......
338-06 that is
The reason I built it?
So I could have 1 rifle capable of hunting everything on the continent.
180-250 gr projectiles with ease, moderate recoil, and this particular with carefully handloaded ammunition shoots sub MOA with all of em.
Chuck O'Neil, Elmer Keith, and Don Hopkins were on to something when they created the 333 OKH, the original version of this wildcat now SAMMI standard, cartridge

 

[.38 Special]

.257 Weatherby on one end, .338 Winchester on the other. Just about anything in between would be fine too.

 

[Mn Fats]

For me it's 300 Win Mag.

I can easily load it to mimic a .308, or 30-06.

300 Win for the same reason. I wanted to say .308 real bad but I keep thinking, some day I'll hunt something bigger than Whitetail.

 

[wombat13]

.257 Weatherby on one end, .338 Winchester on the other. Just about anything in between would be fine too.

Well if we could have two rifles, then I'd go with the .25-06 and .300WM which I have. If we could do three, then .25-06, .280ai, and .375 Ruger.

 

[Sav .250]

What you hunt has a lot to do with a selection. As does what part of the country you might be located.
In Florida swamp like areas can be the norm. Open areas as well.
In my case, I`m a swamp terrain guy.
Snake boots and a Marlin 336 in 35 cal.

 

[mcb]

I promised my love to just one women. Not doing the same with my rifle cartridges, variety is the spice of life!

My current big game cartridges
270 Win
30 Remington AR
450 Bushmaster
6mm Creedmoor
7.65x53 Argentine
7.62x54R
30-06 (in need of a new barrel)
44 Mag
12 Gauge Slug
410 Bore Slug

Big game cartridge I have seriously considered adding
300 RUM
338 Federal
470 NE (I have an occasion double-gun delusion from reading too much Capstick)
458 Lott (my shoulder and I don't always see eye to eye)
35 Remington

 

[Jack B.]

30-06 ammo is available just about anywhere including hardware stores. .308 pretty available .30-30 is also. Some of the others not so. Unless you are a hand loader some you can't find at all. That's been my experience.