Pick 3 rifle calibers.

[CZ223]

If you had to limit your rifles to 3 calibers, small, medium and, large, what 3 would you pick.

Small= Varmint caliber up to coyote size animals. Let's keep the upper limit at 6mm/243 caliber

Medium= Deer sized game, coyotes etc. I think 308 should be the upper limit here.

Large= Animals up to and including Elk and Moose and Bear. Lets stick to calibers for animals in the US/canada. Not looking for elephant guns here.

I am really doing this to inform myself more than anything else my first two choices are easy but the third is gonna be tough forme since I have really no experience in this area. I don't even need one right now but I think I might like to hunt larger critters later.

My picks so far are:

Small/Varmint caliber= 223 Cheap easy to load for and readily available as well as accurate. A littlesmall for Coyotes maybe but I can handle them with my second choice should the need arise.

Medium= 25-06 Good for coyotes, deer, antelope. Flat shooter very accurate in my opinion.

Large? right now I would lean towards something in the 308 range because I reall don't like a whole lot of recoil. I also have some love for the 45-70 just because I am acowboy at heart I guess.

I would like to see what you guys pick and why.

 

[Shawnee]

Easiest choice in the World.


.22/250

.243 Winchester

7mm/08 Remington

 

[JohnMc]

.223 Rem - works on lot's of game
.308 Win
.300 Win mag

Seems like these would cover just about everything I'd ever hunt. (Can't afford Africa.)

 

[uneasy_rider]

223
308
45/70

 

[Chipperman]

.22lr
.223
.308

 

[El Tejon]

.223, .308, .338 Wm

 

[Bearhands]

.22mag
260 rem.
30-06 100-220grain

 

[JustsayMo]

22lr
30-06
45-70

 

[rc109a]

223
243
300wsm

 

[dead on]

.17 hmr
.270
.300 win mag.

 

[Sport45]

223
30-06
30-06

 

[MCgunner]

I don't own a .22 centerfire. We don't have "vermin" down here of a traditional long range nature like prairie dogs. Coyotes, but I don't hunt 'em, shoot one occasionally when I'm deer hunting. Biggest .22 I have is a .22 mag, fun to shoot, accurate, have no real hunting use for it, though.

So, if I had to get a .22, it'd be the .22-250, superior to ANY .223 load

My .257 Roberts will do anything a .243 will do and do it better. It will do anything a .25-06 will do and do it almost as well. I like the .257 Roberts a LOT.

My .308 can do anything a .30-06 can do and do it almost as well. I like my .308. I value a light, compact, accurate short action hunting rifle and that's what I have.

My boomer is a 7mm Rem Mag. Frankly, until I go elk hunting someday, I don't really need it. With the .308 now, I probably STILL don't need it. It's more'n enough gun for anything I hunt, but the rifle is a big, heavy long action Savage and I don't hunt with it much anymore. I'm over my magnum lust. I guess it's a common disease, but frankly the .308 kills 'em just as dead and it ain't such a pain to tote or in the stand. But, I'll take it over any .30-06 case round, flatter shooting, more powerful, better BCs and SDs in 7mm, a great long range thumper. If I'm going to tote a heavy long action gun anyway, I'll go with the 7. I've always been a fan of 7mm bullets. If I'd found the deal on my .308, but it'd been in 7-08, I'd have taken it. But, I like the .308 just fine. It is a great hunting caliber, very accurate, and easy to load for. The 7 mag may be a tad light for kodiak bear, but I've never been to Alaska and I ain't seen too many brown bear roaming around Texas or New Mexico. If I were a rich man and could afford to hunt Alaska, I'd probably go with the .325 WSM. The numbers and compactness of that round and the Browning BLR that chambers it sorta appeal to me for a dangerous big animal of brown bear size. The .325 WSM will do anything the .338 Win Mag will do and out of a handier, faster firing lever gun that is quite accurate.

 

[oklahoma caveman]

223
7mm-08
45-70

 

[chad1043]

.22
30-30
45/70

 

[EastKY_DO]

.223 cheap, plentiful
.30-06 best all-around there is
.375 H&H, enough for dangerous bears, available worldwide

 

[ashtxsniper]

.223
.308
300 win mag

 

[Eric F]

Small game- tough call because I call this rabits and such but since Cyotes are in there also I would have to go with .223
Medium game deer and such 30-30
large game 45-70 unless you wanted to go exotic then 50-90 sharps
Fun Subject some interesting remarks
for cyotes and larger though I commonly use a a 7mm rem mag. I have never tried game larger than big white tail deer but tried and true are the buffalo calibers.

 

[byf43]

.223
.308 or .30-'06
.45/70

 

[kentucky_smith]

.223
.243
.30-'06

 

[Wolfgang2000]

22 LR
7.62x39
308

 

[CZ223]

Great responses so far.. Keep em comin!

There a couple surprises so far for me anyway.
1) The 223 seems to far and away the leaader sofar in the first category. I would have thought that there would be a whole lot of people for the 22-250. We will see how it goes.

2) The 22LR is second place as a varmint gun.

3) Not as much support for the 243 and 30-06 "yet" as I would have guessed.

Remember, no one is right or wrong here. I just wanna see what you guys would choose. So far it is interesting.

 

[Infidel]

.22lr
.308 Win.
.45-70 Govt.

 

[tbtrout]

.22 lr
.308 Win
45-70 Govt

 

[DogBonz]

Thats easy

.22LR - good for practice, fun, and everything small

6.5 Grendel - Truly, the do it all cartridge. from 85-90grainers for varmints to 107-123gr for paperpunching and LR shooting, to 120-130 hunting bullets for deer and mid size game, to SD/HD/ SHTF the grendel does it all.

300 Weatherby - capeable of anything on this continent and more.

 

[MDHunter]

3) Not as much support for the 243 and 30-06 "yet" as I would have guessed.

People may have taken you literally with your "limit the midrange caliber to the .308 or less" - since the 06 is more powerful than the 308, that may have altered a choice or two.

My three:

.22 Mag
.30-06
.338 Win