The “best” round for, deer, elk, pronghorn, black bear, so on and so forth.

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For wolves or pronghorn it would be whatever I had in my hands at the time provided it was bigger than a 22 centerfire. If the game was bigger than a deer I want a 30 cal.
 
The most powerful (and most accurate) hunting rifle I own is a RAR in 6.5 CM. I know it is more versatile for multiple uses/critters than my iron sighted 30-30 or my 243, and definitely better than my older iron sighted milsurp rifles.
 
In hunting hogs with a 6.5 Grendel and testing out various bullets along the way, I am frequently asked what is the best Grendel round for hogs. This has never been an easy question to answer because "best" depends on the hunter's desired bullet performance and what they are willing to spend. Are they shooting hogs for the purpose of getting rid of a pest or are they meat hunting? Do they follow the theories of energy deposition of the bullet into the animal, "air in, blood out" through and through bullets, or are they just after a lot of tissue damage? Do they want lead bullets or lead-free? Are they looking for expanding bullets or frangible? Are they willing to pay for premium bullets or are they looking for something cheap? Once I understand the parameters of what they want, I can usually help them make a choice. You can find good options with most of the parameters stipulated. However, what I consider to be the best bullet for the job may not be what you consider to be the best, and neither of us would be wrong. We just have different criteria.

My personal choices for 6.5 Grendel for hogs would be rounds that I have found to be overly destructive including Hornady SST 123 gr., Federal Speer TNT 90 gr., and Berger VLD-Hunting 130 gr....and for non-lead, Maker Rex 110 gr. I am not a meat hunter.

The Hornady SST 123 gr. rounds tend to fragment at rifle length velocities on targets inside 200 yards and with shorter barrels and longer distances are more apt to perform like a soft point, but still have good expansion. A lot of surrounding meat that appears to be in good shape will tend to have lead fragments in it - not a great meat hunting bullets unless targeting head/neck region. Overpenetration is common on broadside shoulder shots up to 200 lbs and may happen on hogs occasionally over 225 lbs. This was the first round I used for hunting hogs and still use it today. It just plain works well.

Federal Speer TNT 90 gr. bullets virtually never have more than a button base of bullet recovered, having fragmented nearly completely, often making an exceptionally large wound channel along the way. Lots of polluted meat. Broadside shoulder overpenetration rarely happens on hogs over 160 lbs and may not happen on some smaller hogs. TNT bullets are very inexpensive as far as hunting bullets go. Yes, this is a varmint round, but I have used it on hundreds of hogs and like its performance

The Berger VLD-Hunting 130 gr. did not perform as advertised, depositing all of its energy inside of the animal. I think that at Grendel rifle velocities, the bullet is too slow and so fragments more gradually than what Berger advertises. What results is a long and large nasty wound channel that may overpenetrate, even on larger hogs. If these weren't so danged expensive, I would hunt with them more often. This is probably the most destructive bullet I have ever used on hogs.

The Maker Rex 110 gr. is a monolithic all copper bullet that expands with three large petals that frequently break off and create their own separate wound channels and then the base continues on farther. You can get a sort of combination of depend penetration (usually just a small hole, but the base often exits on broadside shots) and good tissue destruction along the way with the petals. Being all copper, these are pricey as well. This is the only all copper bullet I have tried so far that I would consider hunting with regularly.
 
H&Hhunter said:
The recoil from a .375H&H will spin you around twice and if you shoot a deer with it, it’ll blow that deer into tiny little pieces. I read about that on the internet! ;)
Click to expand...
You are correct sir! But it makes field dressing much faster. If you can find all the parts you want to keep...
 
I have always been a 6 (Remington or Creedmoor) and 6.5 (x55 or Creedmoor) fan for deer and pronghorn, but would likely go to 308 for elk or bear.
 
I like a 30 cal for elk etc. Either my 308 or 300 win mag just depending on where I'm hunting and who with. My outfitter friends like to see that magnum for some reason.... for pronghorn and wolves? My savage mdl 11 in 250 savage. I can drive a 100gr ballistic tip or interlock at 3000 fps with ramshot big game with a load that came straight from ramshot. I'm running really low on those interlock bullets. I sure wish hornady would bring them back.
 
I bought several boxes of the old Remington Core-Lokt 150 grain .270 Winchesters about 4 years ago. Really cheap. Figured it is a lifetime supply. If I were invited to join any of those hunts, I would pack my .270 and a box of those Remmies. If I don’t score, it won’t be the rifle or the bullet’s fault.
 
Is this a best one round thing? The target animals and terrain vary extremely widely in this state. At the top is the Rocky Mountain Elk with an average weight of 700 lbs for a bull, followed by the Gemsbok (called Oryx here) at around 500 lbs, then mule deer, Coues deer, pronghorn, black bear, bighorn sheep, Barbary sheep, Ibex, and Javelina (not big, but listed as a big game animal for hunts). On the non-game side, we have hogs, of course, and a few Himalayan tahr that got away a while back and NM game and fish want them both hunted down. If you want to do a private hunt (shoot?), you can pay for a bison if you want. Wolves are protected.

Terrain varies from wide open and pretty flat to high and very rough mountains. Desert, forest, and grasslands. Ranges run from muzzle length out to as far as you can see (a long way).

I am a fan of rifles that can be carried easily, shoot fairly flat, and don't kick the living daylights out of the shooter. The legal minimum caliber for big game is 22 caliber center fire.

I think the 22-250 firing a TTSX would be very good for pronghorn out to 300/400 yards. It would probably work okay for the two deer species also at normal short to medium ranges although mule deer get kind of large. It would also be effective for hogs, javelina, and Ibex. A hot 6mm on up to 25-06/6.5mm/270 would work fine also.

I think most hunters here like something a bit more upscale for elk and oryx. Especially oryx as they have a rep for being tough.

Obviously, you probably need something bigger for bison.
 
Nature Boy said:
.308 win is the correct answer.

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Actually it's almost never "THE CORRECT ANSWER"
Read an article years ago about the 30-06 being a jack of all trades master of none, much of which would apply to it's mini me.
The 308 is also jack of all trades master of none.
It's usually a good answer though.
For the record I have two 308s and three 30-06s
 
Pronghorn- 25-06/120gr Hornady Interlock
Deer-.270 Win/150gr Hornady Interlock. Or, 30-06/180gr Hornady Interlock.
Elk-180-200gr Nosler Partition.

Must clarify. I no longer hunt, just plink in the desert with my lever rifles and SAA's.
 
I would say 308 winchester because of Available ammo and reloading components, Also has a long, proven track record.
 
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