The Most Versatile Rifle Cartridge For Anywhere (Everywhere) In North America Is...

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If prices and popularity were all the same and rifle options for each round were the same, one would be an idiot not to take .30-06 over .308. However, .308 has a lot more options in terms of firearms available for use.
 
Who was the guy who shot over 1,000 elephant with .275 flanged magnum/7x57?

I'd have to go with a .358. 180 grn. for deer 220-250 grain for anything else in North America, and you can load a low powder charge and .357 magnum bullets for squirrels, rabbits, nutrias and such. All in a lightwieght handy lever action package the BLR.
 
All North America? All non dangerous species = .30-06. I supect its a little light (to me) for coastal brown bears, or muskox.. but Caribou hunts those with a Finnsh Moisin Nagant.. so it's probably more about the hunter than the tool.

I have a bunch of Hornady 220gr round nose interlock bullets I bought JUST FOR making 'moose loads' or 'bear loads'. You'll be in the 2500fps range, not in magnum velocity: but that's still a hell of a whallop.
 
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I'm not disrespecting any other calibers. Ya' gotta' love 'em all!! :)

A few mentioned the .308 Win and I agree that it's a very versatile caliber. The reason I think the '06 is even more versatile is the greater case capacity. With the tiny 55gr bullets, I'd wager there's not a half inch difference in penetration between '06 and .308 Win and I'd bet the '06 has the lesser penetration with that bullet but it would probably be a bit more destructive. Wow... I'm winded after that last sentence.

A couple folks tried to help clarify my reasoning of why I think '06 is the most versatile cartridge. I apologize for not stating this more clearly. Yes, it mostly has to do with the huge variety of available bullets. However, it also has to do with case capacity and available powders. With all the combinations available it can do darned near anything.

I didn't want to start another "if you could have only one" thread but... if I could have only one caliber rifle, all other factors identical, it would be a .30-06. However, since I prefer NATO calibers, if I could have only one, then the obvious choice is the venerable .308 Win.

ETA: One poster mentioned that there's no historical reference that the '06 was designed for 220gr bullets: That's true... sort of. To those who don't know... the '06 was born of the Springfield M1903 which was designed for 220gr bullets and used a 1:10 rifling twist rate. The twist rate didn't change when the bullet weight was lessened to accommodate 1906 military specs. So, even though the '06 wasn't "designed" to shoot 220gr bullets, it does so with ease.
 
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Stipulating shooting skill and the ability for control of adrenalin, I figure that the '06 would do okay when hunting the big bears. The idea is that you see them first and plan the rest of the deal.

But I don't see the '06 as the right tool for stopping an irate, charging Biggie. Completely different scenario.

With modern bullet technology, the '06 is plenty good for all other North American critters. If you handload, a good squirrel load is an 00 Buck ahead of some five grains weight of pistol powder.
 
Hello,

I saw the .22 rimfire mentioned. I thought we were talking centerfire.

I'll go with the .22 rimfire if rimfires are allowed.

I'd then contend that the 8x57 is the .22 short of the centerfire world, with the .30-06 being the .22 Long Rifle.

Regards,

Josh
 
Indeed the 30-06 is very versatile: "able to be adapted to many different functions". Totally agree, but there are too many other cartridges that can do very similar things so it would be pretentious to name 30-06 as king.
 
^^^ Perhaps so... but I believe the "availability" of the many flavors of .30-06 ammo makes it king. Not by a wide margin when compared to many calibers but king none-the-less. A pretentious statement? Maybe... but an arguable one. :)
 
^^^ After all it is a discussion forum!

I'll admit if there was a Poll involved I'll be inclined to vote for the 30-06. That doesn't mean there wouldn't be another handful of cartridges that could do many of the same things.
 
I agree with Art. The .30-06 is a versatile round, when fed handloads. However, given that the OP is asserting an all-round round, I have to revisit a post I made here after reading Larry Kelley's book. I made this post when my screen name was Doc2005. Here is an explanation of what Kelly experienced when a bear came INSIDE of their cabin:

Read Larry Kelly & J.D. Jones' "Hunting for Handgunners", P. 225.

Kelly & Jones were attacked by a charging bear, less than 10 feet away they began blasting at the bear standing in their cabin's door way while they were INSIDE too.

In total 16 rounds of .375 H&H, .44 Magnum and .375 J.D.J. were pumped into the bear, and the bear still ran off and died down on the beach.

Conversely, on page 224 of the same book, Kelly poses for a picture with an Alaskan brown bear downed at 60 yards, by one shot from a .44 Mag.

Food for thought, lest you become food for bear.

Doc2005
Click to expand...

If I am restricted to one rifle, one cartridge, and could face big bears, the .30-06 isn't my choice. If you keep me outside of the big bear territory, okay, I'm in with the .30-06.

Geno
 
270 and here why 90gr up to 160gr a flat shooter. There is a lot of them out there. I like my 25.06 75gr up to 120gr flat shooter.
 
The problem is there is no one all purpose gun. The .30-06 and .358 come close. The 9.3x62 also covers a good base, but leaves out all the little critters. If you're dealing with a very angry large bear, you can also bet there is a lot of adrenaline pumping through its system as well, in which case even the mighty 9.3 could turn anemic. I would go with a .45-70. There won't be much rabbit left for the pot, but at least you won't be the bear's favorite stew.
 
I like big fonts too!!!

30-06, 7x57, 8x57, 257 Roberts, 260 rem, 6x55 swede, 270 win, and 280 rem are all the most versatile cartridge out there for NA game.

Or the 35 whelen, 338-06, 338 federal, 7mm rem mag, ....
 
.308 is the King. Why, the 308 can be shot in short actions too, allows a broader range of powder variation for varmit to large game, only gives up 100 to 150 fps in velocity to 30 naught 6, a lot of brass is availabe due to military use (7.62x51mm), and it uses the very versital 30 cal bullet. .308 is KING.........
 
Au contraire, the difference between the .308 and .30-06 does come out with heavier bullets. The .30-06 will impact notably harder. Just how much? I wouldn't shoot a grizz with a heavy .308. I would shoot one with a heavy .30-06 in just the perfect conditions. However, I still maintain that in a stable situation the .358 is slightly more reasonably versatile than either, untill you hack a bear off. Then it's time for the .45-70.:uhoh:
 
All cartridge snobs will say that "there's better than the .30-06...blah blah blah"...But lemme ask you this.....Can you go to your local bait and tackle shop or Orschlen's or even Walmart and find something on the same plane of existence, same knock down power and range, for the same or cheaper price? You'd be hard pressed to find a dadgum (magnum) round or any other round for that matter that comes close to the .30-06 for the price. And if you do, the .30-06 or the .30-03 was most likely its parent case. Be thankful for the 06, it's brought to existence quite a few of the rounds you cartridge snobs gawk about.
 
The only reason I would say the .358 is more versatile is because you can load with a light powder charge and .357 mag bullets for small game. A small game load with the .30-06 can be done, but it's not quite as simple. That's the only reason I would pick a .358 over a .30-06 in a one gun to fit all situation. Of course there is no real one gun to fit all situation. Down here a .30-06 can take all native game and most exotics, but a number of ranches have heavy stuff as well, such as yak and water buff, which would require something well above either .30-06 or .358. SO... since there is no real one gun to fit all, why not get both?:D
 
I would just add that the total number of game (of every size including the big alaskan browns and other nasty critters) that has been taken in North America with the 30-06 is more then any other single cartridge. Probably more then any other two combined... Yes there are rounds that will do certain things better or faster or with less drop, but for the all around King, ya gotta go with the grand daddy '06.

A magnum super laser 90mm tomahawk will only drop 4 inches at 900 yards, and a .585 super beast has 319,000 ft lbs of energy at the muzzle, but we arent talking about one type of hunt with one speciffic load, its the over the wide field you have to look at! And no other single cartridge comes close to the wide range the '06 has.
 
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