The Ultimate Rifle Cartridge For Hunting

[Waterengineer]

Guntotin_fool:

+1!

[sc928porsche]

There are a lot of good cartridges around but none is the ultimate for all game. In some cases you are "overgunned" and in some cases you are "undergunned". The closest I have found has been the 300WM.

[RedneckFur]

30-30 Is more than enough if you can shoot well. Anything else is just fluff, speed, and noise :P

[sc928porsche]

Mr Redneckfur: I do hope that for your sake that you have someone with you for back up toteing a big boomer for that charging grizz. We would like to keep you around for a while.

Yes, a 30-30 has been known to stop a bear, but a lot of them havn't.

[guntotin_fool]

3030's will kill bear dead, and have killed as many bear as maybe another cartridge. While I prefer something with a lanyard when dealling with something that wants to eat me, I would feel less worried about hunting a big bear with a 3030 that I could shoot well and quickly, than I would with a big boomer I usually missed with. On good side effect of the JMB design on the Winchester levers is the ability to reload without taking the rifle out of battery. That is, you can leave it loaded and ready to go while you stuff fresh rounds in the tube, which is a great confidence builder.

Mind you, I would much prefer to hunt that large bear with a stout 45 70 or the like in a 1886 SRC vs a 3030 in a 1894 SRC, but I would do it if its all I had.

[ropadop]

30-06!! It is available everywhere and is usually included in all the preseason sales. 7mm-08 is not included in those sales...I know that for a fact!

[wyobohunter]

If I had to pick only one for the lower 48 it'd be the trusty ol' 30-06. Here I'd pick the .338 win or something similar (my first rifle purchased in AK was .338 RUM). While the 30-06 can fill a lot of shoes it doesn't fit some of them as well as a for purpose cartridge. I'm just starting to toy around with my 30-06 as a varmint rifle... until I can afford to buy a varmint rifle in a varmint cartridge that is. I could bring it to Kodiak, but why would I when I have a real thumper? etc. etc. For a go to rifle, 30-06 it a great base to start from though.

[The Terminator]

I believe that any 30-06 class would work. For any game, I'd prefer the 45/70. I like a big, heavy, hardcast, penetrating round. Big hole, big damage. With that said, I don't think that many hunters are going to make it a point to hunt with just one rifle. I don't know many around here even, with deer and hogs, who hunt with just one rifle. Lots of challenge in that, not too much fun.

Realistically, if you are able to hunt all of the game in the country, you'd likely want a battery of at least four. I know that is not the question. Best - Ted

[Byron Quick]

I've a number of rifles in different calibers that would serve.

If grizzlies or Kodiaks were likely to be encountered, .35 Whelen would do nicely.

Now I wouldn't feel naked with a .30-'06 but I certainly wouldn't want the same ammunition in it, I'd hunt deer with.

But then, the same goes for my .35 Whelen, .45-70, and .300 WinMag.

I've got other rifles that would do well with the big bears but I'm not sure about downloading for smaller North American game.

[MR4SHOOTIN]

.22 Magnum

[Jseime]

I believe there is a reason that the .30-06 is the most popular caliber in North America if I am not mistaken. It is a great round and incredibly versatile. Nothing in N A that I would not trust the good old 06 to take down.


My .270 may be a little light for the really big stuff, but for deer... not a better cartridge has ever been made, and a better one never will.

[Stick_man]

Count me in with the '06 crowd. When talking "any NA animal", it edges out the .308 with the heavier bullets.

The .308 is an excellent cartridge with excellent inherent accuracy. It even has better ballistics than the '06 when using bullets weighing less than 165 grains. Above 165, the '06 starts to shine and the .308 starts to putter out.

I like the '06 as an all-around gun because you can go as light as a 55gr .224 slug (with sabot), 100gr hollow point, or all the way up to 250 gr bullets. With the Rem. Accellerators, you can get about 4000fps with the 55gr .224 which makes for a wicked varmint blaster (although accuracy is usually not top notch). For the big bears, you can load the heavy 250gr bullets and still get around 2500fps muzzle velocity. For the dangerous game (bears), you could even use the heavy Barnes solids (although not legal for big game hunting in most if not all states).

[Fremmer]

I like the .308 Winchester because you can load 20 grain rounds for varmints, although they aren't very accurate. And on the other end, you can load 220 grain rounds for hunting water bison. The .308 just shoots 'em better than the .30-06, which is why the .308 is the ultimate hunting round.

[taylorce1]

Count me in with the '06 crowd. When talking "any NA animal", it edges out the .308 with the heavier bullets............ or all the way up to 250 gr bullets..........For the big bears, you can load the heavy 250gr bullets and still get around 2500fps muzzle velocity.

Stick_man who makes the 250 grain bullet and what data do you have that gets that heavy of a bullet to 2500 fps out of a .30-06? I know Sierra makes a 240 Match King, but I wouldn't use them to hunt with. I have data that gets a 220 grain Sierra bullet to 2700 fps out of the .30-06 but none for any heavier bullet than the 220 grain. I'd think the 20-30 grain heavier bullet would take up too much powder space in a .30-06 and still get it to fit in my magazine of my hunting rifles.