Only Three Bolt-gun Hunting Calibers - Which Ones?

[44 AMP]

That's fine--if you have one that lives within 1,000 miles and is not back-logged a year or two out.

oh sure, go and get all practical...

buzzkill, dude, major buzzkill....

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by Sarge

30-06 and 375 H&H. 223 for rodents and such, I reckon.

Good choices, very similar to mine. The only reason I didn't go .30-06 is that's my hardest recoiling rifle. I also don't shoot it as well.

[USAF Ret]

Originally Posted by NHSHOOTER

22-250 M700 Remington with bull barrel for lil critters
25-06 M77 ruger cause I inherited it from my brother and it shoots bugholes
7-08 Browning xbolt , big enough for me in the northeast.
and I reload for em all and they all shoot bugholes..

Outstanding list, especially since you reload. 25-06 and 7mm-08 were a couple hard to find over the last few years.

[USAF Ret]

Originally Posted by Jack O'Conner

.243 for very long shooting at pronghorn antelope

.308 for everything else except coastal brown bears

35 Whelen for big bears

I downed a big moose with my .308 while hunting in Saskatchewan. Not armor plated. - Jack

I love my 308. PSA had a sale on Norma Whitetail 150 grain a while back. $15.99 a box and that is the most accurate ammo I have shot through mine.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

OK, so its a liability, but compared to what??

Consider looking at it the way we look at high performance race cars.

They are high performance machines, who deliver the top possible performance at the cost of pushing the machine to its limits in short order. To get the most out of them we push them hard, and they wear out soon. No different from race cars, who run one race and then completely rebuild the engine, and then replace it the next run.

So, maybe that tuned specialty racer will give you top performance for only a limited number of miles. Do you want to use them up in practice? OR in a 500 mile race for the big bucks??

Same with the hot magnum rifles, shooting them wears the barrels out. Sight in and then only shoot at big game, a few shots a year, they last decades of use. Shoot them all summer blowing away prairie dogs or paper targets looking for that magic "last 1/4", and you'll need a new barrel by deer season. Probably.....


There's no free lunch....

Fully agree.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by stagpanther

That's fine--if you have one that lives within 1,000 miles and is not back-logged a year or two out.

I can do my own, but my machine equipment is dedicated to industrial process and not gunsmithing. There are three good Smiths around here that will do my rebarrel cheaper than I can. If I spend the amount of time a rebarrel will take doing other lathe work, I can pay the smith 4 times. Butttt, on occasion I do one.

[bamaranger]

Take note the OP stated ......deer/antelope to moose. No mention of varmints, practice, or small game. We're not listing 3 rifles for everything, it's 3 rifles to take medium to large game. No need for a rimfire, and the need for a .22 centerfire is debatable (in responding to this thread) So my 3........
-.243
-.308(or'06)
-.338 mag

A moose is a heck of a big critter, I'd estimate one can run over 1000 lbs easily. Note that is a good bit more than a grizzly, and up into Kodiak bear weight range. Yeah, smaller calibers routinely take moose and bears, the 6.5 Swede comes to mind in the Scandi/Nordic countries. Here in the U.S. a heavy and/or premium bullet loaded '06 has taken moose and bear routinely.
But the big mag removes all doubt. Don't own one, never shot one, and won't ever get to hunt moose or bear.....but definitely enough gun.

I wouldn't care much about manufacturer. All my rifles are blue collar over the counter numbers except for one Frankenstein match rifle. I like the concept of a trigger with big rugged parts and not a lot of springs and pins.
The Ruger 77MkII trigger approaches this ideal, the M98 and M70 triggers likely epitomize it. That said, I own Savages and Rugers with bladed triggers and they have performed well. Push or controlled feed isn't really a deal breaker for me either.

[The Happy kaboomer]

Ain't gonna happen.......These "If you could have only threads......." are a waste. I/WE can have all we want for different applications.

[USAF Ret]

Originally Posted by bamaranger

Take note the OP stated ......deer/antelope to moose. No mention of varmints, practice, or small game. We're not listing 3 rifles for everything, it's 3 rifles to take medium to large game. No need for a rimfire, and the need for a .22 centerfire is debatable (in responding to this thread) So my 3........
-.243
-.308(or'06)
-.338 mag

A moose is a heck of a big critter, I'd estimate one can run over 1000 lbs easily. Note that is a good bit more than a grizzly, and up into Kodiak bear weight range. Yeah, smaller calibers routinely take moose and bears, the 6.5 Swede comes to mind in the Scandi/Nordic countries. Here in the U.S. a heavy and/or premium bullet loaded '06 has taken moose and bear routinely.
But the big mag removes all doubt. Don't own one, never shot one, and won't ever get to hunt moose or bear.....but definitely enough gun.

I wouldn't care much about manufacturer. All my rifles are blue collar over the counter numbers except for one Frankenstein match rifle. I like the concept of a trigger with big rugged parts and not a lot of springs and pins.
The Ruger 77MkII trigger approaches this ideal, the M98 and M70 triggers likely epitomize it. That said, I own Savages and Rugers with bladed triggers and they have performed well. Push or controlled feed isn't really a deal breaker for me either.

Excellent post. Yeah, keeping varmints out of the mix. I am not a varmint hunter, unless it is by chance.

I had a Ruger M77 when I was stationed in CO chambered in 06. Can't remember why I got rid of it. I was in the Air Force at the time and was an E-6, so it probably had to do with needing money. It was the walnut and stainless. Beautiful rifle.

I owned a Ruger M77 when I was stationed in AK chambered in 300 Win Mag. It had the old cutout boat paddle stock. That thing would kick you, knock you down and beat the bushes looking for you. Made me flinch so bad I could not group worth a crap. Ended up selling it getting an 06 Browning X-Bolt for moose with 180 Nosler Partitions, I think. Never got a shot at a moose, but took a mule deer with it on my next assignment. It was a shooter.

[USAF Ret]

Originally Posted by The Happy kaboomer

Ain't gonna happen.......These "If you could have only threads......." are a waste. I/WE can have all we want for different applications.

Not a waste to me. I like hearing why people choose certain calibers and rifles. I am looking at trying to get my stash down to a few nice rifles and calibers and this has been very informative.

[Right to bear arms]

Winchester Model 70 Pre 64 .270
Winchester Model 70 Pre 64 .300 H&H
Winchester Model 70 Pre 64 .375 H&H

[USAF Ret]

Originally Posted by Right to bear arms

Winchester Model 70 Pre 64 .270
Winchester Model 70 Pre 64 .300 H&H
Winchester Model 70 Pre 64 .375 H&H

That is some firepower.

[Shadow9mm]

22lr, 223, 30-06

[Right to bear arms]

I have the .270 and the 300 H&H as well as a .264. planning on getting a 375 H&H. These Georgia whitetails are getting bigger!

[Drm50]

When I first got on Gun Forums it took me a little while to understand the Boat Wreck joke.
What is not a joke is I lost a Rem 660 350mg when I flipped a canoe in Northern Ontario.
It was designated canoe gun because at the time they were cheap. Lost rifle while fishing during Spring Bear. That was 1970s, it’s probably in James Bay by now. Lost everything and had a miserable walk out. The Black Flies and skeeters are terrible in spring.

[Bart B.]

The stiffest bolt actions ever made were twenty Winchester 70 single shot ones made for the US Army Rifle Team. No cutout for the box magazine.

Same action with a magazine is stiffer than the Remington 700 action.

[stagpanther]

The stiffest bolt actions ever made were twenty Winchester 70 single shot ones made for the US Army Rifle Team. No cutout for the box magazine.

Did it is still have a middle pillar?

[ligonierbill]

OK, I'll play:

.257 Roberts (Shaw barreled 98 Mauser) Varmints to deer.
.338 Win Mag (Savage 116) Most anything.
.416 Rem Mag (Winchester Model 70) Still haven't given up the buffalo dream.

Ask next month, and I'll have 3 different picks. Hate these forced choices.

[44 AMP]

But the big mag removes all doubt

Its a small matter, but I don't think any cartridge choice removes all doubt.

The stiffest bolt actions ever made were....

The stiffness of the action, one design over another, is of no concern to me in a big game hunting rifle. When hunting big game, what matters to me is what the rifle/ammo can do, in my hands, from field positions.

If I can get "minute of deer" (elk, moose, bear, or whatever game I'm hunting" accuracy, I'm happy and good to go. For hunting small varmints, I have different standards, but that's not what is under discussion here.

[Bart B.]

Originally Posted by stagpanther

Did it is still have a middle pillar?

It had all three screws just like the regular ones.

[Drm50]

I bought brand new Sako 375H&H right out of Hi School. I was looking for a 300mag. I wanted AT&T gun to reach out and touch. This 375H&H was a sleeper, dealer had bought package assortment of Sako and the 375H&H wasn’t selling. I knew what it was and had no interest in it. Dealer cut me a deal that made it practical to buy rifle and have barreled to 300mg. Took it to my Gsmith who was a 375 nut and he convinced me to shoot it before barreling. Gun was impressive accuracy and smooth as glass. Recoil wasn’t bad at all, in fact less than Rem BDL 300Win mag. Loaded with 235gr spitzers it became my favorite BA. Never did shoot a bear with it but made a moose sick to death and lots of deer. 375H&H did less damage to deer than several smaller bore HV rifles.

[kilotanker22]

Browning X-Bolt Max Long Range in 300 PRC
Tikka T3x Lite in 6.5 Creedmoor
Savage 110 or Tikka T3x in .223 Remington

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by Bart B.

The stiffest bolt actions ever made were twenty Winchester 70 single shot ones made for the US Army Rifle Team. No cutout for the box magazine.

Same action with a magazine is stiffer than the Remington 700 action.

Production or all actions in general?

[44caliberkid]

243, 30-06, 375 Ruger

[USAF Ret]

Originally Posted by ligonierbill

OK, I'll play:

.257 Roberts (Shaw barreled 98 Mauser) Varmints to deer.
.338 Win Mag (Savage 116) Most anything.
.416 Rem Mag (Winchester Model 70) Still haven't given up the buffalo dream.

Ask next month, and I'll have 3 different picks. Hate these forced choices.

Check back in a month.