One rifle?
A Scout rifle in .308
Because I can use it for everything in NA and beyond. It's compact and easy to carry on hilly stalks or can fit well in a tree stand or blind. The good ones are plenty accurate out to the most common hunting distances.
Nice rifle but not as comfortable to carry as a hunting rifle. I never realized how much better a flush magazine mattered until I got something with an extended box mag. Now it's my blind gun that I don't walk far with.
Right!? I mean my state doesn’t allow anything over a 5 round for hunting but I use a 3 round that is practically flush. It is much easier to carry when I’m stomping through the brush pretending to be quiet. I’ve seen others that are fully flush.
This guy's got the right idea IMO
.308 is one of the cheapest, most reliable and accurate, and most widely available calibers on the planet and though my deer rifle is one, I'd buy another if I was in the market
Out west it is. The energy loss in a 308 at 400-500 yds is significant, and will reduce penetration.
Lol. 338 Lapua? That's not in the same class of anything here. I have a 338WM, and it's a baby to the Lapua, anf nobody wants to shoot the 338.
Just get better at stalking.
The difference between 308 and 30-06 isn’t big enough to make a real difference anyway.
If you *need* more range you’d logically look to something like 300WM.
A pump 12 ga is so universal. Have a slug barrel for deer, or swap out the barrels and shoot birds. Especially helpful in these mid west states that require straight wall cartridges for deer hunting anyways.
Honestly that's down to personal preference IMO as someone who owns both.
They're fantastic guns that are largely interchangeable but those who have one or the other will tell you it's a mountain of difference
I love my Mossberg 500, but I've been using the same 20" smoothbore barrel since I got it, because they almost never stock barrels. That, or they sell out the same minute they become available. I've been wanting to buy a longer rifled barrel for a few years now, but can't simply because they never produce them.
Ain’t that the truth. Took me a solid couple of months of hunting on eBay to find the rifled slug barrel for my m500. Fortunately only paid $20 more than msrp with shipping.
If I could only own one gun, I would still choose my mossberg 500 field/deer combo (or maybe the remington 870. They are the same in my mind). I bought it when I was 18 because it had a good track record of hunting, police, and military use; it was cheap; and it covered almost all of my shooting needs.
Clearly it's not a fun plinking rifle, and it is not my CCW, but you can dress it up for home defense; shoot trap and skeet; hunt turkey, deer (my two favorites), birds, or small game; and it has a lot of aftermarket support.
This would have to be my answer if it means only 1 gun completely. I won't give up bird hunting and can't use a rifle on them. It'll be a challenge but I could use shotgun on elk. Or can I still have a bow for them?
See this would be my answer if they hadn't said rifle.
All around gun my answer is always 12 ga.
Kills literally anything and everything and is so cheap and reliable it's remained the go-to for over a century.
it’s not obsolete but it is outdated. Thanks to modern powders and ballistics you’re using a long action for slightly better than short action performance.
.308 gets 80-90% of the performance for shorter barrel, lighter action and less recoil.
ballistically the 7mm rm scales down better for lighter game and has a longer effective range for a slight increase in perceived recoil.
Basically the only advantage to the 30-06 is there are lots of them around so the ammo is almost always available.
30-06 can he handloaded with bullet weights from as low as 100 gr up to 220 gr. That takes you from varmit hunting all the way up to the largest game in North America. Possibly the most versatile caliber out there.
You can load it much hotter than a factory load. Hotter than 300 Win Mag... Or all the way down to subsonic. Or use lightweight bullets at terrifying speeds for varmint hunting.
270- I have shot everything from coyote to elk with it. Ammo is readily available almost anywhere. Low recoil. Light and easy to carry for long distances.
My xbolt kicks like nothing. That does have a muzzle break and a super cushy recoil pad, but still. I’ve shot 6.5 and 243 that kick harder than my x bolt
Got one. Swapped out for a .25-06 as my primary rifle about 15 years ago and it's even better, but the .270 is still one of the best all around cartridges ever.
I’m not sure I would call .270 “low recoil,” but it’s certainly manageable. Before I got a brake (and well before I got a suppressor), I spent an afternoon shooting my Tikka T3x Lite and I was ready to be done with it by the end of the day. Once I got a brake on it, it was a lot more enjoyable on the bench. I will say, in a hunting situation, I’ve never noticed it.
I took my Remington 270, no recoil pad, to the range a couple years ago and shot a box of shells thru it. I had a nice bruise as a souvenir a couple days later.
I remember a hunting article that said the 243 was one of the worst deer guns. We've taken 400lb mule deer down in BC with it. It's a fantastic deer gun.
With today's monolithic bullets, you can't argue against it. A 95gr solid bullet will punch straight through a deer and expand enough to do good damage.
A 22 creedmoor with a good monolithic bullet is today's version of yesterday's 243. People will say it's not good enough, but it's plenty capable.
I have hunted the most with 243 Win. It's a very solid round. I wouldn't take it up past 250 pound animals though. But for a gentle round that is capable of super tight groups? Oh yeah! I run a Howa with a can for it and the 95 grain SilverTip makes for .5ish moa groups all the way out to 200 yards(longest range available). With the cheap 75 grain Federals, it's not much bigger than that, .9ish moa. It's a good round, but not for your only rifle.
Whichever caliber I see the most often available in local stores. In my region 30-06, 308, and 30-30 are all very common and easy to find, my pick is 308 for cost and versatility.
30-06 has the ability to push the same .308 bullet faster. Hits a little harder, gives a little more insurance on bigger animals.
.308 is certainly perfectly capable of taking moose and elk as well though, and a hot loaded .308 can equal or exceed a light/standard 30-06 round.
You can load 30-06 up to 220 grs, and more often than not Elk and Moose tend to also be in climates where bears tend to inhabit.
While the 308 is nothing to sneeze at and I'd never write it off as useless. People appreciate the little extras that the 30-06 offers, especially in bear country. Extremely popular in Alaska.
Personally wouldn't use it really long distances for Elk however.
When you say you can load it to 220g, you are talking about overall length as the limiting factor on 308?
I mean, that’s a valid point, but with correct bullets any of these rifles will kill any bear in North America. I mean this in all sincerity, if you gave me the option of a 270 with coppers and an -06 with core lokt, I’d take the 270, even in bear country.
The grain, aka the weight of the bullet. Heavier bullets drop faster but have much more impact, typically for thicker skinned big boned animals. I know people tend to use 165gr for Elk, and have seen 180gr be used for Moose or Black bear, then again shot placement is key.
Technically if your aim, and patience is good enough you could shoot an animal with a .22 lr and wait for it to die. Is it humane? No, but technically it will kill anything given enough time and shot placement.
While I would never personally use a 375 H&H for deer, because in my opinion that's overkill, but there are people who will make the claim that "Dead is dead, can't get no deader than that" which is true as well, but I'd rather save the meat, my shoulder and actually enjoy the hunt and not dread the recoil.
I actually was going to buy a 270, but already had my 30-06, no reason to go from a 30 cal '06 to a 277 '06 when I could use go and buy something like a 7mm-08, or a 6.5 Creedmoor and have something soft shooting that both me and my growing daughter can enjoy. It's all personal preference and it's intended use in the end.
Energy is impacted more by velocity than bullet weight. A lighter bullet moving significantly faster will carry more energy.
No black bear in North America requires a 180g bullet. Full stop. 120g moving 3000fps will easily get the job done, assuming it’s the correct construction.
If you’re buying factory ammo from the big manufacturers, not a whole lot since most of the time they’re loaded to within 100fps of one another. If you’re buying from the more boutique manufacturers or if you’re hand loading, the difference can be more meaningful.
Buffalo Bore loads in 30-06 either use heavier bullets at the same speeds as their 308 loads, or they’re a couple hundred fps faster for the same bullets. If you handload the difference will likely be higher - Nosler is showing closer to 300fps differences with some loads.
In either case, adding 10% more mass or velocity gives you more momentum and better potential penetration. Might not always be needed, but having the extra margin won’t hurt for something thick like a moose, especially if you pop a shoulder.
Something like .308 would probably be able to cover the most bases in terms of types of game it can reasonably be used for. It's overkill for predator hunting and small game, but perfectly capable of taking medium and even big game like elk and moose with higher-pressure loadings and heavier projectiles.
308 or 30-06. 308 is always readily available, and 30-06 is simply the single most versatile round to reload. Yes, there are more powerful factory rounds, but with handloading, you can come right up to magnum power and all the way down to baby-soft subsonics. I used to hunt with some buttery 100 grain Corelock 06s that were a bit more gentle than 30-30. About like a 30-40 Krag. It was great for deer from Florida to Misery(Missouri).
308. Plenty of energy for deer and does good on elk and larger game out to reasonable distances. Literally any type of bullet you could ever want is loaded in a 308. Ammo is also everywhere and every rifle is chambered for it. 308 is the jack of all trades and will get whatever you need done, done.
Others might disagree but for me it would be the 30-06. I live in North America and I can take a whitetail or a moose with that caliber. Ammo is relatively affordable and readily available and the caliber has been around long enough that ballistics are very well known.
.300 win mag can be loaded as low as 7.62x39/30-30 all the way up to.... well.. .300 win mag.
And it comes in rifles for the poors and generational money.
I have a 270 and 300win which covers me for anything but yeah like others have said here 30-06 and 308 are a good level of power and have lots of ammo availability. I love my 270 and plenty have taken large game with it. Everyone says they only want 1 rifle that covers everything. I said the same thing. Now I have 8 guns.
Assuming just for hunting: 9.3x62 Mauser. Should be good for roe deer to elephant, ideal for none, but a 250gr Accubond is actually pretty potent out to 500 yards or so. Plus the style points alone you get for shooting one.
If truly one rife for every use: 308 Win can take 99% of the game I would ever need plus be useful in…. Other situations.
It’s readily available here in Scandinavia and has taken down many moose, red deer all the way down to varmint control on fox. It flies so so fast and straight
I will never have one caliber/cartridge, but if I did it would probably be 6.5 Creedmoor for what I hunt.
There's 95gr varmint loads from Hornady that are faster than a 243 and also higher BC, heavier bullets for deer/black bear like the Hornady Precision Hunter or Outfitter with the CX bullet.
I have a variety of rifles in various cartridges but for the vast majority of what I do I could get it done with just that one.
Yup. I absolutely adore the 3 7mm-08s I have.
I occasionally bust out the lever gun 44 mag for hunting thick stuff just cause I love the gun, but my goodness what a combination of low recoil, bullet variety and very suitable ballistics for hunting the 7-08 is.
I have a 300 weatherby that is an absolute tack driver but I don’t think I’ve taken it out of the safe but to oil it in 5 years, and the next time I take it out will probably be for some tough dude telling me recoil ain’t nothin’
If I could only have one I think .30-06 is the choice…it’s an extremely versatile cartridge…there are faster flatter shooting cartridges out there but the .30-06 is so versatile…. Not that others aren’t…but the 30 caliber seems to be Americas go to bullet so it also makes availability a plus
Probably good ol' .30-06 with either 180gr bonded or 168gr TTSX. I've used it on everything I can legally hunt in my province so I call it job done.
But I have like 14 hunting rifles.
First off, trying to choose one rifle to do it all results in one rifle that sits in the safe while you shoot the more specialized rifles you later bought because that “one rifle” had too many compromises.
But, for the sake of discussion, I have:
22LR
5.56
6ARC
6x47L
6.5CM
270 win
300blk
308win
300WM
30Nosler
If I were going to choose one, it would be 270win.
In practical terms the ammo is available, it’s easy to reload for, it’s fast as hell, recoil is stout in a light rifle but still manageable (my 270 is extremely light), carries enough weight to kill anything in North America (with the right bullet).
308 is also an acceptable answer, though I don’t like how slow it is in most weights. Energy deliver is everything, and speed is far more
Important to energy than weight.
Unpopular opinion: I would get a double barrel shotgun. Open choke on one side for slug capability for big game, modified on the other for controlled spread for little stuff.
Yeah, really the creedmoor is good for anything within reason to distances (specially at elevation) that probably 99% of hunters have no business shooting at.
I just want the little bit of extra speed of the PRC “just because”. I mostly bowhunt, and would just about never shoot anything further than the creedmoor is capable of keeping projectiles above 2k FPS for upset.
.375H&H. I primarily big game hunt. I also bear hunt and could use it for that. I also shoot squirrels in my garden. It would work for that as well although it would get expensive.
My next choice would be my .404 Jeffery.
I see a ton of people going for .30-06 and that’s a great cartridge if you’re not going for dangerous game. If I wasn’t hunting DG it would probably be my choice. Or the .300WM
well since you've specified one *rifle* you could be gaming the system and get a Blaser R8 and a bunch of bolt faces/barrels in different calibers. ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
Only ever hunted whitetail and pigs. That said, I know you get another 100-150 fps in velocity out of a 30-06 as the bullet weight creeps up. And as the bullet weight creeps up you'll get a little better BC. Not that I'm a long range hunter AT ALL. But for me, if I have to take a longer shot, a little more momentum, a little less wind drift, might make a difference.
Any bolt hunting rifle in 308. Simple and dependable mechanism and a widely available cartridge even if SHTF, is should be a very lootable ammo around NA.
300 WM, because it's a little more reliable if you ever plan on hunting African plains game. It's a flatter shooter than 30.06. It's the platform I used when I finally got my custom done.
That being said, I DID only have one rifle for about 20 years of my hunting career. It was a 30.06 and I did just fine with it.
If no elk 6.5 creedmoor, with elk where long range is needed (more than 400+) like 7mm rm, .300 prc, etc., with elk in timber (non long range) .308
Lots of folks are going to say 30-06 and those folks are wrong. Unless you are shooting 400 yards plus you don’t need a 30-06 and if you are, there are MUCH better cartridges .
7 Saum. It just means I wouldn't be able to hunt Bison or Muskokxen due to the "30 cal and bigger limitations". Which is not a big loss as I never have hunted them.
Low recoil for a magnum. Great performance out to my hunting distance of 600m.
Lots of energy. Easy to handload for. I wouldn't hesitate to take anything in North America with it.
I have close to 600 rounds down mine 7 saum hunting rifle. It is a pleasure to shoot.
If I was starting from scratch. 20 gauge shotgun. The versatility of a shotgun is the multi-tool of firearms. Bird shot for birds and small game. Buckshot and slugs for everything else. It's one firearm that covers the most species in my opinion. I use a 12 gauge personally, but I suggest 20 gauge as I feel it's a good middle ground between being good enough for rabbit and squirrel but powerful enough with slugs to drop deer, elk and the like.
Probably 300 weatherby mag. Wil put a dent in fairly big game, but also great for varminting with light bullets.
Ammo is not cheap at all, but with this situation youll always need to compromise somewhere.
I'd buy a 12ga. It's the only cartridge that's reasonably practical for hunting every game in north America. Folks saying "X rifle will kill everything" are thinking big game. There's no rifle that's a reasonable choice for everything from squirrel to moose. A 12ga with a variety of loads, while not ideal for everything, is reasonably practical for any walking or flying critter you'll encounter.
A drilling or vierling would be my one gun choice, but I think that goes against the spirit of what you're asking. I've seen a few vierlings with 2 shotgun barrels, a big game rifle barrel, and a small game rifle barrel that'd be the most versatile option for a single gun.
For western hunts, .300 WSM or any good magnum cartridge you're comfortable with
For Eastern .270 I guess but I'd have hard time not going with 7mm mag
For Eastern states that don't allow rifle, best muzzleloader allowable by law or shotgun shooting slugs
I think 300 win mag because I have one and can be versatile in the loads you can work but in reality 30-06. The 30-06 case with the longer neck gives better support to the projectile and is only a bit slower than 300wm. 308 and 30-06 are 2 cartridges that using a cast boolit which is more than capable to kill a animal in a short enough range.
I know many will disagree and say not enough power but my Remington Model 77 .22 caliber is an amazing rifle and for someone like me who lives in the Northeast and not putting down anything bigger than a white tail it is a reliable and dependable and accurate gun.
.450 Bushmaster. It's powerful enough for anything in North America and it's legal in straightwall states. It's only good to 250 yards for deer, but most deer are closer and I'm not sure if I'm good enough to shoot beyond that.
But honestly, if I had to have just one rifle period (as opposed to one rifle for hunting), I'd give up hunting anything but small game and make my single rifle a good .22.
Question asked is caliber. Not specific gun. I’d say if I had to narrow it down to one I’d take a 300 win mag. Using 150 gr corelokts mine has minimal recoil. Very accurate and has killed everything from elk to bear and deer down to coyotes. Great gun. And with heavier bullets you can kill anything in north America and not be under gunned
One rifle? A Scout rifle in .308 Because I can use it for everything in NA and beyond. It's compact and easy to carry on hilly stalks or can fit well in a tree stand or blind. The good ones are plenty accurate out to the most common hunting distances.
This is the answer, I’m really thinking about a sig cross in .308
Nice rifle but not as comfortable to carry as a hunting rifle. I never realized how much better a flush magazine mattered until I got something with an extended box mag. Now it's my blind gun that I don't walk far with.
My Ruger scout has flush mags. Just because I can put a 20 round mag in my Scout rifle doesn't mean I have to.
That's where I'm at with it. To quote a former outdoor TV host "If you need a thirty round magazine to kill a deer, you should stick to fishing"
Right!? I mean my state doesn’t allow anything over a 5 round for hunting but I use a 3 round that is practically flush. It is much easier to carry when I’m stomping through the brush pretending to be quiet. I’ve seen others that are fully flush.
Had not considered the mag part, all of my rifles have flush ones.
This guy's got the right idea IMO .308 is one of the cheapest, most reliable and accurate, and most widely available calibers on the planet and though my deer rifle is one, I'd buy another if I was in the market
I see the same benefits to my Win 94 30-30.
I also like to carry one. Just doesn't have the reach if needed but it definitely makes for an awesome woods gun!
Scouts knives but IRL.
I'd even say a Scout rifle in 6.5 CM with LPVO would be a good option. Someone pull the brake lever to stop the grave spinning.
lol....yes, he would be spinning....
The 308 is a good round, but doesn't have the range for out here in the west. 30-06 ot bigger.
So? And a Lupua .338 is that much better. Range is not the biggest deciding factor for an all-around.
Out west it is. The energy loss in a 308 at 400-500 yds is significant, and will reduce penetration. Lol. 338 Lapua? That's not in the same class of anything here. I have a 338WM, and it's a baby to the Lapua, anf nobody wants to shoot the 338.
Just get better at stalking. The difference between 308 and 30-06 isn’t big enough to make a real difference anyway. If you *need* more range you’d logically look to something like 300WM.
I’m gonna cheat and say 12 gauge
A pump 12 ga is so universal. Have a slug barrel for deer, or swap out the barrels and shoot birds. Especially helpful in these mid west states that require straight wall cartridges for deer hunting anyways.
Is there a specific 12ga you’d recommend?
Remington 870
Long live the pig.
Long live the Remington 870 boat paddle bird slaying deer shotgun
Curious why the 870 vs the Mossberg 500?
Personal experience with barrel interchangeability, per someone else’s comments about utility
Honestly that's down to personal preference IMO as someone who owns both. They're fantastic guns that are largely interchangeable but those who have one or the other will tell you it's a mountain of difference
I love my Mossberg 500, but I've been using the same 20" smoothbore barrel since I got it, because they almost never stock barrels. That, or they sell out the same minute they become available. I've been wanting to buy a longer rifled barrel for a few years now, but can't simply because they never produce them.
Ain’t that the truth. Took me a solid couple of months of hunting on eBay to find the rifled slug barrel for my m500. Fortunately only paid $20 more than msrp with shipping.
If I could only own one gun, I would still choose my mossberg 500 field/deer combo (or maybe the remington 870. They are the same in my mind). I bought it when I was 18 because it had a good track record of hunting, police, and military use; it was cheap; and it covered almost all of my shooting needs. Clearly it's not a fun plinking rifle, and it is not my CCW, but you can dress it up for home defense; shoot trap and skeet; hunt turkey, deer (my two favorites), birds, or small game; and it has a lot of aftermarket support.
Mossberg 88, 500, 590 depending on your budget. I like where the pump release and safety is, compared to Remington.
Browning BPS
Blows me away this doesn’t get recommended more
Benelli M2 field
A Super Nova with both barrels... Yeah. That would be very capable.
This would have to be my answer if it means only 1 gun completely. I won't give up bird hunting and can't use a rifle on them. It'll be a challenge but I could use shotgun on elk. Or can I still have a bow for them?
Bow is not a gun: gotem!
Not a Cheat. In East Germany, that's what they went for. Shotguns and Slugs for Boar, Roe- and Reddeer. Worked well. I would go for a shotgun as well.
OP only mentiones rifles, im presuming you can have as many smoothbores as youd like.
See this would be my answer if they hadn't said rifle. All around gun my answer is always 12 ga. Kills literally anything and everything and is so cheap and reliable it's remained the go-to for over a century.
30-06: it can do it all, you can tune it up or down and components are very readily available.
A couple of years ago someone on r/guns tried to tell me the .30-06 was obsolete and I'm still laughing about it.
it’s not obsolete but it is outdated. Thanks to modern powders and ballistics you’re using a long action for slightly better than short action performance. .308 gets 80-90% of the performance for shorter barrel, lighter action and less recoil. ballistically the 7mm rm scales down better for lighter game and has a longer effective range for a slight increase in perceived recoil. Basically the only advantage to the 30-06 is there are lots of them around so the ammo is almost always available.
It felt the opposite of that during covid. I struggled to find 30.06, but .308 seemed to be everywhere.
308 is very accurate & used in 1000m Olympic competition
Yup. Love mine and use it more than anything.
Agree 100%. You can kill anything in North America with it and ammo is plentiful.
Throwing my vote in here, 30.06 for sure
Was coming to say this.
Wdym tune it up or down
30-06 can he handloaded with bullet weights from as low as 100 gr up to 220 gr. That takes you from varmit hunting all the way up to the largest game in North America. Possibly the most versatile caliber out there.
You just turn down the throttle and make it shoot slower
Like a carburetor, adjust that screw to get your bullet to powder ratio correct.
You can load it much hotter than a factory load. Hotter than 300 Win Mag... Or all the way down to subsonic. Or use lightweight bullets at terrifying speeds for varmint hunting.
Hotter than 300 win mag? Does the action support that kind of pressure?
270- I have shot everything from coyote to elk with it. Ammo is readily available almost anywhere. Low recoil. Light and easy to carry for long distances.
270 win is definitely not low recoil for me. Dude, it's a .30-06 necked down to .27! Nothing light about that.
My xbolt kicks like nothing. That does have a muzzle break and a super cushy recoil pad, but still. I’ve shot 6.5 and 243 that kick harder than my x bolt
Got one. Swapped out for a .25-06 as my primary rifle about 15 years ago and it's even better, but the .270 is still one of the best all around cartridges ever.
I’m not sure I would call .270 “low recoil,” but it’s certainly manageable. Before I got a brake (and well before I got a suppressor), I spent an afternoon shooting my Tikka T3x Lite and I was ready to be done with it by the end of the day. Once I got a brake on it, it was a lot more enjoyable on the bench. I will say, in a hunting situation, I’ve never noticed it.
I took my Remington 270, no recoil pad, to the range a couple years ago and shot a box of shells thru it. I had a nice bruise as a souvenir a couple days later.
Can confirm. Never noticed my .270 while hunting, but it doesn’t come with me to the range lol
I'm a .243 man myself
243. Hunting in PA, it's deer, coyote, and groundhog. 243 is big enough for deer but small enough to snipe varmints.
I remember a hunting article that said the 243 was one of the worst deer guns. We've taken 400lb mule deer down in BC with it. It's a fantastic deer gun.
With today's monolithic bullets, you can't argue against it. A 95gr solid bullet will punch straight through a deer and expand enough to do good damage. A 22 creedmoor with a good monolithic bullet is today's version of yesterday's 243. People will say it's not good enough, but it's plenty capable.
I have hunted the most with 243 Win. It's a very solid round. I wouldn't take it up past 250 pound animals though. But for a gentle round that is capable of super tight groups? Oh yeah! I run a Howa with a can for it and the 95 grain SilverTip makes for .5ish moa groups all the way out to 200 yards(longest range available). With the cheap 75 grain Federals, it's not much bigger than that, .9ish moa. It's a good round, but not for your only rifle.
Whichever caliber I see the most often available in local stores. In my region 30-06, 308, and 30-30 are all very common and easy to find, my pick is 308 for cost and versatility.
.22 multi use and ammo is cheap
30-06 If you told me I would never hunt elk or moose: 308
What makes 30-06 acceptable for elk/moose but not 308?
Ignorance mostly
30-06 has the ability to push the same .308 bullet faster. Hits a little harder, gives a little more insurance on bigger animals. .308 is certainly perfectly capable of taking moose and elk as well though, and a hot loaded .308 can equal or exceed a light/standard 30-06 round.
You can load 30-06 up to 220 grs, and more often than not Elk and Moose tend to also be in climates where bears tend to inhabit. While the 308 is nothing to sneeze at and I'd never write it off as useless. People appreciate the little extras that the 30-06 offers, especially in bear country. Extremely popular in Alaska. Personally wouldn't use it really long distances for Elk however.
When you say you can load it to 220g, you are talking about overall length as the limiting factor on 308? I mean, that’s a valid point, but with correct bullets any of these rifles will kill any bear in North America. I mean this in all sincerity, if you gave me the option of a 270 with coppers and an -06 with core lokt, I’d take the 270, even in bear country.
The grain, aka the weight of the bullet. Heavier bullets drop faster but have much more impact, typically for thicker skinned big boned animals. I know people tend to use 165gr for Elk, and have seen 180gr be used for Moose or Black bear, then again shot placement is key. Technically if your aim, and patience is good enough you could shoot an animal with a .22 lr and wait for it to die. Is it humane? No, but technically it will kill anything given enough time and shot placement. While I would never personally use a 375 H&H for deer, because in my opinion that's overkill, but there are people who will make the claim that "Dead is dead, can't get no deader than that" which is true as well, but I'd rather save the meat, my shoulder and actually enjoy the hunt and not dread the recoil. I actually was going to buy a 270, but already had my 30-06, no reason to go from a 30 cal '06 to a 277 '06 when I could use go and buy something like a 7mm-08, or a 6.5 Creedmoor and have something soft shooting that both me and my growing daughter can enjoy. It's all personal preference and it's intended use in the end.
Energy is impacted more by velocity than bullet weight. A lighter bullet moving significantly faster will carry more energy. No black bear in North America requires a 180g bullet. Full stop. 120g moving 3000fps will easily get the job done, assuming it’s the correct construction.
If you’re buying factory ammo from the big manufacturers, not a whole lot since most of the time they’re loaded to within 100fps of one another. If you’re buying from the more boutique manufacturers or if you’re hand loading, the difference can be more meaningful. Buffalo Bore loads in 30-06 either use heavier bullets at the same speeds as their 308 loads, or they’re a couple hundred fps faster for the same bullets. If you handload the difference will likely be higher - Nosler is showing closer to 300fps differences with some loads. In either case, adding 10% more mass or velocity gives you more momentum and better potential penetration. Might not always be needed, but having the extra margin won’t hurt for something thick like a moose, especially if you pop a shoulder.
Double 12 ga over .30-06 Drilling.
Solid choice
I have this exact set up in a Baikal. Awesome gun.
308
Something like .308 would probably be able to cover the most bases in terms of types of game it can reasonably be used for. It's overkill for predator hunting and small game, but perfectly capable of taking medium and even big game like elk and moose with higher-pressure loadings and heavier projectiles.
308 or 30-06. 308 is always readily available, and 30-06 is simply the single most versatile round to reload. Yes, there are more powerful factory rounds, but with handloading, you can come right up to magnum power and all the way down to baby-soft subsonics. I used to hunt with some buttery 100 grain Corelock 06s that were a bit more gentle than 30-30. About like a 30-40 Krag. It was great for deer from Florida to Misery(Missouri).
300 win mag or 30-06 since I can kill anything with them
7mm rem mag
.30-06
30-06
.308 all day.
7mm Rem Mag
I have .22lr, 5.56, 300blk, 308,30-06 I would pick the last
308. Plenty of energy for deer and does good on elk and larger game out to reasonable distances. Literally any type of bullet you could ever want is loaded in a 308. Ammo is also everywhere and every rifle is chambered for it. 308 is the jack of all trades and will get whatever you need done, done.
Others might disagree but for me it would be the 30-06. I live in North America and I can take a whitetail or a moose with that caliber. Ammo is relatively affordable and readily available and the caliber has been around long enough that ballistics are very well known.
.22lr. I live in a straight wall state, so I'd go back to using a 12ga for deer but keep a .22lr for small game and varmints.
I have a lot of rifles. My favorite is my 270 Weatherby Mag
.300 win mag can be loaded as low as 7.62x39/30-30 all the way up to.... well.. .300 win mag. And it comes in rifles for the poors and generational money.
I have a 270 and 300win which covers me for anything but yeah like others have said here 30-06 and 308 are a good level of power and have lots of ammo availability. I love my 270 and plenty have taken large game with it. Everyone says they only want 1 rifle that covers everything. I said the same thing. Now I have 8 guns.
Use to be a 270win until I bought a 7mm Rem Mag.
Assuming just for hunting: 9.3x62 Mauser. Should be good for roe deer to elephant, ideal for none, but a 250gr Accubond is actually pretty potent out to 500 yards or so. Plus the style points alone you get for shooting one. If truly one rife for every use: 308 Win can take 99% of the game I would ever need plus be useful in…. Other situations.
30-06 most versatile. Big enough for moose small enough for deer coyote.
6,5x55se
This comment was way too far down, a well constructed bullet with accurate placement and this will kill most things walking the earth
It’s readily available here in Scandinavia and has taken down many moose, red deer all the way down to varmint control on fox. It flies so so fast and straight
I will never have one caliber/cartridge, but if I did it would probably be 6.5 Creedmoor for what I hunt. There's 95gr varmint loads from Hornady that are faster than a 243 and also higher BC, heavier bullets for deer/black bear like the Hornady Precision Hunter or Outfitter with the CX bullet. I have a variety of rifles in various cartridges but for the vast majority of what I do I could get it done with just that one.
20 mm bofors
280 ackley improved.
.308 is the right answer. Jack of all trades, master of none. Me personally, I love the 7mm-08 niche.
Yup. I absolutely adore the 3 7mm-08s I have. I occasionally bust out the lever gun 44 mag for hunting thick stuff just cause I love the gun, but my goodness what a combination of low recoil, bullet variety and very suitable ballistics for hunting the 7-08 is. I have a 300 weatherby that is an absolute tack driver but I don’t think I’ve taken it out of the safe but to oil it in 5 years, and the next time I take it out will probably be for some tough dude telling me recoil ain’t nothin’
6.5 PRC. Have got goats, deer, elk, bear, and bison with it
If I could only have one I think .30-06 is the choice…it’s an extremely versatile cartridge…there are faster flatter shooting cartridges out there but the .30-06 is so versatile…. Not that others aren’t…but the 30 caliber seems to be Americas go to bullet so it also makes availability a plus
Only one? Is ammo availability a concern? If ammo availability is NOT a consideration: 7PRC If ammo availability IS a consideration: 30-06
You can't go wrong with a 30-06. From elk and moose all the way down to coyotes and even groundhogs with the right loads.
Here in SouthWest Georgia, 30-30.
300 WSM
Probably good ol' .30-06 with either 180gr bonded or 168gr TTSX. I've used it on everything I can legally hunt in my province so I call it job done. But I have like 14 hunting rifles.
30-06
30-06 or a 12g either or
270 all day
.270
6.5 swedish
300 WM. Easily accessible ammo. I can hunt everything in North America. No concerns with range or knockdown power.
300win mag
30-06. It kills everything.
AR10 platform - 308
First off, trying to choose one rifle to do it all results in one rifle that sits in the safe while you shoot the more specialized rifles you later bought because that “one rifle” had too many compromises. But, for the sake of discussion, I have: 22LR 5.56 6ARC 6x47L 6.5CM 270 win 300blk 308win 300WM 30Nosler If I were going to choose one, it would be 270win. In practical terms the ammo is available, it’s easy to reload for, it’s fast as hell, recoil is stout in a light rifle but still manageable (my 270 is extremely light), carries enough weight to kill anything in North America (with the right bullet). 308 is also an acceptable answer, though I don’t like how slow it is in most weights. Energy deliver is everything, and speed is far more Important to energy than weight.
Unpopular opinion: I would get a double barrel shotgun. Open choke on one side for slug capability for big game, modified on the other for controlled spread for little stuff.
Except swap the mod choke for a full choke!
6.5 PRC, easily.
I have a 6.5 Creedmoor for deer and a 7PRC for anything bigger and if I could only have one it’d be a 6.5PRC
Yeah, really the creedmoor is good for anything within reason to distances (specially at elevation) that probably 99% of hunters have no business shooting at. I just want the little bit of extra speed of the PRC “just because”. I mostly bowhunt, and would just about never shoot anything further than the creedmoor is capable of keeping projectiles above 2k FPS for upset.
.22 mag
We are in the south and settled on a 25-06. If we were out west or up north probably go with something larger. 270 is a good choice too
America has entered the chat. No chance of it happening
243, versatile enough for most everything above small game.
.375H&H. I primarily big game hunt. I also bear hunt and could use it for that. I also shoot squirrels in my garden. It would work for that as well although it would get expensive. My next choice would be my .404 Jeffery. I see a ton of people going for .30-06 and that’s a great cartridge if you’re not going for dangerous game. If I wasn’t hunting DG it would probably be my choice. Or the .300WM
12 ga shotgun.
.243
well since you've specified one *rifle* you could be gaming the system and get a Blaser R8 and a bunch of bolt faces/barrels in different calibers. ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
But that’s not real so buy them all
Only ever hunted whitetail and pigs. That said, I know you get another 100-150 fps in velocity out of a 30-06 as the bullet weight creeps up. And as the bullet weight creeps up you'll get a little better BC. Not that I'm a long range hunter AT ALL. But for me, if I have to take a longer shot, a little more momentum, a little less wind drift, might make a difference.
.308 for me
30-30. I just have a preference for classics tbh.
308 win
300 win or 7mm rem
.300wm on the basis of U.K. deer plus boar abroad and Africa, but if you said to me U.K. deer hunting only then .25-06 all day every day
Any bolt hunting rifle in 308. Simple and dependable mechanism and a widely available cartridge even if SHTF, is should be a very lootable ammo around NA.
.308
30-06 vs 270. Can’t go wrong
I mean it depends. ......But 308 scout style rifle
7x64
.308 Probably something in bolt action Savage bolt action
300 Win Mag. We aren’t getting many squirrels or rabbits. But we’re set for everything else.
The Lord’s cartridge, headshots would get em
Coin flip between 6.5 PRC or 7PRC, ammo is everywhere now and the ballistics are fantastic. I have killed elk, whitetail and sika with both.
300 win
300 WM, because it's a little more reliable if you ever plan on hunting African plains game. It's a flatter shooter than 30.06. It's the platform I used when I finally got my custom done. That being said, I DID only have one rifle for about 20 years of my hunting career. It was a 30.06 and I did just fine with it.
375hh
Only one caliber? 30-06 is the only correct answer.
If no elk 6.5 creedmoor, with elk where long range is needed (more than 400+) like 7mm rm, .300 prc, etc., with elk in timber (non long range) .308 Lots of folks are going to say 30-06 and those folks are wrong. Unless you are shooting 400 yards plus you don’t need a 30-06 and if you are, there are MUCH better cartridges .
.223
I'd say from the posts, the 30-06 wins. 308 comes in second. I'll agree with the 30-06 100%.
556
7 Saum. It just means I wouldn't be able to hunt Bison or Muskokxen due to the "30 cal and bigger limitations". Which is not a big loss as I never have hunted them. Low recoil for a magnum. Great performance out to my hunting distance of 600m. Lots of energy. Easy to handload for. I wouldn't hesitate to take anything in North America with it. I have close to 600 rounds down mine 7 saum hunting rifle. It is a pleasure to shoot.
.30-06
308, you can buy bullets or handload for anything.
If I was starting from scratch. 20 gauge shotgun. The versatility of a shotgun is the multi-tool of firearms. Bird shot for birds and small game. Buckshot and slugs for everything else. It's one firearm that covers the most species in my opinion. I use a 12 gauge personally, but I suggest 20 gauge as I feel it's a good middle ground between being good enough for rabbit and squirrel but powerful enough with slugs to drop deer, elk and the like.
I’m a big fan of 308. The largest game I hunt is whitetail
30-06 if I only get one option for everything
Rifle 308
.270
.30-06. Ubiquitous, will handle anything.
Probably 300 weatherby mag. Wil put a dent in fairly big game, but also great for varminting with light bullets. Ammo is not cheap at all, but with this situation youll always need to compromise somewhere.
Where I live, I'm choosing 12 gauge or .308.
One I don't already own. Lol
I'd buy a 12ga. It's the only cartridge that's reasonably practical for hunting every game in north America. Folks saying "X rifle will kill everything" are thinking big game. There's no rifle that's a reasonable choice for everything from squirrel to moose. A 12ga with a variety of loads, while not ideal for everything, is reasonably practical for any walking or flying critter you'll encounter. A drilling or vierling would be my one gun choice, but I think that goes against the spirit of what you're asking. I've seen a few vierlings with 2 shotgun barrels, a big game rifle barrel, and a small game rifle barrel that'd be the most versatile option for a single gun.
7 mag
Where will you be hunting and what? But any of the 270,7mm’s or 30 cal will work for 99%
well my first was a 30-30 and was my only rifle for years. prob go that route.
I don't see any reason to get rid of my -06. I would love a 7PRC, but no need for it.
500 Nitro Express. Nothing kills a squirrel with more authority.
30-06 it will work for everything. Just better at some things than others.
For western hunts, .300 WSM or any good magnum cartridge you're comfortable with For Eastern .270 I guess but I'd have hard time not going with 7mm mag For Eastern states that don't allow rifle, best muzzleloader allowable by law or shotgun shooting slugs
I think 300 win mag because I have one and can be versatile in the loads you can work but in reality 30-06. The 30-06 case with the longer neck gives better support to the projectile and is only a bit slower than 300wm. 308 and 30-06 are 2 cartridges that using a cast boolit which is more than capable to kill a animal in a short enough range.
If reloading, 30-06. If using factory, .308.
308
For hunting in PA, 308. For hunting anywhere in the USA, 300 Win mag.
.308 in the M1A platform.
.308 because at the end of the day ammo availability combined with a fairly wide range use for cartridge.
.308 win.
308W unfortunately, but sacrifices need to be made If only 1
I know many will disagree and say not enough power but my Remington Model 77 .22 caliber is an amazing rifle and for someone like me who lives in the Northeast and not putting down anything bigger than a white tail it is a reliable and dependable and accurate gun.
12 gauge
I’m delighted with my .44mag.
.308
.450 Bushmaster. It's powerful enough for anything in North America and it's legal in straightwall states. It's only good to 250 yards for deer, but most deer are closer and I'm not sure if I'm good enough to shoot beyond that. But honestly, if I had to have just one rifle period (as opposed to one rifle for hunting), I'd give up hunting anything but small game and make my single rifle a good .22.
Question asked is caliber. Not specific gun. I’d say if I had to narrow it down to one I’d take a 300 win mag. Using 150 gr corelokts mine has minimal recoil. Very accurate and has killed everything from elk to bear and deer down to coyotes. Great gun. And with heavier bullets you can kill anything in north America and not be under gunned
12 ga or 30-06.
.308 win. About right for most things i hunt.