Gents,
The question posed was a "one gun", not a "two gun" for all things in the world so you must not cheat and name two guns else the .338 combined with the 416,404 class of rifle would win hands down, and I will tell you why. Read on

The .338 will be better than the 300 Win or my baby the 300 H&H, and that is because if you are in Tanzania hunting plainsgame and run into something wanting to hurt you then the 338 is a much better option. I load my .338 with 300 gr. woodleigh softs and solids at 2500 FPS and it will do the job on anything one meets...

Of course this is merely my take on the subject.

I am curious what you fella's think about the best all around Caliber from the lower 48 thru Alaska and Africa?Is there one?It's probably a two caliber selection considering.Just curious if there is just one you would use?I have never been to Africa,but if I lived in Alaska,it would be the 416.

Best of luck.Jayco.P.S.If it's been hammered before,just say so and I'll pull the post.I never saw it.

375HandH

I am in no way shape or form an expert on this subject, but I would be happy, and confident with a 9.3x74R in a nice doublegun, or more realistically a 9.3x64 in a bolt gun. My 2 cents

As a two rifle battery, I cannot think of a better pair than the .30-06 and .375H&H. I have used that pair on three of my four African safaris, and been quite happy 90% of the time.

George

GeorgeS suggestions are a 9.9 on a scale of 10. To be a 10 the choice would have to be a .30-06 and a .375 Weatherby Magnum. Lawdog

GeorgeS's recommendation for the 30-06 and 375 H&H for a two rifle battery is hard to beat. I concur 100%.

I concur on the 2 stick battery, as that is my norm as well. This year I may bring the 300wsm I just built in stead of the '06, but it's still a hard combo to beat. Second choice on the light rifle might be a 7x57 or 7-08.

I don't want to sound to dumb here,but what if you run into the dangerous guy's while hunting the little guy's and only have the lite gun?Like I said,I have never been to Africa.It seem's to me,one gun would be better?

Dumb on Africa.Jayco.

I'm with George on this. My two gun battery was 375H&H and a 30-06.

The 30-06 never left the case.

Jim

Inasmuch as the 416 Rem will do anything the 375 H&H can and then some, like you, it would be my final choice..A 300 gr. monolithic at about 3000 FPS and a 450 gr. at 2350 FPS leaves little to be desired...

Then if recoil is a consideration perhaps the 375 is next down the line, but I cannot tell any difference in the two recoil wise...

Jayco - Like if you looking for a baboon you wacked with your bow in the dark with the tracker and a the Baboon track & blood end were the Leopard spore is(Still Steaming)?

If you can't out run you hunting parnter, be sure you can hit his foot.

Jay,

Since your talking about hunting everything it would have to be something 375 or larger to be legal in Africa for DG. I think I would try to build the lightest 375 Weatherby I could and still have tolerable recoil. Used with care I can't imagine a hunt it would not work for.

If I could pick 2 I think a 300 mag. of some type and a 416 would be very practical.

Regards,

Mark

Given what I have hunted, will soon be hunting and want to hunt in the near future, of my collection I would say my .416 Weatherby - if I had but one to choose. Why? There isn't a thing that walks for which I would feel undergunned. Since I handload, I can choose components for virtually anything lesser no matter how unlikely that they might gnaw, scratch, tear, gore or trample me (hey even squirrels have been known to attack).
Glad we don't have to make that choice, I like shooting more civilized firearms on occasion.
Stay well,
Paul

There probably isn't a "best", hunting everything w/ one rifle is going to cause some compromise. Saying that & taking into account my .404jeffery is about finished, I would say the good old .375h&h. Legal for DG in all countries, flat shooting enough w/ a 250/260gr bullet for 400yd shots on non DG, good 300grsofts & solids for DG and all of that in a trim enough rifle to be shootable. Hard to beat that, mayve I'll have to get one soon.

I made several Ethiopian Safaris with a .30-06 W/ 180 gr. Nosler Partition handloads and a .375 H&H with 270 gr. WIN. POWERPOINTS AND 300gr. HORNADY FMJ Handloads.
That pair covered everything from dik-dik to elephant.
They were both Model 700 Remington Classics but we won't get into that cause a majority of the guys here don't care much for them.
Rich Elliott

Jay: Two basic approaches to all purpose calibers have been presented here and they are diffecult to argue with: GeorgeS presents the 30-06/.375 model and Ray presented the .416 model, with stipulations. Few of us are forced to choose only one rifle for the purposes of ownership, but your question has merit for the simple reason that when we go forward and cry tally-ho, we are carrying a single rifle. For practicle purposes, I routinely use a .300 Wby and a .378 here in Alaska and I carry the .378 more often than not. The .300 is used exclusively on spring caribou. I carry the .378 all other times..not by design, it has just turned out that way. In this since, allowing for differences in grains of powder, I follow GeorgeS' model. I have only made one trip to Africa and I carried the .378 on that trip. I own a .416 Wby and I could easily adopt Ray's model and use the .416 for everything. As Ray said, it can be loaded to shoot 300 grain bullets at 3000fps or 400 grain bullets at 2500fps, so it can act as a long range powerhouse or a short range fight stopper.

The '.375 caliber-model' is probably the single best model to follow, unless you are constantly faced with angry buffalo, angry lion, angry elephant, and angry brown bear, all at close range, in which case Ray's .416 becomes the minimum tool of choice.

If you follow what Saeed does you would not go wrong: If I recall right, he uses a .375/404 wildcat on everthing and does extremely well.

The .30-06 and .375 H&H is a pretty tough pair to beat. I've been to South Africa twice so far; plains game only. I used the .375 H&H on my first trip and the .30-06 on my second trip. Neither one is perfect for all situations but it's a very versatile pair. Of course, a .300 magnum could be substituted for the .30-06. The "royal" pair IMHO is the .300 H&H and the .375 H&H! That's a class act.



Unlike Ray, I do find a distinct difference in the recoil levels of a .375 H&H and a .416. I do own a .416 Rigby (Ruger M77), though I've never hunted with it, and I find the recoil to be another level above that of my .375 H&H. But, as Ray said, a .416 could take the place of the .375 H&H. The .416 would have the advantage on dangerous game. Still, a .30-06 (or a .300 magnum) and a .375 H&H would cover a lot of uses.



Another top notch pair would be the .338 Win Mag and a .416 (Rigby or Remington).



If I were limted to just one rifle, to cover all the bases you mentioned, it would be one in .375 H&H. If you leave out the African dangerous game (and a lot of guys go to Africa and never hunt Cape Buff, etc.) then a .338 Win Mag would be another great choice.



Just the opinions of a neophyte....

-Bob F.

Then, of course, there's the ubiquitous 45/70!

I'm ducking now!