What would you all recommend as an all around single caliber rifle for deer, bear and elk?
My choices are 25-06,270,30-06, 7mm, 300 win & 338 win.

The gun is a Ruger Hawkeye. Thanks for your help.

Tough to beat the 300 Win Mag. Several bullet weights and designs to cover everything from mice to moose both near and far.

JD338

30-06 or 300 Win Mag. The -06 won't kick as hard, but it dosn't hit as hard either, so it boils down to how you handle the difference in recoil.

One gun, one bullet, Remington 700 in 300 Winchester Mag with 180gr nosler partitions. It will cleanly take down 95% of anything on earth.

I will have to go with the .338 win mag. Shoots flat and kills VERY well!

I would go with , the 06 the 7 mag or the .300. The 300 is quite abit for some folks to handle recoil wise.
If you are experenced at shooting powerfull cartridges , its a great choice.
If not the 06 , is probably a better choice.
Properly placed bullets from the 06 will do very well.
Bullet placment is every thing.
The 7 mag is a great choice to.
Dos'nt kick as hard as a 300, lots of bullet choices.
Hits hard down range...tj3006

The 338 win mag is the best cartridge for all North American big game.It will shot flat hit hard and was made for elk and larger game .It also works fine on deer.I have shot 95 deer with 95 shots with it from 3 yards to 425 yards.Its accurate and hits harder than the 300 win mag.I had too many problems finding the right bullets with the 300 win mag.The 338 tears up less meat and penetrates further than the .30 calibers.You wont be disapointed in it.I like medium heavy barrels on my 338 24".The Ruger model 77 have the perfict barrel for the 338s.Mine shoot under an inch at 200 yards.If you use 200 gr for deer and 250 for elk and larger game you wont go wrong.

Any of them are good choices for your intended use except the 25-06 is too light for elk and bear IMHO. The others will all do fine.

9,3X62 hands down. Load it with a 250 grain TSX bullet and it will handily kill all the game you have listed at any practical hunting range.

Dave

.300 Winny ----- Good shooting

quote:

Originally posted by tieoneon:
What would you all recommend as an all around single caliber rifle for deer, bear and elk?
My choices are 25-06,270,30-06, 7mm, 300 win & 338 win.

The gun is a Ruger Hawkeye. Thanks for your help.

30-06 with 180 gr Swift A-Frames, my two bits.

.30-06 with 180g bullets if you're hunting in areas with no big brown bears.

Otherwise .338 WinMag with 250g only because you want to hunt knowing you can protect yourself from a big brown bear.

.30-06 or .338. I have brought both in the elk infested mountains and I would not feel undergunned with either.

If you hunt more deer then elk, I would go .30-06. But if you plan on hunting bear and elk a lot more then deer, the .338 Winchester Magnum is an excellent choice.

If I had to narrow it down to only one gun....the 338 would be that one gun...

For just one rifle...the 30-06 is hard to beat because of the large selection of bullet weights and types, ease of reloading, availabilty of ammo, accuracy, and overall "shootabilty".

You really couldn't go wrong with any of the calibers listed...but IMHO the 25-06 is a bit light for elk.

I hope you are talking about black bear, otherwise your cartidges are all a little on the small side

I'd have to vote for the 300 mag since you said Elk. the 270 on up will do ok on Elk, but the 300 will do a better job - they really are tough animals. The 338 would be better for elk, but it is a little overkill on Dear and a little heavy on recoil IMO.

I've heard the .30'06 is never a mistake.

I have used a .280 Rem and .300 Win Mag for elk, deer, and antelope. I have taken about 15 different animals with these. I prefer the .300 WM for elk, but they both do the job. I suggest using a premium bullet - Nosler Partition, Triple Shock, Trophy Bonded Bearclaw and the like.

A subjective question to be sure but IMO the
30-06 is the cal. Get ammo just about any where and in all type of design/weights (grains) Plus it will flat out get the job done.

Thanks for all the opinions. The reason for the Ruger and the listed calibers is this is performance reward and this is the list I get to choose from. I initially was leaning to the 30-06 but wanted to hear from this group. I really appreciate the input so far. Thanks again and more comments welcomed.

Hard to beat the versatility of the 300.

KC

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
I will have to go with the .338 win mag. Shoots flat and kills VERY well!

+1

quote:

Originally posted by cobra:

quote:

Originally posted by tieoneon:
What would you all recommend as an all around single caliber rifle for deer, bear and elk?
My choices are 25-06,270,30-06, 7mm, 300 win & 338 win.

The gun is a Ruger Hawkeye. Thanks for your help.

30-06 with 180 gr Swift A-Frames, my two bits.

Make that fifty cents worth.

In all seriousness the 7 mag and the .300 mag are equal tossups.....I just prefer the lighter gun.

What are you going to shoot most? Mostly Elk then a 300win, Mostly Deer .270 (.06 close behind). 25.06 is to small for elk, and .338 a bit large for deer. This of coarse is on a regular basis.

One more caveat, how large are the elk you are chasing? A large, mature once-in-a-lifetime bull, I would get a second job and go into the field with the adequate caliber. if Cow/spike, a non-mag is fine.

Speaking as someone who has regularly used a .338 on animals from the size of duikers, to deer, to elk, moose and eland - I would have to disagree that the .338 is too large for deer. It is extremely effective, ruins less meat than a .270, 7Mag or .300 mag, and for me the felt recoil seems more tolerable than many 300 mag loads.

Now if you are only deer hunting, I would probably choose a 7 mag (or a .264), but when you throw elk and bears in the mix, I'll take a .338 every time.

It isn't how big are the elk, but how big are the bears.

If you are talking black bear, the 06 and 300winMag would be enough gun. You only pick up about 25 yds in distance shooting the magnum. With a good 180gr load you should get 275yds point blank from the 06, and 300yds from the Magnum. If you are going for larger bears, the 338magnum is your only choice in my opinion. Better a 375HH or 9.3x62. Kudude

quote:

Originally posted by tieoneon:
What would you all recommend as an all around single caliber rifle for deer, bear and elk?
The gun is a Ruger Hawkeye. Thanks for your help.

Given that information there can only be one choice, the 30-06. No better all-round calibre exists, and only the .284"/7mm comes close to the 30 in bullet selection. Feed it premium 180s and be happy.

30-06 notwithstanding, I like all the cartridges listed; however if I had to chose of those I'd go with the 338. Lou

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bush:
9,3X62 hands down. Load it with a 250 grain TSX bullet and it will handily kill all the game you have listed at any practical hunting range.

From the choices given, I would suggest 300 WM, but Dave beat me to suggesting my real choice. Since I discovered the 9.3x62, it has become my favorite all around caliber.

338-06 or 338 Federal


Just to be different, although I own neither of them, however my 333 OKH [333-06] will do it all and better than more current calibers.

I have hunted Elk,Deer,Bear, Sheep and goat. I have a 300 ultr, 300 winny, 7mm mag, and 270. They all work for all of the above, but for only to have ONE rifle, ease of shot, ease of finding factory amo at a store and good power and almost any range for me it would be the 7 mm mag. It doesnt kik that hard and can reach out 500 yds if needed. Ammo is easy to load or buy off the shelf.

35 whelen, 338 win mag, or 9.3x62

Just one rifle is a tough call.....

If you are hunting where there are brown bears, 338 hands down.

If you plan to shoot and practice a lot, I keep going back to the 30-06.

Some of your choices will vary if you plan to reload or not--the 338 Win will be quite expensive to practice with otherwise.

My take on the recoil--nobody likes it period. Some folks have learned to deal with it better than others. You won't notice it hunting unless you've developed enough fear/flinch in practice to destroy your ability to make shots in the field.

You can always get the 338 and put a brake on it for practice if you find you need to.

"Choose your free gun!" If I got that right it sounds like a beautiful situation.

Cheers,

Dan

One gun.....if you don't reload .338win mag
One gun.....if you do reload .338 Imperial

Any of the cartridges you mention will work..I would not suggest the 25-06 as it would put you at a disadvantage on the bigger stuff on some of the angle shots..The 270, 7x57, 7 mag., 30-06, 300 Win. or 338 would be fine choices.
Personally I would probably opt for the 30-06 and 180 or 200 gr. Noslers. or the 300 Win. mag.

My favorite caliber is the .338 Win but its not for everyone as recoil can be a factor and I don't use it much for deer size game.

quote:

Originally posted by tieoneon:
What would you all recommend as an all around single caliber rifle for deer, bear and elk?
My choices are 25-06,270,30-06, 7mm, 300 win & 338 win.

The gun is a Ruger Hawkeye. Thanks for your help.

Back in the 1930's, one of the contemporary gun writers, Captain Jim Crossman, once stated "it is the right of every freeborn American to purchase a rifle chambered for a cartridge other than the .30/'06. But it is no great tribute to his intelligence if he does." Many cartridges have come, and some also have gone, since he wrote that. But I am not aware of any development that would render this statement invalid, even today!

(FWIW, one of the largest, if not THE largest, Alaska brownies ever killed was taken with 220-grain factory loads fired from a Win. M95 chambered for the .30/40 KRAG round......)

300 Win Mag. A large %-age of the Alaskan Guides recommend it for everything there. If you go up there for bear, you will be with a guide. Phil Shoemaker recommends it and he should know.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

well, I had a 270, then went to a 30-06, then went to a 300 winmag, then went to a 338 win mag. I would recommend the 338 win in a ruger mark II or ruger hawkeye. Mine will shoot under 1" groups at 100 yard with every load I try and will shoot 1/2" groups at 200 yards with a few of my hand loads. It kicks a little more than a 30-06 but with the hogue stock on mine it doesn't feel as bad as the 30-06 i had in a savage rifle. i would go with the 270 & the 338, but if you had only 1, i would go with the 338. this caliber just seams more accurate and hits hard without so much velocity that the bullet fails. it also has the same trajectory as a 30-06 with 180 gr bullets, only with 225-250 gr bullets.

the 300 or 338 for me i would pick the later

If you are going to buy a new rifle, I'd say get a 30/06. The 270, 7mag, 300 and 338 will also work - So you can't go wrong with most of your choices!

However Im NOT an advocate of the one gun does-it-all idea. I'd pick my 270 for deer and my 9,3x62 for bear and elk.