Which caliber for a general purpose hunting rifle?

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12 April 2006, 09:05

Tumbo

Which caliber for a general purpose hunting rifle?

quote:
Of these three, which gives the best combination of bullet selection, trajectory, and killing power for the amount of recoil generated?

The 280 Rem without doubt.

13 April 2006, 18:14

6.5BR

I would bet the new 338 Federal (308 case) would slam those GA hogs.....deer too.

13 April 2006, 20:42

cmb3366

A .270 Win will do the job quite nicely

13 April 2006, 22:57

Dr. Lou

Although the difference between the three is academic, I like the 280 over the other two merely because not a 270 or 30-06. Be different and go with the 280. Great bullet selection, too.

14 April 2006, 05:53

fgulla

Out of the three you have listed i would go for the .280 Rem, something new to load for etc etc. Now if it were me

i would buy a Browning BLR stainless in .358 win, you can find em on gunbroker.com and it sure would slam any hog or deer alive! and much farther than many would believe

14 April 2006, 17:15

Hamish

Gidday Guys,

30-06 long action.

260 rem short action

Happy Hunting

Hamish

18 April 2006, 01:23

SlamFire

Mark; All of those calibers are excellent choices, perhaps the only significant differences between them is the ink spilled by their supporters.

If I had a recommendation to make it is this: Go to the local small store near your hunting property. Walk in their store and see what ammunition they carry. This will be the ammunition that will be available to you when you find you left your ammunition at home.

I tell people people to buy "K Mart" Calibers. Buy the caliber that K Mart stocks. Or WalMart.

19 April 2006, 04:16

wildcat junkie

quote:
Originally posted by invader66:
30-06, more 30 cal bullets than anything else
and will shoot 125gr or 220gr and alot in between. Just works.

Actually the 7mm edges the 30 out in some manufacturers offerings. We are talking bullets, not loaded ammo.

My vote is for the 280.

Now if you are looking at world wide availability I would say the 7mm beats the 30 hands down.

19 April 2006, 10:34

Dan H

I'd take the 30-06 for its greater versatility. You have more options for bullet weights, and at least my 30-06 has been far less picky than my 7mm....and more cast bullet friendly if you decide to go there.

Happy Shooting,

Dan

19 April 2006, 10:50

wesattul

It would require a rebarrel job but you might like a rifle I made my son. It is a ruger all-weather in 358 Win. 200gn rn at 2600fps, depending on bbl. length, 250gn at 2400fps and 225gns at about 2500fps. The recoil is neglible compared to many other calibers and you are pretty well prepared for any hunting situation on this continent other than the big bears up north.

20 April 2006, 07:26

Ksmirk

I know this little round is not in your 3 choices but of the choices you mentioned I would have to go with the 280, the choioce I made when this question came up to me several years ago I went with something totally different and opted for the 6.5 x 55 Swede and am very happy with my choice, it's not big and bad, there have not been 735 articles written about it but I have yet to have a deer complain yet! and they shoot Moose with it? and here I thought you had to have a magnum for that

Later,

Kirk

20 April 2006, 19:43

Mark in GA

Guys, since I was the topic starter here I thought I would let you guys know how I ended up. Since I had an opportunity here to establish a reasonable hunting battery and since I wanted to cover my daughters (when they get old enough) and myself, I ended up buying two rifles.

Both are Ruger M77 MkII All-Weather (stainless) models. I got one in 30-06 for me and one in 260 Rem for my girls.

I figure that between those two calibers I should be well covered for any hunting here in the US.

Thanks for all the advice,
Mark in GA

20 April 2006, 19:49

cobra

quote:
Originally posted by Mark in GA:
Guys, since I was the topic starter here I thought I would let you guys know how I ended up. Since I had an opportunity here to establish a reasonable hunting battery and since I wanted to cover my daughters (when they get old enough) and myself, I ended up buying two rifles.

Both are Ruger M77 MkII All-Weather (stainless) models. I got one in 30-06 for me and one in 260 Rem for my girls.

I figure that between those two calibers I should be well covered for any hunting here in the US.

Thanks for all the advice,
Mark in GA

An excellent choice Mark, you can't go wrong with those.