If you had only one rifle caliber to hunt the world what would it be? We are talking about tiny Antelope to six ton Ele. All matter of shots close and far, fast and furious or slow and sneaky. What would it be?? Charlie.308 to .37540 to 4345 to 50 cals50 and upother

.375 H&H with a couple of scopes in qd's for different loads etc.

I chose the .375 it is the most versitale of the bunch, from squirels to Ele. Charlie

375... bullet weights from 250 to 350 oughta bout cover it.

.375H&H.

George

I voted for .375

The only other calibre that would tempt me would be a .416

Cheers,
Canuck

I reject the notion. Part of the hobby is to enjoy the rifles, history, techknowledgy, and so on. Sampling all that history and imagination can offer is part of why I do it. Limiting myself to one is to become more like a subsistance hunter and not so much a hobiest and sportsman. It is like saying I must limit myself to one food for the rest of my life, how boring.

but.........30-06 or 8mm Mauser. Based mostly on ammo availability. I would bet you could fine a box of '06 in most any town in the US. I bet you could find the 8mm anywhere in Europe. You could fine one or the other in most of the rest of the world. I don't hunt foreign countries so maybe others can comment on that. Either one will do the job on anything that walks.

My vote goes to the 375 Dakota. That little extra horsepower might come in handy.

No brainer, the 375.

9,3X64 Brenneke

Another vote for the 375, gotta get the best compromisee for what would be hunted the most, which would be thin skinned game.

Now if I could have two...

wow..
i wonder who voted "50 and up"

heh
jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
wow..
i wonder who voted "50 and up"

heh
jeffe

My guess is it's either Robgunbuilder or someone who has never fired one.

George

375 RUM when it comes out in CRF.

quote:

Originally posted by LJS:
My vote goes to the 375 Dakota. That little extra horsepower might come in handy.

If I was going to hunt real big stuff in Africa as well I'd go with the Dakota too. If I was going to stay in North America for anything up to and including the big bears, I like Johan's selection of the 9.3X64.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
wow..
i wonder who voted "50 and up"

heh
jeffe

Thats an easy one, it's jeffe

Hog Killer

PS: I voted for 458 Lott, because thats what I got.

375 Hoot & Holler

My .375 Ruger RSM without hesitation...

.375
Practical pick would be the .375 Weatherby with a 3.8" magazine box. With this I can duplicate Saeed's Walterhog performance (handloads) or fire factory .375 Hit'em & Hurt'em ammo for 300 grain bullet at 2400 fps.

The .375 H&H is accountable for killing more Elephant, Cape buffalo, Rhino, Hippo and other species than all other calibers together.

Roland

.375 H&H for its intrinsic ballistic capabilities, the worldwide variety and availability of the ammo, the worlwide availability of a variety of rifles in that chambering, and when you add the history and the nostalgia you've got it all.

375 H&H.

My number one choice would be the .358 STA, second choice would be a fast .375, either would get North Fork bullets. Good shooting.

375 H&H It just might be the finest caliber known to man.

375 H&H - it's all you need

Sorry guys, I'm gonna be the odd man out here and say a .416 Rigby.

You can load it down or up, and it may just be that I'm stubborn, or it may be that I have a .416 and not a .375, but I love my Rigby, and I feel confident taking it on any hunt, anywhere.

In the end, it's comes down to what each person as an individual "feels" best with, and how well they can shoot whatever gun they're holding.

I'm sure a .375 is a great gun, and I don't have anything bad to say about one, and the .375 has a lot of solid kills under it's belt as a cartridge, no doubt. I've shot a couple here and there, and it's a fun round, but with my .416 I've just never felt a need for anything else, so that's what I'll stand beside.

I'll go along w/ RIP, a .375wby. gives you the add'l. cap. to push the 350gr @ good vel. The 260gr would make decent long range (read out to 400yds) bullets & all this could be built on a rifle weighing 9#. I don't want to shoot a 9# .42 anything.

I have to go with my .416 Rem Mag. Just seems to have a little more of everything (including recoil!).

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:
I'll go along w/ RIP, a .375wby. gives you the add'l. cap. to push the 350gr @ good vel. The 260gr would make decent long range (read out to 400yds) bullets & all this could be built on a rifle weighing 9#. I don't want to shoot a 9# .42 anything.

Fred,
Now my suspicions of your genius are confirmed. A 10 pound .404 Jeffery is sweet, but a 9 pound .375 Wby would indeed take the cake for a one-rifle hunter trotting the globe.

My 416 Rem will do anything and more than my .375 H&H...

A 300 gr. bullet at 3000 FPS takes care of a lot of long range shooting and isn't very wind sensitive up to 300 yds. or so, and a 350 gr. at 2850 is a great choice...then you have the 400 gr. bullets at 2400 and the great 450 gr. Woodleigh at 2350...

The .375 is a great caliber but cannot match the 416 Rem unless recoil is your problem, I cannot tell any suggnificant difference in the two...

Ray,
Since when did you prefer .416 caliber 300 grainers at 3000 fps? And since when did they ever shoot accurately from any .416?

Aside from extreme ballistic optimism with your light bullet loads in the .416 Remington ... are you going to fumble around switching bullet weights for the situation? Remember Murphy!

One rifle. One bullet weight. KISS. that means a .375 caliber 300 grainer at 2742.5 fps. There is no other way!

No 1: My Brno ZG 47 .404 Rimless Nitro Express, 350 - 425 grain Stewart Hi Performers.

Husky

Well, the question is, do we hunt or do we stop?
If John Taylor had had his paws on a modern rifle chambered for the .30-06 loaded with A-frame and Solids at today's velosity, I am pretty sure he would never touch another gun.

All todays hunting are done with a guide, usually armed to stop critters for the clients safety. Therefore we need no canons.

Are we to stop Elephants, smaller than .470 is stupid - or so experienced men have said before me.

Here's a little different slant, but this is really how I feel. If I could own only one rifle for all of the world's big game, I'd go .375 H&H, as would a lot of guys.

But really, if I could own only ONE rifle for all of my hunting, I'd just quite hunting the stuff I need a .375 H&H for, and stick with my .300 Win. Mag.. The .300 shoots flatter, so it's better for the open-country/desert game I love to hunt in N. America, and really, it's plenty of gun for all N. American hunting -- nearly ideal. It's also plenty of gun for all African plainsgame thru eland plus leopard; good for all European, S. American, and Asian game, and in reality I wouldn't back away from any of the big bears, either, if I could choose my load carefully for the .300.

So that leaves African and Asiatic buffalo, hippo, rhino, lion, and elephant that I'd need the prescribed minimum .375 H&H for. In consideration of a handful of animals I've got to pack a heavy rifle and heavy ammo everywhere to net-gain a mid-velocity, heavy-middle-bore rifle, and I'm supposed to hunt sheep, goats, mule deer, Coues deer, pronghorn, etc. with it, and I'm supposed to haul that sucker up hill, dale, and mountain in addition to my pack, also burden a horse with it on occasion and so on -- all for the sake of a few animals when in fact for the other 99% of the world's big game the flatter-shooting, lighter .300 Win. Mag. is a better rifle.

That, to me, is a rather skimpy bargain, and a poor trade. I'll change my hunting aspirations and game plan first before I'll dumbly, numbly buy into that myopic, iconic, repeat-after-me program.......

AD

That is a very interesting and well thought out post, I have no African or other foreign hunting experience and no real interest in getting any, but, I do have substantial wilderness, mountain working, living and hunting experience. I tend to agree with this approach to the situation as I consider it the practical solution. Of course, I do not even own a .300 Mag., although I have had three rifles in .300 H&H, but, this makes sense to me.

I also totally agree on the bear issue, one is far better to carry a .300 Mag. with 200 NPs that he is familiar with and can shoot fast and well, than a heavier rifle that he is too tired to have at hand when going for a "visit" to the bush outside camp, or, that he is subconciously afraid of and flinches with.

Allen,
A perfect answer. I agree 100%
L

My $.02 is I really don't belive in the one gun concept. My example is an american antelop to water buffalo. A rifle that is suitable for one is not going to be anywhere close to ideal for the other. Just too extreme spread of requirements.

A two gun battery makes a lot more sense, basically a heavy and a light.

Compromise must be made somewhere to pick only one. I think the medium ( heavy ) bores would get you closest to this mystical rifle nirvana. The 375 H&H listed above would be a good choice, another consideration would be high intensity .338 mag ala 340 Weatherby or Lapua Mag. Another middle ground mag would be a 358 Norma. None of these are much of a whitetailed deer rifle, and they all seem too light for a buff stop at close up and personal.

Ray you suprise me to no end sometimes, a practical mix of the old and the new if there ever was one. Please elaborate on your choice of the 416 Remington, I am sure you didn't pick that caliber by casual observation.

Ctitism of Ray for picking the right bullet for the job is bunk, it's bad enough selecting one caliber to cover this vast expanse of hunting. My suggestion on the 338 above is based on something like a Nosler 210-225 gr for smaller game and a 300 solid for the big nasty stuff. If I was whitetail hunting I am not going to need heavy solids under any circumstance, and if hunting Africa I would carry ammunition suited to the task. There is no reason to talk of swapping around ammo in the field, and even with the 375 H&H when using it on large and heavy why wouldn't a rational man be using ammo suited for the task?

But when the fat lady headed off the stage a 30 Mag, would be my choice. I just don't see me hunting Africa and a 30 would cover all the game I will ever have a chance to hunt.

My Brno ZG 47 in .404 Rimless Nitro Express:




Husky

Everyone has their own idea of what the "one" would be, there is no wrong or right answer, just a question. I dont understand why some of you are sniping others for their choice and still others getting upset over this age old question. Lighten up a little and enjoy life. Charlie

One rifle. It'll be carried all over the world afoot, horseback, canoe, deHavilland Otter, from steaming sea level triple canopy jungle to the thin cold air above treeline, for weeks at a time, in the hand, slung, in a scabbard, strapped to a pack, in a dust storm, a horsepiss rain, at 120F and at -45F, with minimum attention and maximum reliability, and be handy but just heavy enough so the recoil at prone won't dislocate a shoulder.

One caliber. It'll take a grazing woodchuck for the pot, an angry grizzly bear, a fleeing water buffalo, a nervous whitetail, an inquisitive elephant, or a rabid fox. At your feet or at an eighth of a mile.

Sounds like a stainless Model 70 in .30 Government '06 to me.