-One rifle for EVERYTHING..

31 May 2011, 19:30

Hallo Guys.

The other night I was thinking:
-Pick ONE caliber to hunt EVERYTHING..

(I assume we RELOAD-, with all the wonderfull option this allows us.)

Of course it'd be an extreme compromise, but using creativity,- how about for example a:
.338 WM.,- or the good old .375 H&H Mag.?

-You can play the velocity up and down as you like, use any bullet construction you like,
(-incl. cast bullets), and pick any bullet-weight you like.

But you MUST stick with ONE rifle-caliber only..

-What's your choice then ?

(We're just being creative, maybe argueing a bit between us, having some fun with ideas.)

-We're men with a heart-felt HOBBY is all.

Take care you all.
chr.

31 May 2011, 19:36

PoppaW

How about a 378Wby. Load it down if you wish. The gun is light enough to carry and the recoil is managable. Open sights or peep and QD scope or scopes, depending on game to shoot.

31 May 2011, 20:32

buckeyeshooter

458 wm. load lead 300 grainers down for deer, then bigger bullets for whatever you are hunting.

31 May 2011, 21:15

ColoradoMatt

Matt
FISH!!

Heed the words of Winston Smith in Orwell's 1984:

"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."

31 May 2011, 21:24

RaySendero

quote:
Originally posted by chr:
Hallo Guys.

The other night I was thinking:
-Pick ONE caliber to hunt EVERYTHING..
.....

chr,
Sorry chr - I can't play or recommend.
Me, I choose to have several rifles and a good hunting reload worked-up for each. Then just pick the one that best fits my hunt plan. In addition, I will usually take another as a back-up rifle if I'm hunting away from home for several days.

31 May 2011, 21:25

ColoradoMatt

quote:
Originally posted by ColoradoMatt:
quote:
Originally posted by buckeyeshooter:
458 wm. load lead 300 grainers down for deer, then bigger bullets for whatever you are hunting.

Given the vast availability of .458 cal bullets in cast and jacketed, I would have to agree. The same for the Lott. These big 458's also qualify as stoping rifles for the really big stuff in a lot of circles. However, the THREE-SEVEN-FIVE has a decent variety of bullets available as well, including the 235gn thin-jacketed bullet made for 38-55 and 375 Winchester. There are some moulds available in 375 as well. The 375 H&H would come in a very, very close second in my world. I would list the 375 H&H as my personal first choice because I doubt that I will ever need a true stopping rifle. I suppose that If I never hunted the big five, the 30-06 would work quite well for me for every thing else on earth including the biggest bears, moose , eland, and even Bison. The 220gr partition is should prove big enough medicine for most anything. Just my unexperienced B.S. opinion.

31 May 2011, 22:11

458Win

You can accomplish hunting anything in the world with a 30-06 but since this exercise is about one caliber for anything, and I assume that includes using it as a backup rifle for all dangerous game, then my vote will go to a 458 Win as well.
In my 458 I have fired 2 1/2 inch 410 shells, 458 loads with shot cups, 300 gr cast bullets @ 1400fps and 500 gr loads @ 2100fps. That pretty much covers everything.

31 May 2011, 22:25

600 Overkill

I'd have to say a 375. While I love the big stuff for lethality, a light weight bullet in 375 has a very flat trajectory and while it's adequate for some animals, it's a hammer to most. My Sauer 202 in 375 H&H is light, fast handling, & mild recoiling. With 5 in the box mag & one in the chamber, I can unload 16 rounds on target so fast you'd swear it's a semi-auto. I carry 2 extra 5 rd mags in a belt pouch in addition to the one on the gun. That's a lot of "Rosie" in a short order

31 May 2011, 22:44

Michael Robinson

.416 Rem. Mag. for me.

01 June 2011, 00:49

Alberta Canuck

TOUGH question!!

My first thought was to pick the .404 Jeffery, especially if I ever expected to hunt the big pachyderms. I could use mono meal bullets and load it down for all of the "big game" herbivores.

But then I remembered I hunt a heck of a lot more small varmints than I do things with 1.5" thick skin. With the varminting option in mind, I almost chose a 6.5 of some breed or other. And then I thought, "Well W.D.M. Bell my have been hunting in a time and place where a 6.5 is adequate for all of the Big 5, but I sure won't be...!"

So, for everything from ground squirrels to Ele, I guess I'll have to go with the trite old tried and true...with a lot of wiggling and grimacing....

The.30-06. I'd use 110 & 125 gr bullets or even saboted 80 grainers for varmints, 150s for whitetail-size stuff, 180s or 200s for elk, moose, or eland, and 250 gr. Round-nosed mono-metal solids for the dangerous stuff. (And pray 5 times a day, just to make sure someone up there who can help out keeps me visible on his monitor.)

I didn't pick a magnum of any sort because I don't want the barrel throat to disappear before I am through with one Spring season of varmints.

But, I must warn you, I may cheat and have an extra switch-barrel or two for that action.........

AAArrrggghhh!!!!

01 June 2011, 01:09

Crazyhorseconsulting

Unlike some folks, this one is easy for me, hands down the 375 H&H will handle anything that walks the face of this planet, providing the shooter does their part and places shots where they are supposed to go.

Apart from the handloading aspects and bullets weights and styles available, you can find at least 1 box of 375 H&H shells for sale, even in AhFonDu Egypt or Two Dot Montana.

And, YES, I am one prejudice Son-Of-A-Bitch when it comes to the 375 HxH.

01 June 2011, 01:33

Alberta Canuck

Hey crazyhorse -

How many prairie dogs a day are you going to shoot with trhat .375?

Not actually disagreeing with your choice, just friendly-like yankin' your chain a bit.

your logic is the same as mine when I was thinking of the .404, but around my old home in Oregon the little picket pin gophers offer at least 1,500 shots per day without having to move your rig to the next alfalfa patch. Almost made me pick the .22LR, as I have killed deer with it, and might even use it on elk if I was REALLY DESPARATE FOR FOOD, but it might prove a tad fatally inadequate on hippo or larger...

Where is that Savage .22 Mag over 12 gauge when I really, really need it???

01 June 2011, 01:55

Phatman

Well, I WAS going to say 9.3x62 cause I love the thing.
But after reading 458Win's post about the shot loads I'll have to agree with him.
He really has that survivalist thing working.

Cheers, John

01 June 2011, 02:00

Phatman

There is one more:
Fabarm is currently making an Over Under 12ga Paradox gun. They even call it the Paradox.
If I could find someone in the States that sell them, I would gladly buy it.
That and there combo 12ga over 375x74R

Are you sure it has to be one gun?

01 June 2011, 02:07

Bloodnativ

quote:
Originally posted by 458Win:
You can accomplish hunting anything in the world with a 30-06 but since this exercise is about one caliber for anything, and I assume that includes using it as a backup rifle for all dangerous game, then my vote will go to a 458 Win as well.
In my 458 I have fired 2 1/2 inch 410 shells, 458 loads with shot cups, 300 gr cast bullets @ 1400fps and 500 gr loads @ 2100fps. That pretty much covers everything.

Was headspace an issue (or would it be an issue) when shooting the 410 shotshells? If not I might try it on some squirrels just to see how they perform.

01 June 2011, 02:15

Cross L

quote:
Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
Unlike some folks, this one is easy for me, hands down the 375 H&H will handle anything that walks the face of this planet, providing the shooter does their part and places shots where they are supposed to go.

Apart from the handloading aspects and bullets weights and styles available, you can find at least 1 box of 375 H&H shells for sale, even in AhFonDu Egypt or Two Dot Montana.

And, YES, I am one prejudice Son-Of-A-Bitch when it comes to the 375 HxH.

Not many of us have even heard of Two Dot

SSR

01 June 2011, 03:11

Steven Dawson

I think it would have to be either the .375 H&H or .416 Rigby in a bolt gun with detachable mounts and good express sights.

01 June 2011, 06:31

lavaca

This one's easy for me. I have a .416 Rem. Mag. that has taken everything from buffalo to impala and when I had a bit of an issue with my main "deer rifle" back in the States, it stepped into the breach and since then has taken a number of whitetails and even a turkey. Why did I ever use anything else? It's accurate, more than adequate and I have more confidence in it than any rifle I own. Come to think of it, I think that's the answer.

01 June 2011, 07:20

Crazyhorseconsulting

quote:
How many prairie dogs a day are you going to shoot with trhat .375?

For me personally, that one is really easy. I have never had the desire in my 40+ years of hunting to shoot a Sod Poodle.

Never saw any sense in it, I would rather just drop poison down the holes and do away with the whole colony at one go.

I will take shots at coyotes/bobcats and lots of other stuff with my 375, and going 30 rounds or so off the bench with it is not really that uncomfortable.

As far as whitetails and other game, the 375 does a great job.

If it wasn't a case that I just don't like the 30-06 for some oddball reason known only to me, I would have said that the '06 is all a person needs, again with the provison that the shooter places his shots accurately every time.

Since I don't like the '06, and do prefer larger calibers, in my own twisted way, I view the 375 as an '06 on steroids.

01 June 2011, 07:29

CCMDoc

.416 Weatherby Magnum.

I've taken elk, whitetail, woodchucks, bunny rabbits and even a tweety bird or two when they've charged me as well as Cape buffalo, kudu, blue wildebeest, impala and warthog.

01 June 2011, 08:36

chuck375

My new XCR II in 375 Weatherby Magnum. 300g Nosler Partitions at 2800 fps in a 7 3/8 lb rifle (with scope) will take care of most everything I ever plan to shoot at. I just shoot my 500 Jeffery every month to remind me how little the 375 Weatherby kicks.

01 June 2011, 10:10

458Win

The most important factor in killing anything is the nut behind the butt. Then the bullet and finally the caliber

01 June 2011, 10:27

Steve Lefforge

I would have to go with a .378 Weatherby Magnum as well.

Steve

01 June 2011, 16:43

416Tanzan

In principle I would agree with Ray Sendero, but my son and I actually live this question.

We both have 416 Rigbys loaded with 350 grain TSX, 102.5 Rel-17, Fed 215Match, for 2800 fps.
Good for guineafowl to buffalo and at any distance that we can ethically shoot. 350 grain solid for backup. (We don't do elephant.)

01 June 2011, 17:10

ozhunter

9.3x64Breneke.

One gun? Not likely.

01 June 2011, 17:51

Will

quote:
Originally posted by lavaca:
This one's easy for me. I have a .416 Rem. Mag. that has taken everything from buffalo to impala and when I had a bit of an issue with my main "deer rifle" back in the States, it stepped into the breach and since then has taken a number of whitetails and even a turkey. Why did I ever use anything else? It's accurate, more than adequate and I have more confidence in it than any rifle I own. Come to think of it, I think that's the answer.

Ditto

-------------------------------
Will / Once you've been amongst them, there is no such thing as too much gun.
---------------------------------------
and, God Bless John Wayne. NRA Benefactor, GOA, NAGR
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01 June 2011, 19:02

Dave Bush

chr:

What is your definition of "everything"?

Dave
DRSS
Chapuis 9.3X74
Chapuis "Jungle" .375 FL
Krieghoff 500/.416 NE
Krieghoff 500 NE

"Git as close as y can laddie an then git ten yards closer"

"If the biggest, baddest animals on the planet are on the menu, and you'd rather pay a taxidermist than a mortician, consider the 500 NE as the last word in life insurance." Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading (8th Edition).

01 June 2011, 20:30

gohip2000

I think I would have to go with a 223

01 June 2011, 20:31

465H&H

quote:
Originally posted by Cross L:
quote:
Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
Unlike some folks, this one is easy for me, hands down the 375 H&H will handle anything that walks the face of this planet, providing the shooter does their part and places shots where they are supposed to go.

Apart from the handloading aspects and bullets weights and styles available, you can find at least 1 box of 375 H&H shells for sale, even in AhFonDu Egypt or Two Dot Montana.

And, YES, I am one prejudice Son-Of-A-Bitch when it comes to the 375 HxH.

Not many of us have even heard of Two Dot

SSR

While I was in college at the U of Montana, we used to go to Two Dot for antelope, mule deer and sage grouse hunting. Great hunting on one of the Mennonite farms.

465H&H