Which big gun would you want?

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For a lot of years I shot everything with a 30-06 with a 2x7 Leopold scope. It was my only rifle and it worked just great. Shot a boat load of deer and elk with that rifle. Had to pass on an elk a little too far out and needed a scope with more power. So I bought the 300 Win and put a 4x14 Leopold on it. Works great. I had always wanted a 7x57. It is a great little deer rifle just a touch more powerful than the 7mm08.. I went a little bigger for elk and smaller for deer. The 30-06 has been in retirement ever since. But if I had to go back to one gun, it would be the 30-06.
 
Travlr said:
There isn't a bad caliber if you can place your shot where you want it. The world record Grizzly was taken by a woman with a bolt action .22, and people take moose with them too.
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Yes, I have killed moose, caribou, 2 kinds of bears and several of both, deer, wolves, and lots of lesser game with my model 700 22.250. Shot placement is 99%.
 
gcreekrch said:
Yes, I have killed moose, caribou, 2 kinds of bears and several of both, deer, wolves, and lots of lesser game with my model 700 22.250. Shot placement is 99%.
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My 22.250 has proven it's worth as well. I just don't pack it much because it long and heavy and gets in the way. Great calibre though.
 
4hfarms said:
...or the trip to Africa.
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Hahahaha, there's probably actually a better chance of that. My dad has a cousin who's brother in law owned the company that supplied McDonalds with all their plastic cups or something. Anyway this cousins husband and brother in law have been hunting in Africa 3 or 4 times. I think they have taken all of the big five plus lots of plains game.
 
If you're just looking at something to one up yourself going bigger, take a look at a Weatherby 30-378. Mark V rifles can be found for $1500 and up, it's got 200+ fps on the 300 WM and it'll make your buddies blush when you pull a shell out and stand it up next their 308's. Haha.

1703650121917.png

*Disclaimer: not an actual picture of a 30-378, just thought it fit the conversation.
 
jltrent said:
I will just settle with my little measly .308.
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I'm sticking with 30-30 and I reload. Long range 243 I have taken plenty of Axis with it and it hammers them like lightning bolts fro Zeus.
Neighbor has hunted from the Artic circle to the tropics has taken Grizzly and mountain lions and all kinds of other critters.
He has a 375 as far as I'm concerned all that thing is good for is a trot line weight.
Big bore I go 44 or 45-70
 
My favorite rifle... to shoot... that I've ever had actual experience with, is a bolt action 250 Savage.

If I remember right it was the first round that did over 3000 FPS, it has minor recoil, it's very accurate, and it's light. And the action of the rifle is just so smooth that it's a joy to use.
 
crossbreed said:
lol the measly little round that won WW II!! My wish list holds spots for the 2 rifles that won the wars! M1 Garand 30-06 and M14 308 are the 2 rounds that kept America safe!!
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Tho it isn't really a big cartridge, M-14 7.62 x51 is probably the finest military rifle I ever used as far as accuracy and dependability goes. First proved itself to me on the 500 yd line at Edson range, Camp Pendelton. Liked it enough that I traded the 16 back in for it when I got to RVN.. Would love to have one, but out of my price range.
Have a SKS 7.62x39. A fun rifle and shoots any crap ammo but really No comparison. not even close.

I love my .270 and have shot my brother's Weatherby 300 mag. Too much recoil on the .300 for a lot users and way overkill on whitetail..
 
I always thought I wanted a 300 Winchester Mag; I just couldn't make myself make that leap. My 30-06 is just fine for me, besides I don't really hunt anymore. I prefer beef. Now my grandfather had a 284 Winchester, and that was a fun gun to shoot.
 
Some years back I shot a nice 5x5 bull on opening day. So I was reduced to chief cook and bottle washer and driver hauling the kids around. One afternoon I was in the local watering hole. I was talking to a young man who had also got his elk. He was telling me the story. Shot it twice in the lungs with his 308. The bull didn't go 50 yards and died. Along comes another guy who had also shot an elk. He proceeds to tell this young that he was lucky to kill an elk with a 308. He pulls a cannon shell out of his pocket. It is a 30-378. He tells us the story of his elk. Shot at it 7 times. Hit it 3 times. Broke a hind leg, gut shot it, and finally hit it in the neck. Then tells us how much lead an elk can pack. Hmmmmm I shot mine that year at 375 yards (longest shot I ever attempted on an elk). Double lunged it with the 300 Win. It went about 20 yards before flopping over. The first 3 elk I shot were with a 308. Since switching to the 300 Win I have shot 6 elk. Between the 308 and the 300 Win I shot a boat load of them with 30-06. The only one that went far was shot with Remington Core Lock bullets. The bullets blew up and didn't penetrate. After that I exclusively went to Noslar partitioned bullets.
 
Dave said:
Some years back I shot a nice 5x5 bull on opening day. So I was reduced to chief cook and bottle washer and driver hauling the kids around. One afternoon I was in the local watering hole. I was talking to a young man who had also got his elk. He was telling me the story. Shot it twice in the lungs with his 308. The bull didn't go 50 yards and died. Along comes another guy who had also shot an elk. He proceeds to tell this young that he was lucky to kill an elk with a 308. He pulls a cannon shell out of his pocket. It is a 30-378. He tells us the story of his elk. Shot at it 7 times. Hit it 3 times. Broke a hind leg, gut shot it, and finally hit it in the neck. Then tells us how much lead an elk can pack. Hmmmmm I shot mine that year at 375 yards (longest shot I ever attempted on an elk). Double lunged it with the 300 Win. It went about 20 yards before flopping over. The first 3 elk I shot were with a 308. Since switching to the 300 Win I have shot 6 elk. Between the 308 and the 300 Win I shot a boat load of them with 30-06. The only one that went far was shot with Remington Core Lock bullets. The bullets blew up and didn't penetrate. After that I exclusively went to Noslar partitioned bullets.
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You're right there. A big, fast bullet is no replacement for shot placement. I always thought the Core Lokt bullets worked quite well, albeit a small sample used with them. Worked good on multiple deer. I even recovered one out of a cow elk I'd shot, around 100 yards, maybe 125 using a 140 gr out of a 264 Win Mag. Looked just like the mushroomed bullet on the box. Went away from them to pursue reloading my own with Partitions being one of my choice bullets.
 
Travlr said:
My favorite rifle... to shoot... that I've ever had actual experience with, is a bolt action 250 Savage.

If I remember right it was the first round that did over 3000 FPS, it has minor recoil, it's very accurate, and it's light. And the action of the rifle is just so smooth that it's a joy to use.
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25-06 is nice also, I shoot dimes at 100yds.
 
puzzled in oregon said:
It sounds painful.
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I have my doubts.. it's still a pistol cartridge, effectively, just because it says ".500" doesn't mean it's got any oomph to it.. There's a WHOLE lot of rifle cartridges that have significantly more energy than that thing.. The .500 S&W it was modified from has muzzle energy very similar to a .308, which is pretty anemic in this crowd..


Back to the original question, though, I'm surprised nobody here has brought up the .45-70: a wide range of loads readily available, from just a good thumper kinda gun right up to shoulder dislocation, all of which fall inside the SAAMI limits..
 

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