Best all around caliber

[Tlock]

Squirrels are fun to watch for sure.
Good to eat too....sure wish we could squirrel hunt here in Washington.
Andy

Wait.....what? No squirl hunting at all in Washington?

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Wait.....what? No squirl hunting at all in Washington?

That would be correct.

Supposedly it is because it is too difficult to tell the Eastern Fox Squirrel ( an invasive species here in Washington ) from the Western Gray Squirrel .
I don't know for sure the why behind this...I just know no squirrel hunting here in Washington.
Andy

 

[Horn Ridge]

If I had time to play with one, I think 270WSM would get it done.

 

[Oxygen Mask]

I twice shot squirrels with a 30-30. Not much, if anything left.
These days I'd only shoot a squirrel if I had to eat. They are too fun to watch.

Shot a squirrel with a 7 mag once... Red mist...
These days :

 

[Tlock]

That would be correct.

Supposedly it is because it is too difficult to tell the Eastern Fox Squirrel ( an invasive species here in Washington ) from the Western Gray Squirrel .
I don't know for sure the why behind this...I just know no squirrel hunting here in Washington.
Andy

Thats terrible! I have lots of Grey's on the farm. They are tasty!

 

[mhayd93]

All those old calibers are not good enough. Go for whatever new round the manufacturers are pushing that is .003% different than a known excellent round that has been used for years. (Kidding!).

Seriously, the explosion of the "latest and greatest" cartridges over the last 20 years is the poster-child for the law of diminishing returns!

 

[lawsog18]

30-06 for sure, such a versatile round!

 

[bionic knees]

If I had time to play with one, I think 270WSM would get it done.

It works

 

[orygun]

If I had time to play with one, I think 270WSM would get it done.

It works

A friend has one a really likes it.

 

[NeoBlackdog]

Or if you're in Montana, any supermarket, convenience store, and most restaurants......

Lots of gas stations, too! Check out 'The Fort' in Big Timber. Best convenience store in the world.

 

[bpyycpyy]

I didn't see any of these mentioned yet so I'll give a shout out for the 6.5x55 Swede, the .257 Bob (there was a mention of 7x57) and the 25-06. Oh, and of course the venerable 30-06 mostly because it can do it all with light to heavy bullets and ammo can be found practically anywhere.

 

[Tlock]

I didn't see any of these mentioned yet so I'll give a shout out for the 6.5x55 Swede, the .257 Bob (there was a mention of 7x57) and the 25-06. Oh, and of course the venerable 30-06 mostly because it can do it all with light to heavy bullets and ammo can be found practically anywhere.

A few months ago I picked up 2 ruger m77 in 257 roberts, plan to make one of them my deer rifle for 2026 season

 

[bpyycpyy]

A few months ago I picked up 2 ruger m77 in 257 roberts

Hard to go wrong with that cartridge. One of the great .25 calibers. Mine is a sweet Peruvian Mauser that someone gave it some sweet treatment (got it from another member here) and it's a tackdriver.

 

[orygun]

For nice days... 1942 Winchester 70 in 257.

 

[bionic knees]

my "Bob" was found laying on a brush pile on a piece of property that my late father in law bought in the early 90's. just out of Monument. it spent at least one winter out side. I fixed her up some.

 

[NeoBlackdog]

my "Bob" was found laying on a brush pile on a piece of property that my late father in law bought in the early 90's. just out of Monument. it spent at least one winter out side. I fixed her up some.

View attachment 2239293 View attachment 2239294 View attachment 2239295

Looks like you did some dang fine fixin' up!

 

[the apprentice]

I know I am going to date myself here but from 1946 to around 1972 pertersons hunting magazine had listed the top
Hunting rifles and thru those years if you took the top ten 8 of the ten were in the 30-06 caliber
We see a slight change in 1973-85 with the top ten and the leader is the .308 after that Peterson's started to see a ton of fragmentations so top 3 were 270-30 Cal's and magnums
Youth Rifles seem to be the .243's as the biggest leaders
At 6.1 decades on this planet I started with a little .243 went to magnum's Back down to a 30-06 then down to a nice 6-3/4 pound .308 nothing fancy just a budget tikka with a 4x16 Nightforce 56mm bell for light gathering
I still have a .300 Win magnum for a any bull tag but every time I shoot I have to refind the target

I would suggest that hunters limit their cost to 1/3 for the rifle and 2/3 for optics
We don't see that enough as we hunt in Oregon's fall weather think about the conditions of rain or snow

Lighter rifle easier to raise up and hold on the animal
However I am a old man your mileage may vary

 

[NeoBlackdog]

I would suggest that hunters limit their cost to 1/3 for the rifle and 2/3 for optics

Wise advice!

 

[bpyycpyy]

my "Bob" was found laying on a brush pile on a piece of property that my late father in law bought in the early 90's. just out of Monument.

I wonder how many people were murdered with that weapon (be sure to keep it away from any ballistic testing facilities)? It looks like you definitely "fixed her up" pretty darn good! Those Monument winters can be fairly harsh. What a great find (did it have the optics on it too?)...I once thought I found a tossed away murder pistol (looked like a Glock buried in our vines at my office but it turned out to be just an air pistol replica - maybe a nuisance weapon but certainly not a murder one).
I guess if you were going to find a "Bob" laying on a brush pile, at least it wasn't a human version...especially if it was a naked version, just waiting for you!

 

[bionic knees]

I wonder how many people were murdered with that weapon (be sure to keep it away from any ballistic testing facilities)? It looks like you definitely "fixed her up" pretty darn good! Those Monument winters can be fairly harsh. What a great find (did it have the optics on it too?)...I once thought I found a tossed away murder pistol (looked like a Glock buried in our vines at my office but it turned out to be just an air pistol replica - maybe a nuisance weapon but certainly not a murder one).
I guess if you were going to find a "Bob" laying on a brush pile, at least it wasn't a human version...especially if it was a naked version, just waiting for you!

it had an old weaver 4 power on it when it was found, the scope didn't weather as well as the rest of the rifle so it got tossed and replaced with the redfield it has on it now.