The best all around rifle caliber for hunting

[DirectDrive]

I am a big fan of anything 7mm but anything in the range of what Orygun mentioned I can get behind. When Nosler started offering factory brass for the 280 AI, I knew I was destined to own another rifle in that chambering after a prior affair with it. It is the one I will take to my grave. With the combo of speed, high sd, great bullet bc and very manageable recoil, it has been a very efficient critter gitter for me.

A 280 or 280AI just might win the best all around cartridge.
Quite possibly the smartest way to launch a 7mm pill.
I have a M700 ADL in .270 (can you say sacrilegious ?) that should be a good donor for a 280.

 

[orygun]

I have a M700 ADL in .270 (can you say sacrilegious ?) that should be a good donor for a 280.

I respect your opinion, but why waste the effort to change that rifle?

There are two reasons the AI is such a step up from the regular ol 280, but that doesn't mean it's that much better than the 270. The 280 was loaded light because of the autoloaders it was designed for. The 280 also has a slightly longer case (same oal as a 30-03) with the shoulder pushed forward so it wouldn't chamber in a 270. When cranked up to higher pressures, which happen to be the same as the 270 Winchester, it responds well, but unless you wanna push a real heavy 7mm pill(165), the two share velocity per grain of bullet.

However, not everything I ever did made financial sense.

 

[derrickd95]

Multiple great choices. .30-30 is the most tried and true and cheap in a lever. Also over looked is 35 Remington and the 32 Winchester special. A great round if you reload is 284 Winchester. Very versatile round that will make your pants tight with every trigger pull. .308 and 30-06 are pretty close to being the same both beautiful calibers though.

 

[osprey]

Using a 700 ADL has been the genesis of many a custom rifle builds. Nothing wrong with the 270 either for an all around hunting caliber. I have used it with great effect in the past and it is my back up now.

 

[osprey]

I just went back and read the OP's first post from 2012 lol, he was actually looking for a cartridge that could do everything from varmints to elk. In light of those parameters I would actually choose the venerable old Swede 6.5x55 or the 6.5 Creedmoor. Since it has been 5 years what did you end up doing Mrblonde?

 

[rjmt]

I'm one of those true believers in the 6.5 Grendel
out of a 20" tube, the Grendel is a viable hunting cartridge for the NW
hunters have been taking Elk out to 300 yds with the Grendel for several years now
now - I'm just a target shooter, but the ballistics I'm getting out of my Grendels signify sufficient energy for hunting

 

[tac]

Surely the 'best' rifle calibre is the one that there is the most of, and will be the easiest to find because of that fact.

My choice is the .308Win.

tac

 

[Colts4me]

I am not trying to divert the thread but I look at the subject as a package more than just a caliber. As a young man growing up in western Oregon I found the best package for hunting in the woods was a small light Remington 600 in 308. When I started hunting eastern Oregon after killing deer with the 308 I went to the 270 in a BAR.

Love both guns and both calibers

 

[DRZ400S]

6.5 Grendel is my vote

 

[tac]

I'm assuming that you can just walk into your local store and get a couple of hundred round of that calibre, right?

Here in yUK, where there is a fondness for offbeat calibres, and many custom rifle builders to make suitable devices to shoot them I've seen just one 6.5 Grendel.

tac

 

[rjmt]

Barnaul is now loading a steel case 6.5 Grendel that you can buy in 500 rnd cases - for target
Hornady make several excellent hunting rounds in 6.5G
Midway sells 100 different bullet types in 6.5 for handloaders
the 6.5 bullet has been around in Europe since 1894
most European ammo manufactures, including Norma and Lapua offer 6.5 bullets for hunting or target
I have not bought ammo of any caliber locally since I discovered the internet
delivered to my Farm at the end of a gravel road by UPS
SG Ammo is never out of 6.5G
but Surplus Ammo in Tacoma always has it on the Shelf
every Cabela's has it on the shelf for hunting

how many rounds to you need? My neighbor who hunts elk fires 2 rnds a year - one to sight in and one to drop his Elk
RJMT

 

[tac]

If your post above is aimed at me, your advice, though kindly meant, is of no value - I live in UK.

In THIS burg, if all you shot was two rounds a year of anything, the authorities would take your gun away from you.

tac

 

[DirectDrive]

Maybe if it was Grendel or Beowulf the authorities would have leniency ?
If'n said authorities were schooled in Olde English tales.

 

[rjmt]

Tac, I understand, I work internationally and understand the regulations under which you live
I live on a remote mountain top in Washington state - we have self imposed regulations up here
on any weekend, I can hear the ripple of full auto 9mm, the rattle of full auto ARs and AKs and the boom of the big Barretts
and I can't hear the many firing through Volvo fuel filters - they sell a lot of these filters a the local NAPA auto parts store
not sure how many on this site understand the true freedom of living on a remote self sufficient farm in the NW
it's an old joke among my neighbors - I can stand naked on my front porch and fire my old Chinese Type 56 down the field at noon
and no one cares
OK, too much information on a Sunday mornng
but you get the point
breaking in my new 1911 this morning in my front field, as I hear the church bells from the Lutheran church - 5 miles away
RJMT

 

[DirectDrive]

Be careful running around nekked up there.
There might be some horny Bigfoot around.

 

[Ura-Ki]

The "Old" great debate! LOL Lets see here, For me, If I was looking across a large field to the tree line at say 300 yards and spotted a nice Muley, I would likely be using one of my Swedes of the 6.5X55 variety! Or if I was in Sheep mountains with a good stiff wind, again the Swede up to about 600 Meters, and beyond I would be slinging 130 Gr Swift Scrioccos out of a .270 Winchester! For Rocky Mountain Elk, Or any Elk for that matter, a .270 is the minimum I would be considering, and I lean strongly to the .30/06 with the standard 180 gr pill ant any practical range! For the really big mountain monsters, a .338 win mag gets the nod, especially with a 270 gr barns TXT, and for dangerous critters, ether the kind to charge when hit, or the kind to fight back, a .375 Weatherby Mag and it's nasty recoil get the job! Back up is almost always a .45/70!

Best all around, hard to argue the .30/06! Best Brush Buster, .30/30 .30/40 35Rem. .44/40 .45 Colt or .45/70
Best all around woods gun, something in .30 cal, minimum being .308
best big game, minimum .270 win or .30/06 For all conditions, most critters
best long range, min 6.5X55 Swede and .270 win, on up to 7mm and .300 win mag for larger critters
Bucking wind on a hunt, 6.5X55 Swede or 7 mm, with the .270 right in the middle
really big or likely to charge or fight back, min .338 Win Mag, optimum .375 or 9.3X63 or 9.3X74
Wackin Critters for fun, .223 or .22/250 out to about 700 meters, .243 for big grins, and 6.5X55 Swede to really reach out there and make purple mist! I even use a .270 now and then!
Best wildcats, 6.5/06 or 6.5X284 6.5X300WSM!!!

 

[tac]

Hey, Guys, just to let you know that if there's one thing I really don't need, it's a reminder about what a carp deal we have over here compared with just about anywhere in the USA.

I have to live here, though, and get on with what shooting I CAN do, within the legal constraints imposed on me. Believe me, the Home Office is looking for ANY reason, as we speak, to ban the .50cal BMG rifles, pump-action shotguns and certain lever-action firearms.

Why?

Because of the increasing number of drive-by [on mopeds, yet] ACID attacks in London.

That's why I used to enjoy shooting that way that G*d intended with my dear pal Joe Evans of Eugene, now gone.

tac

 

[tac]

The "Old" great debate! LOL Lets see here, For me, If I was looking across a large field to the tree line at say 300 yards and spotted a nice Muley,

Wackin Critters for fun, .223 or .22/250 out to about 700 meters, .243 for big grins, and 6.5X55 Swede to really reach out there and make purple mist! I even use a .270 now and then!
Best wildcats, 6.5/06 or 6.5X284 6.5X300WSM!!!

Hmm. I note with interest that you shoot in yards and metres/meters.

I've made a note of that.

tac

 

[Ura-Ki]

LOL Caught that did ya!
I have been using both "systems" long enough to be able to use them interchangeably with out even thinking! One is for practicality, its the Down and dirty Get Er Done system of close enough for gov. work, the other is for more refined work as it were!

 

[tac]

The late Mrs tac Senior didn't raise no fools, her.

tac