The best all around rifle caliber for hunting

[anubismp]

I'd go 308 or 30~06. ~06 is probably the all around best for its versatility.

 

[rjmt]

Tac, the scopes we have available to us are a mixture of MOA and mrad
My Leupold and Vortex are MOA, my Zeiss, Nightforce and Nikon are mRad
my M1 Garand iron sights is yards, my Mosin and Mauser are meters
my Bushnell laser rangefinder has switchable scale
I grew up with MOA, and as an old guy am trying to convert to metric, but still confusing to me
RJMT

 

[HB of CJ]

They say the old .358 Winchester is the most efficient? A necked up .308? Probably the 7.62x51 NATO ... or ... the .308 Winchester for harvesting big game for food. Probably the 5.56x45 NATO for the other horrible need? Yikes!

 

[Medic!]

25 years now with 300 win mag.

It will do as little as your 308. As much as your 30.06.
And then give you another couple hundred FPS if you know how to reach out there.

 

[No_Regerts]

The 6.5 grendel is an anemic hunting cartridge at best. Why carry around a 10 pound AR platform shooting a less-than-stellar cartridge when you can carry a field-ready bolt action weighing under 7 1/2 pounds that's chambered in something requires far less ballistic guesswork and hits with a lot more authority?

I'd buy a 270 and be done with it. Shoots flat, hits plenty hard, you can find it ANYWHERE. Comes in nice, light, rifles.

 

[osprey]

The 6.5 grendel is an anemic hunting cartridge at best. Why carry around a 10 pound AR platform shooting a less-than-stellar cartridge when you can carry a field-ready bolt action weighing under 7 1/2 pounds that's chambered in something requires far less ballistic guesswork and hits with a lot more authority?

I'd buy a 270 and be done with it. Shoots flat, hits plenty hard, you can find it ANYWHERE. Comes in nice, light, rifles.

Not a Grendel fanboy here and actually don't even own one but technically speaking they are built on a ar15 platform and you would have to put a big arse scope on one to approach 10#. Just sayin.

 

[No_Regerts]

Not a Grendel fanboy here and actually don't even own one but technically speaking they are built on a ar15 platform and you would have to put a big arse scope on one to approach 10#. Just sayin.

Ever met someone who hunts with an AR who doesnt but a big 30mm tube scope, free floating handguards and some Magpul Multi compartment stock on the back?

 

[orygun]

25 years now with 300 win mag.

It will do as little as your 308. As much as your 30.06.
And then give you another couple hundred FPS if you know how to reach out there.

What you say is true, but it comes at a cost with increased rifle weight, higher cost of ammo (not too much) and more recoil. I've only shot one 300 Win Mag and I didn't notice the recoil, but many people really aren't comfortable with the recoil of an '06 and the 300 is just too much.
Don't mistake my comments for dislike. The 300 Win Mag is an excellent cartridge. I appreciate the difference that "couple hundred FPS" can make so much that I decided to hot rod my '06 by having it turned into an Ackley Improved. By doing so I have kept rifle weight the same and have bumped the fps a solid 150fps over a regular 30-06 load.

If I was doing it all over again, I'd probably still buy a 30-06. There's just nothing wrong with it.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

30-06 because its 2018 and people still debate about it being the best 112yrs later.

 

[Ura-Ki]

This is why I have never really wanted, or felt a need for the 7 mm mag and sold my .300, for the cost increase and recoil over the .30/06. the differences are so small, that it's really not worth the effort. Now don't get me wrong, the advantages that make the 7 mm so good are worth it for the few instances where it would out shine the .30/06 but those are rare, and my hunting has thus far never required that performance. Now the .300 w.m. fell between the .30/06 and the .338 W.M and for the cost and recoil as well as a need for more then the .30/06, I find the .338 just works better, especially as the recoil isn't much more then the old .30/06!

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Ever met someone who hunts with an AR who doesnt but a big 30mm tube scope, free floating handguards and some Magpul Multi compartment stock on the back?

yes. my AR 308 hunting rifle with 30mm tube scope has a B5 stock on it

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

This is why I have never really wanted, or felt a need for the 7 mm mag and sold my .300, for the cost increase and recoil over the .30/06. the differences are so small, that it's really not worth the effort. Now don't get me wrong, the advantages that make the 7 mm so good are worth it for the few instances where it would out shine the .30/06 but those are rare, and my hunting has thus far never required that performance. Now the .300 w.m. fell between the .30/06 and the .338 W.M and for the cost and recoil as well as a need for more then the .30/06, I find the .338 just works better, especially as the recoil isn't much more then the old .30/06!

with current powder technology, i can load my 308win to factory 30-06 performance

 

[orygun]

with current powder technology, i can load my 308win to factory 30-06 performance

Until the bullet hits 180gr or heavier. But with 150, 165 and 168gr bullets, they are twins. It's obvious that the 308 is still accurate with the heavier bullets, it just can't push them as fast as the '06.

 

[orygun]

"Best all around rifle caliber"
I wonder how many ways one can split this hair?

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Until the bullet hits 180gr or heavier. But with 150, 165 and 168gr bullets, they are twins. It's obvious that the 308 is still accurate with the heavier bullets, it just can't push them as fast as the '06.

correct. ive only ever ran 150,165 and 168 in 308 win and 30-06 personally.

i really like 165gr nosler accubond or ballistic tips.

not too heavy, not too light. just a good round.

i do however, load 180gr nosler partitions for a friend in 30-06. talk about a good hunting round!!

 

[Ura-Ki]

Not quite, the same advances in powder can take the same ( .30/06) bullets faster across the board, and like posted above once you get above 180, it really smokes the .308! How much faster depends on the rifle as much as the loads!

 

[orygun]

Not quite, the same advances in powder can take the same ( .30/06) bullets faster across the board, and like posted above once you get above 180, it really smokes the .308! How much faster depends on the rifle as much as the loads!

For a fast 180gr 30-06 load, I don't think you can beat RL22.

 

[Ura-Ki]

YUP, SMOKIN!
SO, you got me thinkin on the P.O. Ackly improved! Tell me more!

 

[Captain O]

*ahem* Back during the 1960's many hunters heading to either the Canadian Rockies or the Alaskan alders, intrepid hunters used to load the .30-'06 with 200-grain round-nosed Soft Point bullets ahead of heavy doses of slow-burning propellants. This worked well against Alaskan Brown and Polar Bears. (Bullet placement is the imperative).

 

[Kruel J]

I'd say the fact that there are SO MANY calibers available, it isn't likely that "one size fits all".

That being said, I'd vote .308 for general versatility and all day long shootability without getting beat up from recoil.