Best "all purpose" caliber

[FormerNewYorker]

Hi, I'm new here and have begun a quest to find a good "all purpose" rifle. I'd like this rifle to be capable of long range prairie dogs (my father in law wants to take me to ND with his friend and prairie dog hunt) and still capable of taking deer and maybe elk. I'll have access to reloading equipment and plan to get the most use out of whatever round I chose. I'd also like the round to be capable of taking shots out to 500+ yards when I start to get into longer range shooting. So far I'm looking at .30-06 (because it's so popular and everyone recommends it,) .270 (because now that I live somewhere where you can use a rifle for hunting I see tons of .270 users and it seems like it has potential) and .25-06 (because people have been recommending it to me) Are there any other rounds that would fit my needs better? What one would be my best choice?

[farmerj]

.243.....

[sgruenhagen44]

IMO there is no all purpose rifle. at least from prairie dogs to elk. It's quite a stretch. Not sayin a .270 can't kill at 500 yards plus but there are for sure better options out there. For me I'm not a big rifle hunter but the .270 is probably my favorite cartridge, but I don't find much enjoyment in killing stuff past 200 yards either.

[LarryFlew]

IMO asking for a lot.

First off 30-06 is a typical 6-7 inch group at 500 yards which might be fine for long range large animal but way out of wack for prairie dog accuracy. If you need the one fits all big caliber 308 is slightly more accurate and the choice of many competitors. IMO better off with a smaller caliber and a bigger caliber for your different needs.

You also have cost to consider. IE MUCH more expensive to be reloading 30 caliber (either 30-06 or 308) than smaller like 223. So if you plan on doing a lot of shooting the difference will add up FAST if your only shooting large caliber.

[rugersol]

7mm Rem Mag!

[sgruenhagen44]

.243.....

I agree... .243 is great but I wouldn't take it elk hunting. I my brother in law has tagged multiple mulies in the 300-600 yard range with one so maybe its not such a stretch.

[gunforhire]

.50 BMG. might be spendy, but it'll turn EVERYTHING into a fine pink mist at 1000 yds if you can do your part

Seriously though, with the right rifle, 30-06 is the most versatile of the calibers far as loading light to heavy, but I would probably get one of those and then save up for a 22-250 or .223

[OldmanFCSA]

.50 BMG. might be spendy, but it'll turn EVERYTHING into a fine pink mist at 1000 yds if you can do your part

Seriously though, with the right rifle, 30-06 is the most versatile of the calibers far as loading light to heavy, but I would probably get one of those and then save up for a 22-250 or .223

DAMM - beat me to it = 50BMG.

Otherwise a 280 Remington would be my single rifle favorite.

[crbutler]

If you remove Elk from the list, either an overbore .22 centerfire (.22-250, .220 Swift, .223 WSSM) or a .243 is probably your best choice for "do everything," but to do that you will need a rifle that is especially set up to handle heavier for caliber bullets. You will need a heavier bullet for large game, especially at distance. Most factory guns have rifling twists set up for standard bullet weights. Bullet selection for the game being sought is critical with these calibers also.

A factory .243 win will do most of what you want, but you will need to limit the deer to whatever reasonable distance that you and it are capable at, and not take suboptimal shot presentation (quartering away or rear end shots) on larger deer. On the other hand, a bigger cartridge will work for varmints, but the ammo costs and the recoil will get to you after a while.

I know a very few people who have taken elk with a .243, and aside from a local farmer who knows his herd and is just meat hunting and takes head/neck shots only (he can hit a coke can at 200 yards offhand with it... and considers a long shot "mebbe 75 yards") none of them advocate that gun on elk any more.

Edit to add that if you remove varmint shooting, a .30-06 will be adequate for anything, including bear, in north America.

[LePetomane]

I don't think there is an ideal cartridge. I have a couple of .223's for smaller stuff. I plan to hunt antelope on a ranch in Wyoming that I have access to with a .270 that I just picked up. I'm in the market for a .30-06 for the bigger stuff. I guess the .270 would be the closest to the ideal for my needs.

[BigBlue]

.300 Win Mag will have the trajectory and power for both dogs and elk-sized game. Of course, it isn't really a caliber you would enjoy torching off dozens (hundreds) of rounds in a sitting like you might do dog hunting.

My suggestion is to work your way up to having appropriate guns for different purposes. Start with the one you're most likely to hunt most and then try to borrow a gun for the other type of hunting until you can afford to add another one to your list. Also, you'll probably want different optics for those two types of hunting anyway, so that's another factor.

BB

[rugersol]

WTH?!

I thought it was purdy obvious this was a troll?!





.... sides, yer all wrong!

[FJ540]

In all seriousness, the .223 and .308 are probably among the worst calibers to buy right now. Not because they're bad (quite the opposite), but because ammo is expensive or hard to find.

What Jon said, .243, is a good choice because of it's relative popularity (due to it's versatility) and the fact that it's not a hoarder's cartridge.

[ex-LT]

WTH?!

I thought it was purdy obvious this was a troll?!





.... sides, yer all wrong!

Yep. Everyone knows the perfect all-purpose caliber is 7mm-08.

[farmerj]

get real....

Best all around is the .22 BMG.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009 ... own-to-22/