Big game all-rounder

DangerDave

DangerDave

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Jul 9, 2024
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#1
7 RM
7 PRC
30-06
300 PRC
300 WM
338 WM

If you had to choose only one caliber for most of the North American big game, which one would it be?

You can rank the above list and please state your reasons, experiences, complaints, etc.

If you prefer something that’s not on the list, do mention it.
 
#2
I just went through this, read a lot of posts on different forums and articles about the different calibers. The ones I had experience with are 270, 30-06, 300 WM and 338 WM. I have not had a 300 PRC, but did a lot of research between 300 PRC and 300 Win Mag. If you ask a question about these two specific calibers, you will get a lot of opinions. What I took away from it is if you plan to shoot factory ammo, go with 300 WM, if you plan to reload go with 300 PRC. In the end I wanted something bigger than a 270 /30-06, and I did not feel like dealing with the recoil of another 338WM. So I chose a new 300 WM, a PMR Ultra Lite Hunter from Masterpiece Arms. Final reasoning is it is a long standing proven round with a LOT of recommendations. I has a lot of factory ammo choices available and I can still reload it when we finally stop moving every two years and settle down. Finally, I have experience with 300 WM and am comfortable with the shooting experience, recoil is no to bad and it will kill anything in North America I want it to. Good luck with your choice.
 
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#3
Quick1 said:
I just went through this, read a lot of posts on different forums and articles about the different calibers. The ones I had experience with are 270, 30-06, 300 WM and 338 WM. I have not had a 300 PRC, but did a lot of research between 300 PRC and 300 Win Mag. If you ask a question about these two specific calibers, you will get a lot of opinions. What I took away from it is if you plan to shoot factory ammo, go with 300 WM, if you plan to reload go with 300 PRC. In the end I wanted something bigger than a 270 /30-06, and I did not feel like dealing with the recoil of another 338WM. So I chose a new 300 WM, a PMR Ultra Lite Hunter from Masterpiece Arms. Final reasoning is it is a long standing proven round with a LOT of recommendations. I has a lot of factory ammo choices available and I can still reload it when we finally stop moving every two years and settle down. Finally, I have experience with 300 WM and am comfortable with the shooting experience, recoil is no to bad and it will kill anything in North America I want it to. Good luck with your choice.
Click to expand...
I went with 300 WM in case I was traveling and lost my ammunition. You know how airlines are about baggage. Figured I could purchase ammunition easily any state I happened to be in. It might not be what I had but at least I could get something to go hunt with.
 
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#5
Probably .30-06 as long as brown bear and moose are off the table. Granted, it'd probably work on both of those but I'd prefer the .338WM for those. Otherwise, I can't think of anything I wouldn't be comfortable trying to drop with a .30-06 and it's not quite as mush overkill as the magnums on that list.

I personally view the 300WM as a round that does everything the .30-06 does but at slightly longer range, which I don't really need in a hunting rifle. The 7mm RM is between the two. Flatter shooting than the .30-06 but (theoretically) not as hard hitting as the 300WM.

I personally wouldn't want either of the gucci rounds for hunting.
 
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#7
Have hunted most of North American game and lots of plains South African, did it all with 300WM running purpose-built bullets - wouldn’t trade it for anything else. Ammo availability and selection is good, confidence in the caliber is paramount. Mileage varies but my go-to caliber has never let me down. It is a bit much for small game; however, “too dead” is not a thing, “almost dead” absolutely is!
 
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#9
DangerDave said:
7 RM
7 PRC
30-06
300 PRC
300 WM
338 WM

If you had to choose only one caliber for most of the North American big game, which one would it be?

You can rank the above list and please state your reasons, experiences, complaints, etc.

If you prefer something that’s not on the list, do mention it.
Click to expand...

6.5 creedmoor running 147gr ELD-M is my first pick.
7PRC with 180gr ELD-M is my preference if I'm hunting a lot of long/windy shots.

The tipped match bullets are phenomenal killers and great at saving meat. They penetrate and hand grenade inside the lungs and stay there.

I run both of these with 7PRC as my primary. I would have no qualms about using any of the options you stated except .338wm. I would stay away from high recoiling rounds like that and all of the .30 cal options, personally.
 
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#12
6.5CM with 147 ELD-M would be (and is) mine as well. Though I have flirted with the idea of moving to a 6CM with 108gr ELD-M eventually as an all-around big game rifle for North America. I sold off everything bigger than 6.5CM for hunting after I learned how bullets actually work. Turns out all the stuff I thought I knew about terminal ballistics was fuddlore.
 
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#14
A friend and his son just came back from Russia where they shot a 10’, a 9.5’ and an 8.5’ brown bear with a 30-06, and 220 grain round nose Hornady bullets.

Alaska is full of sourdoughs killing moose and big brown bears with the 30-06.

From your list IMHO, 30-06. The others are specialty cartridges.

Mister Ridge said:
Probably .30-06 as long as brown bear and moose are off the table.
Click to expand...
 
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#17
david walter said:
A friend and his son just came back from Russia where they shot a 10’, a 9.5’ and an 8.5’ brown bear with a 30-06, and 220 grain round nose Hornady bullets.

Alaska is full of sourdoughs killing moose and big brown bears with the 30-06.

From your list IMHO, 30-06. The others are specialty cartridges.
Click to expand...
I know it can kill them. It's just part of the experience for me to use a big bore. I dream of a moose hunt with a Chiappa 1886 45-70.
 
#21
30‘06, with the exception of hunting in AK because of lots of big bears.

While the ‘06 will clearly kill a big bear, its not the hunting bears, its the surprised angry bear at 20 yds that doesnt run off and charges that makes me think bigger.
If you have never had to bushwack a mile of AK willow thickets, you just dont know how thick and nasty it is. Very easy for a surprised bear. Never had one charge. For sure had them within 20 feet.
1-2 rounds of big bore rifle ammo for charging bears seems ideal, getting shots off is a maybe….
I have friends who guided for years in AK and have lived there greater than 40 yrs. Thats the reason they choose the 338 WM or 375 Ruger.


And a G20 with Montana Bullet Works 200 gr HC for me.

For lower 48, ‘06 works dandy.

That said, I have a 300 wsm for elk season for a little better fight in the wind thats always blowing at 10k feet. 🤣
Its more an addiction issue vs what works at this point…….
 
#24
7 or 300 prc starting to see me and more of it everywhere and there’s no point in going back in time, onward upward and better case design 3rd in line would definitely be a 300wsm
 
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#25
DangerDave said:
7 RM
7 PRC
30-06
300 PRC
300 WM
338 WM

If you had to choose only one caliber for most of the North American big game, which one would it be?

You can rank the above list and please state your reasons, experiences, complaints, etc.

If you prefer something that’s not on the list, do mention it.
Click to expand...


Thinking the trusty lever action should be in the mix.....amazing what photoshop can do....

GrassHopperHoax.jpg


In answer to your question, my vote goes for the 7mm STW; smack in the middle of all you listed above with the added benefit of extra flat trajectory.

Layne Simpson, its inventor, still thinks so today:
www.rifleshootermag.com

The 7mm STW Story - RifleShooter

The search for a Bigger Seven opened the door for a family of magnum cartridges.
www.rifleshootermag.com www.rifleshootermag.com
www.shootingtimes.com

The 7mm STW - Still Holding Its Own - Shooting Times

The 7mm Shooting Times Westerner may have more competition today than 30 years ago, but it continues to hold its own with any cartridge of its caliber.
www.shootingtimes.com www.shootingtimes.com
www.shootingtimes.com

7mm Shooting Times Westerner Celebrates 20th Birthday - Shooting Times

A lot of new bullets and powders have been introduced since the powerhouse 7mm STW round was wildcatted by our own Layne Simpson back in 1988. Here's a special 20th birthday update.
www.shootingtimes.com www.shootingtimes.com
www.shootingtimes.com

7mm STW (Shooting Times Westerner) Load Data: Favorite Handloads - Shooting Times

Here are eight of Layne Simpson's favorite 7mm STW handloads.
www.shootingtimes.com www.shootingtimes.com
www.americanhunter.org

An Official Journal Of The NRA | Behind the Bullet: 7mm STW

Just about every case shape imaginable has been modified to hold both 7mm and .30-caliber bullets, but it was gunwriter Layne Simpson who saw a gap in the lineup: there was no 7mm cartridge based on a full-length .375 H&H case. In 1979, Simpson took the excellent 8mm Remington Magnum and necked...
www.americanhunter.org www.americanhunter.org

 
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#27
300 PRC
300 WSM
7 PRC
30-06
300 WM
7 RM
338 WM

Unless you specifically hunt Coastal Browns. Because if I only own one caliber and hunt browns every year I want more than enough gun.
375 H&H
416 what ever
458 Lott
45/70 heavy hot

If grizzly and browns aren't on the list nothing over 30 cal is ever needed.

Also this question is like "what's a pretty girl". All you are going to get is opionons and some people hunt everything with a 6.5 and some hunt everything with a 338 ultramag. Neither are wrong. Or both are.....
 
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#28
This is something my dad and I went round and round about when we got our hunting rifles 25+ years ago. He was a SEAL in Vietnam, and carried an M14 because 5.56 wasn’t big enough, then he hunted bigger game before I was born (elk, muley’s, etc.), but since we live in Texas, he opted for a Remington 700BDL chambered in 30-06. Because I couldn’t copy him, I ended up getting a Savage 110 chambered in 7mm Mag. He dropped an elk buck with his (plus a few white tails, etc.), I have dropped rams, deer, pigs, etc. with mine. I found both are great, can drop pretty much anything in North America (distance and shot placement willing of course), it just depends on what you want to pay for ammo.

Now that I’m older and building rifles instead of buying them, my long distance build is a 6.5CM, and if I were to go hunting now, I’d take it. Granted she’s a chonky bitch (she’s never skipped on dessert), 17lbs the last time I weighed her, it I’d still take it over either.
 
#29
I'd pick a .284 diameter rifle and go...knowing that if I were to try to hunt brown bear I'd probably have to buy another barrel in .338. These days the ease of just switching barrels for a lot of actions removes the necessity of conversations like this.

A good 1:8 to 1:9 twist, 24-26" barrel in 7RM or 7PRC gives you so much versatility. 140gr flat antelope/ whitetail to 180gr elk/moose/bear and everything in between. Plus the recoil is less stout than the .30 cal offerings.

I put together an ~10.8lb (total with optic) 7RM with a 1:8.7tw, 24" Krieger in a magnum contour, on an Origin action, and bedded into a Grayboe stock for my brother a couple years ago. I'd personally chose a different stock, but that's what he wanted. It shot the 139gr Barnes LRX stupidly well when I did load development for it, and apparently he has figured out a good load using the 175gr Speer Grand Slam.

The 300WSM isn't a bad idea either if you're going after elk/moose more than whitetail/mule deer.
 
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#30
diggler1833 said:
I'd pick a .284 diameter rifle and go...knowing that if I were to try to hunt brown bear I'd probably have to buy another barrel in .338. These days the ease of just switching barrels for a lot of actions removes the necessity of conversations like this.

A good 1:8 to 1:9 twist, 24-26" barrel in 7RM or 7PRC gives you so much versatility. 140gr flat antelope/ whitetail to 180gr elk/moose/bear and everything in between. Plus the recoil is less stout than the .30 cal offerings.

I put together an ~10.8lb (total with optic) 7RM with a 1:8.7tw, 24" Krieger in a magnum contour, on an Origin action, and bedded into a Grayboe stock for my brother a couple years ago. I'd personally chose a different stock, but that's what he wanted. It shot the 139gr Barnes LRX stupidly well when I did load development for it, and apparently he has figured out a good load using the 175gr Speer Grand Slam.

The 300WSM isn't a bad idea either if you're going after elk/moose more than whitetail/mule deer.
Click to expand...
Not going to lie, the .300WSM I find interesting. If I were to build a bigger rifle, it would most likely be some version of the .338 (Norma, Lapua, etc.), but I shot a .300WM when I was a kid and it kicked the snot out of me. The .300WSM almost seems the best of both worlds. More power than my 30-06 and 7mm Mag, less recoil than the .300WM.
 
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#31
Over the years I've shot more Mule deer and elk than I can count. I've hunted hogs in Texas, and took a 1400 lb bison on a private ranch. Nowadays I guide hunts on private property for pronghorn, mule deer, moose, black bear, mountain lion and elk. I've owned
6.5 Cr
28 Nosler
300 WM
7 RM
30-06
30-30
.270
.223
.44mag
50-140 sharps
45-70
.280AI
If I had to pick just one it would be the .280AI. I get 7 RM velocity using a lot less powder, and it's cheaper powder than the magnum powders. I never have to trim brass and the brass lasts a long time. Barrel life is really good as well.
 
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#33
If hunting abroad, a .30-06 or a 7mm REM Mag should have decent ammo availability should yours get lost. They’ll also kill stuff.

If I wanted something bigger, I’ve always thought the .375 H&H would get the call. Ammo should be available wherever big bores are needed. Trajectory with 250’s should be close to a .30-06 with 180’s (never ran the numbers, admittedly, just a hunch).
 
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#34
If I'm hunting in N. GA forest: 45-70 (H&R Handi-Rifle).

If long distance is a strong possibility (more than 100 yards): 6.5 SAUM.

I've got a number of 25-06/270/30-06 options (and all of those barrels for my Handi-Rifle), but they tend to stay in the safe most times.
 
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#35
My first big game was taken with a 45-70 in Alaska. But a 30-06 has been my all goto for over twenty five years. Last year I bumped up to a 7mm RM to include range out to 700 yards for elk. But a recent shoulder injury has me buying a Howa Superlite in 7-08 for my new all around rifle. I think that should take elk out to 500 yards and 700 yards possible for deer. If I can shoot it well.
 
#36
I have success with my 280AI with 162ELDX for multiple mule deer and antelope. I used a PH's rental 3006 for harvesting plains game in Africa with success.

I see the references to 6CM/6.5CM and terminal ballistics - there are compelling arguments that we do not "need" the magnums, etc. if proper projectiles are chosen in the "smaller" cartridges.
 
#37
I will be lugging a 6CM pushing 115 Nosering D-Tacs around 3,000FPS into the elk woods this year. Last year the same rifle/ bullet set killed a mule deer at 520, White Tail at 420, countless pigs and coyotes anywhere from 100-250 yards. I was shooting a 6.5CM prior to that and haven't noticed a difference on how dead/ how quickly things died. I do understand elk are bigger than any of the mentioned animals but there is a bunch of evidence that suggests the 6CM/ D-Tac combo should be plenty lethal.
 
#38
300wsm for me.

Can load it down or up, but it's a relatively light magnum. I have been shooting 200gr bullets since I've switched to it. I also hunt deer sized game primarily with a 6.5cm and wouldn't hesitate to shoot a elk with it, but I'd grab my 300wsm first every time if I was going specifically for elk.
 
#39
No brainer.
30-06

Has the highest availability in the most bullet weights of any of them.
55 grain Remington accelerator sabot rounds to 220 grain in numerous bullet types (solid, soft point, open tip, etc etc).
You can get them anywhere.
It shoots far enough, it shoots flat enough, it has adequate knockdown for most anything...
Teddy Roosevelt seems to have some history using it in Africa with very well documented success.....Hemingway used one, Jack O'Connor used one....and so on and so on.
Using 220-grain solids, both Roosevelt and Hemingway used the .30-06 for thick-skinned dangerous game and Ruark wrote about taking buffalo with his .30-06. Jack O’Connor’s wife, Eleanor, an accomplished hunter in her own right, didn’t care for recoil. She considered the .30-06 a “big gun,” often choosing it for extra-large game. She took her only elephant with a .30-06 and a 220-grain solid. Veteran Zimbabwe PH Peter Johnstone frequently had to deal with problem lions on his farm in northwestern Zimbabwe. He once wrote to me that the .30-06 was his customary and preferred choice.
Click to expand...

You won't find any such exemplary proof of any other of the cartridges you have seen listed in this thread.

I dare you to find a place that sells ammo and does NOT have some 30-06 on the shelf.
Try that with a WSM or a SAUM, or a AI, or a .....and the list goes on.

 
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#40
The 338 WM, it's what I chose many years ago after having used the 7 mm RM for some time...because it kills game very well, with tolerable recoil.
 
#43
Before LRF when trajectory mattered and 400 yards was a long shot I shot everything in NA except Alaskan Brown Bear with a wildcat 7Mm
on a .375 H&H case. Worked fine in Africa and Asia as well.
On Brown Bears I used a .375 and .416 Rigby with very good result.
 
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#45
I think people should give a quick history of their experience along with their opinions.
If it’s just theory say so. If just deer or elk say so.

I see some fairly curious choices above. 17 pound rifles, lever actions etc. Makes me wonder who hunts goats or sheep with a 45/70? Also some of the 500 round and burned out barrels can quit at the wrong time. I know from experience.

Looking back and knowing what I know now I suspect the .300 Win Mag is the correct answer.

If you have only shot one grizzly or one moose it’s relevant I would think.
 
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#46
I lived in Bush Alaska for many years. I generally carried a Browning Safari Grade in 30-06 and killed, dead right there, lotsa moose and caribou. I also carried a 454 Casull, just in case.
When I was fishing, I’d carry my short barreled 870 slung across my back and the 454 in its bandolier holster, just in case.
I also used a 300WM a bunch and also carried the 454.
I really liked to hunt ptarmigan and spruce hens. Usually with a Ruger Mk2 Government. I carried that 454, too, just in case.
You can find lotsa stories about guys using 375’s and such being attacked by bears. That post above about thrashing the willows touched home. You can’t see 10 yards. Can’t swing a rifle nor a short barreled shotgun. I always imagined being like a mouse in the tall grass with a fox pouncing on me. When I had to wade the willows, I had the 454 in my hand. Just in case.
The 06 will kill everything in North America. No problem. You can find ammo everywhere.
The 454 will anchor anything that’s aggressive in a real hurry.
I’d go with the 06. If you find yourself in bear country, carry a 454 or similar.
 
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#47
Of the calibers listed...

I reckon that we all have our own vendettas but count me in the 30-06 camp personally. Nothing wrong with the other 5 calibers in my opinion- just figure that the old '06 can check all of the boxes I need it to and is the easiest to work with is all.

-LD
 
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#49
Michael Trainowski said:
All the people for 45-70, I’m just curious do you guys run that caliber in a bolt action, or in a lever action? I’ve shot a 45-70 years ago, but it was as in a lever action.
Click to expand...
I used a Marlin 45-70 lever for many yrs, and 1886 45-90 Win lever action, 20" carbine, steel butt plate, all bullet weights from 250 gr copper to 500 gr at 1800 fps, in the 45-90, and use it exclusively these days...but my favorite hunting caliber is still 338 WM.
 
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#50
RTH1800 said:
I think people should give a quick history of their experience along with their opinions.
If it’s just theory say so. If just deer or elk say so.

I see some fairly curious choices above. 17 pound rifles, lever actions etc. Makes me wonder who hunts goats or sheep with a 45/70? Also some of the 500 round and burned out barrels can quit at the wrong time. I know from experience.

Looking back and knowing what I know now I suspect the .300 Win Mag is the correct answer.

If you have only shot one grizzly or one moose it’s relevant I would think.
Click to expand...
I would also like to know who is just a so called sport hunter w/no field ability, vs someone who only hunts for the table, or kills to stay alive.
I've seen/known plenty of so called hunters, using everything under the sun and once they shoot, their guide is working for hr's upon hr's to find & finish the kill.
 
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