Oh no. not another "If there could be only one" thread............
My answer remains the same, mine would be a 340 Wby in a SS mod 700 or mod 70 or Sako L61R (never seen a SS Sako L61R though) in a Brown Precision fiberglass stock and wearing a Zeiss Victory 3.5-10X42. I could and would hunt the entire globe with this rifle and cartridge, including all of Africa's game. Given the very good bullets available today and an appropriate solid I would never feel under gunned nor particularly over gunned with the right bullet and load. This cartridge has the legs for Marco Polo hunting with a 200 gn bullet at over 3200 fps and it has the knock down slam for buffalo with a 275 or 300 gn bullet and I would not even hesitate on elephant with a 300 gn solid at about 2400 fps. The smaller stuff just dies with great aplomb..........And don't tell me they wouldn't let me use a 340 on dangerous game, 'cause the law says minimum .375..........this is all theoretical anyway and from the hunting I've done over there, no one cares WHAT you shoot near as much as how well you shoot it.
You boys and your 308 and 303 pop guns want to go wander around the devil's club and alder thickets of BC's northwest coast or coastal Alaska, be my guest...........or Zambia's Luangwa valley, or Zimbabwe's Zambezi valley, fly at 'er, but these most certainly would not be my cartridges of choice. Gentlemen you must realize there is a whole big world out there with game animals from 6 lbs to 6 tons and the world doesn't end at Ontario's borders. Now I realize that not everyone will explore and hunt all the corners of the planet and in certain locales the 308 or 303 would be more than adequate..........but fantasize a little and say you were maybe going to hunt elsewhere once in a while, like Alaska for a brownie or the high arctic for a white bear or Africa for a buffalo.............Now review your cartridge and rifle choice with these expanded parameters and see what you come up with.
