Your head is firmly on your shoulders, I have hunted both East and West and there is a geogrphical trend involved. I have never had a shot in the East beyond 75 yards with the vast majority less than 50, including moose, tho I have no doubt that some 200 yd shots do occur, especially on moose. West - well - 200 to 300 yds is typical and sometimes beyond, which required lots of practice on my part to meet the challenge..love it!
Best all around hunting caliber
- Thread starter justin16
- Start date
Your head is firmly on your shoulders, I have hunted both East and West and there is a geogrphical trend involved. I have never had a shot in the East beyond 75 yards with the vast majority less than 50, including moose, tho I have no doubt that some 200 yd shots do occur, especially on moose. West - well - 200 to 300 yds is typical and sometimes beyond, which required lots of practice on my part to meet the challenge..love it!
ALBERTA BOY
Regular
- Location
- Edmonton, AB
30'06 has been the best all around caliber for 107 years and counting.
Many imitators. Many approximations. Nothing fundamentally better all around.
It's just the perfect balance of recoil, case capacity, and bullet weight selection. It's easy to load for and likes many different kinds of powders. It's available everywhere. It's wonderful.
Many imitators. Many approximations. Nothing fundamentally better all around.
It's just the perfect balance of recoil, case capacity, and bullet weight selection. It's easy to load for and likes many different kinds of powders. It's available everywhere. It's wonderful.
Phil;
Thanks for the vote of confidence, but it's not the grizzlies I can see across the canyon or in the basins that worry me, it's the ones in the buckbrush that you don't know are there till the last minute. This is where I feel better with a 30 cal magnum rifle than a 25 cal. This happened to my son a few years back while packing in for a sheep hunt, a grizzly tried to jump him from about 30 yds and he had to shoot it. He was carrying a 30-06 and he came out the winner, thank God, but it was none-the-less a hair raising experience. I personally have never experienced this, close but never actually saw the bear ( we were in some high willows when he charged me and I yelled, shot in his direction and called him a bunch of really bad names I would never repeat in front of my mother and I guess he decided discretion was the best part of valor and never visually presented himself), but it happens every year in the Yukon. To ignore this fact and hunt with a cartridge that wouldn't decidedly end such a confrontation in my best interest would be foolhardy.
I am not sure about this logic. If that is the case, then why stop at 6.5x55? Why not go all the way down to .22's like 22 Hornet, ...etc? Or even rimfire? Who is to say a "well placed" .22 LR won't take a large Grizzly out? In fact, we know it has and in a spectacular, record setting way too.
But...are they the best available choices?
Last edited:
Doug,
I agree totally with you and where im coming from the mini for bears (little brown bear) it s the 7x64 Brenneke and a 270 win will be my mini here now and ill feel better with higher but sometimes wont work better on sheep ...but a 30-06 with 220 grains will be the mini for just packing out and not with a huge telescope on it ...
Ive notice the same thing and I agree with your post
Just to stir the pot a little bit, and do some of this
, let's say that for North America, a 338 lapua magnum has very few things it won't kill with half decent shot placement....
It wouldn't bounce off of much.
Best all-round hunting calibre? ... it has to be the .270
The .270 really is a 7mm-06 .. as such, it has the perfect balance of optimum SD, magnum-like velocity, flat trajectory, superb accuracy, and downrange killing power.
In addition to all of that (as if that was not enough) .. the recoil is very comfortable, and the store-bought ammunition is dirt-cheap.
So really, what is not to like?
The .270 really is a 7mm-06 .. as such, it has the perfect balance of optimum SD, magnum-like velocity, flat trajectory, superb accuracy, and downrange killing power.
In addition to all of that (as if that was not enough) .. the recoil is very comfortable, and the store-bought ammunition is dirt-cheap.
So really, what is not to like?
Lol.
This is of coarse true but the problem with a grizzly at 30 mtrs is he does not always give you the opportunity to place your shot optimally and a good hit in the front is the best you can hope for on a closing target with intent to do harm. I much prefer this hit to be imparting upwards of 4000 ft/lbs than 2000 ft/lbs. I've read this logic too many times, but it only applies when all things are on your terms. When you HAVE to shoot up close and personal on a target not necessarily of your choosing in a situation not of your choosing, and at any significant part you can hit on an animal that is closing fast.........................I'll take a 30 Mag + everytime.
I just really have to say that you are terribly misinformed.............a 7mm-06 would be the 280 Rem not the 270 Win, a far superior cartridge to the 270 IMHO.
and the 7x64 Brenneke just a step above them ....
Is this your theory or your experience? I have shot a bull moose these was charging as fast as he could come with a 6.5, it was an Ackley improved, and shot a 156 grain bullet at about 2600 fps. The moose was about 35 yards when I hit him in the sternum, and he collapsed. I have a 300 mag also, it is a nice rifle but not as handy as the 38 Mauser that the Ackley is built on. If I were going to be a one rifle hunter I would not have a magnum... Brass and powder costs twice as much, they kick more than I enjoy. They are louder, and the ammo is stupidly expensive if you buy it loaded. The bullets have to be much better and more expensive as at the higher energies lower quality bullets will not stay together. In addition, I am not afraid, I have killed lots of moose with the 7x57 and the 6.5x55 and the 303. I know that a 160 in a 6.5 or a 175 in a 7x57 will do what I need to do to quite a considerable range. I have some woodleigh 215 bullets for the 303, and while I have never shot anything with those, I am sure that they would not disappoint . I am fairly sure that with 10 of those woodleighs in a lee enfield you would be as well armed against a bear attack as possible and moe armed than a magnum with 3 or 4. The extent to which lower velocity bullets penetrate is a benefit also. I saw a little black bear a guy shot with a 460 wby once, the first shot missed, the second shot hit it in the foot, and the third shot killed it. If you are competent with one of the more modest cartridges, and experienced enough to be confident, you would feel ok without the magnum. One of my cousins has been hunting with a 300 savage all his adult life, he is never under gunned in the bush. Once you learn to be successful with any of them they will be enough. And if you put the barrel of your 30-30 in the mouth of the big grizzly and point it up and touch it off, you will have a dead bear. Just to belabour the point, it is not energy that kills animals, it is penetration. Low velocity bullets rarely fail and almost always penetrate deeply. High velocity bullets are much more likely to fail. I think most of the magnum rifle sales is the result of marketing success, not of true need. If you want more than 400 yards of range, get a magnum.. And learn to shoot it, which is easier said than done. But get a 308 or 6.5 or 7x57 or a 270 or a 280 or a 303 or a 30'06. With any of these you. Can hunt most anything most anywhere in North America.
Last edited:
unstableryan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Beautiful Okanagan Valley
If you have been hunting elk with a .270 and want a little bit more rifle I would highly suggest the 7mm Remington Magnum. Super great cartridge for hunting pretty much everything. Ballistics wise, it's very similar to a .270 in trajectory but it tosses a bit heavier bullet.
45 years old , hunting since I was a young child .
Moose , elk , deer . The father owns an arsenal
I have hunted with every caliber . I love my trusty
7mm mag . It's got more notches in it than you can count
. But I'm having a custom full load 6.5 x55 built
Kreiger barrel McMillan stock , rem 700 action
. It's all up to comfort. I've been hunting with my 7 mm
For 26 years its part of me .
I just want something lighter smaller that I can dope up the bullets a little
Good luck in your study
Moose , elk , deer . The father owns an arsenal
I have hunted with every caliber . I love my trusty
7mm mag . It's got more notches in it than you can count
. But I'm having a custom full load 6.5 x55 built
Kreiger barrel McMillan stock , rem 700 action
. It's all up to comfort. I've been hunting with my 7 mm
For 26 years its part of me .
I just want something lighter smaller that I can dope up the bullets a little
Good luck in your study
