2 calibers than cover 90% of hunting situations

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.22LR
Then it's a toss-up between .338 Lapua Mag; .375H&H; .416 Rigby; .450 Nitro Express.
Between them, would literally kill anything on the planet.
 
much better ending than the one that got out in Honolulu back in the 90s
this happens about every 5 years, this one was on my lawn one night, when they had the africans they would brake things. the owners of the sanctuary are my cousins, they always game me or my dad a call when they got out. i came close to shooting one in 2009, after that they got rid of the african elephants. they had a black cougar get out, i have see some zebra and camels walking around to.
 
While I use and enjoy various cartridges, the 06 is perfectly capable of covering all my hunting needs from coyotes to Nilgai. (There is no demand for fur down here.)
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Having said that, current favorites are .223 and 338 Win Mag.


Head to Head: .30-06 Springfield vs. All Other .30s

by Philip Massaro - Friday, July 12, 2019

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It’s been proclaimed dead, it’s been said that its heyday is past, that it’s yesterday’s news. It’s an old design, and we’ve moved past the Springfield; our new designs are vastly superior, relegating this cartridge to the old folks’ home. I say that nothing could be further from the truth, at least from the hunter’s point of view.

I’ll give you this: the .30-06 Springfield is boring. That statement is not meant to be derogatory; in fact, the opposite is true. The .30-06 Springfield works so well, so reliably, that there really isn’t a whole lot left to be desired. Though it has been with us for over 110 years, it remains the benchmark by which all other .30-caliber cartridges are measured. It’s light enough on the shoulder, yet gives velocities that are nearly perfect for the hunting fields. Its position has been challenged for almost a century, yet when you sit back and look at it, the Springfield gives us exactly what we need.

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It can be a flat-shooting cartridge, well-suited to the mountains and plains, yet when loaded with the heavier bullets, can take almost all the world’s big-game animals, save the true heavyweights. It is an all-around choice for the hunter who wants just one rifle, yet it complements the big-bore rifles very well. It has one of the best selection of bullets of any caliber, and ammunition for the .30-06 is available nearly anywhere. While it could be argued that it is one the heavier side of cartridges for deer hunting, it has and will continue to account for a whole lot of deer.

So, what is it about the .30-06 Springfield that makes it fare so well against all the other designs? If the history of all the cartridges were to be erased, would the Springfield still hold a position at the top? I think so, for a good number of reasons.

View attachment 852890The smaller-cased .30s like the .300 Savage, .308 Winchester and even the now-rare .30 T/C—which are excellent choices for medium game—have trouble using bullets much heavier than 180 or 200 grains. Their velocities drop off considerably with the heavy bullets, though modern premium projectiles may raise the question of whether or not a .30-caliber bullet of more than 180 grains is actually necessary. Still, as effective as the short-action cases are, they do have trouble matching the velocities of the Springfield. Now, I’ve hunted with a .308 Winchester for deer and black bear in my native New York for decades and it has served me very well, but no matter how hard I tried, I cannot get ’06 velocities from my .308. As the shooting here is definitely on the close side, I haven’t really needed more than the .308 Winchester could give me, but once I began hunting around the world, I felt as though I needed the option for a bit more.

I was given a .300 Winchester Magnum for my 30th birthday, and we became fast friends. It was an Interarms Mark X rifle, lacking in the looks department but delivering big time in the accuracy department. I took it as my light rifle on my first safari, and took my first head of African game with it, loaded with 200-grain Swift A-Frame bullets. It provided a visible improvement in striking power and trajectory over my .308, but that came at a price: increased recoil. Now, I’m not overly sensitive to recoil, but sit at the bench with a .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield and a .300 Winchester Magnum, and you will quickly feel the difference in recoil. I’m not saying it’s a huge issue, but I am saying I’ve met more than a few shooters who can shoot an ’06 well, but fall apart with a .300 Magnum. The 200 fps velocity gain in the .300 Winchester—and the .300 H&H, .300 WSM and .300 Ruger Compact Magnum could be thrown in as well—translates to a 3- to 4-inch trajectory advantage at 400 yards depending on the bullet; with a 200-yard zero, the .300 Winchester will drop 19 inches, and the .30-06 will drop 23 inches.

Ramp up to the bigger .30-caliber cartridges like the .300 Weatherby Magnum, .300 Remington Ultra Magnum and .30-378 Weatherby Magnum, and you’ll see 500 to 600 fps velocity gains over the .30-06, but with a radical jump in recoil and report. I’ve shot and loaded a whole bunch of these giant cases, and while they can be accurate and flat shooting, they come with their own issues, namely burning near to 100 grains of powder in addition to the bolt thrust, and the fact that most of these rifles come with a muzzle brake to tame the ferocious recoil. Trust me; they’ll flatten your ears.

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(From left) .308 Win., .30-06 Sprg., .300 Win. Mag., .300 WSM, .300 RUM
I find the .30-06 Springfield to be smack in the middle of the useable velocity ranges for .30-caliber cartridges. It is an efficient design, giving everything a hunter could want, within sane hunting ranges. My personal limit is 400 yards, and then some under near-perfect conditions, and the .30-06 can handle that range with its compliment of bullets. It maintains a velocity advantage over the .308 Winchester, and it’s much easier on the shoulder than the magnums.

On my last safari to Namibia, where I brought a .300 H&H along, we had a bit of a luggage debacle; my pal JJ Reich from Federal ammunition didn’t receive his suitcase or rifle case for several days. He was hunting with me using a borrowed Kimber .30-06 Springfield. We hunted together, me with the magnum and he with the Springfield, and we both took good animals at distances between 190 and 275 yards; no animal could tell the difference between the two cartridges, nor could I.

The Springfield is predictable, the Springfield is mundane, the Springfield is commonplace, but the .30-06 Springfield just plain works. For the hunter who is more concerned with spending time in nature than arguing over belts, velocity figures or the latest cartridge fad, it is damned hard to beat the U.S. Government’s design of 1906—and that will remain a truth for decades to come.

Looking for previous installments of our "Head to Head" series? We've got you covered.
.17 HMR vs. .17 WSM
.450 Nitro Express vs. .470 Nitro Express
.350 Legend vs. .35 Remington
.280 Ackley Improved vs. 7mm Rem. Mag.
.404 Jeffery vs. .416 Rigby
.243 Winchester vs. 6mm Creedmoor
.300 PRC vs. .300 Win. Mag.
.30-06 Springfield vs. .270 Winchester
6.5 Creedmoor vs. 7mm-08 Remington
8x57 Mauser vs. .318 Westley Richards
.358 Winchester vs. .350 Remington Magnum
.22-250 Remington vs. .220 Swift
.270 Winchester vs. .270 WSM
.26 Nosler vs. 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum
.458 Win. Mag. vs. .458 Lott
7mm Rem. Mag. vs. .300 Win. Mag.
.243 Winchester vs. 6mm Remington
7x57mm Mauser vs. 7mm-08 Remington
.25-06 Remington vs. .257 Weatherby Magnum
.338 Winchester vs. .375 H&H Magnum
.30-30 Winchester vs. .35 Remington
.257 Roberts vs. .250-3000 Savage
.270 Winchester vs. .280 Remington
.35 Whelen vs. 9.3x62mm Mauser
.416 Rigby vs. .416 Remington Magnum
.308 Winchester vs. .30-06 Springfield
.22 Nosler vs. .224 Valkyrie
.300 Win. Mag. vs. .300 WSM
.223 Remington vs. .22-250 Remington

https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2018/5/4/head-to-head-35-whelen-vs-93x62mm-mauser/


Ok, so, I have had the perception, that the heavier bullets are not great in 30-06. Past about 180 grain, they don't give a good return for energy. When my dad died, I found a few boxes of the 220s, which I think he bought for elk, because frankly, he didn't want to talk my mom into letting him buy a 300 win mag. (They still probably hit like a sledgehammer.) Aren't they out of the sweet spot for energy for an -06?
 
I'm gonna be in the 22/ '06 camp also. My normal '06 load is a 180 grn rn bullet, but I do like to use 220's in the brush. But I'll differ slightly and say make my 22 a Magnum. More reach and more thump, and still zero recoil. I'd still want a shotgun to go along with them though. One of my 16 gauges would be ideal. Either a M12 or 1897 with a modified choke or a double choked mod/full. With those 3 guns there isn't any type of hunting in the lower 48 you can't do, period. Now having said all that, a drilling in 16/16 over 8mm or 30-30 with one tube lined for 22 mag or hornet would be the perfect do all gun. Too bad they cost so much!

Mac
 
I would be happy with a 12 gauge and a 30 06, but .22 rim fire would do in place of the shot gun.
 
2 calibers than cover 90% of hunting situations
I wish folks would learn the difference between a caliber and a cartridge. There are at least thirty cartridges chambered for the .308 dia bullet.
Sorry for being anal
 
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2 calibers than cover 90% of hunting situations
I wish folks would learn the difference between a caliber and a cartridge. There are at least thirty cartridges chambered for the .308 dia bullet.
Ha! Yeah, my votes for the 2 "calibers" that cover 90% of hunting situations are 22 caliber and 30 caliber. How's that?;)
 
.22 s,l,lr in whatever flavor you like (Marlin 39a for me)
9mm Carry gun (Glock 26)
12 ga (PA08)
.30-06 (Win M70]
[.375 HH—Sako A5]
[CZ75]

Greg
 
Until about 1980 it was .270 and .22 LR , about then it became .308 and .375 H&H as I went to Africa first in 1982 and Alaska and Montana thru out the 80s and early 90s and concentrated on .308 for anything smaller than Elk . In the later 90s it became .270 WSM and .375 Weatherby (all my .375H&H were reamed for that by then) and in 2000 I went back to Africa and my last Alaskan adventures. Recently , as I started getting a few years of over 70 years of age under my belt , I have been moving to .243 Winchester for hunting deer and with light bullets smaller stuff and the good old .308 as my "heavy" as I no longer go to to griz country and no plans for Africa again. In southern Oregon Elk and Black Bear are all over my area and 180 grain .308 premium bullets at 2550 or so velocity are all I need to 300 yards to take the cleanly. My son who lives in the same area has moved into 6.5 Creedmore and .300 Weatherby as his twins as he does the mountains.
 
The Question should be: "What 3 calibers will cover 90% of hunting situations?"

.22 rifle
.30-30 Winchester
.30-06

Those were the ones that I would go with. If I had to narrow it down, I would drop the 30-30. And if given a choice I would substitute a 12 gauge for the .22LR.

I'm glad that in the real world I don't have to make that decision and I can have whatever I want.
 
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