Most versatile chambering for handloaders?

Shoot a lot of jack rabbits, gophers and wood chucks with that "One Gun"? Ha ha.. just curious as a .375AI probably turns them to instant mist.. and one would never find any remains. Tough to help pay for school selling jack rabbits to the mink farmers. Hard to believe a guy just uses one gun. Particularly when he has several others in his gun safe.


Not as much on jacks as I used to. Fireformed the majority of my first 100 pieces of brass shooting jacks and "prairie poodles". Quite a few prairie dogs and a coyote were taken with cast bullets, and rumor has it....maybe a few "brookies"!

Except for the rare cast bullet shoot, and the changes in Barnes bullets, one rifle, one load, one zero...."working since 1993" ! ;) memtb
 
Pmacc60, Meet the guy that's "satisfied" with one gun! One hunting rifle that is. While there's a bunch of rifles and handguns residing with me,I've used one rifle exclusively since 1990....one caliber since around 1982. The rifle is light enough for a sheep hunt, shoots flat enough to be easily good to 600 + yards, certainly "not" evergunned (still confused about that term), adequate for everything in NA, and legal for most of the African Big Five.

And, it's pretty darn lethal with cast bullets, as well! So, I guess that I'm that anomaly...."the one gun hunter"!

Well, there ya go.....you have now, perhaps, have met the most boring, vanilla, hunter/shooter wandering about! ;) memtb
memth I know a lot of one gun hunters and on the east coast there are many. You would be surprised that you are far more extravagant then these guys are. One in particular is carrying the same Winchester 94 3030 with open sites as he did when I ran across him in 1974. It's the only rifle he owns and feels no need for another. He kills a buck every year so who to say he needs anything else. I also use one rifle to do most of the hunting in Md and Pa. It's a Rem 760 carbine with a 2x7 leupold on it and it shoots 165 gr noslers at 3/4 inch groups. I have many and always buying more but this one suits the hunting I do and has served me well since I bought it in 1980.
Many on this sight have many rifles and that's the reason I stated my answer as such. I am also well aware of the old saying " beware of the man with one gun" Best wishes
 
Thanks Pmacc60, Since I was a kid....I was a gun nut. At about 14, I quickly learned....if I wanted to shoot, I had to become a handloader! Thus, the downward spiral was started! :) memtb
 
I would think any fast 35 cal.and up. With cast bullets, you have enough starting bullet diameter for big game. When using jacketed or mono's, easily a 400 yard rifle. I'm pretty fond of my .375 AI, it's pretty darn good with cast bullets, and I can almost double that 400 yards with my chosen mono bullet!

The 35 calibers also give you the capability of using handgun bullets, for cheap, low velocity plinking! memtb

350 Rem in a Mauser action
 
Yes, the '06 is a great cartridge. The OP already has a .308, its twin until the bullets start to get heavy. Kinda like going from a .280 to a .280AI. The OP wants a dangerous game rifle that he can also hunt with at home, and plink with, hence the cast bullet request.
I wish I knew I couldn't shoot cast lead loads through my 06 before I developed subsonic rounds for plinking and put several hundred down the pipe.
 
I wish I knew I couldn't shoot cast lead loads through my 06 before I developed subsonic rounds for plinking and put several hundred down the pipe.
I never said there was anything wrong with the old '06. It will do everything well, except it is not ideal for dangerous game, one of the requirements. While you can kill great bears with one, I would not want to be holding one if a Brownie charged me, or if I had to go into the bushes after one. I'm just not that brave. There are places up there that are so thick it would impress a Cajun from the LA swamp. Also, larger diameter, heavier, cast bullets perform better on medium game at reduced velocities. I would tend to agree with you if confined to the lower 48, but since the OP already has a .308, I would lean more toward a 300WM or a 338, unless he wanted to trade the .308.
 
Would be fun to play with, wish I still had my 350 700. Biggest problem is finding brass, but I like how you think. 358-375 Ruger would be cool. I still think the best answer to the OP's question is a 375 mag. Flavor doesn't matter much.
At first the 350 came to mind.
Chambered in a medium action allows the bullet to be seated where it should be.
285 hard cast lead,pistol bullets lead or jacked will do just fine.
Brass,just run 7RM or 300 win brass through the die cut to length and trim.
400 y ? know your trajectory and dial accordingly. (This also applies to the 45 70)
And yes I then remembered my 3 375's and I have to agree that would be a good choice as well ,especially if you're surrounded by Grizzlies as I am lol and the new Barnes 270LRX flattens the trajectory somewhat.
Martin
 
350 Rem in a Mauser action

.350 RemMag is a great cartridge, however ammunition and brass are at a premium if you can find it; Nosler Premium 225gr Partition bullets $64.00, Nosler unprimed brass $54 for 25. Take a look at the .358 Winchester, ballistics are close and a whole lot less expensive, and......cast bullets will work just great for plinking.
 
Yes I agree it's just I had a Browning Safary with a shot out barrel and a bunch of stuff for a 350 at a garage sale.
Turned into a fine Elk thumper, just wish Barnes would make a 250 with a higher BC than Hornady
Lol
Martin
 
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