Hey guys,
I've been watching our threads for a while now and curiosity has got the best of me. With so many great choices out there for LRH which cartridges and calibers really set themselves apart from the rest, if any? Which ones make almost everyone's must have list? The reality is most people can't afford a half dozen rifles or more, so if you had the opportunity to hunt the world for everything from groundhogs to elephants and were limited to 5 cartridges or less what would they be? Just curious which ones consistently rise to the top and if any of the new Gucci cartridges make the cut or we wind up sticking with the tried and true. Feel free to state your reason or uses for each cartridge. I am not looking for a debate. There are no wrong answers. Everyone has there favorites. Just curious if there is any consistency? I think it could help some of the new guys narrow there choices when selecting their next cartridge....
I'll start! 308, 270 win, 300 WIn Mag, 338 RUM, 375 H&H. What are your thoughts???
Our list is as follows:
*5.56/223, AR platform for all things close to mid range requiring a high rate of discouragement and/or general destruction. MULTIPLE choices for projectiles to handle about anything with a 30 round mag.
*7.62/308, AR platform for general purpose hunting 0-600 yds, and the above mentioned alternative target sets.
*30-06 Springfield, pump action 7600, nothing lighter than 180GR. Accurate, lightweight, fast reload/engagement. Handles about anything on the North American continent with right projectiles.
*338 Winchester Magnum. Spelled 'All Around Workhorse'. Literally nothing you cannot kill with proper projectile selection on any continent. Not allowed in some African countries, but certainly extremely capable of adequate penetration on any animal with proper projectiles. Ballistics/physics isn't just a good idea.
*7mm Rem Mag, long range hunting, flat trajectories, plethora of high BC's to choose from, maintains plenty of down range Smack-Down, good sectional densities and penetration at range, and plenty of projectiles that degradate well for speed goat size game.
*12GA shotgun, great for harvesting small game, foul, and great for thick woods protection at point blank to 70 yards easy with load selection. And I'll add one more...
*22LR, great for small kids and or non shooter training. Cheap, lightweight ammo, surprisingly accurate in the right combination, cost effective, relatively quiet way to put food on the table.
We have a few more in the repertoire, including one of my favorites, the 35 Whelen. The only reason I did not include it amongst the above group was because there are a couple of caliber's in there I feel quite strongly can do the same job as well as the Whelen, and availability of ammunition. But make no mistake, it is certainly interchangeable with the 30-06, and even more powerful obviously. I simply excluded because of ammunition availability in a sane environment, which we do not reside in at the moment.
