What’s your five? 5 Calibers to do it all...

[SummitOh]

My list,
22-250
6mm rem
30/06
7mm rem mag
.300 win mag

 

[Salmonchaser]

I really like your style! Keeping it old school...

Of course the 06 gets first consideration for all things except elephant but, still old school.

 

[Stomvi]

17 hm2
17 hmr
22LR
223
308
30-06
35 whelan
45-70

 

[Recshooter64]

It seems everyone has a 22 so I won't count it either. I tried to keep it to 5 total, but that was hard to do.

223
7mm-08
7mm Rem mag
300 RUM
9mm pistol
12 gauge

Where I live, I would never need anything bigger. Those would keep me alive and well fed.

 

[WahooYahoo]

22 WMR
6 Creedmoor
7mm Sherman Max
338 Sherman Max
Not sure about the dangerous game caliber. Likely 375 RCM

 

[Tallest]

.223 Rem
6MM Rem
280 AI
300 Win Mag
375 Ruger

Indeed... I am hoping to end up with all 5 of those, and if I only have have those 5, I'll still be happy. So far I'm 2 for 5.

 

[Hunt_4life]

12 ga 22lr 6 creedmoor 7 wsm 338 lapua

 

[Les in Wyoming]

Seems to me you can do it all with 3 rifles and a pistol. For rifles: 300 WM for anything long range and in between. A 22 LR for short range hunting and plinking. A 45-70 in a lever action for fast-handling heavy game and survival in SHTF. Reason is, you can load it with homemade black powder. you can pour your own lead bullets and even remanufacture your own primers. Yet it is a powerful repeating rifle. For pistol, 10MM. But you can always add a 9mm to make the list 5

 

[Hunt_4life]

22lr 12ga 6 creedmoor 7 wsm 338 lapua

 

[Gibbshooter43]

Ok. 5 huh? Well I'm about to show my age and my affinity for the tried and true [with a twist]
224 caliber [either 222 or 220 Swift]
244 caliber [243AI]
257 caliber [250AI, 257 Roberts, or 26:06AI]
264 caliber [260AI]
284 caliber [7:08 - it's next on the AI list]
And here's where I cheat and add a sixth...
308 caliber [my trusty 308]
Is that the extent of my safe. Fortunately not, but these are the ones I find myself going to repeatedly. Maybe at my age, it's time to start selling off some of the guns I use less at reasonable prices to let some younger guys get a start without breaking their bank. I've already given my son one of my 22lr's, a 22:250, a 270, and a custom stocked 03 :06. Got to keep the younger generation interested in our great heritage.

 

[Web1350]

338 Lapua is a pretty big boy! Actually carries more energy than the 375 H&H as does my favorite 338s the RUM and Edge, just not legal for dangerous game in most of Africa but in my opinion more than enough.

The 338RUM, in some cases, carry maybe a little more energy, but not usually, than the 375H&H. The 338 Edge, yes, but numbers don't always tell the true and full story. The diameter and bullet weight of the 375 being an advantage that, in my opinion, negates any slight ME advantage. That said, there's a reason the 375 is legal and used in most, if not all, of Africa. Lastly, and probably not an issue if one can afford an African hunt is the cost of ammunition. More important is the availability of it.

 

[rbTanzan]

243 (African geese on a river bed, small antelope) [may be substituted by 223 for ammo considerations]
270 all-around NA deer rifle [may be substituted by 308, 7mmRM, 30-06, etc]
338 WM all-around elk+bear [may be substituted by 375 Ruger]
416 Rigby all-around African rifle [may be substituted by 416Ruger, 458WM]
500 AccRel (wildcat) buffalo stopper [may be substituted by 500 Jeffery or 500 A2 or 577NE]

[[Disclaimer: I don't shoot over 500 yards and the three middle caliber above all handle that well. Even the Rigby with 350gn handloaded over 2800fps.
Disclaimer 2: you will see both Jack O'Connor and Elmer Keith's influences above.
Disclaimer 3: for a backup handgun a Blackhawk 45 Colt, handloaded moderately to 300flatnose solids at 1000fps.]]
Finally, Disclaimer 4: I could live well with three: a 223, 6.8Western (when it arrives) and a 375Ruger.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

Mine current 5 are:

1) 22LR for small critters
2) 223Rem for the truck gun
3) 6.5 Creedmoor for medium game hunting
4) 280 Remington for big game (non-dangerous) and any hunting I will be doing a lot of walking/hiking
5) (Haven't yet acquired) 375H&H for everything else (I may go with a 338 Win Mag on this instead)

ETA: since some people are including things other than rifles
6) 9mm for 2 legged dangerous game
7) 12ga O/U for flappy critters

 

[WildernessBob]

1st. If you can afford to pay for the elephant hunt, you can afford 20 high quality rifles.
2. If you want food on the table rabbits and squirrels are best with rimfire 22lr.
3. Deer, hog and varmints .270.
4. 12 ga for geese and ducks
5. I like the 300 win mag 7mm 338 25-06 .243 30-30 and my go to rifle 30-06. But my opinion to yesterday's question is 22lr and .270.
Also...in weird times like this, if ammo is hard to find the 30-06, 22lr and .270 should be available if anything is available.