In this case for a 10 inch kill box. 300 grain on left is for large or dangerous game, 260 grain on right is for medium or large, non-dangerous game. Versatile cartridges are effective with many different bullet weights and styles. The .30-06 pulls away from the .308 when it comes to large, or dangerous game. But at the same time, big gam… It had a long case for the nitro based gunpowder then in use, and almost no shoulder to eliminate jams in a bolt action. Surely, the .30-06 Springfield has got to be one of the best contenders for the all-around cartridge for the average North American hunter, and with good reason. A 90 grain .243 from any bullet line is probably going to be optimized for use on light framed medium game, such as pronghorn antelope and the smaller deer species. This means at any point from the rifle’s muzzle to the 200 yard mark, the bullet will hit within a six-inch imaginary circle. It has enough case capacity to deliver useable velocities for 200 and 220 grain bullets. It is very popular for African plains game of all sizes, as well as in Alaska and Canada. Capable of velocities of nearly 3,500 feet per second, the .300 Winchester Magnum also offers around twenty percent more power than the popular .30-06 Springfield round offers. Most of us will never hunt Grizzly bears, browns or polar bears so the big 300 are not needed and the 7's will handle all other game quite nicely. It was, however, a close call, and I had to draw the line somewhere. This warrior turned hunter is also noted for exceptional accuracy. For example, if a bullet has 3000 ft-lbs when it hits, it could, in theory, move a mid-size car for one foot along a road. But generally, the best coyote caliber to use is anything in the 22 caliber range – it should do the trick on any coyote. Shot placement is always the single most important criteria, so while I consider a.30 caliber the absolute minimum, you're better off with a.30 caliber you shoot well than a.416 you're afraid of. Want more hunting gear? Check out our other reviews on:     Copyright © 2020 Gear Lobo  |  As an Amazon Associate, Gear Lobo earns from qualifying purchases. .300 Winchester Magnum For Elk. The Perfect Hunting Calibers and Their Game by Bear Creek Arsenal. The 220 grain, in particular, has been a favorite brown and polar bear load in Alaska for decades. Guess what: even if you have the highest quality and most reliable and accurate rifle on the planet, with poor caliber selection, it won’t mean anything. The 7's kick less than the 30's and have great sectional density and ballistic coefficients for down range performance. The caliber never caught on with American hunters. MSRP $652 - $779. Heavier than 200 grain bullets don't work well in the .308's short case and are not recommended for this cartridge. For extra insurance against the nastiest critters, Woodleigh offers a 350 grain bullet said to make the .375 H&H perform more like a .470 Nitro Express. While not always considered a large game cartridge, the .308 will get the job done with a 180 grain load at the factory nominal 2600 fps. There is absolutely no question that the most popular deer hunting caliber of all time is the .30-30 Winchester. Question: I'm surprised the 7mm Remington Magnum didn't make the list. A belt at the base provided the necessary head space in the firing chamber. The .308 has reasonable reach. StrongTools Green BoreSighter for .17 to 12GA Caliber Rifle and Handgun Universal Hunting Green Dot Boresight Kit with Press Switch Bore Sight with 2 Pieces CR2 Batteries. You want to go hog hunting?  If so, you would be best served by a .308 Winchester rifle, and preferably one in semi-automatic (such as the AR-10 or M1A Scout Squad) so you can get multiple shots off fast, knowing full well the aggressiveness of wild boars. My “Three-Seven-Five” needed the flexibility to take light-bodied medium game, such as antelope or whitetail deer, but also enough punch to anchor an elk, moose, or bear. I didn’t know where in the world I might end up hunting, so I also wanted a gun fit for Alaska or Africa, should I ever find myself there. ... 5.0 out of 5 stars Bright and versatile. With the 1:8 twist, stainless-steel, free-floated barrel, this is an incredibly versatile rifle that could do duty as a hog-hunting or home-defense carbine when it's not slaying coyotes. A good 12 gauge shotgun is perhaps the most versatile of the guns every hunter should own. The .300 Winchester Magnum is an international favorite, as well. The .308 is a renowned medium game cartridge. Adopted in 1905 by the Imperial German Army, the 8x57 evolved from the 1888 German service round. The number one best caliber for bear hunting, without question, would be the .338 Winchester Magnum.  This was a round born specifically for the purpose of bringing down brown bear and other big game animals from North America.  It is for this reason that the .338 Winchester Magnum is the most popular choice among grizzly bear guides. This means that even your average hunting rifle chambered in.308 will accept both calibers, making it one of the most versatile rifles you could own. With high BC bullets, this weight is sufficient for medium game to over 500 yards, large game to 400, and an MPBR around 250 yards. 0.22 air rifle is best for medium to large range pests and its speed is 500-900 fps for the best result in a .22 caliber air rifle. Each game category has a recommended minimum impact energy: small game (500 ft-lbs), medium game (1200 ft-lbs. There are several reasons why. You need a rifle that can travel at fast velocities and over vast distances while still offering enough power to penetrate the hide of the moose and bring it down with one shot, and a quality rifle chambered for the .338 Win Mag will be a rifle that can do just that. While it is perhaps a bit much for the smaller varmints, hand loaded with 150 grain FMJ bullets, it makes a terrific long-range wolf and coyote slayer which will leave pelts in useable condition. Complete AR rifles feature manufacturer-tuned set-ups in popular new calibers like 300 BLK --which is a suppressor-friendly loading popular for home defense and short-range hunting 8x57mm Mauser. While most game is shot inside 250 yards, the 500 yard mark is a realistic limit for most hunters when confronted with longer shots in certain terrain such as the American West and Africa’s savannas. And remember, proper shot placement is more important than anything else.  Even if you have a more than adequate caliber, hitting your target outside of the vital region is heavily unlikely to bring it down on a single shot.  So once you’ve chosen your hunting rifle and caliber, be sure you hit the range before you hit the woods. drives 200 grain and heavier bullets at substantial velocities. "Today, if you do not want to disappoint, Check price before the Price Up. The best caliber to use for elk will be one that can deliver a lot of ‘umph’ and power at long distances, and the round that fits this bill the best would be the .300 Winchester Magnum. A 225 grain .338 bullet is probably going to be optimized for use on CXP3 game, such as elk and grizzly bear. Like the Saiga, the Vepr-12 was designed to be a versatile weapons platform, capable of being used by hunters and professional shooters alike. Is it possible, despite all the new hunting cartridges introduced in the last decade or so, the best has been here all along? This diagram illustrates the MPBR concept. Yeah, there are some larger caliber cartridges but they’re generally best for hunting only. The Griffin Bushwhacker 46 is the only multi caliber suppressor on this list that is user serviceable, which opens up a whole new world of opportunity to suppress everything from .22LR to .458 SOCOM. It has spawned several other cartridges since its debut. It had to have one quality above all others: versatility. What do you think about the 9.3 x 62 my caliber. See .223 & 5.56 Rifles Here See .223 & 5.56 Ammunition Here. 5 Rounds. Why is the .300 Win. Action The action refers to … Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2020. Premium American-made bolt action hunting rifles. Exceptional accuracy, excellent ballistic shape, and adequate weight for medium and heavy game make this a truly exceptional bullet. Most versatile of air rifles . It’s at its best when paired with 150 – 180 grain bullets, though. Caliber. Its effective range and MPBR are similar to the .308, but the .30-06 will out-pace it beyond 300 yards. Compared to the standard .30-06 150 grain at 2900 fps and 2800 ft-lbs load, the Mauser is more effective than the .30-06 inside 250 yards, where most game is shot. These are not guns that you will necessarily enjoy shooting and that you’re going to want to take to the range every week. At these ranges, there is often little time to set up a shot, so the less “monkey math” you have to do, the better. Here is the breakdown: For small deer – .357+ For medium deer – .40+ For large deer – .45+ Larger calibers are needed for the required muzzle energy. In 1963, the .300 Winchester Magnum hit the market. and Outdoor Life. These are often the most expensive rifles, and encompass PCP airguns. With these considerations in mind, Molot introduced unique features, such as the ambidextrous safety selector, the bolt hold-open mechanism and a simplified magazine feeding mechanism. It is our most versatile Magnum big game cartridge. This is understandable given how many U.S. servicemen faced Mausers in German soldiers’ hands—an unfortunate prejudice. The .22 LR is one of the most ubiquitous and versatile calibers on the planet, and really deserves more credit than it receives.  Commonly underestimated, the .22 is more than capable of bringing down the vast majority of small game (complete list of animals here). They know their rifle inside and out, field strip it blindfolded, and can knock a fly off an elk’s ear at 300 yards. Almost every gun maker offers a model chambered for this fantastic cartridge. See .338 Win Mag Rifles Here See .338 Win Mag Ammo Here, As with brown bear, the best choice of caliber for moose would be the .338 Winchester Magnum.Â. Although the .308’s descendants are quite good, they do not have the over-all versatility their parent possesses. The .223 Remington was first developed as a small-caliber, high-velocity military round, with initial release in 1964. MPBR is the range across which a bullet rises a certain distance in inches above the rifle’s sight line, then drops the same distance below. There are also some auto-pistol cartridges like the 9 mm and 10 mm, and there’s the age old .45 Colt. As it is, I decided against it because several of the other rounds on the list cover the same territory as the Rem. Among the most versatile are the.375 H&H,.404 Jeffery, and the.416s; in my opinion they have a bullet weight range and velocity that gives a bit more range. The incredible variety of ammo available for this most common shotgun bore make it perhaps the most versatile of all calibers. High. There are other thirty caliber hunting cartridges, but the .30-06 remains at the top. This energy is measured in foot-pounds: the energy required to move one pound for one foot. It was born and bred for war, but those engineers inadvertently designed one of the most useful hunting cartridges we’ve ever seen..375 H&H Belted Magnum This is an ethical issue just as much as it is a practical one: you want to use a cartridge that you know is going to bring down your game with a single shot assuming you hit it in the vital regions (which you absolutely should). Unlike most cartridges, the .375 will generally shoot any bullet weight to the same point of impact. Following the.30-30 is the ubiquitous.30-06 Springfield, perhaps the most versatile single hunting cartridge of the last Century. The .300, like so many other magnums, uses the British developed .375 H&H Magnum’s belted case; shortened to fit into standard length actions, with less taper, and a sharper shoulder. There are no FMJ .375 bullets on the market, but if a hunter wanted to use this heavy hitter for wolf, and needed to preserve the hide, there are expensive, lathe turned monometal solids available made for ultra-long-range shooting matches. I had to reset a RDS for the 9mm rifle. FMJ on the left, soft-point on the right. The overall length comes out to be 39”. Calibers up to .270 Winchester or .308 Winchester could be used as well, but anything above that is only going to make a significant mess out of it. Like the .308, this old warrior uses bullets from 110 grains up 200 for the same game classes. Hand loaded with Woodleigh’s 240 grain thumper, it’s even a match for Africa’s grumpiest critters. 6.5-284 Norma. Most Versatile Rifle Caliber For Hunting BY Most Versatile Rifle Caliber For Hunting in Articles If you searching to evaluate Most Versatile Rifle Caliber For Hunting price. Chambering three different hunting rounds, this gun is also a very versatile option that caters to unique preferences amongst hunters. 9mm has also seen a big growth in the carbine market and the new fad with pistol caliber carbines. The .308 round also has a noted reputation for accuracy, and as a result the 7.62x51mm NATO is currently used as a sniper round in addition to the .300 WIN Mag and the .50 BMG. Additionally, most major firearms manufacturers have at least one … Deer are the most sought after big game animal in North America and many hunters take the sport very seriously. The.308 Winchester is another impressive bullet. Here’s a deer hunting video by BlackandChrome using.25-06 rounds: Military snipers call this the “kill box.”. Neither Phil nor I would dare to leave this classic off of our list. English gun maker Holland and Holland saw this need and designed a revolutionary cartridge to satisfy their customers. Verified Purchase. It just works well, no matter the climate or game. See .300 Win Mag Rifles Here See .300 Win Mag Ammunition Here, Coyote are significantly smaller sized animals than deer or elk and therefore require a less powerful round.  A .223 Remington or 5.56x45mm NATO round is more than sufficient to use for coyote hunting.Â. Still on the table above, you can see the minimum acceptable caliber for hunting different game. When I was much younger, I too had just one hunting rifle—a Winchester Model 70 chambered in .375 H&H Magnum. The latter are among the most popular chamberings — .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, .308, .30-06 and .300 Winchester Magnum are do-it-all calibers. Popular, versatile, and accurate, this cartridge has found a home in hunting fields and target ranges all across the country. I don’t believe there is a perfect all around rifle for anything, but I … Somewhere in the middle is probably the best choice. In 2010, Advanced Armament Corporati on developed the .300 AAC Blackout in conjunction with Remington Defense, with the intention of offering a .30 caliber cartridge with better performance than the 5.56mm ammunition currently in use. Plus…one of the most popular heavier caliber machine gun and sniper rounds for many militaries around the world. It works at higher pressures (64,000 PSI) than its parent to provide on average 150 – 200 feet per second greater velocity than the .30-06. When maximum hurt is required for large or grumpy beasts, the 300 grain bullets are the ticket. The inconvenient fact is different sized animals need different bullet weights. Muzzle Energy 2664 Lbs. The larger calibers certainly offer lots of stopping power, but give up a bit in trajectory. The second major reason is, like the Russian 7.62x39, the 8x57 is often seen as the “enemy’s” cartridge. Action The action refers to … Try These Top 10 Rifle Cartridges for North America Big Game. The same is true for anyone with just one hunting rifle, regardless the caliber. For rifles, the 55 grain #1390 Hollow Point Boat Tail bullet has been designed for the shooter who prefers the rapid expansion characteristics of the hollow point design. Much has been written about hunting calibers. For example, the Savage 111 Trophy is likely the most affordable rifle chambered in this round. It is more available world-wide than either the .303 British or 7.62x54R, its two contemporaries. The.308 round also has a noted reputation for accuracy, and as a result the 7.62x51mm NATO is currently used as a sniper round in addition to the.300 WIN Mag and the.50 BMG. The .375 H&H is quite arguably the most versatile hunting caliber on the planet, because it can be used for everything from elk to moose to bear to eland to buffalo and even to elephant. It is considered the entry-level caliber for big game hunting and, out to 200 yards or so, is very effective on deer-size game..30-06 Springfield. Mag. Mag. For medium game, the 165 grain projectiles are ideal. As a round developed for the military, the .338 Lapua was designed to replace the .416 Barrett and .50 BMG round for snipers.  It is also large enough to bring down almost any big game in the world, from bears to moose to cape buffalo, and is held in very high regard by long range shooting enthusiasts. Adopted by the U.S. military in 1906, the .30-06 served over five decades and through three wars. Air rifle is famous nowadays because the rifle is plinking; it’s so enjoyable and … But is .30-30 the best deer hunting round?  It depends.  For moderate distances of a hundred and fifty yards or less, or as a general brush gun, it absolutely is a good choice. It exceeds the .308’s minimum energy ranges by about 50 yards and the MPBR by 10 – 15 yards. All this and an MPBR around 260 yards, too. This bullet delivers devastating expansion on varmints and small game, and in many rifles it routinely delivers match-grade accuracy, which are vital considerations for long-range varmint shooting. Bullets need to hit game animals with enough energy to cause a swift, humane kill. There are harder hitting, more efficient, and longer ranged cartridges than the .300 Winchester Magnum, but few if any are available in almost any gun store around the world. This is not a comparison between them all, rather a collection to choose from if you have just one hunting rifle. Many a deer has fallen to the .308 loaded with 150 to 165 grain bullets. Many believe that the.30-06 Springfield is the perfect all-around caliber for North American big game hunting. .308 Winchester. For bear defense, on the other hand, the best option would be a .45-70 Springfield, and specifically out of a Marlin 1895 lever action guide gun or similar rifle.  The .45-70 is a mid-range cartridge with a lot of power behind it, and a lever action carbine like the 1895 is far more wieldy in tight brush while also offering you a higher rate of fire over a bolt action. Loaded with heavy bullets such as Woodleigh’s 250 grain, it’s suitable for many dangerous game species. A hunter who owns a high quality 3″ 12 gauge shotgun with interchangeable choke tubes, such as a Remington 870 or a Mossberg 500, can hunt virtually any type of small game or bird, including rabbit, squirrel, quail, dove, grouse, ducks, geese, and turkey. The opportunities are truly endless with this Griffin suppressor, making it the most versatile in terms of performance on caliber ratings. Developed from the .300 Savage for the U.S. military in the 1950s, the .308 hits way above its weight class. When selecting a firearm to use for hunting, even more important than choosing the gun itself is choosing the caliber that that gun will be chambered for. It is required to shooting sport so each family member also enjoys our game.