Which is a better caliber?

Question

For hunting North America big game, which is the best caliber. I am looking at the Remington 700.

270 Win

7mm-08 Remington

7mm Remington Mag

30-06 Springfield

300 Win Mag

Answer 1

Of those I would suggest the 30-06. I prefer the old .30 Remington. But they are few and far between.

Answer 2

I'm a huge fan of the little 7mm08 for hogs and whitetails. I've bought three of them for various family and wish I had one myself. And of all my hunting rifles, from 22 caliber to 45, none is 30. But for the one-rifle guy, I have to vote with 30-06.

Answer 3

What do you mean by big game??  If your talking big Canadian moose or bears to 600 pounds then the .300 Winchester mag is the way to go....  If your talking big wild hog, larger deer or average size elk the 30-06 is perfect.....

I should point out there is no end all be all rifle cartridge..... I dont know what your budget is but at some point consider owning 2 or more rifles. I know that can be an expensive proposition... It was for me. I'm not rich but made a few $$$ on a couple of car deals and bought 2 new rifles over the course of a year....  One chambered in .223 for varmints and a .308 for longer range deer shots and target shooting....

If your going to be hunting just deer then a .270 is best -- on the other hand if you will be taking bigger game then consider 2 rifles - 1 chambered in .300 Win Mag and the other in .270.... The .270 is handy for other stuff like hog and coyotes too......

Answer 4

Those are all good choices. If you want a greater flexibility in bullet weight, you might narrow the choices to 30-06 or 300 win mag.

Answer 5

The tried, tested, true, and proven since 1906 is the 30-06, because you have a greater variety of bullet weights to choose from with it.*

Answer 6

30-06 lots of choices in loads

Good Hunting

Answer 7

Im partial to the 270, but for all around, go with the 30-06 for the bigger bullet in larger game. It will do the job on most anything in North America. Thats assuming you can only have one gun. After that Id go 300mag, simply because of the 30 cal bullet.

Answer 8

All those are good choices, and all CAN take any game in north america, but each one really has some things it does best, and other things it does okay

If you are going to be hunting mainly grizzly bear, or elk in grizzly country, the 300 winmag is probably the best choice, but othewise it is overly heavy and kicks way too hard to be a best all around choice.

If you want a short handy carbine for woods hunting, with the possibility of still handling everything else in North America, then the 7mm-08 is probably the best choice.

270 and 30-06 are probably the two truest 'do everyhing'  Even still, there are differences.  Neither one would be ideal for grizzly, but both have gotten the job done many times.  30-06 is probably a little bit better for grizz, moose, and maybe a tad better on elk, but the 270 is plenty good for elk, and probably a bit better for mountaingoat, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn.  

7mm remington magnum fits well between 270/30-06 and 300 winmag.  It is a great choice for someone who is doing a lot of elk hunting and wants a little bit more range than the 270 and a little bit more power than the 30-06.  Of course, if your main game animal is going to be whitetail deer, then the 7m remington mag is more gun than you need, and a 270 or 30-06 is probably a better choice.

However, why limit yourself to one gun?

4 gun battery!

.22LR for rabbits and the like

243 win, works well for long range prarie dogs, coyotes, and similar animals with light bullets, but with heavy bullets it is a great deer rifle

7mm remington magnum  for elk and moose and other big game

338 winchester mangum for dangerous game, grizzly country, and the like. I'd have no problem going after afican lion with a 338 winmag it just doesn't meet their minium caliber definition

Answer 9

The 30-06 does it all; and it is the most copied.  Its eqivelant outside the US is the 8mm Mauser; slightly larger.  Both calibers will do it all and be affordable, not to mention proven by time and trial.  

Answer 10

While the 30-06 with the big 200 to 220 grain bullets is ok for big grizzlies, the 300 Mag has with those same bullets a better safety margin. Also, it can be downloaded to 30-30 specs for the deer woods, 308 specs for elk and such, and with lighter varmint bullets, suffer little from wind deflection. I know a USMC General who claims his 300 Win Mag is the complete "do it all rifle" for North America, including mountain cross-canyon shots at goat. Regards, Larry.

Answer 11

Are you hunting all north american big game or just some of them. I own a 270. win and a 300. wsm. I have hunted with my 270. win for many many years and i have taken black bear, moose, elk, white tail, mule and caribou. I got my 300. wsm a couple years ago and i have hunted mule, caribou and moose. This year i am hunting moose and grizzly in alaska.

The 270. is an excellent cartridge and will kill any game in north america with a properly placed shot. I would get the 270. win if you were hunting everything excpet grizzly. if you were i would get a 300. win mag, 300. wsm or the 30-06

Answer 12

The 7mm Rem Mag advantage over a .270 and the 7mm-08 is the ability to shoot 175 grain bullets well.  It shoots them harder, faster and flatter than the .30-06 shoots 180 gr bullets.  Other than bullet diameter and shooting 200 and even 220 grain bullets slow which are good for close shots, the .30-06 has nothing over the 7mm Rem Mag.     The .300 Win Mag can push 200 and 220 grain bullets fast, flat and hard.   The trade is significantly more recoil than the 7mm Rem Mag and cost of shells.   7mm Rem Mag is only a little more expensive than .30-06.  

Answer 13

This comes down to what you hunt most. I would say a .308 or .30-06 because ammution is plentiful and can be found alomst anywhere. Those magnum rounds kick lik h**l and cost to much. The .30-06 is the best gun caliber for hunting this Contintent out to about 300-400 yards. That is plenty far and powerful enough to take on any game on this continent. This is the Old standby caliber of which all others are compared. If you hunt only daer and occasional Black bear the 7mm-08 is fine. The .270 is nice but the odd six can get it done and beeter. The 700 is a darn good rifl no matter what caliber. The average shooter is best off with the .30-06 do to the abundace of ammo unless you reload.

Answer 14

The .30-06 for most NA big game. The .30 Remington and a  .30-30 are almost the same ballistics, but the .30 Remington  cartridges are 3 or 4 times the price when you can find them. I retired my slide action Remington 35 years ago.  I didn't think anybody else had ever used one. A good brush gun but not for prarie or Sagebrush.  

Answer 15

in North America... .30-06 just because the round can be tailored to shoot just about anything walking.

In a pinch you can by a box of 30-06 in just about any hardware store or Wal mart... even gas stations and grocery stores in remote parts of Wyoming and North Dakota... (yea, I have).

the rest are as good as or equal to the 06...choices make for preferences.