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From: cbl@uihepa.hep.uiuc.edu (Chris Luchini)
Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Re: best rifle caliber
Message-ID: <1991Jun22.112320.19327@doug.cae.wisc.edu>
Date: 22 Jun 91 16:23:20 GMT
References: <1991Jun21.063938.11989@doug.cae.wisc.edu>
Organization: High Energy Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Lines: 75
Approved: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu
Originator: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu

In article <1991Jun21.063938.11989@doug.cae.wisc.edu>, smosjc!joseph@uunet.uu.net writes:
>Will...the net is kinda slow, so I'll ask the question of all questions:
>
>   What is the best all-around hunting caliber for North Americam game?
>
>I'm stewing with the idea of dumping the bucks into a KDF or McMillan
>and figure I won't ever have any money for the rest of my natural life
>after that, so I need to make one caliber do it all. (except brown bears)
>
>Which of the following would you choose and why?

First I'll dump the ones that I'd definitly not choose, ever.
>	.25-06		Not enough ballistics for elk, realy only good for
			pronghorn or antilope (sp?)

>	.270		Very poor factory ballistics

>	.300 H&H	Very out dated case with extreem body taper
			a chrome plated bitch to reload accuratly
			almost no factory ammo available.

Next, my comment is that recoil, and thus weight of the gun will be the
deciding factor: if you are a recoil wimp, _and_ must have a very light
gun, go with

>	.280		relativly good factory ballistics, light recoil, 
			good bullet selection for all but the heavist game.
>	.30-06		it has all been said for this round.

For the following rounds, even with a muzzle break, ultralight guns
will still a bit of a kick. Never the less most people will be able
to handle the recoil quite well, even if you did sink you $'s into
a UltraLight Arms $2k, 6# jewel.

Also keep in mind that there really is no point in going to either of
these round if the barrel is short. 

>	.7mm Rem Mag
>	.300 Win Mag

Since the 300 Wby operates at 65kpsi rather than 45kpsi, it will have
better ballistics even in a short barrel. Muzzle blast can be horrable
especially with a muzzle break. I would wear hearing protection even when
hunting with any of the rest of these guns.

>	.300 Wby

With the next set of rounds, bullet selection is going to be the major
problem: hunting white tail with a factory 375 round is not going to
work, the bullets are designed for a different task. However, by handloading
and spending the $'s on custom bullets, even these thumpers can work for
the lighter game. They are ideal and then some for elk, bear, etc.
In fact, I'd pick a rifle in 338 and the 'if i had only one gun for hunting'
because it has a good selection of commercial bullets available, and 
has all the ballistics you will ever need for any game up to moose.
>	.338 Win Mag
>	.340 Wby	Hard to find ammo
>	.375 H&H	some of the 375 wild cats are very impresive, 375JRS
			is now a factory round (from A-square) it would
			be my 3'rd pick after the '06 (or 308)
>	.416 Rem	brutally expensive, to buy the gun, the brass, the 
			bullets. but you'd have a fun toy!
>
>Any inputs anyone has on any of the .300's would be appreciated.
>
>-Joseph Crunk

	Now the bad part: all of my opinions are based on extensive reading
	and range shooting of some of the calibers you've listed. The one
	point that is not opinion (!?!) is that you must be able to take
	the recoil, a gun that scares you to shoot is not a gun you want
	to hunt with.

-cbl
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