My vote, for pretty much anything larger than small game ( rabbit, squirrel, yotes....) deer and above is .338 LM. The .338 LM is a bit much for deer and smaller large game, but it is good for just about anything else that I could want to hunt short of a few dangerous game in Africa. IF i had to have one, all round cartridge, I would rather be a little over-gunned on the smaller big game, then be Under-gunned for the truly larger and more dangerous game.
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I don't use it much anymore, but the old '06 has to be the most versatile of all. Some come close, like the .308 Win, 7X57mm Mauser, and 8X57mm. But none are quite as all-round!
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Out of the hundreds of choices I can honestly say "none of the above" listed five.
.300 Win mag if I only get one choice.......like thats going to happen.
totally different poll, I'm questioning some of the favorite all arounds calibers, not random cartridges.
They say, in alaska the .338 is king, in africa maybe the .375 or .458 in the lower 48 its the .30-06, I'm sure others view other rounds as all arounds, but I've only included some of the more classically known all arounds. That's the poll, not which is your favorite round.
I started by using two to optomise performance the 270win,and the 35whelen are all good all around cartridges. It depends on what and where you hunt. The 270win handles pronghorns to moose, and the whelen deer to brown Bears. They overlap some ones better at +300yrds and one handle the big guys better.
From your list I'd have to go with the 30/06. It is not so big as to be ridiculous for smaller game (with the right load and sight in) and is certaily efective for failry large game, again with the right load.
Of course if I had more than one rifle I'd have better picks for prairie dogs and elephant, but for a wide range of effectiveness big to small the 30/06 is the standout from your list.
Favorite All Around Rifle Catridge?
