Most versatile

[MarineStud]

I'm looking for one gun that i could use on anything from deer up to moose or grizzly bear without having over kill on deer. Let me know what ya'll think.

[North Texan]

A .30 caliber anything is about as versatile as it gets. A 30-06 or .300 Winchester Magnum, or even the new .300 Winchester Short Magnum would probably all make good options. As far as grizzly bears, my Sierra reloading manual recommends something a little heavier, but people do use them for that. Winchester is coming out with a .325WSM, but I don't know much about it other than it shoots a bigger bullet. It might be a better choice for grizzly. As far as overkill is concerned, in my book, if you can shoot it well use it.

I am not qualified to say as never killed a grizz. But from deer to moose, you could definately get by with a 30-06 or 300win mag. I would pick at least a 338win mag for grizzly.

[gopher slayer]

i would say that 300 win mag with the proper bullet could get a grizz but i have never done it myself. a 300 win mag is fine for deer and moose not to much over kill there.

[Virginia7]

ORIGINAL: MarineStud
I'm looking for one gun that i could use on anything from deer up to moose or grizzly bear without having over kill on deer. Let me know what ya'll think.

Here we go again - one rifle to do it all Well, as noted it's hard to go wrong with a
30-06. Problem here is you're throwing grizz into the mix, and I'm guessing you want it
to include the big Alaskan brownies as well. You didn't note if you will be handloading or not.
Handloading: Take a look at 35Whelen, 350Rem.Mag., 338Win.Mag., and even the 375H&H Mag. There's really no such thing as "overkill", but you can always use reduced
or light loads for smaller big game such as deer.
If you're not going to roll your own, but just factory ammo, then I'd favor either the
338Win.Mag. or the 375H&H. They are a lot more than needed for deer, but about right
when it comes to big bears.
If you take the big bears out of the mix then a 30-06 is hard to beat.

[bigbulls]

From deer to moose any cartridge from the 6.5 mm on up will do just fine.

I would not hunt grizzly with rifle that would not be considered "over kill" on deer. I would take a 338 magnum or larger if I were going after something that could turn me into dinner.

A do all rifle stops at moose IMHO. After that you need a bigger cartridge. I would also use something bigger if I were to go after a really tough animal such as the bison.

[gobuffs]

How about a Marlin 1895 in 45-70 or 450 Marlin. Mine is 45-70, factory ammo works great on Texas whitetails (and I don't have to track them far) and you can go with handloads or Buffalo Bore for everything up to elephant. It is a nifty little lever gun, you can go with scout scope setup or I have a Leupold 2-7X33 VXII on removeable mounts with iron sights. It has proven to be a little overkill on coyotes but is near perfect for everything else!!!

[Mr. .45-70]

ORIGINAL: gobuffs

How about a Marlin 1895 in 45-70 or 450 Marlin. Mine is 45-70, factory ammo works great on Texas whitetails (and I don't have to track them far) and you can go with handloads or Buffalo Bore for everything up to elephant. It is a nifty little lever gun, you can go with scout scope setup or I have a Leupold 2-7X33 VXII on removeable mounts with iron sights. It has proven to be a little overkill on coyotes but is near perfect for everything else!!!

I couldn't have said it better. I think that throwing Grizzly's in the mix is the difference. I would definitely want the big bore for an animal with the reputation of a grizzly. My .45-70 drops deer like a ton of bricks and I would have confidence hunting grizzly's with it(hot loads of course.) A large .300 caliber magnum would suffice too, but for me it would not be a practical gun to be toating around in the woods for whitetails.

Mr. .45-70

[KonaBoy]

The .35 Whelen would be hard to beat........the new .325 WSM looks interesting though.

[handloader1]

I don't beleive in over kill, so I would go with a .340 Wby. Mag., or .338-378 Wby. Mag. Good luck.