I find it interesting that so many of these articles are centered around factory ammunition and the off the shelf rifle buyer.
Not surprising really as that IS the clientele of these magazines and online writers.

What I would really like to see is an evaluation of a genuine all around rifle/cartridge combo.

I largely agree with John about the viability of utilizing one platform for all game shooting from rabbits to stags (elk in my territory) particularly when the desire for meat and pelt preservation is concerned is a dream, but I must contend that one could build a genuine “all purpose” rifle for everything other than African dangerous game and for competently tackling brown bears.

What I envision is a straight walled cartridge, .360” to .458”, utilizing either light game loads all the way up to full nitro performance levels.
Any level of performance with the appropriate projectiles could be realized, of course with adjusted sight picture or sighting procedure.
I could see a 360 2-1/4” or 405 Winchester or 45-70 loaded anywhere from BPE cast loads, or pistol equivalent loads, all the way to 300gr. plus bonded jacketed or solid bullets at over 2200fps for anything above varmint sized game.
All it takes is a competent hand loader (and a LOT of practice) to get the best out of their chosen rifle/cartridge to take any game from rabbits to stags.