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mikeh416Rigby
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Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber
      #3251 - 07/06/03 11:21 AM

OK ladies and gents, here's a topic that I hope generates a lot of comment. What's your favorite caliber for most of your medium and large game in North America. By medium game, I referring to animals the size of Pronghorn and Southern Whitetail, and by large, critters like Mule Deer, Northern Whitetail, Elk, Moose, and Black & Grizzly Bear. I like the .280 Remington, and the 7mm Remington Mag.for the medium stuff. For the larger stuff, most situations would find me using my .300 Winchester Mag, but if I were after the really big bears, I'd opt for my 375 Ackley Improved.

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ovis
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #3253 - 07/06/03 03:14 PM

Mike,

Here in AK I load my .375RUM up or down, as needed. For big Manitoba whitetail .350RemMag. The Ultra is very versatile and the .350RemMag is a whitetail hammer.

Joe

--------------------
"Where there's a hobble, there's hope."

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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: ovis]
      #3257 - 07/06/03 10:12 PM

I have always pictured the .338 Win Mag as the ideal NAmer calibre.


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John aka NitroX

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IronBuck
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: NitroX]
      #3258 - 07/06/03 10:53 PM

I like rifles to much to limit myself to just one! I have centerfires from 22-250 up to 375HH. When rifle hunting whitetails in my home state of Pennsylvania I ususally use my M70 30-06 or my old lever action/ peep sighted Savage 99 in 300 savage. If I am black bear hunting I usually use my Remington 7600 in 35 Whelen.

Heading out west for elk I step it up a notch.Not that the other rifles would not work-they would do fine, but it is $$$ to travel and hunt elk. The tag alone costs almost $500. In that situation I want to be able to take advantage of ANY shot opportunity that comes up. I usually only have a week to hunt. I use either my 300 win mag or my 338 win mag when elk hunting. If I ever get to hunt black or Kodiack bears in Alaska, my 375HH would go with me.

I like the variety!

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iqbal
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #3262 - 08/06/03 12:52 AM

Ithink most of you guys are going for an overkill.For proghorn & whitetail,a .270 would be good enough,for elk,moose etc.a 7mm.mag.would be ideal & for larger game 300WB mag.would do the trick.As someone in this forum rightly says,"its not what you hit them with,its where you hit them".

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mikeh416Rigby
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: iqbal]
      #3263 - 08/06/03 02:34 AM

True, but I'd rather be overgunned than undergunned. I think the late Jack O'Conner once wrote"how dead is too dead?".

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AspenHill
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Reged: 08/01/03
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #3266 - 08/06/03 09:19 AM

Well, my first choice is an arrow, but since I am sure Mike is asking about firearms I will say the 30.06. Very reliable, very versitile, easy to find quality factory ammo for just about anywhere.

Since I have killed eland with it I know it would be very effective with anything on the NA continent. I've taken caribou with mine but it has not seen any other NA action.

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~Ann

Everyday spent outdoors is the best day of my life.

Aspen Hill Adventures

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mikeh416Rigby
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: AspenHill]
      #3268 - 08/06/03 12:02 PM

Ann, I'm so disappointed in your choice of the 30:06. I mean that round is so old that it can't possibly be any good now. I mean next thing you'll be telling me is that the 375 H&H is good for using in Africa. Good Lord woman! Seriously, I think you've made a wise choice. All too often we get caught up in the hype of the new wizz bang super duper ultra magnums, and forget about these venerable, time tested rounds like the good old ought 6. Not spectacular, but it still gets the job done.

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mickey
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #3269 - 08/06/03 03:08 PM

If limited to one I would go with the 300 H&H. If allowed two the .270 Win. and .340 Weatherby in a Winchester rifle.

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Lovu Zdar
Mick

A Man of Pleasure, Enterprise, Wit and Spirit Rare Books, Big Game Hunting, English Rifles, Fishing, Explosives, Chauvinism, Insensitivity, Public Drunkenness and Sloth, Champion of Lost and Unpopular Causes.

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4seventy
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: AspenHill]
      #3274 - 08/06/03 05:49 PM

Well, I've never hunted in any part of America so can't really give an authorative opinion on this one but I'm a huge fan of the old 30-06 and often rely heavily on my care worn fifties featherweight -06 BSA Imperial here in OZ.
Maybe I'll get to try it one day on a nice bull elk.
200 grain Woodleighs I think........
Good choice Ann.

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Miller
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My Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: 4seventy]
      #3276 - 08/06/03 07:58 PM

Mike;

I am glad that you did not ask which was most versatile, because that allows me to indulge in a little fantasy of mine.

You see my favorite North American caliber is the ancient .30/30, yes, you read right. One day when I am financially independent, I want to take every head of game available in the lower 48 with my grandfather's old Winchester 94. Now before you write me and the .30/30 off, take a page from the handgun hunter's book on the old thutty-thutty, and you will see it is quite a capable performer in the TC Contender. I dabbled in handgun hunting a bit, shooting and hunting with a few XP's, heavy revolvers, and such for a few years. I was amazed at the performance of the .30/30 in these weapons.

So I took some of my handgun loads and tailored them to the old Model 94. I loaded everything from 100gr. to 180gr for it, and I could never publish the loads, they are that wild. Lets just say that I would not be afraid to face anything but the biggest bears with my 94, and I would not feel handicapped at all hunting pronghorns, and no, I could not take that trophy elk across the canyon, but there is that thing called stalking, which is becoming more and more a lost art.

Accuracy is excellent, with 125gr Nosler Ballistic Points pushed to an unspeakable velocity, I was getting 2.5" 5 shot groups at 300yds from the bench. The lever action is a very under rated action in both pressure handling and accuracy.

With modern bullets and powders, the .30/30 is a classic that has only gotten better. As for its effectiveness, well, the legendary Fred Bear with his recurve, proved that everything that walks can be killed with a lot less.

Lynn Miller

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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: My Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: Miller]
      #3278 - 08/06/03 11:46 PM

Miller

What I don't understand is why more tubular lever action users don't use spitzers for longer range shooting.

One round in the chamber and one in the magazine.


--------------------
John aka NitroX

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"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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mikeh416Rigby
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Re: My Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: Miller]
      #3282 - 09/06/03 01:39 AM

There's nothing wrong with the venerable 30 30, you just have to get a bit closer, as you obviously recognize by your post.

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Miller
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Re: My Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #3286 - 09/06/03 09:23 AM

NitroX;

You can very easily use spitzers in a tube magazine if you load it as you described, but then you turn your lever action into a 2 shot gun.

Most of the limitations imposed on the .30/30, are because of the need for flat nosed bullets to feed through the tube magazine. It was not until handgun hunters starting using it in the Contender, which is obviously a single shot, that shooters realized how good this caliber was, because they starting using modern spiters and boattails. I always keep a very close eye on pressure indicators, and have had no trouble with the lever action handling very powerful loads. The biggest problem you with a leveraction and a rimmed case is case head separation, which can be remedied by adjusting your resizing die to just touch the shoulder of the case, with the proper adjustment, you can get at least 15 reloads per case.

Of course, the .30/30 will never equal the .30-06 and has nothing in common with the 300 magnums except bore diameter, but if you are looking for a lightweight, packable rifle, it is hard to beat a 94 Carbine with a tang peep sight.

Maybe I will write a brief story about how handy it is to have a quick handling, fast repeater when you are filling the freezer..

Lynn Miller

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Brooks
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #3287 - 09/06/03 06:01 PM

There is no game in North America you cannot kill with a 30/06. But, the one gun if I had to pick, is my 300 H&H. I have killed antelope to moose to grizzly bear with it. It old, reliable, tried and true and has never failed me. I bought it over 20 years ago from a friend of mine Wayne Van Zwoll and he had taken it to africa and had killed Eland, Kudu, waterbuck and other numerous plains game animals with it. It still shoots less than 1 inch groups at 100 yards so what more could I ask.

Brooks

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Brooks

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Robie
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #3332 - 17/06/03 08:16 AM

It will be a .270 Win., and a .338-06.
Robie

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mikeh416Rigby
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: Robie]
      #3333 - 17/06/03 08:56 AM

Robie, I'm not too familiar with the 338-06. Why are you so keen on it? I guess what I'm asking is: why not stick with the 338 or 30:06?

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mikeh416Rigby
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: Brooks]
      #3334 - 17/06/03 09:14 AM

The name Wayne Van Zwoll sounds very familiar. Is he an outdoor writer?

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Robie
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #3369 - 18/06/03 08:50 AM

Mike. I kind of like the old .338-06. and the recoil is less than .338 WinM. Robie

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mikeh416Rigby
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: Robie]
      #3370 - 18/06/03 09:29 AM

Robbie, is this caliber then an ought 6 necked up?

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WyoHunter
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #3784 - 12/07/03 10:24 AM

The .338-06 is simply the .30-06 case necked up. It's close to the power of a .338 Win Mag without the recoil of the magnum. Mine is a Pre-'64 Win M70 that was an '06 and it was simply rebored to .338 caliber. It's been custom stocked in French Walnut with an ebony forend tip and fleur-de-lis checkering. It shoots minute of angle with 210 Nosler Partitions at a chronographed 2810 fps. It's very effective on elk and moose with one shot kills the norm. It's my elk rifle and moose rifle when I draw a tag. Very efficient and practical cartridge is how I describe it!

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Hunting's a lifestyle and a passion not a competition!

NRA Life Member

Edited by WyoHunter (21/07/03 03:57 AM)

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Gibbs505
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: WyoHunter]
      #4170 - 12/09/03 02:50 PM

If I go hunting this fall, the first choice will be my 375 HH and the second will be my 6.5 x 55 with 129 grn bullets. I will be hunting moose in north bc. On the other hand, just maybe I will dig out my old smle and take the most used world wide cartridge into the field. The 303 british!

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mickey
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: Gibbs505]
      #4603 - 28/10/03 12:51 PM


In reply to:

If I go hunting this fall, the first choice will be my 375 HH and the second will be my 6.5 x 55 with 129 grn bullets. I will be hunting moose in north bc......



Gibbsy

Why would you have two cartriges so alike? No wonder you can't choose between them.

Robbie, nice rifle, I didn't know that you could get that kind of poop out of that cartridge.

--------------------
Lovu Zdar
Mick

A Man of Pleasure, Enterprise, Wit and Spirit Rare Books, Big Game Hunting, English Rifles, Fishing, Explosives, Chauvinism, Insensitivity, Public Drunkenness and Sloth, Champion of Lost and Unpopular Causes.

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mikeh416Rigby
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: WyoHunter]
      #4607 - 28/10/03 04:41 PM

That's a beautiful weapon. Who did the stock work for you?

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Will
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Re: Your Favorite North American Hunting Caliber [Re: mikeh416Rigby]
      #4608 - 28/10/03 07:33 PM

I haven't taken a very wide variety of game in the States but have used a .280 Rem. for almost all of it, from deer to moose, bear, and elk.

With 160 gr. Nosler partitions, it has always got the job done.

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_________________________________________________
Bill Stewart

Once you have been amongst them, there is no such thing as too much gun.

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