All-Purpose Rifle

I
have seen .308 and 7mm along with .25-06 wound deer and elk I helped track for others years ago.
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You can kill or wound any animal with any cartridge, sounds like poor shot placement not the cartridge.Or just plain poor bullet selection for the intended purpose.
30-06 gets my nod for 1 cartridge/gun to do everything in the US, don't need a Macaroni Whizz Bang Magnum or some European can't find ammo for cartridge.
 
Sometimes the front upper shoulder gets in the way of a fine shot and what would have been a heart/lung shot hits bone.

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I agree with you on both items longranger, but both those issues happen.

Bullet design cannot overcome lack of a heavy enough bullet or large enough caliber and then you need enough velocity to get the job done consistently.
 
I found myself looking for the same thing in a hunting caliber. After some extensive research I found that the 30-06 is the king when it comes to one gun for everything. And I mean everything, from coyote to water buffalo. The '06 will take them all.

Before any one pipes up about there being better choices for dangerous game or wrecking the fur on varmints, keep in mind we aren't looking for the best caliber for a specific job. We are looking for the best overall cartridge.
And that happens to be the '06.

Be careful though, I used that argument on my wife and am now having trouble coming up with reasons for "needing" another rifle. :D
 
The late Grancel Fitz took trophys of every big game animal in North America with a 30-06. Here is his view of it for big game.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1133878/index.htm.

I assume the OP was not speaking about the large bears. If those were on the menu I would not consider anything less than 30-06. Otherwise many of the cartridges mentioned would be OK.
I would not use anything smaller than 6.5 on elk and moose. I will not dispute that smaller cartridges will kill them, but not under all conditions. Why take a chance of wounding and losing the trophy of a lifetime because you used a small cartridge like a .243?

Jerry
 
Because of the Moose/Bear requirement, have you thought about buying an Encore rifle or similar ? You could have an extra large bore barrel for moose. Like a 45-70 or similar..

Small Bear can be dropped with the smaller calibers but brown bear and grizzlys require a heavy bullet for penetration.....and a good back up pistol like a 454 Casull or 500 S&W if your not hunting with a guide.
 
"I don't reload rifle so is store bought ammo readily available? Looked at a Ruger American and seemed like decent quality at a decent price but again I don't know rifles. Thoughts on the American or other suggestions?"

"I don't reload rifle so is store bought ammo readily available?"

I'll answer this one first. You don't reload. Simple choice. The 30-06 is probably the most easily found cartridge anywhere in the world. Nuff said? :cool:
As to not reloading, as versatle (sp) as the 30-06 is, being able to handload custom ammo expressly for your rifle makes it even more so. It's not rocket science. Just pay attention to what you're doing and all will be fine.
Regarding the Ruger American, you might find this to be of interest. Seems like a pretty fair assessment of two competitive rifles. The Ruger American and the Marlin X7.

Paul B.

http://www.noslerreloading.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=23102
 
You won't find to many on here that are more of a minimalist in terms of quantity when it comes to guns. I've owned many many but a few years ago downsized considerably. While I find many guns and cartridges much more versatile than many give them credit I still realize that a single rifle for everything from pests and predators to moose just doesn't exist. A gun for moose just isn't even close to an acceptable gun for semi-populated ground hog and yote hunts and vise versa.

Never fear, make your choice based on realistic expectations and what you plan to hunt. If a chance comes up for moose, brown bear, sheep, etc you'll have to have deeper pockets. More than deep enough to buy an additional gun should a rare, expensive occasion arises.

My choice for varmints to deer/hogs/black bears is a .243. If I have money for a bigger outta state hunt I have money for another gun THEN.
 
Beware the man with one gun

he probably knows how to use it.

I like that saying. I do not, however, care for the saying that if I have money for an out of state hunt I have money for another gun.

If I have to save up to hunt out of state, the last thing I want is another expense. But that is exactly the idea behind a single purpose firearm. As fun as it is to get new guns, it also means dollars on ammo and range fees.

It also probably means I'm stepping up a caliber as well. Why buy a gun that has less umph than the one I have? Bigger guns means more recoil to manage too. Will I develop a flinch? How will that limit my shots on my hunt? Is this new gun affordable and fun to shoot?

I am much more inclined to buy one general purpose firearm and shoot the crap out of it until I know 100% what it will and will not do in my hands than I am to buy one that is expensive to shoot, limited in applications and gets rough at the range. Those types of guns are not All Purpose.

And since the title of the thread is: ALL PURPOSE RIFLE, I feel we ought to offer up calibers that fit that bill. Short list though it may be...
 
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I would want something that would do an efficient job at killing deer, wild boar, coyote, elk, moose, bear, antelope, mountain lion.
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The man said efficient ..... .308, 7-08, or .243 .......

I like the .270WIN myself, but it is not the epitome of efficiency...... then again..... there is no substitute for displacement .......
 
Just spit ballin' here, but what about a rifle in .338 Federal. It's a .338 caliber bullet in a necked up .308 Winchester case (short action rifle). It has a mild kick when compared to the .300 & .338 Magnums, and has about 1 ft/lb more recoil then the 30-06. Just a suggestion!
 
Another vote for the Swede

6.5 X 55 is deadly on North American big game. It is accurate, easy to shoot well and works quite well for moose and elk in the Scandinavian countries.
 
Just spit ballin' here, but what about a rifle in .338 Federal. It's a .338 caliber bullet in a necked up .308 Winchester case (short action rifle). It has a mild kick when compared to the .300 & .338 Magnums, and has about 1 ft/lb more recoil then the 30-06. Just a suggestion!
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Short, fat bullets at ..... um ...... very moderate velocities limit effective range ....... which can be important in wide open spaces ...... and also limits the utility of the GP rifle for varmit hunting (the OP mentioned coyote).
 
jimbob86 said:
Short, fat bullets at ..... um ...... very moderate velocities limit effective range ....... which can be important in wide open spaces ...... and also limits the utility of the GP rifle for varmit hunting (the OP mentioned coyote).
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Well shoot... Just buy a 12 gauge shot gun, use 00 buck shot for coyotes, then get a rifled slug barrel (if the barrel is rifled, that makes it a rifle by default) and get everything else. If people can get into bow range of these animals, it would seem a lot easier to get into shotgun range.;)
 
Just buy a 12 gauge shot gun, use 00 buck shot for coyotes,
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Why ruin a pelt that will buy a box of bullets?

There is nothing a .338 Fed will do that a .7-08 with appropriate bullet will not.

There are not any varmit bullets in .338. There are no efficient bullets for open country in .338" that are light enough to develop sufficient velocity for a flat trajectory .... these are available for cartridges like .308, 7-08, .270 or .30-06 ......
 
The best you know is the best you've owned...

With that, I'd suggest a 6.5 creedmoor. Now before we point out ammo, lets show that there are some very fine gun stores in ohio (like clevelands) and he has access to the internet....so buying good ammo is easy. And since so few people shoot it (compared to .308 and '06, 7mm-08) it's ussually in stock with places that do carry it.

And this: http://www.chuckhawks.com/savage_lightweight_hunter_6-5mm.htm

I'm a huge fan of my 6.5 and if I could only keep 1 of my rifles, that would be it.
 
semi_problomatic said:
he best you know is the best you've owned...

With that, I'd suggest a 6.5 creedmoor. Now before we point out ammo, lets show that there are some very fine gun stores in ohio (like clevelands) and he has access to the internet....so buying good ammo is easy. And since so few people shoot it (compared to .308 and '06, 7mm-08) it's ussually in stock with places that do carry it.

And this: http://www.chuckhawks.com/savage_lig...nter_6-5mm.htm

I'm a huge fan of my 6.5 and if I could only keep 1 of my rifles, that would be it.
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+1, I love my 6.5 Creedmoor
 
The Creedmore would be tough to beat, ballistics are impressive for such a small case, only reason I don't own one is I already have a superbly accurate 6.5x55 that does everything the Creedmore will just burning a couple more grains of powder.
 
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