Only one caliber?

BusGunner007 said:
I agree with Smokey...but thinning the herd scares me.
Makes sense, but scares me.
Click to expand...

Yea, scared me too. Had to do something. I was past full and had rifles leaned in every corner of the closet. Now, there's a choice of a half dozen big sticks to choose from and a few handy hawg legs. Better yet, my ammo supply is 3 piles.... 308/.45/.22LR.
 
If for some reason this was the case, for only one cartridge the .308 win would make the most sense to me. My first instict was .30-06 because of the versitility in using bullet weights from 125 to 220 grain, and being able to load so many different power levels for such a wide range of use. That's great but you are limited to long action, long barreled rifles with the .30-06. That limits your selection to big rifles unless you want to loose performance because as we know the .30-06 looses velocity fast as barrel length goes down. The versitility of an 06 in a large rifle is awesome for hunting. In reality a .308 win can do all of the same things an 06 can. It may not be able to use bullets as heavy as the .30-06 but it can use 180 grain bullets effectively making it suitable to hunt the big stuff in north america. So it is big enough, and it has the versitility of using a fairly wide range of bullets for different use. You can load it to hunt varmints, to defensive and military loads, to big game. Most importantly it can do it in many more rifle platforms with barrel lengths way shorter than the .30-06 can. You would easily be able to find a .308 win rifle or carbine in the configuration you needed for nearly any use in north america. Making it a viable choice for law enforcement, military, home defense, hunting, etc. Plus as we already know it's a top notch target shooting cartridge.
 
in rifle cartriges I would say the .223 rem
in pistol cartriges I would say the .38 special

The 5.56 nato(.223 rem) is far more popular with the military then the 7.62 nato(.308) you can carry twice as much ammo for the same weight with the .223 and believe me it will get the job done. However, this is an indulgence as a thread goes, since you would never hunt deer with a .223 rem and you would be foolish to do much target shooting with anything other then a .22 lr, unless you are pretty well off financially.

That said, my vote is the

38 special
love it in my S&W snub and in my bigboy .357
 
I can tell already I'm not going to be the consensus voter...

But I don't care.

The main factor, to me, is what is the biggest animal I have to hunt with this cartridge.

I'd probably never hunt anything larger than deer, so I'd rather not get beat up the rest of the time with a 30 caliber gun.

So my vote is for .243 Winchester. Not overkill for targets or varmints, not underkill for deer or criminals.

If I have to hunt bear or moose, then I'll bring my .44 Magnum revolver too, or a buddy with a Marlin lever action in .44 Magnum.

If the original poster was really asking about caliber and not cartridge, I guess I could go with .30 cal, but I'd be envisioning a 30-30. ;)
 
.308 in an AR-10 type rifle. police? check military? check any game in north america? check one very good point about the .308 that i havent seen yet is there will be plenty of surplus ammo for a while. .308 can do anything '06 can do in a shorter package. there's a reason the US military switched
 
Wow! A tough question. Modern/newer choice would be a 6.5 Grendel. Older more experienced choice would be the 7.62 NATO National Match military round. Love that 7.62 NATO NM round. Lots of distance to it and really great accuracy. Now, if you talk civilian rounds only, .308 Winchester in match grade quality because that would be close to my military favorite round.
 
Narrowed my choice to two..time to decide

Now I know that much of the previous 3 pages are either jests and humor OR a Religious/Political Crusade for a particular ammunition caliber, based on ethnic origins or social background or Veterans Preferences... etc Ad Naseam

However I am in the process of making a decision about a semi-automatic Hunting/Fun gun that both myself and my lovely wife (who controlls access to the gun budget funds) will use for casual gun-related activities.

I haven't ruled out the NATO .223, but it is a distant 3rd in my selection rating. The two choices we have narrowed to are, 308 (7.62x51 NATO) and 7.62x39 (AK round).

The arms to use these rounds are also 'kinda' narrowed... We are looking at some of the new AK Spinoffs like the Saiga. I love my Saiga-12 and everything I read of the rifles in either of my chosen caliber seems to fill my needs at a reasonable budget outlay.

I am also considering a used Winchester Model 88 or 100 in 308. I had one 50 years ago (a Model 88 Lever action) and loved it, but the 100 is very similar and would be easier for my bride to use. Again budget outlay is about the same for these rifles as it is for the new Saigas and AK's.

As many of you guys who have to listen to your spouses input about expenditures over a certain amount, You will understand why I am approaching this with some "Two-Stepping" and 'double-talk'. Really she isn't going to shoot this gun very often...but she tried my Saiga (with some slugs in it) Bad mistake on my part. Then we put some low-recoil 30-06 in my Model 1903 (low number, so I won't let her shoot it again), so other than the 22 auto-loader, and my snubby 357 which I have her shoot with 38 Special in it, she can't really use my current inventory. So, while I think I want the Winchester 308, I think one of the AK's may be the answer, and be cheaper in the long-run for ammo and 'comfort'.

We are a retired couple with 3 acres of fruit trees in a semi-rural area. Budget is a strong contributing factor in our decision-making.

What am I missing in my 'Cover my Ass' approach to gun buying?? We are in Indiana where full caliber rifle hunting is pretty much a no-no, so unless I jump to a 44 mag I can't use any of the above for local hunting...... EXCEPT when I blow away Bambi in my Fruit Orchard. I have filed papers with the state to claim excessive damage by deer in the past couple of years, but haven't invoked my right to use up to an RPG on deer in MY Orchard. Frankly the Saiga Slug would be my weapon of choice for that activity.

OK This is not a troll post. I would like some honest input ,,,maybe mixed with some of the smart-ass comments needed to draw a crowd in this group ???
Thanks
AL
 
I am sure this will not be the popular opinion but is mine anyway. If I had to choose only one rifle it would be the 300 wm. It will do everything well, maybe too much for deer but dead is dead. It is very good at longer ranges and is capable of taking any game on this continent. I reload so the cost of ammo is not as big of a deal as supplying it with off the shelf ammo and mine is accurate. The same can be said for any of the .30's in know, but the 300 wm does it just a little better and that is what I have.
 
I'm having a hard time narrowing it down to three cartridge/calibers, I can't possibly play this game. This beautiful spring morning, I'll just take my .223 rem, .243 Win, and .270 Win to the range and enjoy shooting each one while contemplating whether I should buy a rifle in another caliber, or another handgun, or another shotgun.

Naw, got enough toys for now.

JP
 
Thanks for the first responders ! I have not 'held' a CETME, although I have read a number of ads and reviews over the years.

As far as the 300 winmag goes, the closeness of everything here in Hoosierland when compared to the Idaho Snake River Valley (think- wide Open Spaces!) precludes the use of round that extend the useful range beyond a hundred yards or so.

I can sit on my deck, facing south..it is 100 yards on the 10 o'clock position to the edge of my orchard land and one hundred yards at the 2 o'clock position to the other edge of this 50 tree project. with woods bordering the property on three sides.
 
I factored in the growing and upcoming public un-rest into the topic, most popular current military rounds are just that for a reason.

If someone's shooting at me the 308 is the last popular bullet I want to have to hide from.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top