hey, i've been thinking about possibly buying a rifle that can be used for a wide variety of animals, preferably animals between and including fox and deer. i thought maybe a .243? what animals can this effectivly kill and would this be a good rifle for all around hunting, say if i wanted to go from small game to hog hunting in a day? if so, what are some good brands and how much would a good quality rifle cost? or any suggestions for a different rifle would be also be helpful.

Thanks in advance

30-06. with special small game bullets will work for fox and then u can hunt moose with them so they are pretty much the best all around gun just my 2 cents

I agree with the 30-06. Will take any north american big game, and you can use the smaller loads for the smaller animals. No expert here, just my .02

I agree.... the 30.06 is a great choice! You can buy amo anywhere. I dont rifle hunt anymore, but my wife shoote the .06

wow, i didn't know you could buy small game loads for the 30.06. i already have one so i think i might be in business. does anyone know what the specifis of the loads are? of cours it probably just says Small Game Load right on the box. thanks again

Well well , you learn something new everyday . I have a couple -06's and it never crossed my mind to hunt small game with it . Not that I could here in Jersey .

i will have to get the names but they are 22. heads on a 30-06. bullet they are so fast and hard hittin they wont know what hit them

Well, why your thinking about all around guns don't forget the .270. It's a great whiletail gun and at the same time there are plenty of light loads that could be used for varmits such as coyotes. It may be a bit much for ground hogs and such but so would the 06. I hunted with an 30.06 for many of my early years hunting and liked it but what I disliked was the bullet drop. The .270 is flatter shooting, less recoil and in my humble opinoun a great all around gun. I have two, a Remingtion BDL and a homemade copy if a winchester 1886 falling block in .270. Both are very accurate, although the 1886 is a little more accurate, 3/8" groups at 100 yards.

I guess the bullet drop could be solved with lighter bullets but I'm now sold on the .270 so I may be biased. ;)

I agree with you washout.... 270 is a fantastic choice as well...

well i have found that the 270. is a vary nice gun but when shotin close range it will destroy the pelt the 06. will do less pellt damage and is vary fun

found out the name they are called excelerators 22. cal head and 30-06. shellfastest bullet made in my opinion pull the trigger and it's dead

dont mind spelling if u cant read the name ask i will get the box


by the way perfect for ground hogs used them those buggers aint doggin it lol

ya thats what it was called used them for squairrl not bad either bu tbetter for like groundhogs

shot a racoon with them lastnight wow never saw somthing like a coon drop that fast and without a flinch lol

I've hunted with a Remington 700 ADL in 270 Winchester since 1968. I've reloaded for the 270 since 1980 in a variety of bullet weights. I take my deer with a 130 grain Nosler Partition and practice with a 130 Nosler Ballistic Tip, reloads. I hunt moose with a Nosler 160 grain Partition, reload, and have been permitted for four and dropped four. Only one required more than one shot and If I'd stayed the he'll out of the boiler room, I'd only meed one instead of three.[there is a story behind those thre shots - another time] It's flat shooting and will thread a bullet through a needles eye.

I have found over the years that the FPS talked about in the reloading manuals is linked to barrel length. Most hunting rifles for 270 are 22". There are a few 24" Test barrels are 26" Since I chronograph all my loads, and have two 270's, 1 with a 22" barrel and 1 with a 24" barrel, I noticed very quickly that there was a difference in FPS, using the identical load, in the two rifles. The 24" barrel was faster, every time. Just to let you know what barrel lenght can do for you in FPS.

The real key with any rifle is to be properly married to it. That means you and the rifle, sights, and round. Fine tune your round to you rifle, accuracy instead of speed, spend the time shooting it in both live fire and dry fire with snap caps, and whether its a 308, 270, 280, or a 30-06, you'll be able to accomplish the task. Each of thes calibers has a bullet weight capable of taking all the game North America has. You just need to load it properly, know it's MPBR, and practice with it so you and the rifle are ONE!

I would have to say the all round rifle would have to be either a .366DGW or the .450 # 2 Nitro express. (Now not all people say I am well if you know what I mean) However both of these cartridges will allow you to hunt any thing any where in the world! If legal bore diameter enteres into the question then the .450 is the choice hands down.

Jud,

Have seen you mention the .366 a couple times now. What is the story behind the caliber? What does the DGW stand for?
What are your favorite bullet weights and ballistics for it?
Would be interested to hear more about them from someone who actually shoots one.

The .366DGW is a direct neck down of the .416 Rigby case to 9.3mm or .366 diameter. No other changes are made so fire forming is not really needed. The D.G.W. is for David G. Walker, a customer who came up with the idea of this cartridge as a joke to get the upper hand on a "who has what game" around an African camp fire. When he told me about this I did not find it all that funny but it did seem like a good idea so I developed the cartridge.
You can find info on it on page 201 of the Tenth Edition of Cartridges of the wourld. You can also call me at 207-938-3595.
The .366DGW will push a 300 grain Swift A Frame at just over 2900 F.P.S. giving over 5600 FPE, or a .286 grain bullet at 3150 and the 250 grain slugs at 3253 FPS in my rifle. In Africa I used the 300 grain Swift load and it gave very good performance with all one shot kills with most critters down in their tracks. If I can, I will post a picture of the .366 with a .308 on the left and a .416 Rigby on the right.

Remember the game for this rifle was varmints to deer.
If your not reloading your own then you have 3 very good choices.
25/06
270
30/06

Now if you are reloading
257 Roberts
6.5x55
280 Rem

My picks.

I was keeping that in mind, but if I have enough rifle to take on an Elephant or Cape buff then deer and varmints should be easy don't you think?

A lot of us in our club (lease) use 7mm mag. I droped mine out of a tree, broke the stock, and had to use my ar15 (223) in an emergancy. I shot a deer through the neck at 220 yards. He droped dead in his tracks. It is all in the placement of the bullet.

greatwhitehunter1,

Can you give the name again for the .22 load for 30-06. I can't find it at all over the internet?

Thanks

The round was called 30-06 Springfield ACCELERATOR and has been discontinued. Or so I believe. The round was available in not only 30-06 but also a 30-30 configuration. Any way you'll have to search to find some stores that may still have some stock. here's a link to one..... Ammo Bank.

The round was not very popular and so never really caught on. The bullet, a 55 grain 22 Remington PSP was encased in a plastic (nylon) sabot and loaded into a 30-06 case. Bullet was real fast at arounf 4200 fps is what I remember. The lack of popularity stems from the fact that this round was not very accurate. I seem to remember people claiming 2+ inch groups as the best they were getting.

The sabots are still available to those who reload. And they come in different sizes to fit different base calibers. Even the reloaders had problems with accuracy in this round.

They still should be a hoot to play with. Anything with that much speed just gotta be fun.

Here's a link to a site that sells the sabots for reloading any 30 caliber with 22 bullets. 22 sabots

This would be interesting to try with some of the high weight VLD bullets. They may help stabelization better. One of the problems with these sabot loads is the barrel twist is not tight enough for the short length that these 22 bullets have.

i loved my 30.06 till some meany came into my home and stole it.

Just a thought for you, look at AR's. They can come in different calibers and you can buy different uppers to change as needed. Check out the ADCO.com site for more information. Good guy, I bought one from him and he's easy to deal with and very knowledgeable.

here is a link to a dutch auction ( meaning multiple boxes ), it also has a good pic as well.


http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=84714037