Western Big Game - Caliber Choice?

I use a 30-06, live and hunt in Alaska. A 308 is fine if you use good bullets. A 7mm-08 is fine with good bullets. A 6.5 CM will work, but smaller that I like.

Use what you have. If you need an excuse for a new rifle, a 280 AI is a sweet round.

 

I’m old school and have used a 30-06 for big game my whole life (and that’s a long time). That and the 270 use to be considered the ultimate all around American deer rifle. The 30-06 has been around for almost 120 years. It’s probably the most versatile big game rifle around. Another thing the choice of ammo is almost limitless. And you can find 30-06 ammo anywhere and everywhere. One time many years ago while on a hunt in Wyoming I found I had grabbed the wrong box of ammo from home for my 30-06. We stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere in the boondocks which sold a few odds and ends. Sure enough they had 30-06 ammo. The hunt was saved.
You can get all hung up on ballistics but when it comes down to it , it’s just hard to beat the old reliable 30-06. I’m not bad mouthing other rifles and calibers but just saying for me my 30-06 is my ultimate reliable can do it all game rifle. A very close second is the 270. Similar to the 30-06 the 270 is a very very close second. In fact they are the only 2 rifles I own now a days although I’ve owned many others in the past.

 

As many people mentioned, a go-to is 30-06, but I can also suggest looking into 6.5 and .300 win mags.

Do any of you have experience with decent hunting gear on budget? Mostly looking for advice on binos and maybe a decent hunting scope. Read a bunch of stuff online( mostly "expert" blogs like https://gritroutdoors.com/expert-guides-tutorials/ ), but would love an advice from unbiased source

 

I use 308 it works great, especially if it’s what you already have

 

I've been hunting in AZ for just shy of 50 years. I've used the same Winchester model 70 in .270 win caliber for deer, antelope, elk, and a couple javalina. I do go to a heavier grain for elk, and I have some 110 grain for coyote and javalina.

I had a friend who used a 7mm mag on a small whitetail. That bullet took out a lot of meat. That said I vote for .270, .308, or 30.06.

 

6.5 PRC if you don’t hand load
260 Ackley Improved if you do

Stick with the 6.5s for high BC and low recoil. I’ve dropped plenty of big game with both of these. You don’t need a big 30 caliber cannon. My 2 cents

 

30-06 isn't much more firepower than .308 unless you get specialized ammo or reload it yourself

just go to your gun stores and see what ammo has more available options, 300winmag or 7mm

but, .308 should be fine

 

I can’t help but laugh when people debate 30-06 vs 308. Ballistically they are the pretty much same thing. 308 was designed to be a shorter cased version of 30-06 with very similar ballistics. It just takes advantage of 100 years of powder development to pack the same punch in a smaller package.

go with whichever one you like or that the gun you want comes in.

 

yes, in the same way that 45acp has about the same ballistics as the old 45colt and kind of replaced it.

i like both
i have both

but the bigger cartridge isn't more powerful unless you have a specific gun that can handle the higher pressures (if you reload and are ballzy) that the old cartridge was NOT designed for...

 

How would a 7.62x39 round do against elk? I am looking at buying an SKS for hog/whitetail hunting mainly but I haven't met anyone who have mentioned how it does against real big game. Elk hunt is something on my bucket list so it's something to consider.

 

Not enough range or velocity. If you ar close maybe. Most elk are shot past the guns usefulness. This is my opinion. I’ve been told my 300 win mag is too much for elk by others. We all have an opinion. I base mine on reloading statistics and velocities.

 

Gotcha. The reason I ask is cause of a debate if 30-30 is still a viable round. Some people say no but it's been used for a hundred years with high success, and 7.62 has somewhat comparable stats to 30-30.
In any case I'm also looking at some muzzle loaders that won't have any trouble taking down an elk. .50 cal Kentucky rifle ftw

 

A 30-30 has always been used as a brush gun. Out west, you could very well get close, like archery distance of a elk. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes the play is valley to valley, ridge to mesa type shooting: the win mags, rums, prc’s etc are useful at around 800y +/-. This is shooter specific.
-If you don’t have the skills or ability to gauge terminal performance, don’t do it. Easy as that.

Normal ranges, like 500y and in, a short action cartridge like a .308, creed, 7mm-08, 260 rem etc will be fine. Maybe even a SAUM for some extra ass.

Lastly, the AR cartridges are a doable if your close, and if you’re shot placement is on point. I mean a .22LR will work in the right hands. That said, the AK isn’t really a good round if it hits a shoulder bone. It too likely would lose vital penetration. Especially with a expanding bullet, like you should be using.

 

I hunt right here in New Mexico in the Southern Sacramento Mountains and the surrounding area. I hunt Elk, Mule Deer and Antelope. I also hunt Mule Deer in Utha and Whitetail Deer in Texas. I hunt mostly with a 270 WSM. The Antelope I use a regular 270 WIN.

 

Yeah a friend built an AR10 w 6.5 creed and it's great for hogs(I hunt in TX Hill Country so that's the biggest animal out there) and it's a beast of a gun but we are not shooting from 800+yards like I would be shooting elk from. Definitely important to keep in mind, muzzle energy drops off differently as you said.
I've mostly used Rem 700 .270 but would like a semi auto for hogs/deer that's not .223. More versatile. Definitely will end up keeping the Rem 700 for an elk hunt in the future though.
My family is Australian so my dad went and bought himself a .303 1942 SMLE. He wants to use that for an elk trip... iron sights go out to 2000 yards!

 

Like Sprig I’m a bit old school as well. I’ve grown up hunting in the Redwoods of Northern California. Spent 4 years hunting in the Sierra Nevada’s outside of Yosemite. Hunted out of Vernal Utah and the Western Slope of Colorado. Now both sides of the Cascades in Western Washington. I have two 30-06’s that are my go to guns. One Is a heavy Ruger model 77 wood stock that I bought new in 1981. It has been glass bedded and worked over by an excellent gunsmith. The other is a Marlin X7 with a composite stock that I bought cheap ($200.00) when a local sporting goods store was going out of business. Both provide excellent accuracy with everything from a 125 gr pill to my favorite load using 168 gr Noslers. The Ruger handles 200 gr pills with ease…the Marlin is a little light. It is a cheap/easy caliber to reload as there are multiple powder and bullet combinations. Right now I’m reloading 150 gr Interlocks that Hornady gave me free for buying some of their stuff, these are giving great ballistics and accuracy. All components have been easy to find. While I admit you can get longer shots out of a different caliber, there has never been anything that I haven’t been able to harvest within a 250 yard range. Which in the thick woods of Northern Cal and Western Wa is about as long as a shot I have ever had to take.

 

Ive shot elk with 270

 

I like my .35 whelen for elk but my FIL gave it to me along with a couple hundred rounds of hand loads.

 

Hunted western US for abt 20 yrs and landed on the 7mm Rem Mag a while back. Ammo is readily available, you can get light or heavy depending on what you’re hunting, and if you load for it there are usually components around (other than primers wtf). My Fierce Fury is a tack driver and field proven to nearly 500yds on everything from Coues to elk.

My brother and I are both shooters/reloaders and we debate all the time about best cartridges; ballistically the 7mm stacks up against pretty much anything other than a wildcat. 30-06 is virtually identical ballistically and also readily available ammo, but I find the recoil more manageable for 7mm in comparable loads.

The new Nosler rounds (27 Nosler in particular) looks very interesting but finding ammo is a concern there.

 

The iron sight range settings on some of those old battle rifles crack me up. When you set them to 2k yards you’re aiming up at like a 45 degree angle lobbing rounds like artillery.