If you were going to invest in one rifle to hunt North American big game, which caliber would you pick? This would be for everything from white tail, to moose and Alaskan Brown bear.

I have never had to think bigger than white tail. But if I were going to invest in a dream rifle, I would want it to be able cover the bases for any future hunts I may have the opportunity to enjoy.

Also, what sort of features would you want your rifle to have.....muzzle brake? Hardwood, laminate or synthetic stock? etc...

For a anything caliber I would go with either the .35 Whelen or the 9.3X62. I know almost everyone will say 30-06 but there is no way I would go big brown bear hunting with it. I know it will do it but I would much rather go for the larger bullet.

The .35whelen and the 9.3X62 both are in the 30-06 class but with a larger bullets. Plenty of power but they neither shoot the meat up. Both will drop a whitetail, moose, elk or big brown. Neither are a flat shooting speed demon but for 300 yards or less they are both hard to beat. Heck the 9.3X62 is right on the heels of the .375H&H.

The only problem with either of them is buying ammo at a local shop, since I reload though I don't care about that problem.

As to rifle, to each their own. However a Sako Black Bear is about the perfect rifle for me in the 9.3X62 http://www.sako.fi/sako85models.php?black_bear or if one wanted to go cheaper the CZ 550 in a Kelvar stock or walnut if your taste is for wood http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-550-american/

Either of these rifles will be accurate and dependable.

Scott....what are your thoughts on 300 win mag or 338 win mag? thanks

I am not a huge belted magnum fan but I do like the .338winmag. It would take any big game in North America also but also comes with heavier recoil then the above two. Always a trade off

I know the belted magnums are somewhat old school....but I'm not real smart on rifles in general . What is it about the belted magnums that gives you pause? Hopefully by picking your brain I can get a little smarter, I hope you don't mind

I don't know anout anybody else but my experience with a magnum ( I had a 300 wthby), is that it has a tendency (unsure spelling) to damge the meat pretty good on whitetails. I also found that it shot so fast, I never saw one deer drop at the shot, they always ran like they didn't know they were hit. I had one deer with a hole bigger than a grapefruit on the exit wound run 100 yards! I traded in for a 30 06 weatherby! Much cheaper ammo, and never have to follow a blood trail! Just my 2 cents

I would have said 7mm rem mag until you threw in the big bear. Scott has researched his stuff with good suggestions. I would check out the .340 wby mag.as well.

For the me the belted magnums are overkill on the deer and elk at the distances I shoot. I would never shoot past 300 yards and the .35whelen will handle that on all the game without the shot up meat.

I guess the older I get the more I like the bigger slower moving bullets. Heck I even went to the 180 grain .308 bullet for my .308win and it has performed great on whitetails with no bloodshot meat.

The belted magnums are great rounds! They just eat a lot of powder, tear up meat, have heavy recoil and are overkill for what most hunters actually need. A elk/deer/moose/bear shot with a 225 grain bullet for a .35whelen will die just as quick as a 180 grain from a .300winmag.

Have to agree with Scott on the heavier bullets. I too am moving backwards from current conventional thought. My go to deer rifles are .44 Rem Mag and a .45-70. Those big lumbering bullets don't have great range, but kill real well. A 35 Whelen is a .30-06 necked out to .35 cal, if memory serves. The Benoits who hunt northern whitetails use it as their go to caliber. It is a good cartridge but not easy to find. If you reload it isn't a problem but otherwise if you go to Walmart you are not going to find it. One of the things I also use for picking a cartridge is ease of finding it when on the road. If you go to Canada or Alaska and forget ammo others types are easier to find. That is one big plus for .30-06 and even the 338 win mag. They are very common and can be found anywhere. Another question I would ask is why just one? It would be great to have just one gun for everything but can also cause problems too. Whitetails are relatively easy to kill and I wouldn't want to use a bazooka to do so. Then again with dangerous game,like brown bears, I would want a cartridge that puts them down. You can do that by using different bullets in a common caliber like a .30-06, 150 grain for whitetails and 225 for bigger animals. The gun will take it and as with most things shot placement is crucial. For example, deer shoot right behind the shoulder for a kill shot, bear shoot the shoulder out then worry about the kill shot. Deer generally won't come over and try to eat you bears will. So you don't shoot for a kill but a stop shot. Any well placed heavy bullet will blow their shoulders out and most likely kill them too. I know we are so trained to shoot behind the shoulder that it is hard to break, but it is a different animal and requires different handling. Same goes for hogs and such too. You shoot a hog behind the shoulder you are most likely gut shooting it. Their vitals are shoulders forward. Enough said.

As for a type of weapon that is a personal choice. Synthetic stocks are hard to beat. They don't warp and change point of impact dependent on humidy. If you float a barrels that takes away much of the issue no matter what stock type. And yes, I would get a fully floated barrel. For the steel I would go stainless or at least have one of the new coating on it. TC has weather shield and it is supposed to be 50 times more resistant to rust than stainless steel. For me I want the following:

Thompson Center Icon with a synthetic stock, like bell and carlson make, steel barrel with weather shield in black, fully floated barrel, 22 - 24" long, chambered in .30-06, detachable box magazine if possible, topped with a Leupold Vari-X 3 scope mounted tight to the barrel. Make sure you get real good rings and bases because the scope is only as good as its mounts, the Icon may even come with integral mounts.

This rifle will do pretty much anything you need it to do with the right cartridges.

Well I will get off my soap box. The reason I went with TC is some other rifle makers are taking short cuts right now to cuts costs and I think Remington is one of them. Lots of good guns out there though. If you like lever guns Marlin is hard to beat. Love my .45-70 1895 marlin. Thing shoots almost MOA. Since I am the kind of guy who buys different guns to suit different purposes I might not be the one to ask about one gun for everything. Just as one wrench can't do everything you need on a car one gun isn't the answer to all hunting. My 2 cents.

Vic

Sorry, fingers got away from me.

I like watching the Brown Bear hunts on TV, and have hunted with an outfitter that guides a lot of brown bear hunts as well, and most of the guides uses 45-70 as the back up gun - so I guess that is what I would use in the situation. As for an all-around caliber you would have to sacrifice something in order to use one gun for everything. I would end up limiting range and use the 45-70. It thumps - but is easy to carry and will do what it needs to bring the game down.

Everybody's got there own preference, but I think the .300 Win Mag is hard to beat. When I first started shooting it I had the same problems on whitetails with the 180 grain bullet as everyone else. Guaranteed to lose at least one shoulder to the trauma from the round. I have switched to 150 grain bullets and not had a problem with them since, and most of my blood trails have been very short (within 20 yards). I have also used it to kill moose, elk, mule deer, and black bear. It's a great flat shooting round and performs well when you choose the correct weight bullet for the game you are pursuing.

Neill...very good topic and also very interesting replies

I have a 300 win mag I bought a couple years ago. Shoots great at the range. I have shot a couple deer without excessive damage using Remington's reduced recoil loads. Have not shot enough deer though to know whether that was luck or if the reduced recoil rounds are the ticket for deer.

It seems like most of the articles I have read on Brown bear and moose point to the .375 H&H....but that would just be to big for whitetail imo.

Of course a brown bear hunt would be a dream of mine...probably won't happen any time soon but it's fun to dream

Went through the same process about 4 or 5 years ago when I decided it was time to step up from hunting whitetails with a .30-30 for the past 20 years. So, on the off hand chance that I get to shoot at an elk or a bear or a moose, what caliber did I want that I could also use for whitetail every season. I'm a utilitarian cheapskate for sure. I wanted one gun to do it all without being a reloader. I went with the .30-06 figuring I could find ammo in nearly any department store or hardware store in a pinch and I could get light bullets for groundhogs, medium bullets for deer and black bear and heavy bullets for elk/moose. I love my Remington 700 with synthetic camo stock topped with a 4X12X50 Leupold. I shoot 165 grain interlock Hornady ammo as that is what I found to shoot the best for me. If I do my part, the gun has never, ever let me down. One day, an elk or a moose will meet me and that gun! So from a non-hand loader and everyday run of the mill guy's point of view, the .30-06 was the gun for me.

On a side note, I too have become interested in the heavier and slower guns, particularly the .45-70 and even more so with my 20 gauge rifled slug gun. Big boom, little kick and big hole in the paper!

Its the 30.06 for me and has been for years...