What's your one favorite caliber?

[Jagerrand]

375 H&H for me. It is one of my newer guns but I shoot it really well. It puts a smile on my face and animals in the dirt.

 

[BJH65]

I enjoy my rifles in 375, 416 and 458 but have used the 30-06, 7mm Rem Mag and 300 Win Mag far more often so would choose one of those three but it’s really hard to decide. I’ll choose the 300 Win Mag, chambered in my trusty stainless Winchester Model 70 Fwt All Terrain, purchased new in 1995 at Ray’s Sporting Goods in Dallas. It was the only center fire hunting rifle I owned for a number of years.

With it I have killed a variety of African game from springbok to eland, grizzly, black bear, wild boar, deer and elk. Usually with one shot except for grizzly and a gemsbok. It’s been a lucky rifle for me. Sometimes I’ve owned several 300 Win Mag’s but presently just have this one M70 which I’ll never part with.

Pictured is a grizzly and black bear skull with my all time favorite bullet, the long discontinued factory 300 Win Mag, 180 grain Winchester Fail Safe, the best bullet ever made IMO for African game, elk, moose, boar and bear.

Long live the 300 Win Mag Mag!

 

[Huvius]

My favorite cartridge right now is a toss up between the 303 British, 375 Rimless Express and the 500-450 No.1 Express.
They’re all different but I’ll own at least one of each til I die.

 

[BFaucett]

'
.30-06 Springfield. "There is no substitute."

Ruger M77 Mk II in .30-06 Springfield customized by Todd Johnson of Lone Star Armory.

.30-06 220 gr Woodleigh RN

Cheers! Bob F.

 

[CM McKenzie]

I seem to be grabbing my 9.3x62 before any other rifle in my house for the better part of a decade now, so I guess that is the one.

 

[Hillbilly Marine]

For me it has to be the old .270 Winchester. With the right bullets good for everything but great big beasts.

 

[Round Ball]

375 H&H Ackley Improved

 

[DLSJR]

With apologies to the .270 Winchester, 30-06, and especially .264 Win Mag, all of which I love, it’s an easy choice for me…

.338 Win Mag. As soon as I saw this thread topic, my .338 was instantly in mind. I’ve been hunting with it for 40 years now, ever since I got it for a 1985 spring bear hunt on Kodiak. I’m on my 2nd barrel, it’s the gun I grab most of the time, no matter what I’m hunting except buffalo or elephant. And I wouldn’t hesitate to use it on a buffalo or elephant with the right bullets. I just wish it was legal for them.

If it wasn’t my .338, the next easy choice would be .375 H&H.

 

[mdwest]

308 is my go to caliber for 90% of the hunting I do both locally and internationally..

 

[JT68]

.308 Win

 

[Flbt]

For where I am at and what I hunt.
The 6mm Remington
Turkey, coyote,deer and hog have all fell to it no problem.
If bear season comes back it is a little light but would work with a 100-105 gr bonded bullets

 

[WyoBull]

Not a caliber you would think about on an Africa forum but my favorite all time caliber is the 220 Swift. I don't hunt big game with it but have hunted a lot of varmints (coyotes) over the years. Having shot this caliber and hand loaded for it for the past 45+ years, it is one rifle I always grab when heading to the country.

 

[Hififile324]

The .30-06 for me! "The .30-06 is never a mistake"

 

[Rifleman97]

I’m glad the question is “favorite” and not “if you could only have one”

257 weatherby mag. It’s such a good looking round, it flies a bullet at Mach Jesus (my loads are 100 grain at near 3700fps, I know guys that sacrifice a bit of brass life to get 3850) so lead time is almost nonexistent, drops deer like crazy, can blow holes through AR500 steel if it’s any thinner than 1/2”, it has killed just about every non dangerous game animal on earth. Plus at least one Buffalo from Roy Weatherby himself. He didn’t intend to kill Buffalo that day but they were hunting non dangerous game and got charged and he shot it.

It’s just a great little round, it’s definitely not a do it all round, but it’s hyper specialized for what I do most often, deer and antelope hunting without a rangefinder with shots up to 400 yards. With a point blank range of roughly 400 yards, and flight time low enough to make wind almost not matter at that distance, it makes a lot of shot opportunities exist that wouldn’t otherwise with a slower cartridge. No need to measure distance, dial, hold for wind. Just aim middle of vitals and you’re good to go.

 

[IvW]

7x57mm

 

[Tanks]

For most of my hunting, last decade or so, it has been with .500 caliber. Specifically, .500 MDM and .500 NE.

 

[mauser98]

The 8x57. Its my first love. 160gr-250gr bullets will take care of everything in North America.

 

[Safari Dave]

I usually go for a .30/06

 

[buffybr]

Probably my favorite caliber is .30.

I shot my first elk with a .30-40 Krag.

My first centerfire rifle was a .30-06 that I used for about 10 years for everything that I hunted in Colorado and Montana, from prairie dogs, deer, and antelope, to elk.

In the late '70s a friend gave me a .30 Gibbs case, and I thought that it looked so cool that I had my .30-06 rechambered to that cartridge. For the next 20+ years my .30 Gibbs put an elk into my freezer almost every year, plus 2 Shiras bull moose, an Alaskan caribou, and a mountain goat.

Then in 2009, after 40 years of wanting one, I bought a .300 Wby and after it's first hunt in Texas for exotics, I used it on a New Zealand hunt, multiple African hunts, a couple of Montana elk hunts, a Dagestan Tur in Azerbaijan, and for an Alberta bull moose a couple of years ago.

 

[Phil Giordano]

8x68S for me.
Same class of the various 300s, with a bit more weight and frontal area, in a beltless round, and a gentle shoulder that puts pressure down and makes chambering easier.
Love it!