Best all round single bullet

[Webster]

We have thrashed the best all round caliber to death but what about this one: What is the best all round single bullet? ie you may only load one caliber with one bullet weight and type and it must work for all your hunting applications from bushveld to karoo to kalahari etc on all game up to eland - dangerous game excluded. My vote goes to a 270 loaded with a 130gr premium point like a Nosler or Hornady running at about 2850fps. The SD and BC on these bullets are excellent and they will hold together at close bushveld ranges. A well placed shot on a big animal will see it go down. Second place goes to a 308 with a 165gr offering. It goes without saying that you would have to know your rifle and shot placement well. Any offers?? confused0083

[FrankH]

270 loaded with a 130gr

Good question, but don't you think you re really pushing your luck on an eland?

I like the 30 -06 180g (Would prefer the 220 grain for Eland)

A ballistic patriarchy

The .30-06, in 100 years, became the father of many other cartridges. “Neck it down” (that is, narrow the forward part of its taper to hold a smaller, lighter projectile that can go faster at similar internal pressures) and you have the almost equally timeless .270 Winchester. Neck it down further, to a mere quarter inch of bullet diameter, and you have the .25-06, a favorite for small American pronghorn antelope. Widen its case mouth to hold a fatter bullet, and you have the .35 Whelen, a big game cartridge beloved by the cognoscenti for decades.

Shorten the .30-06, and you have the .308 Winchester/7.62mm NATO, today the odds-on choice of military snipers and the precision riflemen on police SWAT teams. Take that cartridge in turn: neck it down, and you have the popular .243 Winchester, or neck it up to create the promising if unpopular .358 Winchester.


A small sampling of the .30-06’s diversity. From left, Remington 55-grain Accelerator (note plastic sabot around bullet), 150-grain soft point deer load, 165-grain soft-point elk load.


For his deer hunting needs, author finds standard-grade 150-grain softnose .30-06 all that’s needed.


Hornady’s introduction of Light Magnum .30-06 made the cartridge more versatile than ever.


The above are not the only ballistic developments that can trace their lineage to the .30-06 cartridge.

As Frank C. Barnes noted in his authoritative text Cartridges of the World, the key to both the popularity and the versatility of this cartridge is the user’s ability to select the particular loading of the cartridge that is right for the job at hand. Said Barnes, “The .30-06 is undoubtedly the most flexible, useful, all-round big-game cartridge available to the American hunter. For many years it has been the standard by which all other big-game cartridges have been measured. To say that a cartridge is in the .30-06 class means it is suitable for any game in North America. The secret of success when using this cartridge is to be sure and select the right bullet for the game and hunting conditions at hand. The lighter bullets…should only be used for varmint hunting. While these bullets can be driven at impressive velocities, starting out at over 3000 fps (feet per second), they are made to expand rapidly on small animals and will not penetrate properly on large game. For deer, antelope, goat, sheep, black or brown bear, under most hunting conditions, the 150 or 165-grain bullet is proper. For heavier game, such as elk, moose, or the big brown bear, the 180, 200 or 220-grain bullet is the best choice….As a matter of fact, the .30-06 will give a good account on all but the heaviest or most dangerous African or Asiatic species under average hunting conditions. The 220-grain bullet is generally recommended for African game, although the 180-grain also has a good reputation there. With the proper bullet, this cartridge can be adapted to any game or hunting situation in North or South America, whether in the mountains, plains, woods or jungle. Few other cartridges can claim equal versatility.”

Most ammunition manufacturers gear their 180-grain bullets for heavier animals, putting stronger copper jackets on them so the bullets expand more slowly and therefore penetrate deeper.

Over the years, I came to the conclusion that the thinner jackets on the faster 150-grain bullets made them ideally suitable for smaller and medium-size whitetail deer. The 165-grain bullet is, like the 150-grain, particularly accurate in most .30-06 rifles, and the 165-grain is the bullet weight I’d choose for all-around use in a .30-06.

The .30-06 has become all the more versatile in the last few years with two new trends. One is Hornady Ammunition’s Light Magnum ammo series, which offers .30-06 loads at higher than usual velocities for the variety of bullet weights available. Another is the proliferation across the brand lines of premium ammunition that uses high-tech bullets like the Nosler Ballistic Tip, the Winchester Ballistic Silvertip, and more. Sport shooters once had to “roll their own” to get that level of specialized performance. Now, in .30-06 among other calibers, it’s available over-the-counter.

Extract of an article by Massad Ayoob

[pietskiet]

my vote would go to the .375h&h loaded whith a 270gr btsp@+-2700fps. I belive the 270 is way to light in the pants for a eland,even whith a barnes x 150gr or nosler 160gr. Min 200gr premimum bullet from a 30cal and that is allready pushing it if you ask me. As to the 30-06... I wil not coment to keep you 30 nul kwes owners from killing me. Second choice would be the 303 or 308 whith 180gr bullets @2500fps. The 338win whith a 250gr btsp would also be a good candidate. Man i need a 375!!!

[Webster]

How many Eland are we going to shoot in our lives? Think of the average animal you are going to shoot. A 130 grain bullet covers almost all your bases with ease. I shoot all my Kudus with a 135gr Sierra and they go nowhere! The 275gr 375 offering does however appeal to me but what about a 175gr 7 x 64? The 175gr in 7 x 57 has killed more elephant than anyone will admit but the 7 x 64 shoots flatter. We forget just how much power our rifles deliver. All too often today we rely on the rifle to do the work rather than the hunter to get a good shot in. Premium bullets lead to more risky shots being taken because they hold together better - long raking shots through the length of the body??? We are losing the skill of hunting. Remember the days when the "lighties" were sent out with the .22 and given 2 bullets and got "dondered" if they did not come home with a buck and the spare bullet? Those okes could shoot. We haver become too impatient - money! I wish I could shoot like that! Maybe one day when I am big. ;D

[pietskiet]

yes my oupa was like that whith my unchels. Thank heavens he got wiser before i could handel a rifle. My oupa 1 almost gave my unchel a hiding when he fired 3 shots whith the 22 in there vegtibal garden. Luckely he then saw the 3 hares so he was obviosly glad.

[BigT]

yes my oupa was like that whith my unchels. Thank heavens he got wiser before i could handel a rifle. My oupa 1 almost gave my unchel a hiding when he fired 3 shots whith the 22 in there vegtibal garden. Luckely he then saw the 3 hares so he was obviosly glad.

Do we need to have another chat about the spellchecker.

[FrankH]

As to the 30-06... I wil not coment to keep you 30 nul kwes owners from killing me.

Piety, just wondering - again.Did you bother reading the extract by Massad Ayoob ,which is posted below? fighting0035

[pietskiet]

i did yes. Personal choice... Lets not get into the whole 30-06 vs everything els debate now

[FrankH]

How many Eland are we going to shoot in our lives? Think of the average animal you are going to shoot. A 130 grain bullet covers almost all your bases with ease. I shoot all my Kudus with a 135gr Sierra and they go nowhere! The 275gr 375 offering does however appeal to me but what about a 175gr 7 x 64? The 175gr in 7 x 57 has killed more elephant than anyone will admit but the 7 x 64 shoots flatter. We forget just how much power our rifles deliver. All too often today we rely on the rifle to do the work rather than the hunter to get a good shot in. Premium bullets lead to more risky shots being taken because they hold together better - long raking shots through the length of the body??? We are losing the skill of hunting. Remember the days when the "lighties" were sent out with the .22 and given 2 bullets and got "dondered" if they did not come home with a buck and the spare bullet? Those okes could shoot. We haver become too impatient - money! I wish I could shoot like that! Maybe one day when I am big. ;D

Hi Dave.
You're the one who mentioned the eland on your original post. If the biggest animal was to be a kudu , Id be quite happy with the 30 -06 180grain.

[Webster]

ja - fair comment! I still would not want to be an Eland with 130gr Rhino aimed behind my blad! LOL about the spellchecker.