Thread: Rifle/ caliber opinions for bush and mountain

20" 7mmremag with a can best all rounder that hits with authority can be shot with no can but at that short its very loud but recoil is fine even in a light gun just need good technique.
generally heaps of ammo selection around

+1 for a suppressor. Often gives you the chance of a follow up shot...

Do you want 1 rifle as a do all or do you want 2
Me, I think you should get like 6... but

It's too late now but if I was starting over again, for a large game rifle I would buy something like a Finnlight [or other brand to suit] in 30 06 and go shoot anything I wanted to.

Originally Posted by Hornady ELDX

300 wsm would do everything with authority

and give you a bit of a kicking unsuppressed, esp in a light rifle.

I'm sure more than a few of us have spotted near mint 300WSMs for sale "only done 20 rounds"..

Originally Posted by Hornady ELDX

I have a 308 and have had a number of 270 rifles.
If i was only to have one rifle it would be the 300wsm.
Never lost an animal up to 645 yards.
Its a pussy to shoot with a suppressor. 150 to 212 grain projectiles and my accubond 180 grain gets a tad over 2920 fps. Lozt a number of animals with the 270 as they didnt fall over straight away.
Never ever had that with the wsm

Yep, it was the fault of the cartridge........

Any of the standard cartridges will do, no need to be magnumized, I'm good to 400 with a .243, never failed me, only have a couple of .270's just coz. If I had to have 1 rifle only, my cartridge might be 25/06 Rem. You're gonna get plenty of earfull on this subject!

I guess one aspect of your question to be considered is: are you a hunter or long range live target shooter.........

Ask 10 hunters, get 10 answers.

I agree that a magnum is not necessary for your needs (I have 2, so I’m not against them). .308 is probably the best chambering for a bush pig and will run to 500m if not too short (perhaps 18”). Or 7-08, or 6.5 Creedmoor. I mention these as ammo will be easier to find if you don’t load and components will be easier to find if you do.

To help answer your question, some factors to consider.
Do you reload? Or are you reliant on factory ammo ? If it’s factory this narrows your choices significantly. But 708, 308, 270, 3006 will get the job done. And 7mmRM and 300wsm if you fancy going magnum.
Next is how much of your hunting is bush vs tops ? If you are mostly bush hunting then you’re probably going to want a short barrel suppressed rifle. The short action cartridges tolerate this better than long action. If you’re mostly tops hunting and you want to reach out further then long action or magnum.
Brings us to the 3rd question - how far do you intend shooting ? If it’s 500 yds or less then any will work. If 600-800 then you need more powder behind the pill than a 708 or 308. And very likely you’d need to reload with the appropriate projectiles, not always available in factory. Or don’t suit your rifle.
What you are asking for is compromise. The end result maybe something that does not do either job well.
Get a short bbl 708 or 308 for bush and a 2nd tops rifle (270, 3006, 280ai, 7mmRM or 300wsm) and plenty of other options if you reload.

one thing Im pretty sure NEARLY everyone will agree on...if you going to run unsuppressed...then 20" or longer is definately going to be more user friendly 24-26" better still,I used a 20" .270w for many years and my hearing suffers because of it.

Originally Posted by Hornady ELDX

I have a 308 and have had a number of 270 rifles.
If i was only to have one rifle it would be the 300wsm.
Never lost an animal up to 645 yards.
Its a pussy to shoot with a suppressor. 150 to 212 grain projectiles and my accubond 180 grain gets a tad over 2920 fps. Lozt a number of animals with the 270 as they didnt fall over straight away.
Never ever had that with the wsm

#1 the OP said unsuppressed so makes it more like a feral cat than a kitten

#2 stop taking pop shots and learn how to track

Now the other approach is .338 Magnum and shoot anything you want.

Rail gun we will all be so jealous and I’m fairly sure there not banned

I live in twizel and grew up in oamaru and can say from experience any caliber will work fine for the terrain you'll hint on buy an medium size (308ish doesn't really matter tho correct projectile choice is more important) and get a tikka or similar what ever you get make sure the scope is decent and don't cheap out on rings and mounts, then go kill stuff

Thanks for everyone's insights.
The ol' caliber question always seems to open a can of worms but think I'll be good with any of the suggestions as they do seem to get the job done well enough. Always pays to get opinions of the local hunters before blindly running into it.
Optics wise I already got a VX5 3-15
but may go 2-10 mag for bush setup after my roar stag encounter ... Decisions decisions

Originally Posted by gonetropo

honestly 308 will do it all, massive amount of different ammo available, can buy it at most shops nationwide as its a common calibre. yeah sure the trajectory isnt the flashest but as an all purpose centrefire its hard to beat

What he said if you want one rifle......otherwise the 243 is the ultimate bush rifle, its my go to and shot plenty of animals with it and it just works.
For the open tops etc theres a number of Cals that will do the job but if you using just one for both the 308 will do the job out to a fair range