Voted .264. I know you have used the .260/6.5x55 before and either makes a dandy general purpose Texas round. If you want to add a burner, the new Nosler offering in 6.5 spits them out.

I started hunting with a .30-06, used a .25-06 for 30 or so years, and have pretty well settled on the 6.5x55 as filling my needs.

.270 for me.

This...being that we a talking Texas I just don't see a need for anything bigger. It seems to me that one rifle with one bullet will suffice.

One sheet of toilet paper will work too, but a handful sure is neater.

That was my choice.



But this is very hard to argue against.

I love the 7mm-08 and other .284s for their efficiency but I end up using a lot o .308 stuff just because of their ubiquity, e.g. 30-30 and 300BO. I don't think you could get me to choose between the two either since .284 stuff seemed a little easier to find during the panics. Same with .25-06 and .270. 6.5 wasn't such a big deal at the time so I don't know how it'd handle a rush but I think it has taken some attention of the 7mm lately so I'm glad that it might help more 7mm stuff remain available. The thing that seemed to take the longest to come back for some reason was .243 but that's off topic.

Understand where I'm coming from with this excercise, as an old fart that's getting older by the day, with a shoulder that's been thru rehab several times for various serious insults over the last 4-5 years, and will never recover to the strength or ability to take the abuse levels of the left shoulder....coupled with a desire to reduce the inventory needed of ammo components to a lower and simpler level.

I am amazed at the # of 30 cal shooters in the Poll as of this morning @ 50% of all respondents. Wow, who knew.

I can appreciate the value to me of a 308 wide MV options even in a under 7lb up shooter for most of my hunting paradign max range of 3-400 yards & in a heavier Tgt/Vt configuration could most likely tolerate more recoil ginned by a '06 or WMg of some sort. I've drooled for years over a Kimber Longmaster 308 that fits me perfectly, since Sportsmans Warehouse closed out the last one in Lewisville when they left town how many years ago? Never have understood why they didn't offer the LM in a 7-08 or 6.5 ..."designed as a walking hunter's long range rifle".

My concern with a 30 cal is the higher MV's needed at the upper end of the max range for a walking Mule Deer/Aoudad hunter capable of past 600 yards...and may be picking fly poop outta the pepper. Right now the 8 1/4lb all up 300WSM Fwt gets onerous doing load ladders and breath/trigger discipline exercises much past 20 rounds even wearing a PAST Pad & could probably be answered with a better stock shape, but is a joy to carry any distance lots mo bettah than the M70 Classic Tupperware 300WMg was ...and was the justification for buying the Whizzum to begin with.

Been a long time since I could handle couple hundred rounds of Deer/Elk sized CF's off the bench in a all day range session. Need to borrow a full sized 7Rmg for a range day later & before I start fulfilling the Plan and see what that attraction is all about.

OBTW...a 7x57's max chamber pressures FWIW is about 10k psi less than a 7-08's as I recall and MV's only fall to about 2 mebbe 300 fps under a 7-08's depending on bullet weight, anybody shooting a 7-08 at say 2400/2600 fps on game, and at what distances is it still DRT viable on WTails & Hogs?

Sorry to sound like a teenager trying to have EVERYTHING with no real investment in what's necessary to reach the goal. Just another another spoiled brat I guess....and proves that YES there is a 2nd childhood in old age.
Ron

Getting old is not what we expected. I agree. I think you have answered your question but don't wish to accept it. .308

Never have understood why they didn't offer the LM in a 7-08 or 6.5 ..."designed as a walking hunter's long range rifle".

Reason it wasn't offered was it was not needed, the .308 could do everything and a tad more. Now if you had gained 45 pounds rather than lose the weight?

JMHO--you can always load that 308 or 30-06 or 300 WM down to alleviate the recoil yet still have it available in the event an old friend invites you to a hunt where you might want more "umphh"

It may have been the way the question was worded that pushed things toward 30 caliber. That was certainly what happened in my case, as just one caliber for Texas hunting brings elk, and possibly charging boars to mind. If you are going to have just one caliber, then of course you would want something effective enough to handle anything that you might encounter, and handle it well.

If we had been asked, "If you had an injured shoulder and wanted to shoot deer or pigs, which of these would you choose?" - then maybe 30 caliber would not have been the top choice.

In that case, I would have most likely voted for .264.

But that's just me.

308. I can load my 30'06 up or down to handle dang near anything that walks or crawls with the available bullets in 308.

For me, a 120gr (ish) bullet at 2900-3000ish is a sweet spot considering trajectory, recoil, rifle handiness, and terminal performance. That means, 257 Roberts, 25/06, 260Rem, 6.5CM, etc. And yes, for nilgai, or exotic elk, I'd probably want a little more.

a 3006 you can buy from 125 grain to 220 grain

I dont see how this couldnt be the pick for a "one caliber" rifle no matter if it is Texas or the lower 48

308 is good,if you neck the suck out of it.

Well, Texas hunters normally don't chase big animals like moose, elk, etc.... But, if exotics are figured into the equation, certainly .30 caliber would be the obvious choice. And the obvious choice for the lower 48. Heck, it wouldn't bother me a bit to hunt everything in North America with my .300 Win or .300 WSM.

yes, no doubt a 300 Mag would certainly work on 90lb Hill Country whitetails. But I'd sure rather be carrying a 257.

Me too. That's why I voted .257 in the Texas poll.

264 is what I voted for but could easily argue for any of the others listed. Already have the 6.5s covered from mild to wild and they are what I shoot most these days and have the most bullets for.

I saw a bull elk crossing the highway late one night near Marathon, on my way to Alpine that was awe-inspiring. - I had no idea that anything that big lived in Texas but yes, they do.

If you want to hunt elk in Texas, several of the ranches in the Alpine area offer hunts, just be ready to pony up because they are not cheap.

The Poll is over and as ya'll can see that the 30 cal won going away. Hard to not shoot a 308 or 30'06 as a do all caliber. My only concern is the need? for a long range Aoudad/ Mule Deer gun that's not too heavy to carry or to hard on my shoulder. I've spent plenty of trigger behind a half dozen 300WMg's over the years and know what it can do on game critters....and my shoulder doing load ladders. If I were to buy a new something , then my kids will inherit a rifle that is just hitting it's 500-800 round prime...the other 2 configurations I plan on wearing the barrel out.

Probably gonna start with a carbine length something, to make it easier to get in and out of popups and box blinds, or climb trees with...I really oughta get a film crew for the tree climbing deal and see if I can 10% of what the Duck Dynasty guys make doing stupid stuff like falling out of a tree. Then a "standard length" something in a VT configuration most likely in the same caliber as the carbine...with the L/R hunting rifle as the last thing to put together.

A lite doall carbine in either 7-08 or 308 is a peice of cake to find, the VT is probably gonna take a new barrel, trigger and stock most likely from what I'm seeing on GB & in the online distributors listings, and a L/R hunter could go any number of ways from a mini TLC'd bone stock Rack Item to some TLC'ing a better grade shooter. I'm not in a hurry & I've got enough glass to get started....but big glass is gonna be the next part of the equasion.

Thanks to All who posted, your insight and opinions were interesting.
Ron

257wby.

But the smaller 6.5 CM platform is hard not to grab.

It will always be the .30-06 for me. You can shoot anything from 110 gr. predator rounds up to 220 gr. for bear. Throw in the 125 gr. managed recoil loads, and you have a rifle that will cover anything on the North American continent.

I was using .308 for number of years and switch to 7-08 - better selection of light bullets for smaller game, and very good ballistics with heavy bullets for long distance shots, less recoil, lighter rifle...

Excellent choice for one rifle only in N America. Also available in proven rifles.

I for one have enjoyed all the response as I like seeing the interest in the various cartridge. The post also caused me to think about if I only had one gun here on the ranch that I live on (God forbid), which would it be out of all those I own? I think it would be the Savage 340 chambered in 30-30 Win that I turned into a scout rifle. It's a super slick little magazine fed bolt gun that delivers sub-MOA performance with my 170-grain lead bullet.

The 30-06 for me.

308 for me. Will take anything in Texas and most game in the rest of North America. Great round for reloading as well.
Not as sexy as the mm type rounds but a time tested reliable caliber.
Check out what Doctacdaddy does with it on you tube.