From now until you die. Pick only one. Not necessarily an end of the world situation. You are just limited to one.

I would pick .357 mag. Can use in pistol or rifle. 110 gr all the way up to 200 grains. I've shot everything from rabbits to deer and pigs, it's cheap to reload and can be made very accurate in a rifle.

.30-06 bolt.

Too many variables in your question such as if the TP&W code must be adhered to or is it a scenario based on factors free from such restrictions.

.308...very common and can be easily acquired.

Hard to beat .357 or .44 mag if you can have only one caliber for both handgun and rifle applications. Same logic could apply to 7.62x39 and .223.

375 H&H as long as you allow me to have any ammo I want. With solids you can use it for small game and also the biggest stuff on earth. With regular ammo you can hunt everything else. You can get ammo for it all over the world. In a pinch you could use a reduced load with a wadding and lead shot out of it. Pattern wouldn't be very good but you could use it for short range birds.

.357 for me , revolver and a lever action

You decide. I'm not that serious about it.

This is the correct answer. Provided you can shoot hand loads, can cover every animal walking, with manageable recoil and good trajectory.


I love the .300 win but don’t want to shoot Cape buffalo or Big brown bear with it.

If I was restricted to the lower 48, then a .300 win no question.

45-70

9 mm. This one's crazily easy, yet I almost left 9 mm off my top five pistol list, because I don't really love it. But, it fits in most of my carry guns. It will work for the matches I shoot, and the matches I shoot are 99.5% the shooting I do. I can put it in a PCC if I wanted to go hunting with it rifle. I could even get real crazy and get a bolt gun built around it and crank the pressures up to something stupid and have a 75 yard rifle, maybe even 100 LOL for hunting. And if I decided not to hunt with it at all I can still hunt with a bow or crossbow and kill everything up to and including an elephant with that.


Also, 9 mm is very cheap and available

22 WMR. Suitable for small game and predators, mild report with a silencer and will kill anything in Texas with proper bullet placement.

20 or 12ga. Ducks, dove, deer, pigs, squirrels, rabbits and anything else that needs to be hunted. Home defense as well.

12 gauge. You can load it down, you can’t load a sub-gauge back up. 12 gauge does it all, there is no contest.

I feel this scenario would only come into play at an end of the world situation so I’m going to say 9mm, you can do a rifle and pistol. Short range you can kill what you need.

I like your thoughts on this. A S&W 686 and a Marlin 1894 would be most effective.

I second .357.

12 Gauge- can be used for anything. From brown bears to Quail.

This but 30.06

I can agree to that, have it already and hunt with it often. Have a couple Ruger Security 6s, barrel for the Contender and Marlin 1894 16 inch barrel for it. Those have worked well on critters small from snakes, squirrels, rabbits, deer and hogs up to 240lbs. Load light or heavy for how you want.

.357 is where I was at first. I already have the S&W 686 and Marlin 1894. Thinking more about it, man this is a tough question. I do love to plink with handguns. I work at that and really enjoy it. I am also a big game hunter. I also love to bird hunt and really enjoy bird dogs. If push came to shove, I would give up handguns before the bird dogs. I most often use a 20 ga for bird hunting. If I throw big game in the mix with birds and small game, then 12 gauge it is. Not my favorite for anything but would work well enough for all.
The real answer is “nope. I ain’t gonna do it.” Thank goodness it is a hypothetical question…

This is the same way I ended up at 9 mm. Look at what you do, and what you can make work best within those parameters. I don't really like 9 mm, but it does the most things in the most ways for what I do, so if I can only have one that's probably what it would be

The real question is what if you had to settle for one gun? Do you pick the most practical or the most sentimental, or the finest? Or do you have something else, something on your wishlist or dream/bucket list of guns you would opt for if you had to choose one?

77/22 Mag

That's a handsome rig, Trapper.

45 Colt in both revolvers and levers. It does everything I would need it to do.

I concur, or .454 get’er done Casull.




Ntxtrapper, you mentioned TPWD regulations on hunting. If I’m ever limited to one caliber, laws will be last thing on my mind.

Don't forget the Ruger 77/357. Also, if you fancy a semi auto pistol, you can pony up and get a coonan. 357 has always been my favorite cartridge. I have multiple revolvers, leverguns, a break open rifle, a bolt action rifle, and a semi-auto all in 357. The only thing you can't do with it is shotgun. Well, not effectively. You can load snake shot. But that's not effective past a few yards.

12-gauge shotgun. Serves well for both personal protection and for taking wild game.

Yes, it is.

These answers are insane but I guess thats because its an insane question. Rifle, pistol and shotgun are normally used for such different purposes its really an impractical question. Somebody start one about just one "rifle" cartridge and it becomes a little more manageable.

Well, I did title it "absurd", so I don't disagree with you.

The one, the only, 30-06

The benchmark that all other calibers are measured by.

6.5 CM of course

The answer is largely dependent on what a person plans on doing for his hunting career.

A person who only hunts smaller game or hogs can be well served with a .357 or .22 mag, but if you hunt elk or Mule deer you might as well carry a baseball bat. African game is largely out.

I would imagine 180 gr hard cast approaching 1800fps out of a rifle would work with Elk too. Not the most effective, but in a pinch, why not? I would want to be close though. Like bow range close.

I like the responses so far. Another fun topic.

I go 223. Would be the most versatile for my needs.

Volquartsen made the 22 Mag threaded barrel as a special request from me. I have never seen another one.

I was actually looking at those 77/22M with the Zytel stock today GB whoa boy have those gone through the roof. Definitely inspiration and something I want but don’t know if I want it for $1500+ lol.

if you kept your shots real close and held for the neck, I'm certain it would work. But not a lot of margin for error, really quite a bit less than using a bow. And you can only get that close during certain times of the year with any certainty

Admittedly, I've never hunted elk, but that load will pass through a big pig diagonally, so penetration is there.

If I didn't already have one, I'd buy one for that all day.

An elk is tougher than an pig and go a long, long way very quickly.

If that was all a person had and the tumblers line up right, you could make it work, but it’s on the south side of less than ideal.

African game?

https://seismicammo.com/product/2-5-oz-12-gauge-slug-single-box/

Easy…12 gauge. Can be used effectively for everything (bird and big game hunting, protection and recreational shooting).

The upcoming Petersens AMMO SIP (special interest publication) actually asked this ? to a bunch of us industry professions and trainers. We were asked "if you could only have one caliber and one load for the rest of your life?". They stipulated that we could have as many guns and as much ammo as we wanted.

My pick was 300 HAM'R with 125gr Lehigh Defense Controlled Chaos ammo.

Watch for it on newsstands soon

If the idea is that we can have as much ammo as wanted, as in cost is not a factor, then I'd change mine to 6.5 grendel.

The 300 ham'r does seem like an excellent choice for my needs other than longer distance target shooting.

One caliber only- that's an easy answer. 300 Win Mag, hands down everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.

hahah, go big or go home! love it

Yup, but with the right components that big one can be loaded for many uses. Haven't looked at it in years but 30-30 level to full throttle loads are pretty easy.

I'd have to pick something 30 cal because of the wide variety of bullets...125's all the way to 200+ grainers.

For that reason...I'd prolly pick a 300wsm...not to big, not too small...it's "just right"

That’s a terrible load for African game. Has the trajectory of a thrown rock.

Would also kick like a government mule.

There is a reason those old 4 and 2 bore rounds went out of style

.375 H&H
300 solids for elephant
300 gr Barnes TSX for cape buffalo
260 gr Accubond for all else

My favorite rifle is my Ruger 77/357. Just too handy and gives the advantage of having a matching revolver. Can load it light or can load it heavy.

But I really like my CZ 527 in 6.5 Grendel too.

.357 mag is easily my choice as well. Most versatile cartridge I can think of. Plenty of handgun options, .357 lever actions are awesome and capable of whitetail and under with relative ease.

This is actually a great point that i didn't really think about, but probably should have.



I think i'd like to officially change my answer again to 300wsm. I guess that just means in this hypothetic that I will have be an expert reloader. I'm totally fine with that.

Here is a link to a little about reduced loads, https://gundigest.com/gear-ammo/reloading/accurate-5744-powder-versatility-in-a-bottle

The old quick data pamphlets powder manufactures did for years included reduced loads in in them for most cartridges that used 5744 powder. The full house loads were generally slower than other powders by a bit but the velocity range was impressive low to high.

Works for me.

BINGO

12 Ga shotgun.

.30 Super Carry. Well, you did say “absurd.”