7-08.

Aaah I'm blushing lol...

Kidding aside I have no idea why the OP thinks you need anything above a 7-08. If things were to actually really get western shot placement with a stout bullet would be paramount. If I were to be actively hunting a big bear ya maybe would be considering bullet caliber and what pushes it.

270 win, 7mm Honestly folks its not even up for debate!!

Truer words were never spoken, lol. That’s a real panty dropper right there!


But the OP may not be an op, see what I did there ;)

Based on what he has I’d say sell the old 06, and get a lightweight 06. The 280Ai would be my pick over the wsm. Go buy a Kimber or a T3x and slap it in a wildcat.

Keep your 7-08 and use good bullets like 140gr Partitions. If you have to shoot a gbear in self defense your bullet will essentially be at muzzle velocity when it strikes.

Simple answer...The one you shoot most accurately with.

I have a 270,7mm mag and a 300 Weatherby.I feel comfortable with all of them.The 270 is probably the one I would have to choose though.

I have the same 3 in the collection. .270 is the last one I would pick.
Different strokes....

I guess its partly nostalgic,it was my first and only rifle for many years .I killed deer,elk,antelope,sheep and moose with it.Ranges were out to 400 yards, mostly one shot kills.Love that 300 though.

your 7mm-08 is a great all around calibre. I would run 140's in it if you can.

If you want to upgrade I would skip the 280ai (which i think is another great round) and move up to the 300 wsm, which will run heavier bullets better then the 280ai.

You already said you will get a brake so no worry about the recoil in the 300 wsm in a lighter weight rifle.

I own a 7mm-08 in a Kimber Montana with a 22" barrel and I am just building a 7 saum, which is ballistically very similar to the 280ai . My intended use my 7-08 is a lightweight bush /cut block rifle with most shots under 300 yards. The 7 Saum will run 168 to 180 gr bullets and be more of an open country rifle, 200 to 500 yards.

If I encountered a Grizzly I would feel comfortable with either rifle and bear spray.:)

options
 

Of the cartridges listed, for me anyways, I would definitely go with the old '06.
As previously mentioned, bullet options and available ammo are much higher than likely all the others combined. And, at the end of the day, they just work!
Personally, I would opt for a larger caliber. Minimum 338 or 358, or God forbid, the ultimate cartridge, the 375 HH.
For many years, the 338 was my "one gun" selection. Killed everything from antelope to moose. 30-06 would handle them, but then it comes down to bullet selection and bullet placement.

If I could only have one, it would be a .300wby Second choice likely a .338win or .340wby. All bases covered, even good in the gopher patch lol. Killed many a gopher with a .300wby when I was a lot younger and a little more foolish. No follow-ups required

I subscribe to the theory that cartridges are more similar than they are different. Really a .308 or .708 are about perfect in my opinion. You can always go bigger but probably not necessary. Most animals will be shot inside of 300 yards. They should be good out to 450 yards.
Smaller is also good. I would happily use a 243 with a good bullet for anything. That being said if I was to come across a 350 inch bull elk or a 200 inch white tail I would wish for a bit more gun. Not because it’s not capable but you would want to be certain.
People say that recoil doesn’t bother them but I will guarantee most people will pick up a .223 and shoot it a lot more than their 300 WinMag. Not just due to recoil and noise but also cost and availability of components.
Of course that’s just being practical and not fun. I own a good selection of guns everywhere from 204 Ruger up to 338 Lapua AI.

Don't you think that approach should apply to any Game you might take , rather than just a "trophy"? There are valid reasons most experienced hunters wont use a .243 with a good bullet for everything.. and No valid reasons for using one.

300 Win Mag for all ...

180grain Barnes 180 TTSX took this Grouse at 10 m with Sako Finnlight 75 and Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x 44 scope. Shot placement, ( lucky shot as well)

Last year same combination took antlerless Elk at 538 y.

http://i.imgur.com/xY8LE8r.jpg

300WSM all day

I guess you never heard about the 6.5 Grendel yet.

300 wsm
 

I love my 300 WSM in a short action xbolt.
165 Nosler partition at about 3273 fps

Lol
Wonder what that guy is doing…. Besides smoking crack

The Red Headed 6.5 mm Step Child
 

What about the 6.5 x 47 Lapua? The Creed gets all the love/hate i like the x47 better than the Creed. It gets the 140 Berger Elite hunters sailing nicely. Low recoil, high BC high sectional density. Whats not to like. (other than you have to be a reloader)

.375 H&H if you are hunting in grizzly country. Loaded with lighter bullets is a fine deer, elk, moose and black bear calibre. Does little meat damage typically and recoil is relatively modest with lighter bullets. Range and trajectory of .30-06 with twice the energy at impact which means if you get into a pickle with a big bear it will stop a charge. If you ever go on Safari it can be loaded to take anything that walks.

The PRC is my favorite, it drops elk and gets bullets touching at 500 yards.
I has mild recoil and great ballistics.

I have an x- bolt speed in the 280 AI and absolutely love the gun. I’m achieving 2900+ fps with 150 grain eld-x and a moderate powder load. The muzzle brake reduces the recoil to be comparable to a 243. There is so much you can do if you’re a reloader. Accurate as hell. My son has the savage ultralight with the proof barrel in 280AI and has nothing bad to say about it. The recoil is very similar to the 30-06.

Whatever your choice, enjoy!

+1 for 300 WSM

Only because it is not available in 9x19,
I think youre set with any of those short action cartridges.

270 Win for deer sized stuff. Stainless for the coast:

https://i.imgur.com/79m9YiE.jpg

270 Weatherby Mag to reach out for deer and up to elk (top rifle):

https://i.imgur.com/ljqO3od.jpg

300 Weatherby for larger stuff like moose, bears and elk (bottom rifle above).

I have a host of others, but these three are the main Go-To's.

Cheers,
Nog

Exactly this why my pic would be the 30 odd 6 have always had one in the collection and always will

I feel old, so I’m gonna say 30-06. I shoot a 7 Rem Mag for everything though. I have likely only had 4 or 5 aught 6s, but I don’t think I ever shot anything with one. LOL.

I’ve shot a lot of game in my 55 years on this twisted ball of dirt, with 95% being with a 308 or a 7 Rem. Truth is boys, if it is a legal caliber, shoot within it’s limitations, put your shot in the boiler room, and go a fix you tag.

It really is just that simple.

X2

It really doesn’t matter what you shoot as long as you shoot it well. I’ve shot a lot of moose over the years with 270win, 270wsm, 30-06, 300 wm 338 wm. The last moose I shot was with my 257wby and I wouldn’t hesitate to use it again.

I asked a globe trotting friend about his thoughts between a 270 and 30-06 a few years ago. Here was his response.

That is a tough one, but I will give you my personal assessment. I have been using both since the mid 90's. At first, I used the two mixed in with several 7mm and 300 mags, but have hunted almost exclusively with a 270 or 30-06 since 2008.

The 30-06 has a much better selection of bullets available, both in factory loads and component bullets. You can find almost any bullet you could possibly conceive from lightweight varmint bullets to 250 grain Woodleighs. The 1-10' or 1-11" twist you find in most 30-06's will stabilize most of them. I think this is due to the fact that 220's were a fairly common load from the early days of the 30-06.

Like all older cartridges, new powders have given the 30-06 velocities that were unheard of 20 years ago. 150's at 3100 or so, 165's around 2950-3000, 180's around 2850 and 200's at 2750 are all easy to achieve. At that point, it is pretty hard to say a 270 has any real world advantage. I doubt a hunter would notice much difference in a 150 grain 30 caliber bullet at 3100 or a 130 grain 270 caliber bullet at 3100, without getting too gacky. about SD or frontal area.

Last summer I spent some time with my new 30-06 loaded with the 212 ELDX and R26. I was able to get 2750 without any effort at all and the cases have been fired 8-10 times and are still trucking along. That brings up another point, that Lapua brass is readily available for the 30-06, if a guy likes Lapua brass. The 270 has a smaller selection of better quality brass. I recently got 100 pieces of RWS 270 brass. I paid more than Lapua and while good, it is not as consistent as the Lapua.

As far as effect on game goes.....I have not been able to discern any difference on sheep and deer sized game. Both will kill with more power than is necessary. In my experience, I think I have seen more 'effect, or impact, or reaction to the shot' or whatever you like to call it with a 30-06 on animals starting with grizzly, caribou, and elk sized stuff. It may be a mental thing, but I would rather carry a bloody pack full of caribou meat through the alders with a 30-06 loaded with .308, 220 grain Partitions (or whatnot) than .277, 160 grain Partitions.

I will probably always have a 270, as I am a far gone O'Connor fan, and my wife likes to shoot my 270 due to the slightly lower recoil with 130's. Having said that, I have spent hundreds of hours with Brad O'Connor over the years, including staying at his house multiple times, and he claims Jack would always say the 30-06 was a more versatile all around cartridge. He will then point out that while he always had a 270 available while hunting in Canada, that something like 11 of Jacks 12 grizzlies were taken with the 30-06's he also had along on the trips.

Another guy I know, who is a dyed in the wool 270 guy, goes to Africa every year on high volume plains game hunts. He sees literally dozens and dozens of animals taken every year, from impala to eland. Multiple times in the last few years he has told me that while he still loves his 270's, he has found the 30-06 to be a little better on the bigger plains game. And as John Oosthuizen once told me, if you run out of 30-06 ammo, just look under the floormats in the Land Cruiser….there will be some there.

I’m curious as to why anyone would choose the 30-06 over the .270! Wasn’t the .270 round developed as an improvement over the 30-06 shortly after WW1?