Efficient BG Cartridge to do it all.
 

With powder prices going thru the roof, what do you think would be the most powder efficient "do it all" cartridge available today, for any and all Big Game from Whitetail to the largest, meanest or toughest critter you could possibly shoot in Alberta, out to 350 yards max.

338-06, but i think you have one already

The 30-06

30-06

8 rem mag:scared0015:

For me the amount of $ saved between the difference of a large capacity case and a small capacity case has no bearing on the caliber I shoot. Especially for Big game . Target shooting may play a different factor . There are 7000 grains in a pound .Doing a little math using $60 a pound and the is 7000 grains in a pound

If I use 70 gr in a load is .60 cents per load
If I use 35 grs in a load of course it cost .30 cents per .

So for me to choose my hunting gun based on saving $30 per 100 rounds doesn’t make sense. Of course I have used 35 gr on the low end and there are not many hunting loads using 35 gr per load .
A target gun may be a different story . Everyone has different thoughts on spending their money , that is just mine on powder / ammo

6.5 grendle or one of the creed variants.

I'll vote 308 win, not that far off the 06 and definitely less powder. Choose the right bullet and it will work, 7-08 same thing probably.

Perhaps too light for Buffalo

haha, yes...6.5 Grendel!

there's about 10 cartridges reasonably common that fit the bill for this thread, just pick one

while the 6.5 Grendel can get it done, still more on the niche end of things and for overall efficiency i'd be starting at 6.5 creedmoor and stopping around a .270 but i'm not a .30 cal fan at all...modern bullet choices in a .270 would be my fav in the 20th century cartridges, if a 21st century cartridge on the menu then 6.5 creedmoor or the 6.5 prc, two of the 3 most versatile/efficient cartridges going with the wee Grendel the 3rd one

also like 7-08 ballistics alot with the 162gr although i owned one and it didn't seem to get me in the feelers like i hoped, running 160 class it's like a 7 creedmoor...blend 20th and 21st century cartridge/performance

308. Will kill anything in NA and uses less powder than 30-06.

I agree with others that said anything based off of the 308 win case (338 fed, 308 win, 7-08, 260 to name a few). My savage 308 likes 47 grains of Varget behind 150 SST’s. My 740 seems to like 42-43 grains of H4985 with 150 SST’s.

I also like the 6.5 creedmoor, it is pretty efficient. Both of my x bolts like the same load, 41.3 grains of RL16 behind a 143 eld x. Working on a load for 120 nosler e tips, as well as the 120 Barnes ttsx.

30-06 and 270 are excellent choices as well, but do use a little more powder.

You could always use H4895 and run slightly reduced loads, with any cartridge that lists data for that powder. That way you can turn a 30-06 into a 308. You can never do the opposite. Finding a load that is accurate is the trick, but I have found the reduced loads I’ve run haven’t been fussy.

I took a different approach and sold a couple of rifles. I kept the 2 calibers (6.5 cm, 300wsm) that liked the same powder h4350, that way I just stock up on that.

Easy, well until I saw another rifle I wanted to try... so now its 2 powders, oh maybe the rifle would do better with a different powder though, better try, so now 3, well better try this other one too... oh crap.

Ironically Iclund used to beat us all to death with powder efficient cartridges and diagrams no one wanted to hear before he got banned. Fast forward a bit and it Looks like he may have been onto something with the powder shortages.

A cartridge that uses a small amount of powder is great for practise.
When it comes to a cartridge for hunting purposes, who cares how much powder it uses?

What I do is this.....
For practise; a 223 or 6.5Cr. I'll fire hundreds of rounds per year.
For hunting; 300WinMag (or 270Win ) Twenty rounds in a year would be a lot.

A pound of powder and a hundred bullets will last 5+ years for my hunting rifles.

I’d say any short action cartridge of your choice. .308 would be up there on my list, my 7mm-08 would be my number 1 spot.

But then I have lots of powder stock piled, I only use 2 powders for all my rifles so it’s easy to stock up on them and not worry about buying 6-19 different powders. So until I get low enough I’ll keep using my saum for most of the big game I go after.

There is no doubt the .308 case family is more powder efficient than the .30-06 family. Going up in bore size also increases efficiency so my vote is the .338 federal for the criteria of biggest game at up to 350yards.

Personally I’d go with a .30-06 as I feel your getting a little FPS extra which will be good at 350 yards over a .308.

9.3 x 62 with varget and a 286 gr pill
..I have used it to 300yds but not beyond..308 with a 165 pill and varget...or a 7mm rem or bee with imr 7828ssc or 4350

30.06, .308 including most of their children

Powder efficient do-all? I'd go with .308

Meanest and toughest in Alberta, to .350m, bison, bear, Elk, Bull moose
I would be looking at the moderate, 300 mag's 300WSM, Win And the H&H. And up.
9.3x62 and 35 Whelan, 338 win if you handle the recoil.
And at 350 m for Bison, the .375 H&H would have to be a top choice.
1500lbs plus lbs bison, don't seam like the place to save a buck on powder

30-06
And I actually had vanilla ice cream for breakfast this morning. Not even joking.

I'm not sure I would want to go into a willow flat after a gut shot griz with a 308. Actually I don't think I would want go after a griz with anything less than a 300 Mag.

Ya some really missed the OP's question all together.....

3006 will do it all, as will a 280, 7mag, 300 mag, etc.
I have an older friend in B.C. who hunts everything with a 375 H&H and has killed everything from Antelope to Grizzlies plus some African game with it.
Cat

all you guys who think 300 wm 3006 and 338 are powder efficient cartridges are pretty funny :sHa_sarcasticlol:

Pretty sure they intent is to kill in a reasonable amount of time
With less than a box of bullets

Well said as usual. The day I can't afford reloaded boomer cartridges to go hunting is probably the day I can't go at all cause gas and rye are a ton more expensive than gunpowder.:sHa_sarcasticlol:

Read the “it has to be a premium barns bullet thread” pretty clear anything loaded with a ttsx will first shot penetrate the level 4A body armoured game of Alberta every time from any angle or range with drt pinpoint accuracy results. :bad_boys_20:

Powder to run my hunting cartridges is not the issue, neither is the price of the bullets, considering the amount I use every year.
The amount of powder I burn on the range in my match rifles is a different story.
I stated what I did because the will efficiently kill everything in NA reasonably, if you want to go after moose deer and elk as well as Grizzly bears with a Grendel , fill you boots.
Cat

Don’t believe everything you read on the internet