If you could have only one caliber, what would it be?

[MOA]

45 colt. Handgun, rifle, carbine, shotshell use in handgun. Covers large an small game needs. Straight wall, low pressure, will work fine with BP or smokeless. Will poke large holes in anything.

[rintinglen]

I voted 38/357. I have a plethora of good handguns that could shoot one or the other or both of theses chamberings. My Rossi carbine can kill any game within 300 miles of me. But I find no flaw with those who vote either 30-06 or 12 guage. Either one could be pretty much do all choices.

[mpkunz]

I'd kinda like to know what other calibers people were thinking of when the chose "other".

[Knightflyer]

I kinda went through this. I'd been saving for a rifle for over a year. I wanted a lever gun (it's the cowboy in me) but it definitely needed to be useful for hunting whitetails, possibly mule deer and maybe even elk. .308 bolt actions were tempting as they could take any of those animals, but I really wanted a lever. Henry makes their Long Ranger in .308, but getting one of those meant saving for a couple of more years... So my 30-30 was a compromise. It could take whitetails with ease, mule deer wouldn't be a problem. Elk it might be a bit under powered for, but with the right bullet and load, not out of the question inside 100 yards. And really, the one guy I'm most likely to hunt elk with has a 30-06 he can loan me if I want.

Reloading is easy and cheap, and my kids love my cat-sneeze plinking loads.

[Gunslinger1911]

Haha, Took about 10 pages, but now the 45 Colt guys come out !!!
I think a 38/357 is the way to go for most (it really is the best compromise around - to me).

BUT, for me, 45 Colt.
This is my caliber.
S&W 25: carry, lite-ish loads. Colt Anaconda: heavy hunting loads. Win 94: longer range hunting. American Arms derringer; just 'cause.
I have 6 or 8 different moulds in 45 to cover about any situation.

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

[col.farkle]

Well, as a wildcatter, I find this a tad unfair. My .458x2 can be loaded for rabbits to grizzly bear. A .300bo is okay but I wouldn't use it for a bear. If I can't use my Wildcat then it had better be either a .458 socom or a .45-70. Has saami spec'd for the SOCOM yet?

[MOA]

Haha, Took about 10 pages, but now the 45 Colt guys come out !!!
I think a 38/357 is the way to go for most (it really is the best compromise around - to me).

BUT, for me, 45 Colt.
This is my caliber.
S&W 25: carry, lite-ish loads. Colt Anaconda: heavy hunting loads. Win 94: longer range hunting. American Arms derringer; just 'cause.
I have 6 or 8 different moulds in 45 to cover about any situation.

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

Well, someone needed to lead the way........ha, ha.

[Gunslinger1911]

MOA, We gotta stick together !!

Now, if we take the "class of caliber concept", I know, not the OP's intent -
I add 454 Casull . Just so I can keep my 45 Colt chambered guns too. lol
Also, to further muddy the waters, I can (and have been considering doing for a while), sending the M25 45 Colt to TK Custom to have it cut for 45ACP moon clips.
Sooooo, now I have added 45ACP to the mix, I can count the 625 ?? (My most accurate revolver).
Not to mention assorted 1911's.
Doncha just love mental gymnastics ????

[charlie b]

As the question in the header was what caliber not cartridge I would choose .358. This would give the option of 38spl, 357M, 35Rem, 358Win, 35Whelen, 350Rem and 358Norma any other than the 350Rem could be fired in the 358N with a chamber adapter and some could also be used for handgun. Other wise it would be 454Casull handloaded from wild to mild in both the Puma 92 or a FA revolver.

Yep, I was thinking along the lines of the .35 cal for the same reasons. You can throw in the .38 Super or .357 Sig for auto cartridges too. Still decent aerodynamics for long range rifle shooting with the big magnums.

[500Linebaughbuck]

ehhhh........you picked a hard answer. if i had to choose...444 marlin. you could load it mild. you can load it wild. somewhere(i don't remember the forum but its probably marlin forum) a guy mentions to load up 3 round balls(i'm guessing .432") and he can load shot shells(either a 410ga or 444 marlin) with it.

to me, you can't go wrong with the 444.

edit: i found the "shotgun" 444,
https://gunsmagazine.com/1965issues/G0965.pdf
page 25

[ulav8r]

30 caliber, I will probably never hunt anything larger than deer. Have 3 30-30's a 308 and an 06. Won't give up my 35 Rem or 38-55, but I still need a 32-20 and a 22 KHornet.

[PBSmith]

After discovering what fun it is with soft cast bullets and a dab of Red Dot, and knowing what it will do with the full range of jacketed, I don't hesitate to nominate the .30-06.

Good from plinking range to as far out as I can see. I appreciate its colorful history as well.

Also, most of the rifles I've seen in this caliber can be scoped with little or no complication. As my eyesight deteriorates, scopes are coming into a high priority. Otherwise, the .30-40 Krag would be running a very close second.

[evoevil]

that's just not possible ....LOL

[veeman]

44-40!

[robg]

I voted for the 357 but thinking about it need a .22 and a 308 and a 45-70.as well,just as well I've got them all.��

[bkbville]

"Plasma Laser in the 30W range"

[mogwai]

I lived most of my life thinking that any handgun was a toy. Now,I like toys but handguns and their cartridges are not as versatile as shotguns. A few years ago, I would agree with the 12 ga suggestion, but now I would vote for 20 ga.
I've killed a boatload of deer with 20 ga sabots. Those would work for any/all my big game hunting if required and I could probably get by with 20 ga foster slugs. The 20 with fine shot works for squirrels to turkeys, and that's enough for me.

12 ga meets all the same requirements,but the guns are generally a pound heavier

[charlie b]

"Plasma Laser in the 30W range"

I think 30kilowatt is what you mean.

30W is good for cutting things in the house. Not so great at range

[Biggfoot44]

I voted .454/ .45 Colt/ .410. But this is kind of manipulating the loopholes .

While I enjoy firearms of all types , I am most heavily engaged with handguns, and couldn't be without a good belt gun .

No disrespect to .454 , but "Ruger Level " .45 Colt doesn't leave much of practicality on the table , and is respectable enough from a levergun. The big loophole is my interpretation of the criteria to cover a real shotgun in .410 , giving a trifecta of rifle, revolver, and shotgun .

Other than the seperate real shotgun , .44 mag/ spl or .41 mag could be directly substituted .

.38/ .357 will have it's fans also . Allows more versatility on the handgun end, to cover small airweight snubs up to large frame .357 , but as rifle , while better than many would expect , gives ground to the big bore revolver rounds .

[am44mag]

44 Magnum.

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