Most efficient single shot round?

[tacklebury]

Try .357 Maximum. I can use .38 S&W for small game or plinking, .38 special for varmints. .357 magnum for defensive and even deer out to 100 yards. and finally the Maximum can take black bear easily and deer out to nearly 200 yards. Good all round gun. 8)

[uscra112]

Another thought - 6mmPPC. Gets above the .24" bore limit that 7 states or provinces have. Load it hot and you're well over 1000 ft-lbs ME, but a full case is only 25 or 30 grains of powder vs. 40 for the .243 Winchester, and j-warts or boolits use only 80 to 100 grains of metal vs. 180 to 200 for the .357s.

[Cosmiceyes]

I actually came up with a few. #1 is the .410 Shotgun/45 Long Colt.It comes in pistol, rifle, and shotgun.Slugs will stomp a deer at a 100 yds.Lite load with 7.5 shot all small game,and fowl..45 Long Colt with heavy boolits will drop a black bear.
#2 .30 Carbine which is both rifle,and pistol 77 grain boolits to 130 grain.Small game to medium with 110-130 being cast.Not much powder,cheap.With a carbine you could wage a war,then shoot some game.Blackhawks,an TC Contenders.
#3 30 Herrett pistol,and rifle. I killed a black bear in Alaska with 150 grain load I worked up.
#4 .308 1 1/2,or .308 inch and a half.Able to use higher pressures than the 30 Herrett.They are wicked accurate.Pistol an rifle.Will go clean through a deer at 200 yds.130 grain.

[357maximum]

A 180 grain RNFP-GC boolit fired at 2150 fps from a 15 inch 357Maximum MGM Custom ENCORE "pistol" will stop just under the hide of a nice buck when you smack him in the boiler at 242 yards. He will be very much dead also. The booom..........wap is also a neat lag to be enjoyed.


I only shot one that far the one time, but it worked great.... as have all the other deer I have killed with it from 40 to 195 yards. It really is the Southern Michigan LEGAL equivalent of the 35REM....I really like that cal to, but I have to travel 3/4 mile north to legally carry a bottleneck cartridge.....at least for the time being. If/when they make pistol cartridge carbines legal here I will likely just have MGM make me a 20 inch 357Max carbine barrel and go whip up a stock for it just so I can get that 20 minutes I lose with a pistol scope back.

[1Shirt]

Don't believe that there is such a thing as "most efficient"! It is a matter of preference and choice, location, shooter ability, type of shooting, etc.etc.etc. If it were me and I was in a wooded area would probably go with a 30-30, as it can be up or down loaded at your convenience. Same is pretty much true for 357 Where Legal. A 30-40 Krag in a #3 Ruger also comes to mind as being a cats a$$ choice of versatility. There are of course others, but I would prefer a rimmed ctg. Note how ever, that in all cases the ability of the shooter to place his boolit is the key to success, and range IMO should be 100 yds or under due to limitation of time/speed of reloading etc. for a follow up shot on game.
1Shirt!

[6.5 mike]

I'm with 1Shirt on the 30-40 Krag, gallery loads for fun & smallish game, & a 311284 or such for bigger game. Although the 7.62x54r & 303 brit would work bout as well in a single shot. Hummmm, C Sharps 1875, 26 inch bbl, d&t'ed for an MVA scope would sure be nice.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Clearly the 30-30. You can shoot boolits from 90 gr. all the way up to 190 gr., at least in my experience. And even a round ball.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Try .357 Maximum. I can use .38 S&W for small game or plinking, .38 special for varmints. .357 magnum for defensive and even deer out to 100 yards. and finally the Maximum can take black bear easily and deer out to nearly 200 yards. Good all round gun. 8)

If your gun is a standard chamber, I don't think you can get a 38 S&W to chamber. It's too fat.

[tacklebury]

Have shot lots. 8) Comes out about 696 with 1.5 gr. bullseye 8) It started life as a .357 Magnum, but was reamed with a .357 Maximum tapered leade rifle reamer to Max. Took about 20 mins to accomplish going slow. 8)

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

Efficient? Practical? Availability?
Scope is undefined. Maybe a shotgun?
I love things like this that get people thinking.

[Kermit1945]

New England Colonial Fowler by Jim Chambers, probably in 10 ga. Does it all.

http://www.flintlocks.com/rifles04.htm

[Scharfschuetze]

I can't add anything new to the thread, but given the parameters of the OP and taking into account where I live, I'd go with either a 30/30 or a 32 Winchester Special in a single shot rifle. Both are pretty efficient and both kill deer pretty well.

I wouldn't turn down a 30/40 Krag either, particularly if living in areas with bigger game than deer.

[EDG]

For me it is a .25-35.

Minimum lead, cheap brass.
Load it light for duplicating the 25-20.
Load it heavy for deer.
Load it with jacketed HP for varmits.

[Hiwall55]

No Price limit,Then I'll go with my Shiloh Sharps in 30/40 Krag

[Andrew Mason]

I would probably have to choose a .308 win
can be loaded with heavy cast boolits,
standard weight range j-word bullets,
and also loaded with plastic .30-.22 cal sabot loads for lazer beam velocity

[ballistim]

357MAX = 2100FPS+ with a 180 grainer and 22.5 grains of VHit N-120 out of a 15 inch "pistol" barrel won that contest for me here in (barely) Southern Michigan.

I only have to travel 3/4 mile north to use the great and efficient little 7MM-TCU 21 inch carbine though.

I have a Contender .357 Maximum 12" bbl chambered by Mike Bellm for hunting whitetail deer in MI with a straight-walled pistol case, & have only used "j" rounds in it so far but want to buy a mold to try cast this year, and am looking at one of the group buys for this.
I'm so jealous, 3/4 mi. away from the rifle zone? Rifle choice would be the only problem for me, too many to choose from!
Having a good assortment of molds would make the .357 Max a good choice across the board for game where I live. Living in the rifle zone would make the .308 and 30-30 the most likely choices for me with all of the molds available. My Buffalo Classic in 45/70 would be cool too, and I've always wanted something chambered in .358 Winchester, but since I'm south of the rifle zone I guess the .357 Max gets my vote.. until I retire, at which point I want to live where I can shoot everything I own... someday...

[pmeisel]

It's not the most efficient, but I have a 444 Marlin because it'll kill anything that walks in these parts. And it's not that inefficient with cast bullets and 2400 if you consider the killing power.

If being frugal was my main concern I would use 357 or 30/30, and I'd prefer both!

[ValorsMinion]

Efficient? 300aac blackout comes to mind, pretty much all charges are under 20grs, uses magnum pistol powders, small rifle primers and tons of options in .30 cal molds and j words. Also allows for easy neck sizing vs. straight wall pistol cartridges.

I would agree. If you think the 357 is good, the 300 blk shoots faster given a similar weight of powder under the same weight bullet with better sectional density... plus it actually has a ballistic coefficient.

I would say you can probably make a case for any of the intermediate rifle cartilages and the wildcats based on them. The 223, 7.62x39, and 6.8 spc and their children (7tcu, 300blk, 6.5 grendel, etc etc etc) are gonna come out pretty good. It is pretty much the philosophy of these types of cartridges... they were made to be effective on medium size animals at intermediate ranges without having too much recoil or having to lug around heavy ammo. No more powder or lead than what is required to get the job done.

While the 223 is probably out due to hunting laws (lots of states require larger than 22 cal), any of its necked up children will work great.

[kens]

Good thread.
I am surprised nobody mentioned a .308 necked up to .35cal. 358 Win.
You could shoot little .38 pistol boolits, or heavy .35 rifle , either way, and throttle it anywhere in between.

[cuzinbruce]

30/30 in a Savage 219.