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View Poll Results: If you could have only one caliber, what would it be and why?

Voters
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  • .45-70

    35 3.46%
  • .357 / 38 SP

    190 18.77%
  • 44 Mag / 44 SP

    108 10.67%
  • 41 Mag

    18 1.78%
  • 45 Colt / .410 Shotgun / 454 Casull

    59 5.83%
  • 45 ACP / 460 Rowland

    26 2.57%
  • 22lr / 22 Short / 22 long

    44 4.35%
  • .223 / 5.56x45

    19 1.88%
  • .308 Win / 7.62x51

    80 7.91%
  • 7.63 x 39

    13 1.28%
  • 300 AAC/Whisper

    8 0.79%
  • 9mm Luger

    26 2.57%
  • 10mm / 40SW

    5 0.49%
  • 22 Hornet

    3 0.30%
  • 20 Gauge

    8 0.79%
  • 12 Gauge

    87 8.60%
  • 6.5x55 Swede

    16 1.58%
  • 7mm-08

    5 0.49%
  • 30-06

    143 14.13%
  • 30-30

    34 3.36%
  • 22 Mag

    3 0.30%
  • Other

    82 8.10%
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Results 321 to 340 of 375

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

  1. #321
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    May 2008
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    Plymouth County, IA
    Posts
    708
    12 gauge, makes pheasnt hunting easier and most other close work.
    Take a kid to the range, you'll both be glad you did.

  2. #322
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Jan 2021
    Posts
    15
    12 gauge, because you can use it for everything from food to defense .
    What else do you need ?

  3. #323
    Boolit Buddy mr surveyor's Avatar
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    Jan 2014
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    NE Texas
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Crusher View Post
    12 gauge, because you can use it for everything from food to defense .
    What else do you need ?

    a handgun for daily carry

  4. #324
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Metro-Detroit
    Posts
    375
    "A .30-06 is never a mistake." Col. Townsend Whelen

  5. #325
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Location
    Central TX
    Posts
    191
    I can hardly imagine only one. How about one caliber each for CF rifle, CF handgun, shotgun and rimfire, I could live with that barely. Then I would chose 30-06, 357mag, 12 gauge and 22lr. 30-06 takes care of the big game and 357 for a defensive handgun, however I would hate to give up my 45 autos. A 357 carbine makes a passable defensive rifle but is not an AR15. 12ga for feathers and 22LR for furry small game/plinking/fun and everybody needs a 22LR or 5 or 10 or 12 rifles and handguns.

  6. #326
    Boolit Master

    Eddie Southgate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Southern Middle Tennessee/ Hillsboro Alabama
    Posts
    1,177
    If you ever come to my house a can only find one gun, CALL THE POLICE ! I been robbed. I am planning on selling quite a few in the next year or so , want to get down to 75 or 80 but I'll likely never have less than that . Can't play the " Only One Gun " thing.
    Grumpy Old Man With A Gun....... Do Not Touch !!

  7. #327
    Boolit Buddy mr surveyor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    NE Texas
    Posts
    139
    I guess I am for sure getting old. This thread reminds me of the old game of "pass it down" from 60 years ago when us kids were all herded out to the bus shed to play games on rainy days.

    Wasn't the original intent of this thread "what one caliber?" and not "what one gun?"

    Yep, I'm gettin' old, and cranky


    jd

  8. #328
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    SC
    Posts
    162
    12 GA. Can do just about anything, if you have the appropriate ammo for the task at hand.

  9. #329
    Boolit Buddy

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Springfield, MO
    Posts
    136
    Another vote for .30-06. Paired with a good bolt action rifle. Mine is a Remington 1903A3.
    Versatile and easy to load for. Small game and gallery loads with buckshot/pistol bullets to full strength hunting loads for anything in North America.

  10. #330
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Oxford AL
    Posts
    123
    My absolute choice would be my 308Win. Will do anything expected of a centerfire rifle east of the Mississippi River. Jacketed or cast. From subsonic to supersonic. Even now, stores in my area full of 308 ammo at pre-COVID/pre-Biden prices. Can you tell I love my 308? Plinking, hunting just seems a natural. Course same can be said of any caliber using same ammo options it's just that of all my centerfires, the 308 is MY favorite Only downfall but not the 308's fault is Alabama does not allow centerfire rifles for small game hunting but in a worse case scenario (food shortage), fraid my cast bullets would lead to the demise of a few squirrels or anything else edible. Way things are looking, probably need to start casting

  11. #331
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Eureka MT
    Posts
    2,513
    But it's not really the same post. You have changed the parameters from caliber to cartridge. Caliber makes more sense as there are calibers that can be used from CC to antelope and single shots to machine guns. Cartridges aren't nearly as versatile. Imagine trying to hunt cape buffalo with a cc weapon or trying to conceal a buffalo gun. Most of us on this web site use guns for several different reasons. One cartridge doesn't work well in such varied uses where one caliber can be used over most if not all areas.

    My uses range from cc to moose, all of which could be covered nicely with a caliber ranging from 30/35. With 35 caliber I could even hunt elephant and cape buffalo using a 358N and 300gr solids. A 35win in an AR10 would work nicely as a long range defense weapon and a 9mm for cc. One cartridge or guage doesn't even make sense for most folks on this site. Imagine that cc weapon in 12 ga.

    Anyway I voted to the as titled question already and will stick with 35 cal

  12. #332
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    30
    Winchester 1894 chambered in 38-55.

  13. #333
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Central Ohio
    Posts
    215
    Quote Originally Posted by ascast View Post
    12 gauge no explanation is needed
    Yup, I can take any legal game in North America!

  14. #334
    Boolit Buddy sandog's Avatar
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    Aug 2015
    Location
    Arizona Territory
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    159
    Quote Originally Posted by AZ Pete View Post
    For me, in AZ, .38 spl./.357 mag. Works well in revolvers and lever guns. If I lived very far north it would be .44 spl/.44 mag. for the same reasons.
    The same way that I feel. When I lived in Alaska and Montana I had other calibers to choose from but mainly I carried a .44 mag for a handgun and .45/70 for a carbine.
    Now that I live in Arizona I find the .357 handgun/rifle combo to be perfect.

  15. #335
    Boolit Buddy Shadow9mm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2021
    Location
    Indianapolis, IN
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    105
    44mag. Where I live bottle neck rifle cartridges are not legal on public land. Also, unless hunting a field, a long shot is 75yds. in addition 44spl loads are effective for self defense. so if I have to choose just 1, 44mag/spl

  16. #336
    Boolit Master

    Electrod47's Avatar
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    Apr 2016
    Location
    Mississippi
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shadow9mm View Post
    44mag. Where I live bottle neck rifle cartridges are not legal on public land. Also, unless hunting a field, a long shot is 75yds. in addition 44spl loads are effective for self defense. so if I have to choose just 1, 44mag/spl
    My choice also for rifle and side arm, to last a life time.
    “You should tell someone what you know. There should be a history, so that men can learn from it.

    He smiled. “Men do not learn from history. Each generation believes itself brighter than the last, each believes it can survive the mistakes of the older ones. Each discovers each old thing and they throw up their hands and say ‘See! Look what I have found! Look upon what I know!’ And each believes it is something new.

    Louis L’Amour

    The Californios

  17. #337
    Boolit Master wilecoyote's Avatar
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    Jun 2021
    Location
    venice, italy
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    632
    ... .44 all the way, from spl. to mag. to .444_
    Food is overrated. A nice rifle is way more important.
    Rob

  18. #338
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Posts
    359
    Apparently, some others have the same idea as I: the caliber would be .45. But a 45 ACP in a 1911, a .45 Colt in a 10" Contender, and then a .45/70 in a lever action.

    Kinda covers a bunch of ground.

    Although those that espoused the 12-gauge have a good point. Can cover a lot of ground with one.

    45_Colt

  19. #339
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Posts
    546
    I struggled to make a choice but finally went with the 30-30. You can download it to make do for small game. it works perfectly for any woods deer hunting. And it can do all that with cheap cast bullets. Also the long neck adds versatility to the bullets it can work well with.

  20. #340
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Willamina, OR
    Posts
    220
    Only one? I'd have a hard time wittling the list down to 10...

    Tony
    Hi, my name is Tony and I'm addicted to gunpowder.

    AKA Geezerbiker

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check