How About 1 Caliber and Done?

[Grizz]

Is this even possible? What are the gotcha's? What can't I do with a .22? Which .22 etc. Which ones can you live WITHOUT ? Any gun you want, but one and only one caliber. Is this even possible?
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cartridge+display+board.jpg

grizz

[AJMD429]

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Anything from 0.308" to 0.458" could probably do ok. Some calibers like 0.338" have a lot of high-ballistic coefficient bullets to pick from, and others, like 0.357" do not, so for the most versatility something like 338 Lapua Mag would make an impeccable 'top end' cartridge for that caliber, but you'd have to do some wildcat off of a 5.56 NATO case to get the 32-20-level of low end for pistols or light carbines. On the other hand if you were willing to 'settle' for a wimpy 300 Win Mag or 300 RUM, the 0.308" is pretty versatile given the proper bullet construction, and includes 7.62 NATO which means lots of ammo and guns out there. On the other-other hand, if you don't want to reach way out there, the 44's and 45's can top out with 444 Marlin and 460 Weatherby, which aren't slouches.

Personally, in Indiana, in current social conditions, I'd probably opt for a 35 caliber, so I could have my leverguns and revolvers and 9mm's and 'top out' with a 35 Remington. Although there is a wildcat called the 0.358 BOSS Mag, that is a hot number.

OTOH I guess if you include 32-20 as a "30" since some guns are bored 0.308" I might go wit good old 30 caliber, even though it would leave something to be desired in the CCW and 'big bore handgun' departments.

So.... for practicality probably 30 caliber. But for FUN, probably 35 caliber.

Maybe we could 'cheat' and have two calibers - one for pistols (in that case, 45) and one for rifles (and 30)....

[junkbug]

Bending the criteria just a bit,
.357 Mag Marlin 1894 with factory sights and a quick detach 1.5x-5x scope
.357 Mag Duty revolver, Ruger Security Six
.38 Special S&W 642 Lightweight.

I pray that nothing comes my way that I will ever feel like i need more than that for, except dove and maybe geese. Then I'll need a 12 gauge, but a 16 gauge would do.

[Grizz]

Bending the criteria just a bit,
.357 Mag Marlin 1894 with factory sights and a quick detach 1.5x-5x scope
.357 Mag Duty revolver, Ruger Security Six
.38 Special S&W 642 Lightweight.

I pray that nothing comes my way that I will ever feel like i need more than that for, except dove and maybe geese. Then I'll need a 12 gauge, but a 16 gauge would do.

this is in spec, the caliber is the same for the 38 spcl and the 357, so one caliber, good to go. thanks for the input.

[Tycer]

While I am set up for 35 cal of many types I am really happy with the 32-20. With modern firearms it’s pretty capable in the faster loads.

[Sixgun]

That’s easy…….target velocity 22 L.R. in a Ruger 10-22 S.S. takedown with a binary trigger with a camo stock.. You have to think practical, not macho or nostalgic. Can empty a 30 round mag in 3-5 seconds….or head shoot a squirrel.

[765x53]

Twelve gauge. Any game in North or South America, large or small, furred or feathered. Plus, lots of fun with all sorts of clay target games, and fun with endless load experimentation.

[4t5]

^^^ what he said , although I personally prefer a 20 ga.

[Griff]

Is this even possible?
grizz

For me? No. I don't have a .22. .452 might be doable, plenty of choices in handgun, but in a long gun, I don't think I even attempt anything beyond 150 yards, even if I were to scope my Low Wall..

[GunnyMack]

This is easy, 1 of each please!
Well as for a single rifle caliber it would be .338 for me. It handles anything that needs dead. Probably take the 338 Federal over my Win Mag.
As for a combo I'd take my 41 Blackhawk and Henry or my 629 and Ruger Carbine.

Shotgun, no brainer- the 28ga. From birds to making camp meat I can load shot, buckshot( 12 pellets of 4buck) or even slugs.

[AJMD429]

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....or maybe THIS "30 caliber..."

By that I mean a 30 mm.... It wouldn't be good for hunting or CCW, but if I had one, I'm betting I could use it to get whatever OTHER guns I wanted....



Problem is, to be very practical, it needs the Thunderbolt A10 'stock'. And THAT needs a trained pilot. And a bunch of fuel.

But it sure would be a cool gun. If I were a billionaire I'd have one somehow...

[Streetstar]

its tempting to say 10mm as i have a current fascination with the round and they can have a bunch of capacity--

have a small Glock that is concealable, larger Glock and a 1911 for other things and now there are a couple of carbine variants in the AR platform that are GTG



-------- But i will waffle on that pick and confidently (for my needs) pick .357 -- if .38 is allowed with a 357 pick i can carry a J Frame about town - if not , i'd have to be creative to conceal a short barrel K frame or similar and a carbine with a 16 or 20" barrel should be fine for medium size game within a reasonable (150 yards or so) range.


I like the shotgun idea if this discussion were limited to long guns too though

[samsi]

I'd prefer to never have to make such a choice but the .38/357 route would be the way to go, revolver and carbine.

[Grizz]

Thanks for the input, it's all good. But 'Cept for six, he could perish in slow agonizing way after b'rer bear snuck up behind and disarmed him. . .

I think about this a lot. In Alaska I quit my 7mm mag and got a Ruger 77 338 WM with sights attached. Loaded a lot of ammo for it, hunted with it a lot, but the afternoon I smelled a deer herd and walked by a FRESHLY graded bear den patio, and looked at the tiny little hole in the muzzle, I quit 338 and started up an affair with 45/70. I was also hunting with a SBH 44 mag with what in hind sight was likely close to an ideal bear stopper, although I was skeptical about it at the time. So you might think I'm going on this fantasy with a 44 or 45 something. But if I do that I give up long range opportunity, regardless of how many legs that might describe.





-> https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... +furniture
I put wood furniture on it, and have the paratrooper wire stock in case I have to jump with it.

With a zeiss BDC scope that works out to 500M hold center. OR a Ruger 300 WM for the long reach.. So I'd be exploring .30 as the one. let's see, the thirty super carry can take care of the concealed carry, with a 30 super carry derringer boot gun, a 30-30 lever gun,
a 30 carbine M1 and BH -> https://www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore ... 30-CARBINE
And a Winchester lever action 30-06 for intermediate I suppose.

30 also works in my 20 as #1 Buck, which I can cast at home, and 30 cal pellets may make a viable front stuffer, or maybe a derringer, IDK.

I think the NATO 7.62 and it's hotter and cooler relatives pretty much cover most situations.

It's a fun thing to think about, but I don't have to decide anything tonight.

Good Night and thanks for the input
grizz

[KWK]

Count me in the 38/357 camp. I could live with either but would probably take the 357 if I had to pick between them.

[AJMD429]

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"....30 also works in my 20 as #4 Buck, which I can cast at home, and 30 cal pellets may make a viable front stuffer, or maybe a derringer, IDK..."

Now that's another creative angle...!

Looks like 30 and 35 cal are winning here.

32-20 (or '30-20')
300 Blk
30-30
308
300 Win Mag

9mm (+/- .002 )
357/38 Spl
35 Rem
350 Rem Mag
35 Whelen

[LeverGunner]

My one caliber would be .430 - 44 Magnum, 44 Special, and If I can get by with it, 444 Marlin.

Ruger Blackhawk 44 Special
Winchester 92 44 Magnum ×2 (1 rifle and 1 carbine)
GP100 44 Special
Marlin 1894 44 Magnum (with replaced barrel that has a groove diameter of .429)
Marlin 444 (with full length magazine tube)
Smith & Wesson Top Break in 44 Russian (I can't recall the model)
NEF Handi Rifle 44 Magnum
Contender 44 Magnum

And the pièce de ré·sis·tance:

Custom Winchester 1886, build on an original gun, Turnbull restored, shotgun butt, pistol grip, 26" octagonal barrel, solid frame, in a cartridge of my design that would be a necked down 50-100 similar to the 416 Barnes, but in 44 caliber. Guy can dream eh?

[KWK]

Oops. I misread the question. Enough people use "caliber" when they mean "cartridge" that I jumped to the wrong conclusion. Still, I'd stay with 35 caliber.

[stretch]

I'm in the 357 camp as well.

Although to be fair, the 22 has some advantages - like ammo is cheap and plentiful.
Downside of that is it's not reloadable.

The 357 is SO versatile, and has been shown to take most any game.
Not ideal for either squirrel or Kodiak, but has been known to take both.

-Stretch

[GunnyMack]

I have a .32 muzzle loader so a supply of .310 round balls are on hand.
4 buck is .27, if I remember right, 1buck is .30 cal.
Yes Doc with a 30mm there isn't much a guy couldn't get for himself.

As for the ability to carry a load out of ammo in say middle of nowhere survival then a rimfire gets the nod as you can stuff a brick of 22s into pockets and not add too much extra weight. If a stand off situation then I'm loading everything I have!

[Grizz]

I have a .32 muzzle loader so a supply of .310 round balls are on hand.
4 buck is .27, if I remember right, 1buck is .30 cal.
Yes Doc with a 30mm there isn't much a guy couldn't get for himself.

As for the ability to carry a load out of ammo in say middle of nowhere survival then a rimfire gets the nod as you can stuff a brick of 22s into pockets and not add too much extra weight. If a stand off situation then I'm loading everything I have!

yeah, thanks, #1Buck is what i meant to type. I get the .22 thing, it's the bears and mooses that give me pause.
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HOME_mars attacks [uh,].jpg

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-new ... rcna153200
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I was in Alaska when this one happened. It was filmed and aired on RAT Net, rural alaska television. the man did nothing to aggravate the moose, the moose trailed him to the door and killed him on purpose.
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it informs my mindset concerning viable caliber in that zone. a steer can do the same thing that the moose did. it's a jungle out there . . .

[Grizz]

Doc, you can add AK47 to your list. Some of them are actual .308s, the rest are close enough.

Levergunner, I am with you on the 44s, I mostly hunted with 44 mag in Alaska, and gave a son a 444, we are very familiar with this. It's only the extreme long range, and the things that .22s Can Do, that led me onto the trail of which caliber. I respect the 38/357 guys. I killed some number of deer with a smith model 66, and have a Winchester Ranger, but the results, extrapolated to a thousand pound killer weren't encouraging, in the same sense that finding a 7mm bullet, perfectly expanded, resting on the inside of the off side hide, divorced me from carrying that very accurate rifle in the bear woods any more. I know someone whose Dad was an interior Alaska bear guide who tried the 7mm as his back up gun and gave it up as not being the stopper he needed.

On the other hand, a SE AK guide with a 45/70 and one shot destroyed both hip sockets of the wounded bear that was hunting his client. I doubt that a 22 would not suffice to anchor brer bear.

It's all theoretical on my part, I was surrounded by them, and they left me alone, thanking the Lord and His angels for that fact!

grizz

[Streetstar]

Thanks for the input, it's all good. But 'Cept for six, he could perish in slow agonizing way after b'rer bear snuck up behind and disarmed him. . .

I think about this a lot. In Alaska I quit my 7mm mag and got a Ruger 77 338 WM with sights attached. Loaded a lot of ammo for it, hunted with it a lot, but the afternoon I smelled a deer herd and walked by a FRESHLY graded bear den patio, and looked at the tiny little hole in the muzzle, I quit 338 and started up an affair with 45/70. I was also hunting with a SBH 44 mag with what in hind sight was likely close to an ideal bear stopper, although I was skeptical about it at the time. So you might think I'm going on this fantasy with a 44 or 45 something. But if I do that I give up long range opportunity, regardless of how many legs that might describe.





-> https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... +furniture
I put wood furniture on it, and have the paratrooper wire stock in case I have to jump with it.

With a zeiss BDC scope that works out to 500M hold center. OR a Ruger 300 WM for the long reach.. So I'd be exploring .30 as the one. let's see, the thirty super carry can take care of the concealed carry, with a 30 super carry derringer boot gun, a 30-30 lever gun,
a 30 carbine M1 and BH -> https://www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore ... 30-CARBINE
And a Winchester lever action 30-06 for intermediate I suppose.

30 also works in my 20 as #1 Buck, which I can cast at home, and 30 cal pellets may make a viable front stuffer, or maybe a derringer, IDK.

I think the NATO 7.62 and it's hotter and cooler relatives pretty much cover most situations.

It's a fun thing to think about, but I don't have to decide anything tonight.

Good Night and thanks for the input
grizz

I might be among those who may not have understood the question fully ----

with 1 caliber , are we referring to one cartridge - ie .357 , -- or one bore size, as .30 covers a lot of ground , and likely 50 different cartridges or more

[marlinman93]

Of course I dread the "one gun, or one cartridge" discussions. But if I was forced to only have one cartridge it would be the .30-06 cartridge. The .22LR would be second simply because it's not much good for defense, or even medium sized game.

[Grizz]

Thanks for the input, it's all good. But 'Cept for six, he could perish in slow agonizing way after b'rer bear snuck up behind and disarmed him. . .

I think about this a lot. In Alaska I quit my 7mm mag and got a Ruger 77 338 WM with sights attached. Loaded a lot of ammo for it, hunted with it a lot, but the afternoon I smelled a deer herd and walked by a FRESHLY graded bear den patio, and looked at the tiny little hole in the muzzle, I quit 338 and started up an affair with 45/70. I was also hunting with a SBH 44 mag with what in hind sight was likely close to an ideal bear stopper, although I was skeptical about it at the time. So you might think I'm going on this fantasy with a 44 or 45 something. But if I do that I give up long range opportunity, regardless of how many legs that might describe.





-> https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... +furniture
I put wood furniture on it, and have the paratrooper wire stock in case I have to jump with it.

With a zeiss BDC scope that works out to 500M hold center. OR a Ruger 300 WM for the long reach.. So I'd be exploring .30 as the one. let's see, the thirty super carry can take care of the concealed carry, with a 30 super carry derringer boot gun, a 30-30 lever gun,
a 30 carbine M1 and BH -> https://www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore ... 30-CARBINE
And a Winchester lever action 30-06 for intermediate I suppose.

30 also works in my 20 as #1 Buck, which I can cast at home, and 30 cal pellets may make a viable front stuffer, or maybe a derringer, IDK.

I think the NATO 7.62 and it's hotter and cooler relatives pretty much cover most situations.

It's a fun thing to think about, but I don't have to decide anything tonight.

Good Night and thanks for the input
grizz

I might be among those who may not have understood the question fully ----

with 1 caliber , are we referring to one cartridge - ie .357 , -- or one bore size, as .30 covers a lot of ground , and likely 50 different cartridges or more

Yup one caliber. Kind of a trick question I suppose, but in trying to answer the One Gun question I had to evaluate ballistics, which is weight x velocity, that determines what's gonna happen at the business end.

30 caliber does cover a lot of ground, and I think maybe that's why there is so much available to drive them. The 30-30 was quickly adopted because of how fast the bullet goes and how flat it shoots, COMPARED TO 45 Colt! When the 45 caliber, say 45/70, couldn't compete at longer ranges they made express models shooting 300Gr bullets, giving up massive momentum for a spicier trip. Something like that. NEW and SHINY have always caught fishermen and hunters.

If I want longer range then I have to consider 30 Nato, I mean 7.62 as a means to get there. If I want to positively crush a bear or moose or bull, etc., then I want the heavy for caliber nearly indestructible bullet at massive momentum AND I want lower rather than higher chamber pressures 'cause I'm wired that way.

458 Win Mag has useful extended range extension shooting 45/70 bullets, but what to do for the rabbit, squirrel, pig dinner? I suppose a 45/70 could handle a shot charge, but haven't seen that done. A .49 Round Ball weighs 177 grains, still heavy for small game. A .31 round ball weighs 45 Gr, about what a 22 bullet weighs . . . On another forum guys are shooting 110gr v-max bullets at high velocities with high accuracy, so that's half the bullet weight in my 1911 with a lot longer reach.
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/th ... 308.10834/

I appreciate everybody's input, the reason there are so many calibers and guns is because there are so many people who want exactly the same but a little bit different . . . it's fun to realize that a 300 win mag is a 30-30 at 800 yards, or whatever that cross-over point is.

Easy question, complicated answers.

So Yeah, it's a trick question, which it is why it is so interesting to think about it.

[Streetstar]

NEW and SHINY have always caught fishermen and hunters.



458 Win Mag has useful extended range extension shooting 45/70 bullets, but what to do for the rabbit, squirrel, pig dinner?

. . On another forum guys are shooting 110gr v-max bullets at high velocities with high accuracy, so that's half the bullet weight in my 1911 with a lot longer reach.

New and shiny - as in all the short, fat magnums from 15 years ago that never did much more than a standard .308. .270, 7mm RM etc.

45/70 would be the bees knees for pigs, but one would have to re-aquaint themselves with how to "bark" squirrels again to shoot the little tree rabbits

1911's (if in 45 ACP) are shooting .451 or at most .452 if using lead projectiles


Im trying to decide if changing my mind to .30 (specifically .308) would enhance my life or not vs .357. It opens up a world of rifle options with much more capability than a .357 carbine, but is much more limited in the pistol/revolver arena

---- i suppose, with respect to my Area of Operations , i'll stick with .357 and i would spend my days bidding on Coonan .357 Mag pistols and .357 Supermax Encore barrels on the auction sites. But the .30 option would be compelling if i lived in a place where the shots were longer or the critters bigger and meaner

[Streetstar]

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[GunnyMack]

A 30 something certainly checks the majority of the boxes. I'd rather shoot my 338WM from a bench than a Remington 700 in '06, every one in factory stock kicked me to no end! When I 'built' my 338 I made it with no drop so it recoils straight back.
I digress, I'd take a 308 , either my Model 70 or ugh... my ar10. If I had to have only 1.
Heck even my 7x57... I need to shoot that more!

[AJMD429]

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LeverGunner I like the idea of a 1886 modified to 0.430”…!

Much of the discussion seems to go back to whether CCW is a priority. If so, a caliber in the 4’s is ideal, but with good bullets and decent capacity guns, many of us who have unlimited choices are using 357/9mm caliber already. However, very few using ‘30’(0.308”) for CCW I’m guessing. Mostly that would be non-CCW protection, like a 300 Blackout for home protection. Stepping down to 0.308” gives more long range ability without wildcatting than anything practical above 35 caliber, and between 308 and 35 none of the options add a CCW gun of much practicality.

So, if CCW a big goal, pick your 357/44/45 pistol and compromise on long range a bit, and if not, pick 308 and use a 32-20 for bad guys when your summer wardrobe won’t cover your 300 Blk SBR…!

Maybe get ya a custom Desert Eagle in 32-20… it would probably hold 20 rounds…

P.S. I don’t know the 40/41 caliber…. So a dumb question….

Glock in 40 S&W, another in 10mm, with a MecTech or other 10mm carbine to match, maybe a levergun and revolver in 38-40, and/or 41 Magnum, but what about a long range rifle….???? Would a 408 CheyTac qualify…??? Now THAT would do for long range for sure…

[Grizz]

https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/f ... 614#replay

the 30 super carry that was discussed here recently.

S&W has a couple of pistols out. The numbers look good to me. If Phil S. can kill a brown bear with a 9mm, could he do it with a 30?

https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/threads/ ... ns.369526/

[piller]

.38/.357 is hard to beat, so a .35 caliber range for me.

[LeverGunner]

A very interesting discussion!

I carry a Blackhawk 44 Special daily, including IWB concealed in a Simply Rugged Sourdough pancake holster. BUT, I am 6'5 and 340 lbs. CC is very important to me, and if I wasn't already carrying a hand cannon, I might pick something different, probably 357 Magnum as the main, and would include 35/30-30 wildcat and 35 Remington.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I’ve thought long and hard about this….yeah I know, I’m not that bright.

I can narrow it down to one cartridge and one load.

I could get by quite happily with the.45 Colt and the factory Remington 250 grain load.

The box says that it clocks 750 fps but in my Colt it averages 830 in my 4 3/4 inch Colt.

[2ndovc]

I'll give another vote for the .44 Magnum.

Between a carbine and revolver, it would take care of anything I'm bound to run tint around here.

jb

[COSteve]

Why on earth would you want to even consider only a single caliber? That's like deciding that you'll only eat one single type of food.

Life is about enjoying the diversity of everything. So, no thank you, I'll stick to my 7 pistol and 9 rifle calibers I handload to use in my dozens of arms and enjoy every minute of them.

[Grizz]

Why on earth would you want to even consider only a single caliber? That's like deciding that you'll only eat one single type of food.

Life is about enjoying the diversity of everything. So, no thank you, I'll stick to my 7 pistol and 9 rifle calibers I handload to use in my dozens of arms and enjoy every minute of them.

that's fine Steve, I didn't ask anyone to give up anything, I just asked for some creative input as an experiment.
and you answered my question, thank you.

grizz

[Scott Tschirhart]

Life is about enjoying the diversity of everything.

I ain’t going down Brokeback Mountain……

https://youtu.be/pG9hCSUckCg?si=VkYdjzg4Dbd9Gll3

[Grizz]

I went with 44 mag in Alaska because it gets different reactions from deer on the business end, a 320 gr cast plain base bullet at possibly 1100 fps, don't know, did everything we needed from the SBH and the Marlin 1894 that I paid far less than a thousand dollars for. They are basic good meat guns.

I read up on 45 Colt in gun magazines and it seemed at the time that the 44 was top gun in the category.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have gone with 45 Colt in both pistol and carbine forms, and 454 Casull eventually . . .
because - - > barrel-twist-rate. Once I was committed to the 44 I couldn't afford to switch calibers, I just kept on doing what was working perfect for us as meat guns. We had others, but the bulk of the work was with 44s. When I could afford to switch up I bought a GS and never looked back.

In the same way that the 357 mag can do stuff the 9mm cannot do, the 45/70 can do things that neither the 45 Colt nor the 454 Casull can do, and can do some of the small stuff too. A 300 Gr bullet from the 4570 makes the 300 from the Casull seem anemic. etc. etc.

45-70-compare.jpg

45-70-small stuff.png

† grizz

[Scott Tschirhart]

I suppose living in Texas probably helps inform my opinions.

If I lived in Alaska I might well think differently.

[Grizz]

I suppose living in Texas probably helps inform my opinions.

If I lived in Alaska I might well think differently.

IDK, Bison and Bulls and Moose and Horses don't look like push-overs to me.

Here is a good video of 3 different 300 grain loads from a Guide gun at 100 yards . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH-dqbZCydc

[Scott Tschirhart]

Wasn’t the .45 Colt designed to shoot horses?

I know they do a job on a full sized cow.

[AJMD429]

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Grizz snd Scott Tschirhart both made good points.

I too ‘picked my mate’ before the 45 Colt was available in the Ruger Redhawk or Marlin Carbine, and almost nobody had 454 Casulls. So I went with the Marlin 1894 carbine and Super Blackhawk revolver, later expanding my 0.430”-throwers with a Charter Arms Bulldog and Ruger Redhawk, then a rifle in 444 Marlin.

All so I could have a minimalist bullet inventory (…that’s what happens when a young kid with more OCD than money grows up reading Mell Tappan’s “Survival Guns”). As the 45 Colt came out in so many good guns, my only ‘consolation’ was that whereas the 44 caliber rifle and carbine I had both used 0.430” bullets, there wasn’t such a convenient same-exact-diameter pairing with 45 caliber rifle and carbine. (…but…like COSteve points out, does it really matter…?)

But if you’re getting to the essence of playing the “what if” and “only” thought/experiments we do like this as an excuse not to do our chores, why not go from “only one caliber” to “only one cartridge” (the ‘cat-sneeze loads for 30-06 or 375 H&H or 45-70 or 444 Marlin come to mind), but why NOT “only one LOAD…???

So Scott Tschirhart just cut to the chase…

The big question would be - a ‘pistol’ cartridge load or a ‘rifle’ cartridge load…. Lots would depend on circumstances for sure. Most of the able-bodied could protect self, defend homestead, and hunt meat, with a pistol cartridge levergun, and the same load from a revolver. But in 3rd-world-nation breakdown scenarios, we’d probably rather try to shoot a feral cat for dinner with a 308 than take on a truck full of jihadists with a 45 Colt unless it was in the form of a ‘short action carbine version of a Gatling gun’.

(Hmmmmm…. Now THAT would be kinda fun…! )

[44shooter]

One caliber for rifles and handguns, I’m thinking 35 although it’s not my favorite for either. I suppose my 44s would work but I like having a flatter shooting rifle. Give one caliber for each, 30 for rifles, 45 for handguns. Still need a shotgun or three

[Grizz]

Wasn’t the .45 Colt designed to shoot horses?

I know they do a job on a full sized cow.

do the cows ever sit on people and eat their guts and ignore the screaming? because that's the sometimes end caused by an animal that can outrun a quarter horse. and silently sneak up on you. i know of three people who died that way.

and because i'm a big chicken the idea of being eviscerated by a bear is extremely distasteful. (not to the bear)

But i think your Colt load is big medicine and well suited to the challenge . . . and yes, i think 45 colt and acp were spec'd to kill horses.

[6pt-sika]

Hmmm single shotgun gauge would be 10 gauge 2 7/8” as I’ve got the gamut of loads . Now you said single cartridge not single gun , suspect I’d need 6 or 7 of the doubles I already have . As to a single rifle cartridge I suppose I could get by with the 6.5x54 MS .

[Scott Tschirhart]

do the cows ever sit on people and eat their guts and ignore the screaming? because that's the sometimes end caused by an animal that can outrun a quarter horse. and silently sneak up on you. i know of three people who died that way.

Maybe it’s because I still need more coffee… but I had to read this two or three times to figure out that you were talking about bears!

[2ndovc]

I guess I do too. I was thinking that Raptors have been extinct for a bit, wondered where they've been hiding.

jb

[Grizz]

do the cows ever sit on people and eat their guts and ignore the screaming? because that's the sometimes end caused by an animal that can outrun a quarter horse. and silently sneak up on you. i know of three people who died that way.

Maybe it’s because I still need more coffee… but I had to read this two or three times to figure out that you were talking about bears!

more coffee works for me. being stalked by anything that can eat me focuses my attention. when I walk up a deer trail and find a 24 inch high pile of dirt and leaves with a leg bone sticking out, in the middle of the trail, i realize that not much separates me from the deer in the bear's mind. maybe it's thinking "here's a two-fer", IDK.

I realize that some people are thrilled by the prospect and enjoy the adrenaline dump . . . I'm not one of them.

I tested my deer loads by shooting into firewood, with the grain and across the grain, to determine the likelihood of getting to the bears CNS from any angle, regardless of the structure in the way. But I still don't know if I was successful because I never shot a bear.

You know the result of the man confronted by a ginormous bear, right?

He prayed "Lord, please let this be a Christian bear."

The bear prayed, "Lord, thank you for this meal I am about to receive."

[Grizz]

Hmmm single shotgun gauge would be 10 gauge 2 7/8” as I’ve got the gamut of loads . Now you said single cartridge not single gun , suspect I’d need 6 or 7 of the doubles I already have . As to a single rifle cartridge I suppose I could get by with the 6.5x54 MS .

Your 10 gauges are fascinating and cool. I would like to shoot one, I never have.

topic is single caliber, which is not the same thing. I am evaluating the prospects of a single caliber to take care of all my needs, hunting food, stopping freight trains, I mean carnivores, plinking, harvesting squirrels and hippos, etc.

it's because we are blessed with an abundance of guns, and enchanted with the possibilities of another one, that we have way more stuff than we actually need.

perhaps a way to filter for this would be a consideration of which caliber firearm we would take if we had to start walking toward the ridge line way up yonder, with no way to come back. sort of the situation of the lone trapper with one or two animals and no fences. so we would have a bullet mold, some powder, primers, some lead ingots, in our stuff.

"O, that's never gonna happen" doesn't meet the parameters. Lots of stuff has already happened that we thought "that'll never happen". It's just a game I play. When the chaos that the 'liberals' are setting us up for overwhelms us, we won't be packing much weight, and might eventually be reduced to Otzi's kit.

Right now I am at the point that I will take my 45 Super 1911 for primary and the Springfield XD, for secondary. And give up the 500 meter head shots, because I CAN'T CARRY ALL THAT STUFF

[GunnyMack]

I keep coming back to this, certainly gets the grey matter going.
One thing keeps coming up in my head, 357 Maximum.
I'm not overly familiar with it, certainly guns chambered for it are scarce but it scratches an itch for the 35 guys. I suppose a 180 or 200 gr 358 rifle bullet loaded in it would get a bit more range in say a TC Encore and there are six guns out there. So that helps take care of the bullets powder,primers, mold issue.
However, up north in grizz country I'd want something that starts with a .4 - 41 mag minimum.