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I don't know if this thread is a question without an answer or an answer without a question.

It is like asking which automobile is the best. It depends; if you are moving a five tons of freight from one state to another, it would not be the same answer as if you are taking the kids to band practice.

If you are thinning the rats in the corn crib you would need a different rifle and caliber than if you were thinning rats on the battlefield. That is why there are hundreds of calibers and thousands of platforms to fire them from. Even if you get as specific as "What is the perfect deer caliber and rifle, there are too many variables. Shooting deer across a plane requires a different tool than shooting deer in heavy undergrowth woods.

The original question would become pertinent only if the parameters of use was specified, and then the answer will not be clear-cut.

The original question is fun to discuss over beer, around the campfire, but is far to vague to be of any practical use.

But, in the spirit of being a good sport, I will throw in my answer: If I could only have one rifle (and I own well over 50) in a single caliber, it would be a good quality bolt action .22 L.R., that had a large number of spare parts readily available from a large number of sources.
 
If I could only have one rifle it would be far from a 22LR. Look at what has been going on recently. People can not find ammo for the 22 LR or 22 mag and when they do they are being robed by the unmasked bandits.

I would pick a good reloadable caliber and for my area if I could only have one rifle it would be a good bolt action some where in the 243 to 7mm08 range due to the bullets to load from varmint to whitetail deer size game.

:D Al
 
I have not heard that 223/5.56 particularly likes to tumble. May be confused with the 5.45.
I punch a lot of paper, and I have not seen a 5.56/.223 keyhole yet. There was

a time when there were looser twist ratios, past 9:1, which are rarer now.

Perhaps this "tumbling 5.56" is merely perpetuated hype, from back when

twist was as loose as 14:1?


Yanno, "you spends your money, and your makes your choices".

IME, NOTHING drops an animal like 30.06.

So for my money, it's 30.06, when it's time to get the job done.
 
The original M16 was marginally stable. The bullet would not tumble during flight, but hitting any soft medium, like flesh, would destabilize it and start it tumbling. That also happens with the 5,45X39.
 
The original M16 was marginally stable. The bullet would not tumble during flight, but hitting any soft medium, like flesh, would destabilize it and start it tumbling. That also happens with the 5,45X39.
Another source of the "tumbling " rumor, thank you. BUT until it

hits a target, 5.56 doesn't tumble, of it's own accord, during flight,

using modern twist rates.

I would now respectfully submit that most projectiles of ANY caliber,

upon striking a target, are very likely, to put it kindly, to have a

de-stabilized flight path. It's just that 5.56/.223 is so popular, it gets

over-hyped attention, which at the very least appears inaccurate.
 
All bullets have yawl (the bullets nose goes in a circle as it travels through the air). The greater the yawl the greater the propensity for a bullet to tumble upon striking an object. During the Viet Nam era the 5.56 developed a reputation for sometimes leaving wound channels disproportionate to the caliber size because upon striking an enemy the round would keyhole. This did not always happen, so some felt the 5.56 to be on the unreliable side of things as far as stopping power- they wanted to stay with the M-14 with its 7.62 round.
Inertia is dependent on mass and is in part the tendency of an object to keep moving in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force. The forces a bullet usually encounters are gravity , wind, and the target. Bullets have a ballistic coefficient. The higher this is the better the ranging qualities of the bullet. If the standard bullet was 55 gr. and if the bullet wt. increases to 60 gr. or 70 gr, (not changing the shape of the bullet) its ballistic coefficient also improves. Increasing the mass we have increased its inertia- increases its tendency to travel in a straight line (also its gravitational attraction).
As pointed out the rate of twist helps stabilize bullets. The shape of the bullet is important (is it a boat tail).
Things change. How many years did it take until Hornaday discovered normal plastic tipped bullets melt at 300+ yds.?
 
This may have all ready been posted but a bolt action .243 is hard to beat for an all around rifle. It is a hell of a good deer rifle, very accurate,death on varmits, and is a great target/range rifle. I realize there are many calibers that are better for specific applications but a .243 has been my go to caliber since I started hunting. I have owned/own and hunted with rifles ranging for 22/250 to .300 Ultra Mag and have noticed that a .243 is generally in the field with me while the others stay in the safe. I have shot 175-200 deer in 25 years of hunting (unlimited doe tags in NC) and have never had one go farther than 5-yards from where they were shot with the .243. I noticed similar effectiveness when helping a friend with his guide service. If I lived out West I would prefer something a bit larger (.300 Win Mag) but a lot of elk have been killed with the .243. As I have gotten older recoil with no real world benefits appeals less. 25-06, 7mm08 and the .308 are also calibers I am fond of.
 
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