Good choice, or the old reliable .30-06

the 30-06 gets alot of support on this site as the number one all arounder for good reason. however there is nothing wrong with the other great choices such as the 7 mag, 300mag and even some wildcat or rare chamberings such as the 7stw(one of my favorites) if you can handle the extra recoil. They all offer something a bit different. My advice would be to shoot a variety and see what you like. Its really pretty hard to go wrong as long as you get something that you can personally handle(recoil wise).

sparty23

Of all the cartridges both Civilian and Military, the 30-06 is the most dependable tack driving knock'em down John you can own!

For the 4 years in Alaska and all the "Thunder Stick Magnums", I've witnessed a many Moose shots and the best "BANG FLOP" was done with a 30-06 with over the counter Remington 180 grain Core-Lokt®!

It's all about "MOP"!

Nothing at all wrong with a 7mm, 300 win mag, or a 30-06. However if you are going non magnum I'd get a 308. My Dad has one (also a great knock em down military cartrige Clay) and it's easy on the shoulder and more than capable of killing elk out to 250 yards.

I'm not so sure about '06 loads outperforming a 7mm magnum, but either the '06 or 7 mm Rem mag is s great choice for the one rifle hunter. My '06 would be the last to leave my collection.

You indicated you would be using the rifle for whitetails in Michigan as one of its primary functions. The .30-06 or my own favorite .308 would be a better choice if you intend to eat what what you shoot. A .270 would be a good third choice in my opinon. We ended up sighting in my wife's cousin's 7mm Rem Mag on an improvised range and used a 10-inch thick mesquite for a target support. It was a good thing it was already close, we'd have had to find another tree after 3 rounds. The cost of ammunition is not to laughed at, either. If you buy the 7mm Mag, you might look into handloading lighter loads so you can get some meat from what you shoot. The .30-06 is the record holder for the number of elk it has killed, BTW.

I would have to agree with the majority here on the .06. I'm from Michigan and live in Idaho. Grew up with the .06 being the mainstay for deer in the U.P. My grandfather shot a Canadian moose with an .06, and I just took my deer this year with my .06 at over 300yds. Very versatile. Just make sure you are comfortable shooting long ranges, and as always shot placement is the key. Go with at least a 180gr for elk.

A good hot 180 grain hunting handload will be going faster and harder than a 175 grain 7mm Mag. at long ranges. So, it can outperform on the ballistics tables, but what we can't calculate is how the '06 outperforms the magnum on game.

shane

I'm not sure what your point of reference is, but a .30-06 is lagging a 7mm Remington Magnum of similar bullet weight in velocity, energy, and trajectory all the way down range. Is the 7mm more effective on game than a .30-06? Probably not.

The 7mm Weatherby Magnum shines with 160 grain loads, as does the 7mm Remington Mag. If you want an honest comparison, use that bullet weight. The 175 grain is a very heavy for caliber bullet just like the 200 and 220 grain is for .30-06.

i was on an elk hunt a few years ago with four other hunters, they had a 30-06, a 300 win mag, a 270 and a 7mm rem mag, i also had the 7mm. the only hunter who didn't have to shoot twice was using the 270. true story.

a 7mm rem mag is exactly alike to the 308 remington express

The 7mm is a popular choice here. So is the .300 Win Mag and the .338 Win Mag. Ammo is common. You can't go wrong with these choices.