The one that I have in my hands, that is adaquate for the task of a clean quick kill, at the time that the game I am hunting appears and presents itself for a shot.

I would have to say the remington 30-06 is the best all around rife. You get the most bang for you buck. But I believe that your rife is as only good as the scope you put on it.there are a lot of great guns out these days. So what ever gun you get don't go light on the scope.

Have killed all subspecies of African Wildebeest with either a 30/06 or a 300 Win Mag

A bolt action .30-06 Springfield. Good for almost everything but not the best for any single thing.

That is a very vague and hard to answer question without more details about what the intended purpose is. Then after that, there are multiple platforms that are very viable candidates.

Is this a hunting rifle? If so, what, and where are you hunting.

Target? What type of target shooting and how far?

Home protection? Lots of neighbors, or other family members in the house, etc.

If you could please narrow it down a little

In the right hands and as a 1 gun does it all. The .22 Lr or .22 mag can and will take anything that walks on earth. Light accurate and most versital gun of all times. The 30.06 is the close second

458 Lott,
You can load it as far down as a 45-70.

you can kill from coyotes to moose with a 30-06

To accuratly answer the question if would be helpful to know where you are living and what you are intending to do with it. Moose, elk, deer, bear and caribou have all been killed with a .22. The rifle doesn't weigh much and ammunition is still fairly inexpensive. Usually more rabbits,squirrels, grouse,etc can be found than elk and deer during a hunting season and their bag limits are historically more generous.If you are looking for a big game rifle, my vote goes for the 30-06.