One gun for the west.

[jackelope]

I would agree with Bob... 300RUM if you can handle the pounding it will dish out. It will kill anything on this continent very extrememly dead...much more deader than a 30.06

[WDFW-SUX]

338 win mag kills deader than a 300 rum.

How are we going to measure deadness anyhow?

[high country]

Man if you have a 30-06s and are heading to my....look seriously at the 257roy. It is THE flat shooter king without ridiculous recoil. I can tell you that I have never seen anything make more bang flops.

[scoutsniper17]

Without a doubt....300RUM.Load it down for '06 recoil and prformance and crank it up for straight whoop ass.Love the heck outta mine

[2506]

without a doubt    7mm mag.

[bobcat]

without a doubt    7mm mag.

Which one? There are at least three.   

[2506]

Either the 7mm RUM or 7mm wby

[hoyt2002]

I got a 300 rum love the gun and the recoil is not that bad. fun to shoot and load for. Its my favorite rifle. I see peaple saying that it's over kill and it wont make thing any deader then how is the round over kill if it don't make them deader??? it's 30. cal like my 308 but it pushes them faster and flater. I still like to shoot my little rifles to 308 270 and the list could go on. it's just up to the shooter that why thay make so many right? If your looking for something bigger i'd go with a 300 wm.

[bobcat]

Either the 7mm RUM or 7mm wby

OK, I thought you were gonna say the 7mm Rem Mag, and I was going to say that's exactly the same as the 30-06- why would he want that?  

[JackOfAllTrades]

I guess that if you already have a 270 and 30-06, then all this chat about a 7mm anything is wasted air.  Stretching to any of the .30cal magnums may give you another 250-300fps on a 180gn bullet.

I own a 30-06 and a .30 mag wildcat. If your budget is only $800, then some for optics, I guess that suggesting a caliber for any rifle that costs $50/box of 20 is quite possibly out of your budget to enjoy shooting.  I haven't purchased ammo for a long long time, but I figure that in the tri-state area you're going to find 338win mag on more store shelves than you will 300rum or even the newer 300sm's. The 338 will take anything in the America's with comfort to spare.

-Steve

[champ41]

.270!!! shoots flat, i killed a deer at 450 yards with it and a bear at 435 yards I'd say that this gun would do the trick 

[EDT]

alright so heres the deal, I have a couple of different 06's and yes no *censored* they'll kill anything that moves in the lower 48, but so will a 243 if you have good shot placement. BUT im going to college in montana next year and my parents offered to buy me a new gun for a graduation present (within a reasonable budget) SO Im trying to find a NEW gun that can be my go to gun over there. And yes im thinking my shot opportunities are goin to be a bit longer over there, but either way I want to get a little more knockdown power at a farther distance if im getting a new gun (other wise there would be no reason to like you guys are saying) The 06's I have now are either heavy as hell or sentimental so I want a new gun can take some punishment (like my 270) but if im getting a new gun I want to upgrade anyways I see no since in owning 4 3006s.

This info could have saved a couple of pages of comments! 

[high country]

Another option might be to have one of your current guns built to what you want.$500 for a stock and about that again to build and barrel it....then it is just what you want.

[jab89]

Do you plan on doing any shooting for fun? or just strictly hunting? ?If you do think you might want to do some long distance target shooting with this rifle then 7mm and .338 generally have the best ballistic coefficients of your preferred caliber range, which means less wind deflection and better speed retention. If it is strictly for hunting and you are dead set on getting a more powerfull cartridge than the 3006 i don't think you can go wrong with any of the previous suggestions for any practical hunting distances. bottom line, its up to you to make your own decision, a lot of people have their own cartridge/caliber preferences and tend to dis on anything other than what they like. look up some ballistic charts/ammo prices and make your own choice.

[wsucowboy]

338. I use mine for everything from deer, to elk and everything in between. Hell I've even shot a few yotes with it. I actually choose to get a 338 years ago because I always wanted to go on a moose hunt and that's what most of the guides I talked to recommended. I have a 338 Browning A bolt and I love it. Can't go wrong.