Gun nuts love to argue about the perfect all-purpose rifle, but they really mean the perfect all-purpose rifle cartridge.
I hate to break it to you, but there isn't one. At least, not if you define perfect as an all-purpose cartridge for big game, varmints, predators and furbearers. The .22-caliber centerfire cartridges will kill deer, but that's at the far north end of their capability. Those cartridges with their tiny bullets are best suited for shooting varmints and other small quarry.
Conversely, using the 25-caliber cartridges for varmints is overkill. The "quarter bores" are best suited for deer-size game.
Into that equation you must also factor your particular barrel's ability to stabilize an adequate weight bullet for your preferred application. Some .22-caliber barrels stabilize heavy bullets (55-60 grains), while others are better for 40-grain bullets. A .22-caliber rifle that shoots heavy bullets accurately might not shoot light bullets accurately at all, and vice versa. Heavy is better for heavier quarry while light is more suitable for small quarry.
The "perfect cartridge" debate is pointless, but I have found the perfect American big-game rifle, defined as the ideal combination of cartridge, barrel, action and platform. And I do mean a single rifle.
It is a Model 70 Winchester Classic Stainless Stalker chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum fitted with a Ballistic Optimizing Shooting System (BOSS). I got it online for a crazy low price some years ago.
I replaced the factory black composite stock with a laminated thumbhole model that I bought from Stocky's Stocks during a Christmas clearance sale a couple of years after I got the rifle. Frankly, changing stocks was superfluous. The factory "Tupperware" stock is so flimsy that you can flex it across your knee, but it does not inhibit that rifle's accuracy. The laminated thumbhole is sleek, functional and stunningly attractive with its silver and blue color scheme. The thumbhole arrangement allows me to hold it steady without a rest.
The stock was billed as a "plug-and-play" accessory, but the barrel channel was improperly routed, causing the barrel to press against one side of the channel. That can cause inaccuracy, so I spent an afternoon sanding out the channel until the barrel floated free. I also had to replace the factory two-piece trigger guard and floor plate assembly with a one-piece assembly. At some point I intend to bed the stock, but I probably won't.
Of course, the laminated stock is very heavy, which is unsuitable for long carries. For portability, I can simply reattach the factory stock.
The key to this rifle's accuracy is the BOSS. It is an adjustable weight that tunes the barrel's harmonic vibrations to be in the center of the sine wave when a bullet exits the barrel. This requires tuning the device to every different bullet you use, even in the same weight. A 150-grain Sierra ProHunter requires a different setting than a 150-gr. Nosler Partition, and a 150-gr. Partition requires a different setting than a Nosler Ballistic Tip or a 150-gr. Remington Core-Lokt. The settings are not close. It takes a fair amount of shooting to figure out the sweet spot for each bullet. That's fine with me because I love to shoot, and I especially love to shoot my own reloads.
I have tuned the rifle to three loads featuring 150-gr. ProHunter, 160-gr. Speer boat tail soft points and 162-gr. Hornady Spire Points. All three print three-shoot groups less than 1 inch at 150 yards. Point of impact is 3 inches high at 150 yards, which aligns point of aim and impact around 400 yards. I will continue testing from 180-gr. down to 120-gr., and I am confident that it will group them just as well.
Also, the BOSS has a muzzle brake that reduces felt recoil to about 25-06 level. That makes it very easy to shoot and promotes proper technique. All of these attributes combine to produce superb accuracy. Yes, the BOSS is very loud. All rifles are very loud. That is why I wear hearing protection, even when I hunt.
Minus the BOSS attachments, the barrel is 24 inches long. The attachments extend the length to 26 inches. My tight-grouping reloads clock about 2,900-3,100 feet per second.
Ability to shoot a wide range of bullet weights and bullet styles accurately makes this Model 70 ideal for any kind of North American big-game hunting. I've not hunted bears. Without first-hand experience, I won't speculate whether the 7 Mag is suitable for big bears.
Compare that rifle's utility to that of some of my other favorites. My Ruger Mk. II in 6.5x55 Swedish is a fine deer rifle as long as you use a 140-gr. bullet. It doesn't matter what brand. It shoots all 140s well, but it doesn't like any other weight. On the other hand, the bullets almost never exit a deer. That has led to some challenging recoveries.
My Remington Model 700 in 7mm-08 shoots 130-gr. Speers like lasers, but it doesn't do well with any other bullets or loads that I have tried.
My Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 7x57 seems to only like whatever 139-gr. bullet that Prvi Partizan loads in its cartridges. It looks like a Hornady Spire Point, but there is no way to know.
My Browning A-Bolt II Stalker in 25-06 Rem. is a lot like my perfect Winchester 7 Mag. It also has a BOSS that I've tuned to several loads with different bullet weights. It is super accurate and kicks like a .22 Magnum. I have killed a lot of deer with it, but 100- to 120-gr. is the conventional operating range for bullets in 25-06. My A-Bolt II Medallion in 25-06 without a BOSS is just as accurate with multiple bullets in that range. However, the greater range of 7mm bullets makes the 7 Mag far more versatile, and deer shot with the 7 Mag don't ever run away.
Mike Waters of Little Rock says he has the perfect rifle, a Remington Model 700 also in 7 Mag.
"Remington came out with the Model 700 and the 7 Mag both in 1962, the year I was born," Waters said. "That's reason enough for me to like it, but I've sure killed a lot of deer with it."
I refuse to get drawn into the argument about the best big game cartridge. This column is an ode to one incomparable North American big game rifle. It just happens to be a 7 Mag.