I gave my oldest son an ‘03 30-06 and a newer Mossberg 270 when he started hunting. I gave him a 308 700 Remington earlier, but it was stolen soon after he got it (he did kill a pronghorn with that 308). I don’t recall seeing him shoot the 30-06. He claims it’s because the stock is too nice on the 30-06 - doesn’t want to scratch it. When we hunt together I carry a 270 also. We shoot the same loads.
Only one time was I disappointed with the 270. I had worked up a load that shot accurately in both rifles. It was an early mono bullet. We killed our deer that season, but the bullet performance wasn’t good in my opinion, no expansion. I almost wrote off mono bullets due to that hunt. But have come around. No fault of the 270, BTW.
I think that it is tough to beat a 270 for an all around (pronghorn to moose) cartridge. Though I’ve killed more game with the 30-06 & the 280.
If I had to have only one high power rifle, I think a 270 would be fine. But I’m not likely to ever shoot anything big - a bison maybe.
I’d also be satisfied with a 7x57, a 280, a 30-06, a 7mm RM and so forth.
Who wants only one rifle?
Last edited by Bugger; 01/27/24.
