Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Help me thin my rifle battery.

The last couple of months I have been downsizing what I have in rifles. I had way too much overlap and frankly maintaining them was becoming a pain. I think I am close to an ideal battery for my type of hunting and shooting. All of the rifles are bolt actions and there are a mix of stainless and blued and sporter and heavy barrel. The manufacturer's are a mix of Anschutz, CZ, and Remington. I thought about listing each, but it may muddy the waters, so I will just list the calibers:

22 LR Weatherby XXII aka Anschutz 64 sporter blued
22 Magnum CZ 455 sporter blued
22 Hornet CZ 527 sporter blued
221 Fireball CZ 527 sporter blued
222 Remington Remington 700 sporter blued
223 Remington Remington 7 sporter stainless
204 Ruger CZ 527 heavy barrel blued
22-250 Remington Remington 700 heavy barrel stainless
243 Winchester Remington 700 sporter stainless
6mm Remington Remington 700 sporter blued
260 Remington Remington 7 sporter stainless

I hunt squirrels, rabbits, groundhogs, and deer. I also plan to punch some paper and make some trips out west for mule deer, elk, and antelope. If it was your rifle battery, what would you change, and why? Would you leave it alone? Add to it?

I keep going back and forth justifying each, but when I look at it from afar, I still see overlap. I need an objective eye from the 'fire.

22LR
223
260



Dropping all those down to just three, crazy talk!

I would narrow it down to 4

.22
.223
.243 just because I like them
.260

I'd be set up like this.

22 LR
22 K Hornet
223 Remington
22-250 Remington
243 Winchester
260 Remington

Yeah you got a pile of overlap in your rifle battery....All i see in your battery is basically 3 calibers......I know its very hard to do cause ive been in the same boat more than once, but looking at your calibers from the outside id keep 1 rimfire, 1 centerfire varmint cartrdge, 1 of your medium caliber centerfire's for medium game and ditch the rest, then add a 30-06 type or a Magnum cartridge for your Elk hunting and you will be set.......Good luck as this move is much easier said than done..........Hb

I'd add a 7mm mag or 300 WM / 300wsm

I'm not sure he has that much overlap. Just looking at the chamberings, sure it looks that way. But some of them could have very different performance envelopes. Suppose the .223 is a light sporter ideal for a walkabout hunt, and the .222 is a heavy barreled Sako capable of .3 MOA group from a bench? Those would have very different uses for a Virgina groundhog hunter. Again, if the .243 is a Remington Model 7 and the 6mm is a Ruger #1, I see distinct roles.

I have 5 rifles in .284, but they are a NULA 7-08, a 7x57 in a maple Mannlicher stock, a high end custom .280 Rem, an all around 7mm Rem Mag, and a heavy barreled 7mm Rem mag set up like a Remington 40x. All very different.

So overlap cannot be assessed on cartridge alone. That's my story, and I am sticking to it.

22 long rifle
6 mm rem

22 Nosler.

Seriously though a 270 is an absolute.

Would flip the Hornet, Fireball, 204, 222, 6 Rem and 260.

Leaving 22RF, 22-250, 243 and a 270. Anything bigger would be single purpose. JMO


W

Utah708,
I have added some details for everyone to consider in the first post.

I hunt all the same critters as you and could get by fine with.

.22 LR
.22 mag.
.223
.243

Yes, indeed. Four would be crazy talk

22LR
223
260

Everybody needs a nice lever-action so.....
45/70

Harv3589,

That is a great minimum for sure.

I could probably drop to six and not go through too much rifle withdrawal. Do you have a 22 K Hornet? My hornet is a CZ 527.

Thank you for the advice and encouragement. I tried to do this a few years ago and ended up buying more than I had before I started the thinning

Those are good ones too. I have managed to get a bit recoil shy, and I am not sure if I could take their bark anymore.

Whelenman,
This is the ultimate cut down list. Two rifles. I know in my mind it would work, but my loonie tendencies might not allow me Plus the 6mm Remington is one I added late. My first deer rifle was not what I had wanted. It was Ruger 77 tang safety in 243 Winchester. The rifle I really wanted was a Remington 700 ADL in 6mm Remington. Nearly 25 years later I added to my collection.

The 270 is fine cartridge, but we all know the stigma it has on the campfire. I am afraid Ingwe will see it and I will have to come out of the closet

Blackheart,

I keep trying to get rid of the 22 mag and my brain is fighting me hard to keep it. It hits as hard at 100 yards as a 22 LR does at the muzzle. It has flea bite of recoil. The CZ is so light I could carry it all day. It is actually a very accurate rifle too. Oh no, I am making excuses again.