Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Pick your North America big game battery.

Nice rifle okie john. Like that stock paint job. Just looked on B&C's website and don't even see a stock for Ruger 77's listed.

I think they quit making them.


Okie John

Bummer. It's hard to find a synthetic stock for Ruger MKII's and Hawkeyes without a cheekpiece on them. I also have a stainless MKII .30-06. It's a left hand bolt with factory gray laminate stock.

My choices would be:

257 Wby
MkV 26 inch barrel Laminated stock Leupold 6.5X20

300 Win.

Model 70 Extreme Weather factory synthetic stock 4.5X14 Leupold

375 H&H
Pre 64 model 70 with factory wood stock and a Leupold 6X

"Big game" is specified so I'm omitting the obvious rimfire(s). The first two below are in the safe after much thought.

243 Montana (twisted by PN for 105 hornys exclusively) under a 3-9x42 that tracks.

30-06 Hawkeye All-Weather under a Leupy 4x. (1:10 handles 220's).

Don't know on the third. Hard not to want a rattle canned 458 Win or 375 H&H Mauser with a receiver sight after reading Shoemaker's stuff. In reality, the '06 will likely handle what I need of the big stuff and I'd be better off going the other direction with a handy 223 bolt twisted for 75's.

22-250 set up for all around varmints.

Lightweight 7mm-08 for hikes, woods hunting, and most deer & piggy situations.

300 WBY for everything else.


So far, this has served me well from varmints through elk.

Lot of different opinions on this.

I could wrap it all up with a 30-06 or a 280. I have both and AI variants and can't say which I like best. If forced I could get along with just one of them and be content and quite confident hunting anything short of brown bear.

What worked for me 11-1/2 years ago when this thread was started still works.

That said, I enjoy using different rifles and have added quite a few to my collection since then, but none do anything I couldn't have done with what I had back then.

From what I already own ........

1. M700 sporter 223 / VXIII 3.5-10 / 22" Brux 1:8" / Bansner
2. M700 faux TI 257 Roberts / VXIII 2.5-8 / 22" King 1:10" / TI takeoff
3. M700 35 Whelen sporter / VXIII 2.5-8 / 23" Lilja 1:12" / Brown Precision

All's I'm seeing there is your jackrabbit line-up...

Well, I got rid of my 375H&H. I found it way overkill for anything in NA, which this thread implies. A lot of guys seem to think they need a big 375 for NA game animals. More power I guess. The biggest rifle I now have is my 8 pound all up 338WM (top rifle in pic). Semi custom with gretan stainless barrel, midnight blue cerakote, brown poundR stock, built on 1954 H&H model 70, 5 round capacity when loaded up. Gets the job done on anything in NA. The next rifle in the picture is a 1957 model 70 270 fwt in Mcmillan hunters compact stock. Metal and finish all original:



Along with my 1956 30-06 fwt. If these 3 won't get it done, it can't be done with anything else either...

Nice rack.

varmint's would call for a 222 Rem

predators I have a 243 for

deer and elk I'd trust to my 6.5x55. It's mod 70, modern one and handles heavy loads well. Have shot two elk with my 6.506, one shot and out. Deference between it and a 6.5x55 on a modern action isn't much!

I have a 308 and 30-06 but limit them to shooting cast bullet's. I think most would agree that for North America, lower 48 anyway, that a whole bunch of different cartridge's would be more than adequate.

Funny thing about elk cartridges, lot's of people go with the 300 mag and 180gr bullet's. Lot of other's thing they need their 338 mag. In the state of Oregon, the smallest cal allowed for elk is a 243! Boy, lot of wiggle room there! :-)

7mm Rem mag: Ruger stainless steel, 1.7-10x42mm
325 WSM: Kimber Montana stainless steel, 1.5-6x42mm
375 Ruger: Ruger stainless steel, 1.1-4x24mm

These would be my picks for big game. I like overlap, and I Really like medium bores.
If I had another 1.7-10x42, it would go on the 325 WSM.

If only one rifle to do all NA big game:
338 Win mag, Ruger stainless steel, 1.7-10x42mm & 1.1-4x24mm
It currently has a 1.5-6x42 which would work.

I actually did that a long time ago, without trying. My old beat-up Ruger in 7x57, and my .338WM will pretty much cover it all, and while I have a lot of rifles in the safe, these are the ones I grab when something needs killed. The .338 is an FN commercial action in a McMillan stock, M70 style safety, etc.

.. Only three? That's not fair! I can't decide which three of about eight that qualify for big game (small game & varmint stuff isn't included). But if it were down to three calibers I guess I'd say .25, 26, & .30. A .25-06 Ruger Mod. 77 VTMKII with a 6-18x Leupold... A Kimber sporterized Mod. 96 Swedish Mauser, 6.5x55 in a Bell & Carlson stock with a 3.5-10x Leupold. At .30 cal. it depends on where I am and what I'm hunting; either a Marlin 30AS .30-30 with a 1-4x Leupold or a Savage Mod. 10 in 300 WSM with a 3.5-10x Leupold. That battery will cover just about anything I would hope to go after in N. America. Chalked up lots of deer, a few pronghorn and one nice mule deer, and someday would love to fill an elk tag with that aforementioned 300 WSM.

Don't need three. .308 will handle everything in NA.

I have s Steyr Scout with a Schmidt and Bender 1.5-6x42 mm scope on mine.

For NA BG, I subscribe to the late Allen Day's school of thought. Two identically set up .30/06's (although Allen preferred the .300 win mag). Cause stuff breaks and a .30/06 is all you need for NA big game.

If you really want two different calibres then I am with bsa, a .270win and a .338win and you are set.