Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles If you could have only ONE rifle, what would it be?

I know, I know. We've all done this before, but it's always interesting to hear what different people value in the one-gun rifle.<P>I would choose a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in .30-06, 23-inch barrel, no open sights, no muzzle-break. I would put it into a MacMillan Bros. synthetic stock, pillar/steel bedded, of course. I would put Leupold rings and bases, and a Leupold VXIII 2.5x8 with a matte finish. I would put a Harris bipod on it, the tallest one with swivel, and a 1-inch military sling.<P>I would develop a load that shot 180-grain Nosler Partitions at near 2800 fps, with 1-MOA of accuracy (this is theory, OK).<P>If I could get all that together, I submit that you couldn't find a better one-rifle rig for North America. Ain't been made!<P>Course, I'd still want another rifle, but we'll leave that for another thread. <P>How about you?<P>Timber

I have my one gun. It's a plain jane Winchester M70, pre-64 action, wood stock, factory trigger (tuned and lightened), Douglas barrel in .338-06 caliber (23"), with Leupold dual dovetail bases/rings and a Zeiss (U.S. made) 3-9x36 scope.<P>I have found a couple of hunting loads that will shoot 200 grain spitzers or 210 grain Partitions at about 2800 fps at under 1 MOA. Certainly good enough for big game.<P>This thing hits like a sledge hammer with very tolerable recoil. The recoil is about on par with a 30-06. <P>I wouldn't hesitate to use this on anything in North America, save really big bruins of the far north. However, I think in a self-defense situation it would be as good as any and better than most. The only drawback for this gun is current lack of factory ammo, although that may be changing in the future. For a handloader who hunts game bigger than deer and antelope, this is the gun.<P>Of course, I still find myself wanting that .22-250.......

OK, the ONE rifle thing, eh?<P>Here we go.<P>Make mine a David Miller Marksman, .30-06, Dave Talley QD rings and bases, German Zeiss 3x9, Harris bipod, Whelen sling, Pelican case (you said anything).<P>For a load, I'll take 1 180-grain Nosler Partition at .5 MOA, thank you!<P>I like this game!<P>Rick

I bought mine in 1960, a Left handed Savage in .243. I have managed to acquire a few others in the years since them but this is the only one that isn't elgible for trade. Of course, I managed to shoot it enough to require a rebore, and it is now a .260 Remington, a cartridge I feel is adequate for anything I'll ever run up on here in Tennessee.

Well, I guess that the choice would depend a lot of where you place the emphasis in your hunting. Years ago I would have chosen a larger caliber, as most of you do, but if your emphasis is on varmints, with an occasional prairie dog trip thrown in, a 30 caliber is a bit big. On the other hand, if you want to do deer and antelope, the wonderful line of 22s we have now is a bit small, and illegal in many states. I would have to go for the 243, preferably Ackleyed. Since I was a 375 H&H fan most of my life for elk, I consider the 243 small for elk. But if I intended to only hunt them ocassionally, I know that with the right bullet and shot placement, it <B>will</B> get the job done. And I consider the 243 the ideal caliber to dependably anchor coyotes, every time, all the time. And even the 243 is a bit much to shoot 300-400 times a day on PDs, but it is the best compromise. For my hunting, there is no other good choice. Gotta go with the 243!<BR>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><I><B>Critr</B></I><BR> <A HREF="http://www.SaguaroSafaris.com" TARGET=_blank>www.SaguaroSafaris.com</A>

I agree with all the posts. However I already own in my opinion the ultimate for North America. It is a Rem 700 BDL LSS in 300 ultra. It shoots a 180 Swift Scirocco bullet at 3250 fps and groups 1"...@ 200 yds! It wears a Leupold 4x12 and it is gorgeous. Very much like a 30-06... on steroids. From antelope to moose to brown bear I have full confidence in this rifle. Just my opinion. By the way the load is 88.5gr of IMR 7828, fed 215br primers, sat at 3.565" coal.

One rifle for WHAT primary purpose?..<BR>Without qualification to that question..it could be a single shot .22RF..or something more directed for the task..jim

One Rifle,<BR>You know thats just what I have been doing for many years and that rifle has been a 300 win mag I have had every thing from a custom made to my present being a Weatherby mark 5 in 300 win and have taken deer, elk, moose antilopes a few coyotes several rabbits and a crow or two. My principle load has been 180 gr nosler part, and 180 gr swift I have shot 200 gr. in front of 76.5 H4831 hot load but rifle handled it find.<BR>I have just bought a 338 win M77r and I believe I will adopt it as my only rifle.<BR>the Old Timer

HMMMMmmmmm.......I guess I'd have to do a little qualifying here. I don't think there is a rifle around that I know of that will effectively down p-dogs to Elephants, unless it would be a .460 Weatherby. However from p-dogs to Elk, I would think the 6.5X55 Swede is a very effective cartridge for this range of game. I have been useing this cartridge fo 40 yrs. It does the job, and does it quite well, and without the punishment you may receive from the big boomers.....Swede 6.5

Oh this is too easy; Browning bar 30-06.

well let's see,living in the east don't have to worry bpout elk,whitetails arn't big, course groundhogs arn't plentiful anymore either.instead or 1 rifle could I settle for one cabnetfull.

If I could only have one rifle, it would be a Remington 700 .30-06.<BR>

I'd have to pick my Rem 700 FS/ADL model in 7 Rem Mag.It has a Brown-Precision fibreglass stock that fits me better than any other rifle I've ever owned.Has a 3-9 Leupold and is very accurate with 139 Hornadies.I load 175 CoreLocts for bigger game.

With so many 30-06's chosen, you all must be Green Beret snipers! Putting our egos aside, the clear choice is the very powerful and very accurate Remington BDL .270. Just like in restaurants, it doesn't matter how good the food is, it's all about location, location, location. And while I'm sure you're all very accurate under pressure and in the elements, I'll take a well-placed .270 shot over a 30-odd that may be a little off, even for elk.

Uh-oh!!!<P>

243

For me, it would have to be the .25-06, in a Remington 700 action. Out here on the plains, flat, fast and accurate for deer-sized game is the ticket. I'd feel undergunned for elk and bear, but I rarely hunt them, so a .25-06 it is.<P>Oh, and put a Leupold on it. All I need.<P>Jack

I'll play: .30-06 in a purdy wood by Weatherby I think. I am not an accuracy fanatic, so this bed-the-stock-float-the-barrel stuff is lost on me. I don't currently own one, but I cannot argue with how the Weatherby looks and shoots. Thumbs up on both catagories. Mine would wear a Leupold Vari-X III 2.5x8 scope. No muzzle brake. Yes to a blued finish (of course) and my same ol' leather sling. Of course, the same gun in a .300 Weatherby would be cool too (if ammo were free). Regards.

got it.....a 6.5 x 55

OK I'll bite. But I am going to the other extreme here. We are in Big Game rifles section so you chunk out all those little woosy guns to start with. (Big Grin) <P>Hold on let me put on my fire resistant underwear before I get flamed!! <P>I say how about a 338?? Handles everything but Cape Buff type critters. Ok for Brown Bears and anything on this side of the ocean. Will reach out there farther and flatter and with a bigger bullet then a 30-06?? Ammo is available around the world and if you handload the possibilities are limitless.<P>My one gun, must be big enough for brown bear, moose, and elk as their primary targets. I am certainly not saying you can not kill these critters with the 06! Not at all. But not the best tool. Hunting deer is secondary to me, so maybe we are choosing based on what we normally hunt also???<P>Have fun! Flame away Guys. (Big Grin)<P>tex<P>

Have I got a deal for you. My .2 cents on sale for the low, low price, ahh hell it's free. <BR>I'm with Tex 338 seems to be the way to go. Big enough for just about anything, accurate and hard hitting with ammo so plentiful you can by it in downtown Nashville. A Model 70, with a Leupold 4x12 would do just fine.<P>jim

One rifle?By decree of government?<BR>Make mine Black,in .223 with at least 7 30 round magazines,cuz I will be too busy to chase critters.<BR>Now if for some reason I was too broke,well,Make that one a .22lr.<BR>Now if it was a spousal decree,<BR>That would cause me to choose the .338win,so I could force her into divorcing me over the multiple trips every year,and all the dead critter mounts in the house,and...wait I'm doing that now! Hey! honeeeey..........<BR>E4E<P>------------------<BR>

E4E:<P>LOL!<P>Rick

I kind of like my Rem 700 SS in 7MM STW with its 3x9 Zeiss (German). This one shoots a 160 gr partition Gold at about 3400 fps into really tight little 1/2" groups and likes the miserably weather as well as the sun <P>Beak

.338 Tex!!! That's fine, but just don't go deer hunting unless you like ground venison. I understand the need to compensate for bigger game, but at the expense of damaging smaller game which is generally taken more frequently. No thanks. I'll drop my ego and stick with my .270.

I'd have to pick one of the various 416's. I cant think of a better all around big game gun for the world. There are pro's and cons with all guns. I think I could live with the cons of a 416.

Just left that answer in another thread!<P>My pre-war Win. M70 in 30-06. All original except for the Leupold 3x9 Vari-XII.

I did live with "one rifle" for a few years as a starving college student.<P>Model 700 in 30-06 with a Leupold 4x scope. Loaded 125 Sierras for jack rabbits and 165 grainers for deer.<P>Now that I are a highly trained teknicul profeshunal and are making more money:<P>D'Arcy Echols Legend, left hand, 30-06, Leupold 2.5X8 scope.<P>Woops, I ain't making that much money yet. So I guess I'll stick with what I got last summer - a left hand stainless Model 70 custom shop model in 30-06 with a Leupold 2.5X8 scope in Leupold dual dovetails. Don't care for the feel of the McMillan copy of the older squared off stock, so will be replacing that with a Rimrock when Mr. Borden get's his LH mold fixed. Or, maybe just replace it with a factory LT stock whenever they get around to making a few of those.<P>Anyway, it would be a 30-06 bolt action with a Leupold scope, of that there can be no doubt.<p>[This message has been edited by Jim in Idaho (edited January 30, 2001).]

The rifle that I use the most is a 35 Whelen. A one and three quarter to six leopold sits on top. 225 Sierra handles the light stuff, 225 Barnes X's handle the rest.<P>------------------<BR>Hunt smart, be safe

As of about a week ago all of my rifles are 375s.<P>I use them for everything including tin cans and birds<P>Mike

O.K. I'll play too. Since I only have one hunting rig I'll stick with it. Its a Weatherby Accumark 338-378 with a Swarovski 3-12x50 on top. No reason its better then anything else except its mine. I wanted a 338 diameter bullet and I wanted a powerful one. That was my criteria for the start of my arsenal. I don't get out for ground squirls much anymore, but it would still work albeit expensive and I took it Moose, Caribou and Black Bear hunting in Alaska. For me it fits. -t.h.

Rem 700 action (goes without saying), schneider 26" S/S barrel, McMillan Graphite GP Stock, trigger set to 2 1/2lbs, Badger rings and bases, Swarovski 2.5 to 10 X 42 Scope (why settle for a leupold?). More bullet selection for 30 caliber then any other caliber and with the proper bullet and shot placement the 300 win mag will kill anything in the lower 48 states. Yeah, thats the ticket,,,, well, at least for me.<P>Don

Mine would have to be a Match model AR-10 in ,.308. with a 4.5 -14 x 50 LR Leupold mil dot by Premier on Talbot QD mounts and a set of open sights in a pouch, Plenty of Mags (5 & 20). They are extremely accurate for an autoloader, ammo is easy to find almost anywhere and the .308 has well enough power to hunt anything I do (no bigger than a White tail) and if ever needed plenty of fire power.<BR>.......Celt<BR>

I own many different caliber guns,but if i was to choose just one for all around use i would choose my 375H&H mag.It's got good long range capability and can be loaded light for deer or loaded up hot for griz or cape buffalo if i was to go to africa.Ammo is available most anywhere in the world.Can even use it on ground hogs.(they don't care what clobbered them)~~~~tom

Springfield M1AA1 .308. If you could have only one rifle, there are major problems in your country and you will need something with carstopping firepower.

Truth is, for the first ten years of my hunting career the only rifle I owned was a 270 Ruger M77 with a Leupold 3X9. I shot everything from Mule deer to varmints with it. I still love 270's but I have more experience and money now and I gave up the idea of the mythical one rifle for all game years ago. I also gave up the idea of having several different hand loads to try to make one rifle into a "do everything" rig. Those are attractive ideas, but in the practical world of hunting they make as much sense as trying to play 18 holes of golf with just one club. You can do it, but it is not the best way to go. I used up a lot of bullets, powder, etc... and shot the barrels out of a few rifles trying to find different loads for different game and applications. I also wasted a lot of time and components re-sighting-in every time I wanted to use the rifle with one of those different loads. Not to mention the fact that each different load has it's own trajectory to try to remember. How much more does the 130 gr. spire point drop than the 90 gr. hollow point at 500 yards? Now, I work up the most accurate, flattest shooting load I can for each rifle using a bullet that gives good performance on the game I intend to hunt. That is the only load I will shoot in that gun. Then I spend my time with that rifle learning where it places those bullets at different ranges. One rifle for all game just won't work if you hunt for fox furs and big deer. You are going to blow some big holes in the furs or limit your effective range on the deer. It's too much compromise. Until I started shooting prairie dogs I got along very well with just two rifles, a 220 Swift for varmints and a 270 for everything else. Prairie dog shooting is a different story altogether.

Since I only hunt in Alaska a .338 Magnum is all I have now. But if I could afford another rifle, it would be another .338 Magnum. It would have a mouser-type bolt with a 3-position safety, a Leupold 1.5-6Ex (Vary-X III) scope, a better synthetic stock with at least pillar bedding (not the one used by Winchester), and would be made of stainless steel with a satin finish. <P>

Remington stainless 700 LA that has been blueprinted and mated with a 24" #3 contour Krieger barrel with double cryogenic processing. 11 degree recessed target crown. Chambered in .30-06' Obermeyer. Holland stainless steel recoil lug. Holland custom fit firing pin and Wolf Blitzschnell firing pin spring. Jewell stainless HVR trigger with bolt release and top mounted safety. Set at 16 ounces. McMillan Mountain Rifle stock with Decelerator in ADL configuration that is bedded on stainless steel bedding pillars and with Steel bed or titanium devcon. Williams machined stainless steel ADL trigger guard. Reciever scope mounting holes opened from 6-48 to 8-40s. Talley TNT bases counterbored to the 8-40s. Two Leupold Vari-X III 2.5-8x36mm scopes with duplex(maybe premier 4a) reticles mounting in Talley TNT quick release rings. Custom Ziegler case that would allow for takedown of the rifle, storage of extra scope and a SR torque wrench for proper assembly. Custom load development that would combine Federal match brass, Swift Scirocco 180, and roughly 48-50 grains of IMR 4064. Federal Gold Medal Match primers of course. Proper bore tech or dewey cleaning kits of course. Thats about does it. Best Matt. Btw, Close to having Mr. Ricks build this for real;-).<BR><p>[This message has been edited by Matt in Virginia (edited February 05, 2001).]

Timber; I'am going to take the easy way out on this one, as I type very poorly. I just answered this question at length in HuntAmerica-Big Game forum. -memtb

Timber; I was WRONG!!!-so many boards-so little memory! My answer to that question was on this board,Big Game forum, under the question - One Cal.-Time to Explain Your Choice -memtb

The rifle I would choose would be my Win Mod 70 Featherweight in 280 Rem caliber with a Leupold 2.5-8X scope. And if able to use only one bullet give me a 140gr premium. It would be a bit light for some game and maybe a bit heavy for other but overall a good compromise.

I have pre-64 Mod. 70 .338. Great round really hammers the game. I'd like to get a 7-08 and a 22-250 Ackley.pak

Most of my hunting is done in thick woods,so my pick would be a Marlin 1895ss in 45/70 topped with a Leupold compact scope.

My 99a savage in 250-3000

One RIFLE? That means I get to keep the handguns and shotguns - right? Then I want either a T/C Encore or a NEF Handi-rifle with a small selection of barrels (223, 22hornet, 45/70, and either 308, 30-06, or 280rem).

Blaser R93 + several barrels in different calibers<BR> [img]http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View...p;p=19687046&Sequence=2&res=high[/img] <P>------------------<BR>Andr�

Timber, I've been watching this thing grow and finally decided to wade in. However, you nailed me with your first post; only I'm a little more basic! I'll also go with my Pre-64 Model 70 in .30-06 Sprg. My only custom touch is a rubber recoil pad and a VeloVellini rubber sling. I have a Leupold 2.5 x 8 x 36mm Vari-X-III scope in Redfield mounts and rings. The rifle will shoot almost anything well, but LOVES PMC factory loaded 150 grain Barnes X bullets. I own a decent selection of rifles, but this would be the last to go! It's the one I plan to give my son (that kind of says it all to me). Great thread reading everyones idea's! Odessa

I really like my 338 RUM, but if I can only have one I'll move down my cabinet past 3 others and grab my rem 722 in 257 AI. IT has a 700 trigger and safety and Leupold 6 x. It shoots 87, 100, and 120 gr with no need for lateral adjustment of sight!