Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only If you could only have one.....

If you could only have one rifle and cartridge to do it all for big game and all dangerous game across the whole world what would it be?? I'm not just talking about hunting capabilities here, but also stopping power and self defense capabilities... one rifle, one package that can be an effective hunting gun, with enough power to stop a bear, cape buffalo or elephant charge, and portable enough to be able to carry with you into dense vegetation. From grizzly and coastal kodiak bears in Alaska to black bear, polar bear, Moose, caribou, wild boar and whitetails... to the big 5 in africa, to inland bears in russia and kamchatka coastal brown bears. One gun that you could take with you anywhere at a moments notice, ready for action against the worst mother nature can throw at you - from blizzards to spring rains to saltwater. What would it be?

375 H&H, maybe a 458 WM

My 375 Ruger African, lead bullets at 1900fps shoot moa, 260 gr Accubonds do too at 2850fps, and 300 gr solids will stop most things that aren't painted green or tan. Might get a plastic stock for it if you insist on me getting my feet wet for long periods, though.

Imo, the best balanced all around caliber choice for handling your above scenarios would be the 375.

Depending on one`s individual preferences for which 375 cartridge and which 375 rifle?,,the 375 H&H, 375 Ruger, 375 Wby, 375 RUM, and the 378 Wby will all do nicely.

But since you wish to narrow things down to a particular rifle and cartridge preference which also includes use in any weather, then I might as well nominate my own 375 Ruger Alaskan then. Using the right bullet for the job, it will fill all of your above requirements. It is not pretty and it won`t win a rifle beauty contest, both of which I could care less about.

Mine is extremely accurate, is very easy to carry, a great handler, and is very fast to the shoulder. Aside from any deliberate abuse, it is extremely durable, meaning that it will take any field punishment I could dish out. There`s no wood stock warping to ever worry about, no wood treating to do, no dings, no dents to fix, and there`s no scratching to ever be concerned with.

The 416s and the 458s are better cartridges in charging situations. And should I ever find myself in any dangerous charging situation? Well on any guided hunt, that is what the back up rifles are there for.

Regardless of any individual`s 375 rifle and 375 cartridge preference, my vote goes to the 375 caliber.

To make this more interesting lets throw in defense against the most dangerous game - humans.

Me too i'm leaning toward the same thing, but maybe a 416 instead of 375, it has almost the trajectory of the .375 but little more power.

right now i'm thinking .375 ruger alaskan or 416 ruger alaskan, probably good for SHTF survival scenario where medium distance sniping and gun battles are required (0-300 yards) and also taking out vehicles with looters or thugs I bet with those hornady steel jacketed solids you could punch through an engine block and definately body armor.

Right now i'm thinking of the following: .338 lapua, .375 ruger, .416 ruger ... both in the ruger alaskan rifle.

Right now i'm leaning toward to .375 ruger alaskan - for several reasons
1) for african game you can use those hornady FMJ solids that will bust through anything

2) for bear country use 300 grain controlled expansion

3) for caribou and other non dangerous game at longer ranges 270 grain soft pont load, or hand load 250 grain loads

4) .375 ruger would probably work pretty well as a home defense gun against looters and armed conflict, it has ironsights for close range, and it can shoot fairly flat out to 300 yards.

416 rigby is also a nice one but all rifle seem to have long barrels, you can hand load the rigby up to 416 weatherby levels it's case capacity is not fully utilized... this would make it into a mediocre sniper round.

Another important criteria I left out... it has to be AFFORDABLE... most people right now are not going to spend 3000 dollars on a custom rifle. This has to be realistic.

Basically i'm thinking of a rifle that could be used for any dangerous game animal either for hunting (recreation) or in survival situation to gather food or for self defense purposes in areas where dangerous game is plenty.. also to have 2nd function as anti-material rifle to penetrate through body armor in the case of total anarchy with looters and terrorists wearing body armor, and to be able to stop vehicles or thugs hiding behind cover and 3rd function is as an anti-personnel function. I know this is a lot from a big bore but I think there are several cartridges and rifles that can do this. Wondering what the capabilities of the .375 ruger and 416 ruger or rigby are as far as anti-material. Someone should get some peieces of steel or old engine blocks and see what kind of damage they do.

+ 1 considering worldwide cartridge availability

Pretty sure 375 Ruger ammo is available in most of Alaska, probably quite a bit of leftover ammo in the hands of African PHs too. Since you can only bring one gun in a given caliber to South Africa, you should get a 416 Ruger too. I want an Alaskan too, but my 45-70 Marlin 1895GS handles most of the foul weather big bore needs.
My 375 Ruger 280gr lead bullet loads cost $.25 and will handle anything up threw Moose or Kudu well enough.

If everyone will please hold on a moment, the big Pole will handle all the postings in this thread. Hold, please.

375H&H

.375Wby if I was only given the choice of one rifle. But if you are going to Africa always take two rifles that will do the the job, just in case you have any problems with one. Its a long way to go and a lot of expense not too!Although you could hire a rifle from the PH, but its best to use a rifle you know and trust.
Plains game I take my .280Rem and .375 Weatherby.
or .375WBY and .458wm(was). but now it will be my.458Lott.

Winchester M-70 375 H&H stainless/synthetic, w/ a 2.5-8 leupold in Warne QD's, the 270 gn. TSX would do it all.

Gunner

CZ 550 in 458 win mag....that should do it.

What is the name of the planet you will be visiting, that will require large caliber rifles for defense? Is this question for a video game, or what?

Laffin'

Will they be wearing chain mail suits (the kind you would wear for protection from lions, and tigers, and bears)?