Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Best all around hunting rifle?

Hello all, my name is Jonathon and I am new to this forum. I am researching into a new (bolt action) rifle to hunt with throughout various regions of the states. I plan on getting back into the army soon and am hoping to do some hunting whenever/wherever I get the chance. I am mostly concerned with deer hunting but need a rifle suited for other exploits whenever the opportunity presents itself. With that said my choice of caliber will be either. 308 or 30-06, and between the two I am indifferent. I hope to keep the budget under $1500 for this and I won't top a rifle with anything other than a leupold 3-9x40.

I have been stalking all weather rifles for the better part of a month now trying to find which would perfect for me, all the time wondering if I even NEED an all weather rifle. I have hunted in the rain with several sporterized 03 springfields and never had an issue with rusting and stainless/synthetic combos are very visually unappealing to me. If I were to go with an all weather rifle I believe that my 3 favorites are the Kimber Montana, Savage Weather Warrior, and the Sako 85 Grey Wolf. My only clear choice outside the realm of all weather would be the Kimber 84m/84l. (though I am open to suggestions)

My questions are, at what point does one justify the "need" for an all weather rifle, and of those listed (or not listed) which would you choose if you needed ONE good multipurpose rifle for use in general shooting and hunting ANYWHERE in the lower 48? Why?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Kimber Montana 7-08, 257 Bob, 308
R700 stainless mountain rifle 7-08, 308
Either would cover all your needs.
I would rethink the scope choice though if weight is at all a concern. A VX3 2.5-8*36 or FX3 6-42 would be excellent choices.

I own two Kimbers and have owned Sakos. Both good choices IMO. Might be hard to stay in budget with the Sako and Leupold scope. Even the Kimber will be close to your price limit. I would suggest also if you go with a kimber look at the leupold 21/2-8x 36. It's a little more compact, and looks really nice on top.
At one point in my life I wouldn't own anything except walnut and blued rifles. I've evolved, and now own both. If you take care of your guns both will work, make your choice based on which gun appeals to you most.

Remington XCR in .30-06 with a Leupold VX-2 3-9X40 would be perfect.

Wareagle
Weight isn't really an issue, at least not in the direction you are speaking. I will say I am a little concerned with the weight (or lack thereof) of the Kimber Montana, I sometimes wonder if the rifle is so light that any shooter error would be greatly amplified or if accuracy would be up to par with such a light rifle.

Do you have any experience with the Kimber Montana? I have read horror stories about Kimber's QC being less than satisfactory and am a little weary of paying Kimber prices without any accuracy guarantee. I am a huge fan of the mauser type claw extrator and the winchester type 3 position safety though.

I will admit it will be hard for me to move away from wood/blued rifles as that is all I have ever known but I am trying to consider function over aesthetics and think of the rifle more as a tool than anything. I think the Kimber probably has the advantage with me because I am more familiar with it as my brother used to own an 84m in 308 and I loved everything about it.

On the other hand I have read as many good reviews as bad on the Kimbers which makes me weary. If I were to go with the Kimber I would be hard pressed not to get a blued rifle though, they are beautiful. Do your Kimbers perform well as far as accuracy? Anything more than 3" @ 300 yrds would be less than satisfactory for me, I couldn't care less how it groups further than that.

Welcome to the Fire Jonathon. Get yourself a Winchester or a Ruger in 338 Win. Mag, learn to shoot it well, and you'll be set for anything in the lower 48. I've been hunting for 40 years with walnut and blued rifles and have never had a problem with them given proper care. Some will say you don't need that much horsepower, but if you're going to hunt anything and everything down here I'd say it's better to error on the heavy side.

I'll echo Orion on this one. If I were buying a wood/blue rifle today it would be a Winchester M70 Featherweight. I'm not a fan of the R700 CDL and for me the wood and finish the std Kimber just doesn't cut it for the price.

Hi Jonathon, welcome to the fire! I am fairly new poster here also, but have been a browser on this site for years. You will find a lot of great information on here, and a lot of opinions. I will give you mine on the gun selection. I have a Kimber Montana in .308, and 2 Savage Weather Warriors, one in 25-06 and the other in .250 Savage. I usually grab the Savages when headed to the woods. Like you mentioned above, these rifles are tools, they are tough, they shoot damn good with minimal load developement, hold up well against the elements, and you aint afraid to scratch them! I would recommend a Savage .308 weather warrior, or 30-06, and spend the rest of your budget on a Leupold! Just my opinion.

If you live anywhere near Ghent Kentucky you can come on by and shoot a Kimber and a Savage before you make your decision! You aint gonna go wrong with either.

HeavyBarrel

Honestly all that have been mentioned will do what you need, rem xcr, model 70, ruger, savage, kimber. Its all in what feels good to you when you shoulder it. Just remember that gun stainless can still rust without the proper care. One gun that is pretty darn close to perfect when it comes to the weather would be the rem xcr. Its stainless then coated with there trinyt coating(not sure if I spelled right). I have all the above rifles minus a savage at the present time. I go for my model 70 and xcr the most. Thanks.

Also a sako a7 or tikka t3, which are both fantastic guns fit your budget. They would be fantastic guns too. Lots of choices in this day and age. Thanks.

I'm going to echo a few others here and say get what fits you the best. I'd look hard the 270 or 30-06. You'll be covered anywhere for anything (except shotgun only states).

The OP sounds like a prime candidate for a SC M70 FW in 30/06,wood/blue.

Kimber Montana 84L in 30-06 or 270
Leupold VX-3 3.5-10x40
Talley LW Lows

or

Kimber Montana 84M in 308 or 7mm-08
Leupold VX-3 2.5-8x36
Talley LW Lows

First the good thing is that there are a ton of really nice hunting rifles that will get the job done and they range from utilitarian tools to works of art. I myself have gone thru the trading and trying all sorts of different guns phase and now that I am a bit older I have come to the realization that I probably should have just bought me a really nice rifle in any of the standard mid size cartridges and taken it hunting. It doesn't matter if it is all weather or not as to me a nicely worn blue wood rifle is a thing of beauty and speaks of lots of memories and adventures. Note I said worn not abused. Just look at pictures of Jack O Connors favorite rifle . It is still a beautiful rifle even after years of hunting and the worn spots and nicks and dings just add character. So to answer your question , If I were starting out again knowing what I think I know I would pick out something on the order of a nice Kimber, Model 70 super grade, or maybe even one of the O'Connor special issue model 70's in 308, 270, 30-06, or 7mm-08 . After all $1500 is not that much amortized over your lifetime and really that of your children. I would spend the same on a nice shotgun and figure I was good to go.

How about a CZ 550 in 9.3x62mm? You would be set for just about anything that walks the earth and you would be well under $1500 with the Leupold scope. If you want to make it even better you could send the stock to karnis here on the 'fire and have him slim down the stock

As to either wood or synthetic,if you are the normal hunter who might get caught in the rain for a while,wood and blue is fine.If you are the kind that will hunt all day in pouring rain,and spend days in the back country in a tent,I would choose stainless and synthetic.It's not that stainless won't rust under thoes conditions,it's that it won't rust as much and can more easily be cleaned up again and the synthetic is obviously impervious.

Since weight isn't a big concern,I would take a hard look at a new FN produced Winchester.Basically though,a Winchester,Savage,Remington or Browning would serve well.Handle them first and base your decision on what looks and feels best to you.

Between the Sako and Kimber I would choose the one that feels the best when I mounted it to shoot. Your scope choice is sound and mounting it on a long action will not be a problem. Since the long action and scope combo are a good fit I would go with the 30-06.

All weather need? That's for you to decide. I have two stainless rifles and two blued. They all have a laminate stock. If you decide to go with a stainless rifle I would not get a walnut stock. Stainless rifles can rust but you need to expose/neglect them more for them to do so.

With my experience with Ruger rifles I would get a stainless rifle with a laminate stock chambered for the 30-06. Not as light as the Montana but has a hinged floorplate. BTW, I could live with the synthetic stock.

Dealt with the wood/blue vs stainless/synthetic some time ago, cashiered all the synthetics and haven't looked back. Seal the wood well, ensure the guns hold zero well, go hunting. Life's too short to hunt with an ugly rifle.

Both of mine are easily 1 MOA, with handloads. Shoot plenty good enough for me. I have Montana 7/08 and an 84 .308.