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

25-284 w/Loupie 6x42mm for deer
pre-64,Win. 94 30-30 for thick brush
Rem. CDL 35 Whelen w/loupie 6x42mm for everything else.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Virgil B.

A flyweight in .260 or 7-08 in a short Remington action, with McMillan Edge stock. Weighs about 7# with a 2.5-8 Leupold VX-III with Boone and Crockett reticle.

A 30-06 all-arounder on a Model 70. McMillan stock, #2 Lilja 22" barrel. A 3x Leupold and a 6x42 Leupold in quick detachable rings. About 8-8 1/4 pounds.

A 340 Weatherby that I could use as a cross canyon elk gun with 200 grain bullets or in Alaska with 250 grain bullets for moose or bear.

All left handed, of course.

Only three??
From my current battery:
Marlin 336 in 35 Rem with Williams peep for deer, black bear, boar under 100 yds.
Tikka T3 in 6.5x55 w/ Leupold 3x9 for up to Elk at longer ranges.
Rem 700 Classic in 375 H&H w/ Kahles 1.5-5 for anything on the planet.
But I would be hard pressed to sell the 45-70,280 Rem 300 Win Mag and 257 Robts.

Here we go:

Varmints: 22-250 Weatherby SVR, 5-15 x40 Elite 3200.
Med-Lrg big game: 7mmSTW Sako s/s, Zeiss diavari 3-12x56.
Big and bad game: 338 win mag Sako s/s Khales 1.5-6x42.

7-08, 30-06, .338wm. CD

Remington 600 rebarreled in 7mm-08 and w/ "Old Classic #102" walnut stock from Richard's Microfit Stocks.
Remington 700 MTN in 280 blued but with Remington Lam'd stock from a 700 MTN LSS.
Remington 700 BDL/SS in 338WM - needs a McSwirly!
All with Leupold VXIII 2.5-8

RH

Belgium Browning T-Bolt .22 with 4x Leupold Rimfire Scope
Winchester Model 70 Stealth 22-250 with 6-20x Leupold
Weather Mark V .300 WM with Leupold Vari XIII 3.5-10x40

Everything I do would be covered, cept for waterfowling of course.

22lr and two 30-06's set up identically.

1. Rem 700 Lefty floated and bedded, .270 Win. w/160 Partions (redlined),2-7 Nikon, plum brown metal and satin hand rubbed oiled stock...because she's been around a long time.

2. Ruger #1, pure factory blue & walnut, 25-06, Ballistic tips and partions (also redlined), 4 -12 w/A.O. Weaver steel tube...cause she shoots a "death ray" way out there.

3. Winchester 1885 (made in japan, dammit),matt blue and satin walnut, .22 LR, 4.5 - 14 A.O. scope...cause it's the best shootin .22 I've ever owned.

Now, ask me about my wish list.....

The more I think about it the more sense that makes.

Chuck

browning 22 semi
22-250 remington
300 win mag sako

I have had a bunch of these 3 gun sets in the past. The "best" may have been 3 mark x. .223, .30'06 and a .375 all stocked and scoped the same.
Right now my modern set is a older M70 pusher in .223 Walnut blued varmit gun. A M70 SG in .30'06 and a old M70 pusher in .375.
My Old school combo is all Savage.
340 in .222 with a 8x Weaver
40 in 30/30 with 4x weaver
1899 in .38/55 with marble tang.
In Ruger #1 it is;
1B .22-250 w/ 8x32 Burris
K1A 7x57 4x burris
1H .375 necg peep.

As this is a big game battery, I will not cover small game rimfires, varmint, or predator guns.

A Ruger #1B in .25-06 with 2.5x10 scope for deer and pronghorns, etc at longer range.

A Win M70, Ruger M77, Mauser, or Sako M75 in .30-06 with 2.5x8 scope as a general purpose rig.

A Win M70, Ruger M77, or Mauser in .358 Norma Mag with 2x7 scope for bigger stuff.

I would keep the following without a second thought, - thats coz I've spent the last 20 years trying to find the perfect threesome and have finalised on the following rigs. And am happily married to the three of them.

20" SS tubed, Rem M7 (or Dakota 97) satin black chromed action 308 win match chamber or maybe new 338 fed with leupy 2.5-8x36
either glass or aged turkish exhibition stock for general eastern hunting. 150 grn TSX @2950 in 308 or 185 grn TSX in 338 fed @ est 2800 fps.

23" SS barrelled 7mm Dakota, match chamber, Dakota 97 satin black chromed aged exhibition walnut leupy 3.5-10x40 for anything past 400 yrds under 600 lbs. 150 grn TSX @3350 fps

23" SS barrelled, match chamber, Dakota 97 action satin black chromed, 338x68 wildcat, exhibition walnut,leupy 3.5-10x40 for anything over 600lbs at any shootable range. 210 grn TSX @ 3250fps.

The only one up for possible exchange would be 7mm Dakota for 30/06 based wildcat. 22" pipe- 165 grn TSX @ 3200 fps.
leupy 3.5-10x40.

valhalla here and now.

22lr
270 win
338 WM

Sako Finlight in 30-06 with VX III 1.75-6

Don't need anything else, just pick an appropriate bulllet.

Of course I have about a dozen other rifles, but I only think I really need them. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

This is a toughy.

Theoretically a 270, 300 mag and a 375 would do it.

I do it with;

1. A pre war Mod 70 .30-06 blued with a Rimrock stock, Warne bases with the built in peep sight rear. Warne QR rings and a 3x9x40 oldstyle matte Vari-X 2.

2. A .30-06 SS Model 70 FW "All Terrrain" with the plastic stock. I added iron sights. It has Weaver bases and a new style 2.5x8 Leupold Scope.

3. A .338 Win Mag SS Model 70 Classic shortened to 23 inches with a KDF varmint brake [that was a waste of $200] I don't use. Iron sights added. Warne Premier bases and rings again with the built in peep. Scope is an old style Vari-X 3 2.5x8 Leupold. I had to change to a Mc Millan stock to get this gun to shoot to its potential.

Big game battery? Three guns only? North America only?

Hmmm...

Pre-64 M70 .30-06, standard weight barrel, Warne bases with built-in peep sight and QR rings. Leupold 6x42 with a German #4a reticle.

Pre-64 M70 .375H&H, ditto above.

Pre-64 M70 .25-06, ditto above.

Of course, it could all be done with the .30-06 alone. And, the .25-06 can do all but the heaviest lifting (big bears, etc.) easily; and the .375H&H can do all but the longest range stuff easily. Which is kinda the point on these picks; overlap, redundancy, familiarity of ballistics, etc.

They ain't flashy, but they'll work, ammo is available everywhere, and they all back one another up quite well.

1) Custom .30-06 LH M70, Syn/SS, VXIII 2.5-8, 7 lbs, 24" barrel
Deer/sheep/etc.

2) Custom .338 Win Mag LH M70, Syn/SS, VXIII 2.5-8, 8lbs, 24" barrel
Everthing else.

Both would have the same basic feel and trajectory. Could go both go up or down in usage. Ex. sheep with the .338 and moose with the .30-06. TTS

243
308
338

all with leupies