Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Give advice on two rifle battery

So I am changing up my rifle battery and wanted to get some advice. At the moment, I am fairly open minded, though I do have some specific requirements.

I am looking at a two rifle set.

For my primary hunting rifle, I am looking at a 300 win mag, though some have suggested I do a 7 mag to get lower recoil. I plan to use this rifle for everything in NA, including dreaming about Alaska and shooting long range at the range. I am used to shooting a 375, so I am not without some experience with recoil.

For this rifle, as it needs to be carried, I am looking at a Weatherby Vanguard put together by the custom shop. Essentially, it will be one of their range certified guns in an ultralight bell and carlson stock. Basically, a range certified Backcountry, sans the fluting and cerakote. With my scope and talley ultralights, it should come in at around 8.3 poundsish. I do not want to go higher than 9, and 8.5 seems about right.

For the second rifle, I plan to use it mainly as a practice and training rifle at the range and in some classes I plan to take. The idea is to become comfortable shooting at long range in practice, to make shooting at much more moderate range in the field possible. So for this rifle, I am much more unsure. I don't want anything close to the 300 (or 7mm if I go that way), I thought a good companion that would be good for the 1k range I have locally would be a 223 at the bottom (cheaper ammo, no recoil, but not good at that range), a 243, or a 6.5 of some sort(creedmore, 260 remington?).

Weight wise, fairly heavy barrel for stiffness and cooling. I won't have to carry it around a bunch, so heavy is fine.

I am more solid on the direction of the hunting rifle, much less so on what would make a good companion for it given my needs.

Thanks!

Buy an off the shelf Vanguard .223

I hunted with a 300winmag for over 12 years. Most of that it was my only centerfire rifle. After that time, I realized some damn long shots have been made with a 30-06.


Second gun should be a .223.

Being a "Extreme Firearms Enthusiast", I do have many guns to pick from for hunting or just going to the shootin' pit to shoot.
Our favorite gun, just to shoot, is a H&R Ultra varmiter.223. Super accurate. My wife has used it the last few years as her deer gun. She has made many, spectacular head and neck shots. This is a very reasonable priced firearm, and I think would probably fill the needs of what you want.

7mm RM and 243 Win.

Since you are planning on buying a vanguard 7RM I would alsogo with a Vanguard for the second gun in either .223 or .243.

.223 and 300 WSM

Add a 12 gauge (and forget the .22LR since there is no ammo for them) and you've got NA covered.

Pair of Kimber 84m's in .223 and 7-08

I would go with the .300 and .243. A .223 is nice for cheap ammo and light recoil, but isn't going to be nearly as good for longer-range practice as a .243 with higher-BC bullets.

You might consider making the .243 the same basic set-up as the .300, including weight and scope, and you might end up using it on more big game than you think.

Wow, lots of good and fast advice, thank you!

I thought about a 223 in a vanguard, but the twist is very slow for some reason. As I want to be able to shoot probably out to 1k with it, I would at least need a faster twist barrel for heavier bullets. So if I went with a 223, I would have to go with another brand.

Which leads to the 243. Need to check on what the twist is from Weatherby on those, but it sounds like many would agree having two guns similar if not identical would be a good idea. So I'll look into that.

And I do have a younger son who needs a light recoiling rifle to hunt with next year...so that might be a good thing. As a round, I really think 243 may be the perfect round for our central Texas deer, and it's easy to find ammo, though Id be handloading high BC bullets for it for my uses. What kind of twist do I want to look for here?

John, I heard you have an article coming out in Guns this month on the 300 win mag. Based on your recommendation above, sounds like fortuitous timing for me, I'll be looking out for that one.

Any thoughts on the Range Certified vanguards? I talked with the custom shop and they told me they are generally looking for .5 to .75 inch shooters, which is what I am looking for. Having spent the last couple years of savings on a couple rifles that would not shoot (bad luck..and yeah, had others, including two accomplished competitive shooters, try them and get the same results), I am looking for a more secure choice. Plus, the stocks fit my long neck and thin face better than the 'classic' stocks seem to. Seeing that it was actually tested and knowing the load that delivered the results is worth the extra couple hundred it will cost me to get the rifle RC'd when they assemble it for me.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

Smart man. I don't care for the recoil of the 300 win mag myself. They recoil more than any 338 win mag I've ever had. Exact same rifles compared side by side and the 300 winny always kicked harder.

I can't see a 2 rifle battery for North America including a magnum of any sort.

For the second rifle, 223.

David

Either 30-06 and 223,
or 7RemMag and 243.

If long range is in the equation, the latter has it in spades.

If you like the Vanguards, then go for it--they are good rifles. Most any rifle model will do, but I'd keep a matched pair if it were me.

I'd go 30-06 and a .243.

Hey I was gonna say that! Well, I guess I will say a .243 on the light end, and a .270.....

I used to shoot Winchesters. In fact, I just sold my Win 375 and am about to sell my 270 from long ago. I just realized, after buying my son a Vanguard, that they fit me much better and so I find them easier to shoot (compared in the same caliber at the same time).

A matched set sounds smart because that way everything translates exactly. Seems like that's the one thing everyone agrees on so far!

The long range part, probably not so much during hunting, but definitely during range time, that's something I like.

Still on the fence, somewhat, on the calibers. But I'll note that two or 3 of my favorite gun writers/personalities like the 300's, including John who just weighed in, so I'll probably end up there. My only concern is hearing about the recoil. When I run my recoil calculator and compare it to my 375 (which was light weight for a 375), I should be cutting recoil by 33% and recoil velocity by about 10% or so. So it should be quite nice for me in comparison, but I keep hearing people voice concerns about the recoil. Maybe it's relative.

Anyway, keep the ideas coming!

Well, damn. Looks like a Vanguard in 243 is not going to work. I just checked Berger's site to see what the twist requirements are. Nothing over their 90 grainers will run in anything less than a 1/9. Weatherby puts a 1/10 on their 243's. So I would have to run 90's or lighter, which pretty much cramps the BC's.

So that means either a 243 from someone else, or a Vanguard in something else. Their 6.5 creedmore vanguards run a 1 in 8 twist, which will run all the way up to their 140's.

The recoil would be higher, however....but it seems most would suggest keeping a somewhat matched set as more important than perhaps the caliber etc....

For long range consider a rifle for F class competition. Look at the NRA website for matches near you.

http://compete.nra.org/

Not a gunwriter but just a guy with some perspective. 2 rifles? Forget it. Hey, golfers use nine - twelve clubs and the size of the game, read ball, never changes. Ranges run from 150 to 450 yards but you get three to five shots to get there.

North American game can run from dinky deer to big moose and ranges can run all over the place. Get a few rifles designed for the most likely task at hand and don't try to get through life with one or two. Be a rifle nut.

Ruger and Remington are the only ones making 9 twist 243's that I am familiar with.

If it was me, I'd happily grab the 6.5 Creedmoor in the Vanguard. Ammo availability isn't as good of course, but the Hornady ammo for the Creedmoor is very good, and priced right.

The barrel will last longer, and to me it just seems like a more versatile chambering.