Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting The "backup/ loaner" rifle

I'm not sure you can have 5 equal rifles unless they are the same caliber, same glass, and shoot to the same level of accuracy.

Having a backup rifle ready to perform at a high standard is just good sense but almost everyone has a favorite for elk hunting even a favorite for different conditions.

My backup will be capable of sub MOA accuracy, have decent glass, and be reliable - but that doesn't make it equal to my favorite. Just a different amount of field experience and confidence makes a difference for me.

My son and son-in-law both want the 300 Weatherby when I am gone. It isn't pretty but it really shoots and carries a lot of energy out a long way. The Backup status doesn't make it less desirable as a hunting rifle.

I have loaned special guests the same rifle that I usually use, a Sako AV classic custom .35 Whelen with Zeiss 3-9 scope. Or a Sako L61R full stock carbine 30-06 with Karl Kaps 6x. They are both top quality and work very effectively.

The emergency loaner that we keep in camp is an old ( almost 100 yrs old) #4 SMLE Lee enfield .303 british. Original battle sights and the full stock cut down to save weight. So far it's been carried a couple times but not shot.
It is the same configuration as a rifle that I killed my first deer with. Not glamorous, not precise, but good enough to keep "just in case"

The rifle is easy compared to figuring out which mule or horse you put em on.

Had only one.. It is a 7mm-08..But restocked it, so I guess I have no loaners.. Lots of back up rifles..

Savage 110 06' w/4x Lupy. It has killed several. Muddy

My stainless 7mm rem mag in the factory Tupperware stock. Glass bedded and shoots sub moa. Barrel's been cut to 24". It's topped with a Nikon monarch 2.5-10x42 scope.

I've killed more elk archery than rifle, but my rifles have killed a bunch of elk. The first year I had my 338 it killed four elk. My 3006 has killed the most 30 or 40.

I take all family, some friends and often strangers when they are drawn.

My policy is to have them shoot my guns and take the one they are comfortable with the most.

Last year my 7/08 killed two for my dad and brother.

3006, 338, 270, 7X57, 7/08, 308, 7 mag have all been loaners and scored.

Kent

All of my rifles are loaners really. I won't share a hunt with someone I don't trust and if something gets scratched or broke, it's likely I would have done the same thing. I figure I'd like folks to have the best experience possible, so lending the good stuff ups the ante a little. Plus, if you let them borrow a good rifle and scope, when they decide to get their own, they have a point of reference of what decent is.

I loaned a rifle to Travis once, but he put the wrong ammo in it and I never got the gun back...

My idea of "backup" rifle is seems different than what others are saying. I think of it as a rifle that is rock solid reliable that I can count on to work when other stuff fails. It is fully known, entirely debugged, always ready to go when the new gun in the safe that I might rather use gives me some kind of grief.

Loanable, yes, but that's not its point.

In that context, something like a Rem 700 XCR in '06 with a Leupold 4X in dual dovetail B&R loaded with 180 grain partitions would be hard to argue with. It's not a "go long" gun. It's not glamorous. But everything within 250 - 300 yards is in mortal danger.

If it was deer you were asking about, I'd swap it for a 7mm-08, otherwise the same, and say 140 grain partitions.

Tom

My back-up rifle is equal to my main rifle, in fact it is the exact same set-up. So there is no adjustment. If for any reason my main rifle gives me a headache, which it never has, then just swap it out. Additionally, I can pass one of each to each of my boys but hopefully that won't be for a long while.

As far as a loner rifle, it more depends on the person. If it is someone who is careful, respectful of their own equipment. Then, I would have no problem loaning my main or back-up rifle to them. If it is someone who shows little or no respect for their own property/equipment, I would probably loan them one of the boys rifles so I don't have to worry about the scratches and dings since they already have "character".

So to answer the question from the op, it really depends on the person. It could be a less desirable rifle or it could be my go to top of my line rifle. But even my less desirable rifles are rifles that I personally have hunted with and will hunt with in the future, they just are not top of my line and are the rifles that my 9 and 15 year old boys hunt with currently.

I would not have a gun of any type in my limited collection that I would not personally hunt. Its like when you throw a party don't buy the cheapest liquor you can find because you maybe the one who ends up drinking it. Get something that is serviceable from your prospective, maybe not your favorite but something you would be comfortable with using.

I've never hunted with anyone needing a loaner rifle. However, I always have a back-up rifle in camp on all of my hunts. At them moment is either a Remington 700 in 243 with a 4-12x40 vxII or a Winchester 70 in 300 Win/3-9 VXII. I wouldn't hesitate to use either as a primary rifle on a hunt.

I've been faced with that situation of loaning a rifle several times when taking young men on their first hunts. I always insisted they come to the range with me first, try 5 or 6, and find one that seems most suitable for them.

My 7mag Sendero got the nod on 2 occasions but one time a fella selected my Marlin 336 .30-30.

That's cool and a great way to see what the person likes. Kudos to you. I've loaned very close friends rifles when they were hunting with me and let them pick their poison much like you did with yours. Once a friend picked my favorite 338 win mag that I usually carried and another time a friend picked a favorite 300 WBY mag I had. Getting friends and newcomers involved in hunting is what it's all about.

I don't really have a "cheap" rifle, the cheapest rifle I have is actually my most valuable. Grandpas Remington 721 .270.


A buddy of mine recently had my Kimber 300 wsm for a little over a month and he whacked and stacked a bunch of stuff in Wyoming.

My most loaned rifle, used to be my number 1 rifle for along time. My .257 wby with Zeiss on it.

for about 30 years our elk hunt group generally kept a marlin lever action 45/70 with a weaver 4x scope on it that was sighted dead on at 200 yards as the camp back-up elk rifle, standard load was a hard cast 350 grain bullet over a stiff load of 50 grains of IMR 4198 over a 215 federal primer . that rifle eventually was responsible for killing more elk than most of the hunter primairy arms and resulting several guys buying similar marlin 45/70s over the years

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A backup rifle to me should be the equal of the rifle I am using with the likely difference that my main rifles tend to be stainless and backups are often older blued weapons.

Depending on the situation, a loaner could be any of my rifles. I have loaned a Model 70, Commercial and Military 98's, a Model 88 Winchester, Model 99 Savage, Mossberg 880, Remington 600, etc. My kids are grown and have their own so some of the rifles they used as they grew are still used as loaners to younger shooters.

I wouldn't loan out a rifle I didn't trust or that wasn't reasonably accurate. The loaners do tend to have older scopes. As I get new scopes I move them around. I try to get the borrower out for a sight in session and a familiarization outing if I can.

I would suggest you test any cheap scope for fogging, tracking and so forth. Even then for a big game rifle I would swap it out for a Leupold or similar. I might put one on a .22 but not much else.

I would upgrade the scope. About the most inexpensive scope I trust is a K-4 Weaver.I have several low end Leupolds I bought used. I would recommend that for economy use. The 2x7's are usually priced pretty well.

I've had more Leupolds fail than any other scope. I'd for damn sure never recommend them to anyone. Thread's getting sidetracked P town man.. It's not about scopes, it's about rifles and ones we loan out.. Hint..

I ALWAYS bring a spare rifle chambered for a common cartridge when I'm going to hunt more than a few miles from home. Some years ago, I was hunting deer near Wray, Colorado, and saved a guy's hunt by loaning him my spare 30-06. He was from Ohio and discovered that he didn't bring his 6.5x55 ammo with him. IIRC, the closest dealer with 6.5x55 ammo was Cabela's in Sydney, Nebraska, a couple hundred miles round trip away. Anyways, I loaned him the S&W C and he punched his tag.

When my FIL was alive, we kept a Remington 710 in 30-06 around for deer camp for a couple of years. A couple of guys used it in lieu of their own rifles, either 'cause they were cheap and didn't want to shoot their own ammo or because their rifles weren't zeroed. In any case, having the spare rifle allowed them to punch tags.

Since becoming a 270 shooter, my primary is a CLR with a NULA upgrade and my spare is a Remington 760. The CLR has a Leupold VX3 2.5-8x36 and the 760 has a Redfield 2-7x that was rebuilt by Iron Sight, Inc., with their #1 European style extra heavy post & crosshair reticle.