If it comes down to one rifle a man can own. to hunt, shoot and protect his family with...
If the country sides w/ the leftist and find a way to restrict out rights the way its been dont in Europe.
If you have to make a choice of one rifle, one caliber. whats it going to be?
Im taking into account the number of years the rifle has been around, the avail of parts, the simplicity of design, the materials of construction.
caliber wise i want an effective but also efficent caliber that has a reduced recoil but a lot of killing power.
optics wise i want a scope that is bomb proof.
I think i would go w/ a commerical mauser ( maybe even a takedown) w/ iron sights , 30-06 and a fixed 6 IOR or swarovski in EAW quicklocks.

something along these lines...

SUCKS 223AI

my colt AR

My Kimber .308 w/ the 2.5-8X Leupy.

I could do without all of them but the Pre-64, Model 70, Featherweight 30-06. I would sure hate to though.

a nice 460s&w

Ruger 6.5x55. Mine shoots everything from 85s to 160s real well with low recoil. Leupold 2.5-8x.

.308

Ruger M77 MKII Grey Stainless Laminate .30-06 LH

A 270 Winchester in a Remington 700 with a 2 1/5-8 Leupold on top.

AR 10 in .308 based on the parameters provided by the original poster.

If it came to that, it would be a .308 Win. on some sort of mauser action, like a 98, a Ruger 77 Mk.II, or an M70 Winchester. SS barrel.
Quality synthetic stock, McM or MPI Kevlar. CW sling set up.
Leupold 6X42, FX3.
Lots of quality surplus ammo for practice, etc. Lots of quality factory loads for all sorts of purposes like hunting, etc.
Wouldn't be much I couldn't hunt with this rifle. Pretty good choice for just about any other shooting job that one might need to do either. And as reliable a rifle as they come. E

A Saiga .308 wood stock 22" bbl deserves honorable mention if considering cost at all:

Ruger stainless 30-06 with Leupold scope, either 4x or 2-7x

Bolt action .30-06 SPRG.

Either a shorty AR with a can in 6.5 Grendel, or an 18" FAL.

If I can't have those, I'll take a 7mm-08AI.

Right attitude, wrong 308 . . . . :Wink:




BMT

My Sako AV .375 H&H

I agree with BMT

but if I have to stick to what I own now....

my model 7 in 308

Re: If it comes down to one...

I think about this all the time for when I get older and no need for 3 full gun cabinets. What do I want to hunt ? Everything ! I would have to keep my Remington 11/87 with 5 different barrel configurations. Scoped and VR barrels for small game, pheasant, grouse, duck hunting, and deer. I guess if a muzzle loader can take an elk, moose and black bear then a good quality slug could do the same.

Ken