If you were limited to one rifle for North America.... and had a budget of $1,000 for the gun, what gun in what cartridge would it be ???

Winchester 70 Featherweight 30-06

Same here

Remington 700 stainless, old-style trigger, .30-06.

Did it 45 years ago.. Model 700 .300 Win.

Ruger 77mkII, Chambered for .280 Remington. Likely mount a Leupold 3.5x10 and lay in a supply of 160 grain Partitions.

A left handed 35 Whelen.

steyr 3006, i have 2 !

Another vote for this one.

And another.

Ruger Predator.
308 for the component factor, but wouldn't bat an eye at the Creedmoor either.

Tikka SS Superlight in 300WM

Remington 700 Mountain rifle .280 Rem

300 Win Mag or a 30-06

You pick the action, Winchester is nice or something else.

700 stainless CDL (think you can get of for under $1000 but not sure).
Chambered, of course, in 30-06.

Yep

Yup.

Older Remington MR in 308.

Or 7/08.

mailmanmark,

I would rebarrel my 6.5SLR to .30SLR. It would match a .30-.338 Win Mag. The weight normally would be about 7 pounds. If I was going for big bears the scope would be changed out from the 5-25X to a 2 1/2-10X so the weight would drop a few ounces.

300 Win Mag. Old Rem 700 / CRF Win 70 / Sako AV you pick

Yet again.

Ruger 77 stainless w/sights laminated 30/06.

Yep...my choice as well.

Doc

Mine too!

Put me down as well...

M-1 Garand, or BAR...

That's my choice too so had a LH Rem 700 rebarreled.

For the OP I would also add a 30-06, one of the smaller 300 Magnums to the mix.

270 or 30'06, had to have both to stay sane. 270 shoots better at 300 than the 06 does at 100. Work in progress. New Haven beauties.

30-06 fwt, I think I've got 1100 in this setup.

A bolt action 30-06 of whatever brand fits you best.

Something is for damn sure wrong with your 30-06 then.... Better keep working on her. Start with taking that chitty hot glue bedding out and putting a good dose of Devcon 10110 in there....

Slightly over budget but I'd go with a 270 84L Montana.

That's about $200.00 or so over budget isn't it samo??? Damn nice rifles though..

I've got a model 70 FW in 6.5x55 with 1-4 Denver Redfield on it. Think I'll just keep it.

Last one I bought was $1098 so pretty close.

bsaremoved speed bump on the 270 and it is a freak. Will b fun workin on the 06. Shxtty Burris on the 270 as well. I always fxck up the 3rd shot. $750 in this rifle w/scope and I would not take 2 grand for it. NJ cop sold it to me to buy an elk rifle. He is a SWAT team shooter.

Minty used Mod.70 sts Classic in .338WM, with $$$ left for some action mods.

I assume the $1000 is for the rifle only, would install a Micky and two Leupy MX3 1.75x6 MHD scopes in Talley QDS.

My old HVA high power FN made 7x57. Muddy

A synthetic stocked,stainless steel,.338 Win. Mag.,weighing in around 8# to 8 1/2#. Moderate recoil,flat trajectory with good BC bullets, sufficient performance to cleanly kill far beyond ranges most of us should be shooting,and will work well on any big game animal in North America. memtb

My pick would be the same rifle in 280 AI. If I cant have that any good bolt gun in 280 or 30-06 would do.

This

Done.
End of thread.

Slam dunk. Time to put this one to bed isn't it...

30-06 definitely gets the nod for a one do it all cartridge. I am partial to my M70 FWT which is in 270 (which would certainly do whatever needs done in N.A.). I don't own a Ruger Hawkeye, but do like the stock fit better than the M70 FWT, so that might be me pick if starting from scratch.

Tang Safety Ruger M77 going on almost 30 years now.

Bob.

A used Montana due to the $1k budget.

Tikka T3 SL .30-06Spr. Leupold FX 3.6x42 w/165gr.Partition handloads..ScottyO.

.300 Win Mag. CZ-550 UHR saw one on GB for $1000 not long ago.

Here's my take on the win model 70 fwt vs. the Ruger Hawkeye. Let's say were talking 30-06:

1. Capacity
a. Winchester: 5+1
b. Hawkeye: 4+1

2. Winchester seems to soak up more recoil. IE: Doesn't kick as hard. I don't know if it is due to stock design or what, but it's just what I've noticed from shooting/owning many Ruger 77's (MKII's and Hawkeyes and tangers) vs. the Winchester model 70 fwt's.

3. 3 position wing safety on the Winchester is mounted on the bolt and when in the middle position, the firing pin is locked. The ruger has a receiver mounted wing safety which slightly mimics the Winchesters, but only locks the trigger while in the middle position. It is also smaller and sharper and a little harder to manipulate when wearing gloves. The Winchester is a little safer for cycling live rounds.

4. Bolt can be disassembled in the field with the Winchester. Ruger not so much.

5. Winchester receiver is machined from solid bar stock, Ruger is cast (investment cast).

6. Winchester has an adjustable trigger, Ruger generally has a heavy pull "lawyer" trigger.

7. Accuracy is generally better with the Winchester, but both rifles benefit from a good professional glass bedding...

If starting from scratch, I'd more than likely be looking for an older classic CRF or pre 64 model 70 vs. the Ruger of any vintage (Tanger, MKII, or Hawkeye)... Of course YMMV..

One rifle that damn near kicked every other rifle out of my safe was my old 30-06 fwt. It fell within the OP's price requirement at $800.00. Not saying I'd sell it for that price, just what I paid for it:

Used Sako 75 in 30-06...but I'm biased.

98 or pre64 in .30/06 to 9.3X62.

If you skip Brown and Polar bears drop the cartridge to .270 or thereabouts.

It's funny that the answer always seems be "30-06" on paper, but everything else in application. Then someone will chime in and say how "boring" it is.

THE question is: Are you going to go "one for all", or just talking? My brother and I have this conversation once a month, but seldom move on it. I reckon the thought of starting from scratch when the current pile of rigs are dialed in keeps either of us from doing so. Might be the same amongst the masses or just a justification for all the load development and reloading.

But I won't lie that the thought of a 30-06, configured exactly how I like with a pile of factory fodder isn't appealing...

Tikka 300 win or my 300 Bee mkv

M70 FWT stainless in McMillan Edge and I managed to pull it off for less than $1000. That is until the Talley's and Leupold put me over that budget.

30-06 as many have said before in any thread talking about one rifle for north America. You can find 30-06 ammo anywhere... Far as rifle choose whatever fits you. I will take model 70

My 60s FN bannered barreled action with a 24" barrel on a trim custom stock would do just fine theses days. All I have ever shot in it is 180 Light Magnum / Superformance @ about 2900 fps. It works.

When I was a young stud and the weight did not bother me, it was a GdII BAR. I still like that for a stand gun.

Jack

OK, throw them all out and keep just one for all of NA, including areas I am likely never going to hunt?

The .30-06 Ruger MKII on the right would do nicely. It now sports a 3-9x scope instead of the 4.5-14x in the picture. (The others are a semi-custom Ruger MKII .338WM on the left and a MKII .300WM in the center.)



For my hunting (Colorado and Wyoming), the tanger Ruger M77 in 7mm RM on the left was my only big game bolt rifle for over 20 years and would still be a very good choice.

30/06 Tikka t3 lite stainless. Talley rings and monarch 2.5-10 scope. 168ttsx. I can go from the thickest brush to long range.

My 300 Bee! Mint and gorgeous.











3275 fps 180 Accubonds IMR7828
Largest group have shot with it.

I would probably take my Gen 1 Ti 30/06 bedded to the Brown Precision with Talleys and the VX2 2-7x33. All together it ran a shade over your 1k budget.


If I had a different stock on my LVSF 7/08 it would be in the running also.

None of my "one rifle" musings include anything shooting a .308 diameter bullet.

I've done my fair share of "run what you brung" hunting, and most of the fast .24s, .25s, or .26s would easily work for me. I've done pocket gophers to black bear with a .243.

A lot of guys talk about one rifle, they're thinking grizzly or moose.
I think of prairie dogs to deer, and maybe an elk.

I do believe that if I were choosing a do it all rifle today it'd be the T3 lite in a .260...

Yup. My wife and I have chosen the 257 Roberts. No bear hunts on my schedule

Higgins model 50 in 30-06
Winchester 70 featherweight in 30-06
Have both

Same on my dad got me for a college graduation gift; Ruger SS/Lam in 338 Win Mag. I've shot pronghorn through elk with it. He wasn't a rifle guy, but wanted to get me something that I could hunt anything in NA with. It's worked for me. Only complaint is that it's heavy.

That said, lots of other chamberings would do as well.

I've only been able to get it down to the 3 Amigos....

Please refrain from posting any more photos of that stainless/walnut Number One. I'm an old man on a fixed income and viewing that sort of thing could lead to irreparable harm to my meager finances.

Yep

i already have it. M77 Mark II all weather in .280 Rem.

Another vote for the Model 70 Featherweight in 30-06. I have a pre-64 and if I do my job it will definitely do the trick.

Tikka T3 Lite stainless in 308 win with a fixed power 6X or a 3-9.

If most of us really did routinely hunt 'All of N.A.' we would be too busy killing stuff with plain jane chamberings, and not filling idle time with exotic ones.

For hunting "ALL" big game in North America the chambering must be such that the biggest game sought can be easily handled. Everything smaller will die just as well with a heavier round but trying to use a minimal chambering on big beasts is asking for trouble.

For ALL animals including big bears I would likely go with the .300 Magnum and certainly wouldn't go smaller than a .30-06 or 7mm Magnum. If I planned to hunt the bigger animals regularly I might even go up to the .338 Magnum.

For hunting the lower 48 states there are any number of chamberings that would serve well but I would still choose something like the .30-06 because of the sheer size of moose, elk and buffalo.

As far a rifle, I am partial to the '98 Mauser action. For many years my only big game rifle was a .30-06 built on an FN Mauser action. That gun would be near perfect, but it would be really hard to build a custom rifle like that today and stay under the $1000 price limit.

I would hardly feel handicapped with a Winchester 70 or Ruger rifle.....or a commercial Mauser.

For the unlikely event that I could only have one rifle and yet could somehow could still hunt all of NA with it, I'd pick a Model 70 in .300 Win.

Just to prove that I'm capable of flip flopping; if someone wanted a .338 Win mag, they'd get no argument from me, and likewise I'm awful partial to my STWs that aren't available anymore. For one totally out of left field it's been hard not to notice that my M70 Alaskan (walnut) only weighs 8.2 pounds scoped and with a selected bullet matches my .300s' trajectory out to 500 yards, while still being able to lob heavy bullets at anything if you think you need them. With that one there's no need to stop at NA, might as well take a crack at the world. Its a little hard to picture someone needing to have one rifle being enthusiast about expensive ammo though.

I'm taking the .375 Alaskan on a brown bear hunt in a few weeks that can easily include moose, goat, back bear and blacktail. That's a pretty good cross section of big/dangerous and smaller game and long and short distance, and it isn't really giving up much in any category. Even portability.

Ironically you can say the same about the Kimber .338 Win Mag that's comeing for a spare.

If brown & polar bear are on the list, 338 or 300 WIN MAG would be my choice of chamberings. Bison and moose are big, but they don't tend to chew on you if you screw up, so for a do-it-all I'd likely pick a 270 WIN or 30-06.
Rifle limited to $1k means either quality old and used (Brno ZG 47, Win pre-64, Husqvarna 1600/1640 or Mauser 98) or new manufactured (Ruger M77 MKII or Howa 1500/Weatherby Vanguard). I just can't seem to find many quality bolt rifles under $1k newly manufactured that don't have one or more features that I don't like.

If dollars are of concern, my choice would be a Weatherby Vanguard, in .300 Weatherby.

Enough oomph to be used for the largest of NA game, including Alaska moose and brown bear (not my first choice for brownies, but will work)

If you are not particularly recoil-shy, the .300 Wby is a superb plains game rifle for Africa, if you choose to venture abroad.

Flat trajectory for longer-range shooting at elk, mule deer, etc.

Accurate, reliable, bolt rifle in .270Win. Leupold on top. Go hunt...

Do the Winchesters of today shoot as well as the Tikka's do?

I could cheat. There is a Blaser .270 in the vault with an extra barrel in 9.3x62. I thought about selling the rest before I bought it, but what would be the fun in that?

Jack

My New Ultra Light Arms in 270 with a VX3 3.5x10 shooting 150 grain Partitions. Accurate as hell, recoil not bad, easy to carry all day so I can get away from all the road hunters, ammo easy to find anywhere and cheap. plus really cool tiger stripe paint job!

If not I have a couple featherweights in 308, 7x57, and 30-06 that would do nicely too!

My Ruger M77 MkII in 300 win Mag

I "built" mine. Howa ss 300 wm that I picked up used for $300. Had warne bases on it. Ditched the Boyd's laminate stock and dropped it into a McMillan sako classic stock and picked up a 3-9x40 conquest in warne rings. I load it depending on what I am after. My deer load is a 150 gr Speer at 2600 fps, and my elk/moose load is 180 gr partition at just over 3k. Both loads shoot under an inch for five at 100. Factory 180 gr corelokt does about 1.25", so if I forget my ammo I can pick that up most anywhere. It is everything I need as I don't have a desire to shoot a bear, but it would work there too I suppose.

Of course I also have a 7mm-08 for when I get serious about killing stuff...

My Ruger 338 Win mag if it came down to the choice of one, but a 22 and 223 round out the battery

How about Featherweights in...

.270






.30/06..Pre '64 M 70



7x57. Thinking about getting a Zeiss Terra 2x-7x for this one.

Tough choice. I would agree with 4ager. In a Mickey Edge:

I also wouldn't disagree with elkhuntrmn. I happen to have one of those (270).

Mailmanmark: I would opt for a Remington 700 stainless Rifle in caliber 7mm Remington Magnum.
I would handload different bullets for it to use on different game (from Antelope to Bear to Deer to Elk to Caribou to Mt. Goat to Bighorn Sheep to Moose!).
The 7mm Remington Magnum has not failed me so far.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

30-06 is boring compared to everything else, until you get bored with everything else...

The real question is whether one has plans to hunt brown and polar bears. If the answer is no, or if the answer is “Maybe someday, after I get a job and buy a house and a car and have a family” (in other words not likely), then a person can get by with less gun than a 30-06. The 30-06 is certainly not a bad choice by any means, but if my answer did not include big bears I would opt for something with a lot less kick and muzzle blast.

Plus, even if a person planned to hunt the big bears, it would be easy enough to borrow a big gun from a looney or the outfitter for the hunt. Or simply post up a WTB ad for a 338. There are certainly plenty of “seldom used” boomers sitting in people’s gun safes for a bear hunt which never happened. One of these could be purchased cheap and sold at minimal lost post hunt, as big bear hunts are few and far between for most of us, even many of those who engage in the practice.

Or,simply load a .30/06 with a 200/220 bullet,like Swift A-Frame,Barnes X,Nosler Partition.

But,like you said,a brown/polar bear hunt is gonna be few and far between.

Oh absolutely - and I suspect that is the reason many here would choose the 30-06.

An observation: I wonder how many folks touting the 30-06 for everything have actually used the 200-220s in the field, or whether many are going by JB and Phil’s recommendations on the efficacy of such rounds on bigger game? I’m not saying anything bad against the combo, as I’ve shot the ’06/200 Partition a bit myself (though haven’t used it on game). I’m simply commenting on the phenomenon.

J.C. Higgins F.N. actioned .30-06 with the High Standard chrome lined barrel. CeraKote all the metal, add a Timney trigger and put it in a McMillan SAKO compact stock and have a little left over to go towards the scope

Shoots MOA with Remington green box 165gn Core Locts.

Too many ifs and mights.

200 yards with .30-06 M700 ADL With 200 grain NPT stoked by 52 grains of H4350.

Never used a 200/220 in a .30/06 on game but,did use a 200 gr NP on a cow elk in a .300 Win mag.

If Phil and JB say the heavy bullet from a .30/06 will work on brown/polar bear,that's good enough for me.

Just give me a 300H&H w/a 200gr Partition for everything...and I'll be happy and won't be needing. powdr

Remington 700 300 ultra mag with 200gr partitions or accubonds.

My sako forester 308 win, it's take. A long time to realize I wouldn't need anything else

This one is easy for Me, I would take a Remington Model 700 XCR II chambered in .300 Win............Good luck....Hb

Reckon I could say mine would be your old one, Ha!!

Beat me to it. End of debate even though we are on page 6.

Might as well jump in here with my opinion which few will agree with.
Modest recoil, capable of taking any game in North America with the exception that I would be a bit nervous against big bears. (but it would work)
Easily available components for loading, and something I have already done.
Remington 700 BDL converted from 270 to 338-06, 22 inch #4 Shilen match barrel and Shilen trigger.
That's my go to for the rest of my life.

That'll work,with,oh say, a 210 or 250 gr NP.

Or split the difference and use a 225 gr NP.

I took a dummy round with a 210 Nosler to a Smith and asked him to build a rifle for it.

Excellent!

I would have to go with Tikka T3 Hunter Stainless fluted barrel chambered in 30-06. No plastic stock and still light enough to carry all day.

Tikka T3 30-06 or .308.

Drop it in a Mcmillan Sako pattern stock.

Add a Nightforce, with Talley lightweights.

Done.

Then instead of acquiring a bunch of rifles that are essentially duplicates, I would use extra $$ for hunts.

Being I just acquired one, the ruger gsr in 308. It has to be a 30 caliber. No twogay70's here. LOL

.350 mag, covers everything.

Depends on if you have Alaska residency.

If not an Alaskan resident (and required to have a guide with back up gun for brown bear), the 30-06 is hard to beat. Those 168 gr Barnes bullets move plenty fast and flat enough and penetrate far above comparable weights of traditional style bullets, and there will always be 220 partitions, even some 240 woodleighs for short range work.

But if you are an Alaskan resident and not required to have a guide; and faced with the possibility of tracking a wounded brown bear through thick brush or want to anchor that 70" moose before it can die in the nearest swamp . . . I'd start considering that -06 case when it's necked up to 338 cal and can launch 225 grains as fast as the 30 cal can launch 180 grains. The 35 Whelen gets even better with heavier (300+gr) bullet options and ability to handload 38/357 pistol bullets for varmint to medium game. Other great options are of course the 338 WM, 350 Rem Mag, 358 Norma, 9.3x62, 375 H&H or Ruger, or the 375-338 Win Mag (Taylor) wildcat.

Winchester M70 Stainless Featherweight in .270 win is what I've got so that's what I'll go with.

Moose is a distant pipe dream and big bears are off the table completely. Elk, deer, black bear and pronghorn are much more attainable. Not to mention the .270 is a damn fine coyote rifle.

Ruger Hawkeye 308 Winchester.

Old used sako 30/06

I love this statement.......

No truer words have been spoken here....

Budget of $1000
Seen scope combos worth more than that .... Just sayin

I believe it goes like this:

Fella gets his first "deer" rifle and picks ammo based on an ad in Field and Stream. "Hmmm, maybe I'll get the green box "this year"....

Then come the customs, reloading, pushing the schit out of every load and grain of powder.

Then a pile of schit in the safe and on the bench.

Then starts narrowing down what "overlaps" in his mind.

Then down to one load per rifle, that's it. Not monkeying with every bullet and powder combo out there searching for the holy grail.

Finally realizes that through all the R&D and skullphucking that's he's actually become quit proficient with anything that has a trigger.

Finds out that there wasn't much he couldn't have done with the first one he got 25 years ago. Confidence level through the roof now.

Applies the other "KISS" principle, dumps all the baggage, buys a standard rig and factory ammo.

Lives happily ever after........




Read a post on here years ago that basically told that story, interesting perspective and too true to be funny....

Even though I'm a lefty, I'd also go with an M70 in .30-06...but I'd want my old standard grade. Since it's my only rifle, I'd probably upgrade the scope to a nice NIB Zeiss 4X I have laying around.
Bob



I DO like my semi-custom 77 Hawkeye though, rebarreled with a 24" .30-06 tube

The gold standard: 30-06.

However, mine is a left handed Ruger Hawkeye 308win.

I wouldn't make the $1000 cut but I would take either a stainless mod 70 classic or a stainless Hawkeye dropped in a McMillan. I'd run a Leupold fixed 6 with Dots

Although any cartridge between 280 to 338wm would be fine I would go for either an 06 or 300wsm.

Ruger MKII/Hawkeye stainless
308 cut to 20"
Mickey Sako Classic with checkering and color molded-in
TTSX or Partition

left hand tikka hunter 6.5x55 $715