Waaaaay too early to predict which rifle I'll carry. I have a .30-30 G coming that has a lot of good juju (I think), and it and my 1918 M250-3000 will certainly get to play backup, or first chair depending on how I feel when I get up that morning. I got a new-ish Ruger #1 6.5x55 that beckons mightily, and just this evening I bought a 1929-vintage M1903 Springfield NRA Sporter** (.30-06!!) that spent its 90 year life on Kodiak Island killing grizzlies- talk about some
real juju. Maryland and Pennsylvania whitetails will be a cake walk for it! The beastie is in very nice original condition. I'll probably load it down to .300-level to take it easy on the local deer.
I wish sometimes I had one of my Dad's go-to rifles to trot out one frosty morning. But, I already passed them down to my nephews, his grandsons- a fact I kinda think I may have jumped the gun on. Oh well.
Too many guns, so little time....
**Forgotten factoid: Springfield Armory was in the business of building sporting rifles for a few years in the mid-20's to early-30's. The idea was born from the public's need for a top shelf commercial bolt gun, of which nobody was building except for custom rifles. The M1903 Service Rifle was the basis for it, with pistol grip stock, Lyman 48 sight, and best of all a "star gauged" barrel which had passed stringent dimensional inspections. They always maintained a reputation for being wonderfully accurate, and as ruggedly reliable as the Service Rifle. The guns are pretty rare- they cost a lot of money, and were sold only to NRA members. Production stopped after only a very few thousand, when the Winchester M54 and Remington M30 bolt guns started filling the need for a quality factory bolt gun. Hemingway had one that he subsequently shipped off to Griffin&Howe for further customizing. (And Hemingway certainly had the means to buy a boat load of .300's but chose the mighty .30-06 instead.
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