I have a friend that has elk hunted with one rifle since 1971. The same rifle since ‘71. He has killed over 40 elk with it, including 25 bulls. This is pretty impressive in this day and age of ultralight guns and newfangled latest and greatest cartridges. He reloads for one cartridge. One. He uses one bullet and powder. One. But he gets it done year after year with his 1962 (first year of production) Remington 700 in 7mm Rem Mag (also, first year 7mm mag introduced). It is the elk killing rifle.
You just described a rancher friend of mine. His too is a 1962 Rem 700 in 7mm RM (they had "blued" stainless barrels that first year). He got it used around 1970, and it wears a Leupold 3-9x40 on top. The 100's (1,000's) of miles that rifle has ridden in a scabbard would be hard to calculate, and it lives in his rear truck window. It has certainly accounted for nearly 100 elk in his, friends, family, and clients hands (he used to guide North of Yellowstone).
There's a lot to be said for a one-rifle hunter. Building that sort of history with a rifle is a very cool thing... me, I'm just too much of a tinkerer.
