Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles after chasing the dream...

............................Maybe not indoors too much, but you might be thinking hypothetically a little bit too much?....So does your post mean or imply, that you are thinking about selling all your rifles and just have one 30-06 rifle to use for all of your hunting needs?

Well imo, one of the fun things to do when engaged in the sport of hunting and/or shooting, IS TO chase this cartridge and that cartridge, IS TO chase this powder and that powder, and IS TO chase this bullet and that bullet. Now if everyone shot and hunted with just one cartridge 30-06 or otherwise, then imo, that would make the hunting/shooting world pretty damned boring.

GW, if you're ever looking for a son to adopt, I'm available!

Women.....if it wasn't for that little furry thing between there legs we'd hunt em like coyote's 😁

That's sounds like a sweet rifle Okie John



Trystan

Not original with me, but being married to the same woman for nigh on 39 years, having a daughter, sister, and mom as well as female managers of my rent propeties, I can say with authority........

if it Flys, floats, faces the water or Fcuks, it's cheaper to rent it.
If it has tits or tires, there is gonna be problems!

ya!


GWB

I'm still enjoying the tinkering, but I don't delude myself into thinking that 1 cartridge or shooting platform is x% superior to any others. As I play with my latest toy, a 70 year old Savage 99 chambered for .300 Sav, I'm reminded that our forebearers had this [excrement] worked out long ago.

Dad spent his entire hunting life toting the same 7x57. I figure I'll have invested quite a bit of time & $ when I arrive at about the same place.

I've always known he was a genius.

FC

Dogger,

I started my big game hunting career, at age 14, with a sporterized 03-A3 that my parents had given me for Christmas, along with a few hundred rounds of milsurp ball ammo. It is equipped with a peep sight. With this rifle, I took my first 6 mule deer, and a bunch of coyotes. Three of those deer were meat for a broke college kid. I still own that rifle, but don't shoot it anymore.

Once out of school, and with a real job, I began looking for new armament, and settled on a Parker Hale in 7mm Rem. Mag., which served me well for a couple of decades. At one time, I sold my old '06 to a friend, but seller's remorse took over, and I convinced him to sell it back to me, for sentimental reasons, I guess.

As my jobs began to pay more, I added more rifles to my collection, everything from .22-250, .220 Swift, .243, .25-06, .270, .280, another .'06, .257 and.300 Wby. mags, .270 WSM, .375 H&H, .375 Ruger, .204 Ruger, and 7-30 Waters.

A few years ago, while planning for another African safari, I decided to add another .30-06, this time a Browning X-Bolt. Right out of the box, this rifle impressed me with its accuracy with factory ammo. With its 22" barrel, it is light, accurate, balances well, has very manageable recoil and a great trigger, and I have used it this fall to take three deer, so far. Right now, I am developing handloads for another safari to Africa, this time for small antelopes. Sure, it is not as flat shooting as some of my other rifles, but the addition of a Leupold CDS scope pretty much solves that problem out to any reasonable shooting ranges.

In short, if forced to give up all of my rifles save one, the Browning stands a good chance of being the one I'd keep.

Geedubya, I like your tastes. I've only had Blasers -- 3 models -- and Sauers. All were bespoke quality next to American fair generally
and no complaints with any as far as accuracy, and function and aesthetics either.

270, 243, sub $20/box ammo, phuqq the rest of it....


Now someone buy my 7 in the classifieds so I can be a true Elmer Fudd.

Never needed anything but the 7mm RM I started with. Now have a couple safes full of firearms but the 7mm RM is still one of the best.

That said, I somehow ended up with four .30-06s in the safe. (And two .308's.)


One of the .308's is an 18" AR. one is a 16.1" Ruger Scout. A 22" .308 bolt would be nice...




Probably. Go do some shooting!

I'm trying to cure a case of the hot running wants for a Howa mini lightweight carbine in 6.5 grendel. I either need a vaccine or the rifle....

16bore,

I think I'm one step behind you as far as big game rifles are concerned. I've sold or given away most of my big game rifle, I think 17 altogether. I'm down to ONE rifle for big game my 6.5X55 Tikka T3. At this point my only move might be trading it off for a Barrett Fieldcraft. 😀

I'm a step behind in that I still load my own. I can't let go of the feeling a well tuned load gives though I know it isn't necessary. My main hunting handloads for the Swede pushes a 130 accubond at 2925 fps and 140 gr Hornady SP interlock at 2820 fps which I believe would be very comparable to a lot of 270 shelf ammo. I also have a 147 Eld-M load at 2730 fps mostly for play though I might use it to take a critter after I give those who are using it time to gather more data.

I'm rather enjoying the simpler way I have set myself up and I find myself doing far less "Load Development", working the trigger over, bedding, buying 37 scopes, different trigger, custom stock, bla bla bla, and far more "Loading and Shooting" which is what I love to do.




Trystan

I've never chased after a perfect cartridge. First of all it doesn't exist. However, in 56 years of handloading I've derived immense pleasure and hopefully learned something "rollin' my own" for over 100 different cartridges. The last several years have been spent seeking out rifles chambered in cartridges that haven't seen the light of day in 100 years or more, forming or turning the brass, having custom molds made and developing loads for them. There is a plethora of fine cartridges that fell by the wayside simply from lack of popularity. Over the history of smokeless powder there is such a redundancy in cartridge ballistics I believe if a fella has seriously studied the topic the conclusion must be reached that there is truly a need for only about 4 cartridges...but what the heck fun would that be!?!?!?!?!?!?

I got over load development when I saw the gal at Walmart put two boxes of ammo in bag.

I haven't seen the gal at WalMart yet but she must be pretty damn good looking. 😁



Trystan

It is. It'll be sweeter once I get the optics worked out.




Okie John

Part it out.

The Sauer 100 XT Classic in 6.5x55 has caught my eye. I have the bug.

A 30-06 and a reloading setup IS the dream!

Don't like recoil? Back off the hammer and run starting loads with a soft 150 and you have a .300 savage.
Really don't like recoil? Hodgdon youth loads with 125 grain ballistic tip.

Want a "woods rifle". Load 30-30 bullets at 30-30 speeds.

Want to kill something big, and not get kicked too hard? 150 grain ttsx.

Want to kill a grizzer bear? Heavy Nosler Partition.

It is a swiss army knife cartridge.

I've tried to like the 30-06, but just can't do it.

I primarily chase whitetails and there are tons of other cartridges that are more appealing to me. I also shoot quite a bit and the '06 doesn't excite me from the bench or backpack either.

No doubt it works well on the majority of NA game, but others work just as well. If I lived in another locale, where elk, moose and big bears were on the menu --- I'd probably still choose something else!

Problem is, nothing much works better than the -06, for a variety of scenarios.