Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles If you can only have one bolt action rifle...

lvlax

you've had many suggestions per caliber/cartridge. Find and know the legal minimum of your intended area.

You titled this thread, " If YOU can have only one b a rifle..."

I have several diff brands and types and have had even more and it's a hard decision for me to pick ONE,

PROBABLY if I had to be limited to ONE it would be....



EITHER one of these. Right -- T 3 Lite SS 270 Win > > > Left -- T3X Lite SS 7mm RM

Considering hunting a variety of places & game, I'd probably pick the 7 Rem Mag.
I don't think that would be best for you & your situation. But I like it.

Jerry

Nice pair of rifles Jerry!.....I love me a Tikka Magnum chambered rifle, they are mighty hard to beat.....Hb

Jerry, I had bought pre 64 win M70 30-06. I don’t have much hunting and long range shooting needs. So this might just work for me. See the photos above. Nick tikka rifles btw. I thought about it too.

Thnx Va H & lvlax

I have nice & pretty Wood/Blue rifles in diff cartridges BUT Synthetic & SS can NOT be beat for practicality. IMO

I have a gorgeous stocked rifle.......



but "Whitebird" won't sell it to me.
Seriously, that is Whitebird's rifle and the FIRST time I saw the pic I immediately thot of a S_W 1500 (Howa) 30-06 that I HAD.


Another nice thing about the T3X 7 Mag is its weight. The 7 Mag weighs ONLY 3 OUNCES more than the T 3 270.

I had the same scope on a Rem 700 Syn 7 Mag------ the T3X weighs exactly 1 POUND less than the 700 Syn.


Jerry

Tikka T3s in 7mm Rem Mag can shoot, too.




That’s four shots into .527”, mv 3100 FPS.






P

Been reading this thread with more than just a passing interest, with the idea of at soon to be 74 and shooting shoulder problems from a related surgery 12 years ago that is beginning to be more than just a pain pill away from resolution...and going down the road to near total downsizing of all the CF rifles and settleing on a single caliber in a couple shooters to finish up with.

Some surprises recently have been discovered in what I can handle recoil wise, that I had always been able to handle with no concerns as I get back into trigger pulling regularly have been an unexpected unpleasant wake up call.

So, Belted Mags for me are a thing of the past and was almost given. Apparently Super Lite rifles are a thing of the past too...as a new T3 SLSwede shooting some old free to me PMC 140's to harvest brass from, popped me like a 6lb 7Rmg & flattened primers to the point that I pulled the rest of the free ammo's bullets and powder. The Tikka shot the ancient ammo into the expected tiny groups but my shoulder told me to "very carefull" from the "lil very sharp bite" that caught me by surprise enough to cause me to think mebbe I had after all these years really developed a torn rotator cuff, as I had been warned about after the surgery that left me with a "frozen shoulder" for a couple years. My M70 270 Sporter with some old max loaded 150's that always shot decently and last was used for zeroing a scope, caused me later to flinch for the 1st time I can remember on a game shot in 50 years of hunting with a 270. A 7lb 375 H&H Sako Fiberclass Carbine was last rifle to make me flinch in the mid '80's.The best surprise however was the new to me M70 XTR 7x57's lack of recoil using fresh Privi 140's to practice with & to harvest the brass from, and now what I'm planning on using this fall, but I hate to hunt with a collector quality rifle.

So what are 'yall's thoughts about the pros and cons of using either a 6.5 Swede, a 6.5 Creedmore....or a 7-08 for everything in Texas....as of right now I'm leaning towards the 7-08 for my last Do All Caliber that had always been the various 270's job, based on the experience with the M70 Fwt 7x57...and using rifles with a gross All Up Weight of the M70 Fwt. at about 7 1/2 - 7 3/4lbs+...OR ... just downloading the M70 270 Sporter to less than max recoil levels and burn up the plentiful on hand supplies as previously planned
Ron

verhoositz

If I were you I think that I would go with the Creedmoor. As much as I love the Swede, you can't hardly find one with a fast enough twist for some of the VLD bullets that are out these days. If that is not a concern, I'd probably go with the Swede. The 7-08 would be a distant runner up. There's nothing wrong with the cartridge, I'm just partial to the 7X57.

This old blued and walnut Mark II .223 was mostly opposite of what I was looking for. But after looking off and on for a while, just one of those deals that was too good to walk away. And it was new enough to have the hammer forged barrel.
Don't know if this rifle will work out for me. I was looking for stainless synthetic with a tighter twist and got blued and walnut with a 12 twist. And not likely that it will be the only bolt action rifle I'd ever want Maybe it could be my only blued and walnut bolt action, maybe not.

For the OP's listed criteria, you could do worse. It's growing on me.
As far as I know these pencil barrel rifles don't have a stellar rep for accuracy. We'll see if it sticks after I shoot it next weekend. I like the looks and fit more than I thought I would.
The trigger is excellent. Very light and crisp. But with a bit of over travel that I’m not accustomed to.

This one is earning its keep right now. Wood with family heritage, shoots great too!

Barrett Fieldcraft, 6.5 Creedmoor, Nightforce SHV 3-10x42

Above is a new to me favorite. I it's a 30-06 with a octagon barrel by Hiptmeyer on a mauser.

Winchester model 70 in 7mm Mag, stainless/synthetic will do it all now and anything else you have planned for future hunts, 160 gr Accubonds or 175 gr Partitions will cover all bases nicely.

Myself, I'd take the same gun in 375 H&H mag, 270 gr TSX's, 300 gr Accubonds, along with a good 300 gr BBW #13 solid load, those will handle small deer up to and including all game in Africa or anywhere else in the world.

Verhoo

I read all of this post. First let me Xplain the 7X57 = Prvi ammo. ...........> edited prIvi TI prvi
I have 2 boxes of Prvi 6.5X55 ammo. Chronoed the 140s at ***2250 fps*** !! --------> edited prIvi TO prvi
I’d ‘suspect your Prvi ammo is MILD.

Now to your question.

You can load EITHER the 7-08 or 270 to the level you are comorfortable shooting.
Unless I’m mistaken you have the 270 and components - but not the 7-08. So IMO it’s up to what YOU want to do. Both will work.

I’m sorry for your complications but they come as WE MATURE.

Good Luck.

Jerry

If I could only have 1 bolt action hunting rifle, it would always be the rifle I started out on. A sporterized m1917 enfield chambered in 30-06. These rifles never leave you stranded, always work, always go bang when you want them to... They are heavy, but I don't give a fu ck. Most people would cry if they had to do my job too (too hard and too heavy), but that's my pick...

you are mans man for sure.. we are glad you don't give a fiddlestick as well. Lol oh lawrence you crack me up sometimes..

I have an all original Eddystone in great shape. This evening I'm going to look at a 1917 sporter 30-06. If I buy it I might send it off to become a 35 Whelen.

I just put the scope on the rifle and now it weights 9.78lbs

That’d look real nice in the house, and should flatten a coyote. But I’m too much of a wimp to lug that fatty around for half a day.😂😂😂

Glad you found what you wanted.

For me, a "one bolt action for everything hunting related" is this:

A stainless Tikka T3 Lite .308 cut to 20" and muzzle brake installed. Talleys and a 2.5-10x24 Nightforce on top.

The stock is a McMillan Edge.






It has killed deer, elk coyotes rabbits etc.

Pretty neat reloading bench. I assume the press and other things are off on the right.

Mine was pretty cramped back in 2007 when I took this picture and it is even more so now.

I know it's a bit heavy. My previous Steyr pro hunter is close to that weight as well. This one is at least 30-06... I am not planning on carrying it in the woods though.