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

M70 stainless classic, 22 featherweight barrel, 30.06, Micky edge stock Leupold 6x36 with the dots

[quote=Pharmseller]All he’s hunting is deer. Why the elk cartridge recommendations?

Well I guess that “if” you’ve only got one rifle, then likely will “only” have one caliber.....why not get one of the best “all around calibers” ? Good for everything from “small” big game (even works on coyotes pretty effectively) up to and thru moose and bear. Today, it’s only deer, tomorrow....? memtb

I’m thinking that if something changes in life and a guy finds himself planning an out-of-state elk hunt, grabbing another rifle isn’t too much of a problem.

Correctamundo, in both posts. No brainer, really. My second choice would be a 6.5 Grendel for which there's some really cheap ammo and has considerable utility, plus it's very powder-thrifty.

^^ as good as it gets ^^
I hunt elk so instead of 270 it be 30/06 for one rifle only.. But I do love my 270 for deer.

Why not .375H&H then?....cause it 'could' be elk tomorrow and cape buffalo a week later...



If I could have only 'one' Id have no problem with a Howa.
If i wanted[not needed] to spend more on a push feed ...Id get a Borden action barrelled up!
and screw it to B&C stock just to rattle some mcMilan sycophants on the campfire...

chamber would be 7mm Mag....cause it.. 'recoils like 30/06 and hits like 300mag'...with ammo
just a cheap and available as the gay .270

IMHO...7RM does not recoil like 06. has little more pop to it.

Winchester model 70 Feather weight, current models in 30-06

You sir.....are indeed correct! I was narrow-minded and limited the OP to North America. Your suggestion is the reason I bought a .375H&H in the early ‘80’s. My “only” rifle caliber ever since.... though in ‘89 stepped up to a lightweight (relatively) .375 AI. Shoots as flat or flatter than the aforementioned.338 WM, and is good for Africa! 🙂
memtb

I'd probably choose this one in .22 Hornet

Mauser 98 in .30-06

The rest are all fluff .....

Too open ended. When I got my first rifle, I handled several in a gun shop and did a mental coin toss. I later sold that because it was a bit much for my first or for deer. Weight and caliber. Then I did have deer hunting as a specific goal. The OP has NO GOAL, or stated purpose other than owning a bolt actions. Stay away from odd ball rounds like 22 hornet, bee zipper, what ever.

What I like? For small, easy to shoot, cost of ammo, good ammo selection and good looks. CZ527 carbine or american in 223. Mount a medium size (aka practical) size scope like a 3-9x compact or worse case a 4-12x. Another way to go is cz527 in euro varmint for a heavier gun to shoot at the club of for actual long hours of varmint shooting and that can be topped with a 6-18x. Again the 223 is a good round to enjoy and be used to good effect.

Next up is the deer rifle and here I like rounds like 7mm-08 first choice, and 6.5mm second. Th 243 is a sweet first deer rifle and a nice step up from 223 while still mild and pleasant for a first gun. All these are what I call, medium length actions. In this space I like Tikka with a wood stock. Or your taste might run toward Tikka in synthetic. Winchester is a bit haevy in this class of ctg. The Howa is not to my taste. The CZ is also a bit heavy in the mediums. I love Kimber and certain Sako (carbon fiber) if you have the budget. The big problem is we dont know what you want this rifle for. If you do not hunt then you are free to select a little heavier gun and then CZ and Winchester offers some seriously good looking rifles. I dont care so much for Remington these days. Savage seems ok, but again, not crazy about the looks. There is that 308 at cabelas that everyone raves about out. They all shoot.

Moving up is 30-06 and larger (375HH) and here the various Winchester M70 really stand out as appropriate in weight and good Japanese quality. I dont think these bigger guns are a good place to start. Same with the 98 in 06. Too much gun. I own various Model 70 from New Haven (control feed) and Japan - great guns.

Last step in the progression is the CZ550 magnum that can be had in 375HH up to 505 Gibbs. A non starter for a first bolt rifle.

Funny about price, if you can only afford ONE good one, then you could afford two less costly rifles like savage. What is good? Functional or does style enter into the picture at all? And what is style? This is an impossible post to deal with.

I go back to the beginning. Caliber 223 , rifle CZ527. There will be no regrets.

For a little bigger with 'possible' hunting later, 7mm-08, 6.5cm or 243 in Kimber or Sako (or Tikka). One gun will not do it all. You need to decide if you are going to carry this all day or shoot at a club. A rifle that is 'good' for everything is really good for nothing. That concept died in the 1960's

To bad the OP did not ask about buying his first bolt rifle with a, long term goal to have a 3 rifle battery to include a maximum of hunting scenarios.

Then we could propose starting at the small end and building toward something like: 223, 7mm08, 375HH (CZ, Kimber, Winchester)

If I could have 1 it would be a 30-06 Walnut and Blued steel.. For your criteria. Coyotes maybe a deer. 243, 22-250 ,or 223, You didn't say whether you liked wood or plastic, stainless, matte or blued steel. Price range?

If I could only have one it would be my Ruger MKII in 6mm Rem, Walnut Stocked blued rifle, I also have the same rifle in 243 but I much prefer the 6mm Rem.

Model 70, of course!

Easy peasy.. 308 Fetherweight.

Your question is easy. You can go old school or new school. I would go old school with a Mauser custom in 30-06. Most of the gunsmith's are trained in Mauser Sporter upgrades. Any gun choice you make will need attention to shoot correctly. Not many out of the box decisions that shoot, even less that are cheap.

New school; Ruger Bushmaster 450

There's the rub, as they say. The OP doesn't appear at this point to know quite what he wants to do with it, so answers will be all over the place, reflecting what others like to do, as well as their tastes. My idea is that he should get something best suited for what he's doing now, then deal with future needs as they come. A fast-twist .223 in the platform that he likes or that has features useful to him as regards magazines, sighting options etc will do lots of stuff, won't beat him up, be cheap to shoot, and last a very long time. A bonus is that very nearly every bolt action made can be had so chambered.

I would wait until you decide what you are going to do before buying. As it is, with no real firm idea what you intend to use it for, whatever you choose is more likely to be wrong than right. If you were not stuck on just buying one, then I'd suggest something to practice with to gain familiarity so that when the time does come, you've got a good foundation. A good .223 or .308 bolt action might be a good choice because of the variety of ammo availability if you're not planning to reload. That's doesn't seem to be what you're asking, so my suggestion is to set aside money now to be spent when you have a more firm grasp on your actual need.

Tom