Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Do I need another big game rifle? If so, what?

This should be your next rifle because getting your wife squared away will buy you time and budget to get another rifle for yourself. THAT rifle should be a 30-06 because you can get good ammo for it without much hassle. That said, it's not as ubiquitous as some would have you believe.

For years, I believed that you could get decent 30-06 ammo almost anywhere that people hunt, which made the 30-06 a superb (possibly even morally superior) choice for the general-purpose rifle. But on the way to a pig hunt in northern California a few years ago, I stopped at the In-and-Out Market in Palo Cedro, CA, to buy a hunting license. I always check ammo in little roadside stores and this place had easily the weirdest inventory I’ve ever seen in one place, to wit:

1 box of 225 Winchester (never seen this in the wild)
1 box of S&B 5.6x52R (Euro name for the 22 Savage Hi-Power, had to Google it)
6 boxes of fresh Federal 25-06
6-8 boxes of Federal 7x57 Mauser 175 RN
10 boxes of fresh Federal 7mm Winchester Short Magnum
6-8 boxes of fresh Federal 7mm Remington Magnum
6-8 boxes of fresh Federal & Fiocchi 308 Winchester
3 boxes of fresh PPU 303 British
1 box of Hornady 32 Special
2 boxes of Federal 338 Winchester Magnum 250-grain Woodleigh
1 box of 358 Winchester 200-grain PPT
2 boxes of 375 RUM
3 boxes of Hornady 450 Marlin

They had plenty of service pistol ammo, rimfire, 7.62x39, 5.56 NATO, and assorted 12-gauge but only ONE box of 30-06. To add insult to injury, this box was American Eagle 147-grain FMJ. There was not one softpoint 30-06 cartridge for sale in the entire place.

My guide later told me that this place used to have an FFL but gave it up after state laws became too onerous, which explains a lot. As noted, some of the ammo was fresh so that's probably what people use most of the time. The rest must have been NOS. In this area, that makes a certain amount of sense given that you’re probably either shooting pigs inside of 150 yards or blacktail-mule-deer hybrids at fairly long range, but it was still jarring to see the 30-06 so badly under-represented. Seems almost unpatriotic...

So I've revised my stance on the whole “30-06 wins at logistics” thing.


Okie John

Spot on Shaman. That's why I've been in reduction mode. I'll still have more than I need when I'm finally done. I suppose if I were really taking it to bare minimum, I'd just keep my stainless Ruger 77 MkII .30-06, but I have to have a backup or two or three and I really can't not have any lever guns. That would be blasphemy.

I've been dinking around with firearms for about 60 years. If I hadn't gone that route I probably would have spent my time/money chasing women. Probably be a syphilitic alcoholic by now. The guns saved me! Thank God for guns.

Yap, yap, yap, yap. Don’t over think this.

Get a good 30-06, find a load it likes with TTSXs, Partitions or Accubonds. Lay in a good stock of ammo that it likes (or components if you handload), and hunt for the rest of your life.

You are done.

GF1 for the win...

No think more strategically:
Get another 6.5CM for both You and wife to enjoy together
or
Up size to at least a 30-06.

If you ain't got a 280, you ain't got schitt.

MM

I wouldn’t buy into any new cartridge without first spending some time at the range with one.
The 30-06 is going to be a much less pleasant rig to use, than your Creedmoor.

I’d find a rifle that will fit your wife and likely new hunting partner in 6.5 CM.
It will suffice as a “back up” rifle (I’ve never needed one)..... and be both pleasant to use and deadly.

My last five or six elk have all been killed very quickly with my 6.5 CM or .260 Rem.
If you really want something different, I would recommend the 7-08 in the same format your using now.

Nothing trumps good Bullet placement....... that comes with practice.
My $.02

Goodness....alllllll this talk about how great 6.5's and 7mm's are for elk when for 95 years many deemed the 270 marginal. Seems I was right about the 270 all along, it's just fine for elk.

You have a 6.5, get something of larger caliber and it doesn't have to be a magnum. I wouldn't buy an '06 but that's me. Nothing wrong with it but there is, conservatively, approximately 200 cartridges just as good and will do anything and everything the '06 will do. I won't bother mentioning what rifles because our tastes are light years apart.

If you have to ask, yes, you need another rifle.

Your 6.5 CM is fine for elk at close ranges, say 300-400 yards, but not my first choice for that and not what I would choose for longer ranges. My recommendations would start with a .270 Win or 7mm RM for non-handloaders and would include a .280 Rem for handloaders. 7mm RM is a fine choice and the loads I was shooting two days ago had less recoil than the .30-06 loads I was shooting. A .30-06 is never wrong. Stepping up to a .300WM adds significant recoil and a .338WM adds even more.

I "managed" with a 7mm RM for 20+ years and will be hunting elk with it again this year if all goes as planned. My .280 is planned as the backup, both .loaded with Federal 155g Terminal Ascent if I finalize the loads. Launched at 2900fps, the .280 Rem will deliver 2000fps and 1500fpe to 725 yards, more than double the range of the Federal 6.5CM laod wiht the same bullet. THE 7mm RM will go even further.

Have I ever needed a backup rifle? Yes.

You have a very nice little gun shop just down the road in Belle Fourche...I`d go and see them.
PS, 7mm Mag ammo is every where, and not that expensive.

Your 6.5 CM will work on elk and you will be able to keep a bear from eating you BECAUSE you are much more likely to shoot it well than anything significantly “more powerful”. Before you spend the money, read John Barsness’ article on killing power.
Spend your coin trying to wear out your 6.5, shoot three or four elk with it and then you will realize you have what you need already.

If your wife wants to hunt then take her with you, carry the 6.5, and hand it to her when she needs it. Maybe she will enjoy shooting and maybe not. Wait and see.

It is pretty easy to get addicted to the idea that nirvana is just a purchase away but that ain’t so.

What store is that?

Buckstop Sports. Had a nice selection of new, used and custom rifles when I stopped. Also some reloading components. Been there twice on my way to Wy.
Some of the crew shoot long range stuff in the Hills...might be of interest to you.

Tikka T3X 30-06. Upgrade stock if inclined, decent scope for your purpose and start out with a used or inexpensive Lee reloading setup. 125 grain to 220 grain bullets, versatile for many target or hunting applications.