Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best rifle for all North America hunting?

If you could only have 1 rifle & 1 caliber (cartdrige) to hunt everything from coyoties-deer-sheep-elk-moose and everything in between what would it be. Now I'm not really going to limit myself to 1 rifle, but I want your opinions if I were to use only 1.
I don't plan on hunting grizzly and brown bears but I want to be ready if I had a "run in" with them.

1. What caliber (cartdrige)

2. What rifle ( ie. rem 700, win 70)

I like the looks of the WSM's and RUM's as well as the classic magnums, I do want to stay at 30 caliber or below, maybe a

thanks ben

Welp, I love the .300 Winchester, and I have quite a few customs built on Rem 700s, but if could only have one, it would be:



A Winchester Model 70 in stainless chambered in .30-06 in a McMillan pre-64 Monte-carlo pattern, with Talley QDs and a Leupold VXIII 2.5-8x36.



Rick

30/06 w/24"bbl

Action? Either a Rem 700 or Win 70


MtnHtr

Ben,

I have been using my Steyr Scout in .308 Win to fill this role since '98. (I also have taken it to Africa for 4 hunts.)

I have changed the scope from the low-power fixed mounted forward of the action to a low-power variable over the action as I find that to be a more flexible hunting configuration. I favor the 1.5-6X40 (or 42) format in the scope.

Since I got this rifle and hunted with it I have been selling rifles. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

jim dodd

Seems like I'm the only one around here unduly paranoid about preserving his ears (I need 'em for bird watching).

So I figure a 26" worked-over Ruger No 1 (in which action type such a barrel length is not overly long) with backup iron sights installed. Not particular about the scope as long as it ain't too large and can take some hard knocks, probably 4x or less.

Caliber .308, seems about like a .30-06 and there's all that cheap surplus ammo one can keep cached (I'm also a closet survivalist <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />).

Birdwatcher

Remington 700 (pre lawyer lock) .30-06 with 180 grain Partitions. So generic that it should come in a white box with stripes marked "Hunting Rifle". Top it off with a Leupold 6X42 and the rest is practice, practice, practice! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

When I contemplated this very question for myself and others about 25-30 years ago, I came down to these two cartridges �
� for "all-around" use on game that might occasionally include elk, the .280 RCBS (.280 Remington "improved" with 30� shoulder)
� for "all-around" use on game that definitely and often includes elk and sometimes larger game, the .338 RCBS (the .280 RCBS necked-out)
� both, of course, in economical or fancy custom Mausers.

Since then, I've designed two cartridges* that improve the interior and exterior ballistics of both of the above cartridges, but nothing that I've seen, heard about, or handled persuades me that there's a better choice than a well made Mauser unless it's a well made Mauser-M70 cross.

*the .280 and .340 Howell

Vegas-Short of the Big Bears the old .270 would be my pick.But I, like Rick am a .300 fan and have a .300 Win Mag.But for Coyotes up and the most likely largest Elk or Moose the .270 just works with the right bullet and accuracy and kicks much less than the .300 or the .338.

But one caliber for me and what I hunt...It is the .300 Mag from ground squirrls to whatever..Know pain know gain... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Jayco.

It would be my 30-06 on a Springfield action with a 24 inch barrel. I would be quite content to use the 200 grain Nosler at 2700 fps in bear country if I happen to be there. If I need two rifles I would simply add a 375 H&H. I know, I'm a hopeless nostalgic who loves classic cartridges. Experience have taught me they work fine. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Standard Ruger #1; 7 x 57.

Well, if I could only have one for all North American hunting, this would be it :


Rem 300Win Mag, Micky Mtn rifle stock w/Ricasso paint job, Leupi 4.5x14x40mm matte

Tony

If I had to get by with just one, I think a .270 WSM in a stainless short action M70 or A-Bolt, would fit the bill for my needs.

Sako Finnlite or Kimber 8400 Montana 300WSM, Swarovski 3-10 PH

-Powerful enough for anything
-Light enough to carry all day
-No worries stainless
-Accurate enough for long range
-Scope good in low light
-Ammo becoming more available and of excellent quality

.................DJ

A blued Walnut Model 70 in 30-06 with a 24 inch barrel.
The rifleman's rifle.

Either the 308 or 3006 in a Ruger No.1 with the 26 in barrel.
But there wouldn't be any flies in the ointment in the 7x57,270, or 280 either.

This is what I chose for the All-Arounder.

Browning BLR, 308 Win, 2.5-8x36 Leupie (VX-III).

I am still searching for the ultimate load for it, but 168 grain XLCs at 2750 fps seem to be winning the contest right now (1.25 inch groups, quite consistently).

Based upon JJHack's reports, expect to pick up a box of 165 gr Interbonds for further testing.

BMT

Hands-down it would be a stainless/synthetic Ruger M77/MkII in 30-06... ammo available world-wide and can handle any job in the hands of a skilled rifleman.

Reality since 20 years:

Blaser over/under rifle/shotgun combination with hand cooking device (you carry it loaded/uncocked completly safe, cocking is a cinch - like disengaging your O/U Shotgun safety slide)
topped with 2 switch mounted scopes:
1. Zeiss 1,5-4x18 for day use and close encounters
2. Zeiss 2,5-10x52 for dim light conditions.

top barrel: 12 ga. (mostly shooting #6 spreader loads but a 600 gr Brennke slug is excellent bear medicine!)

lower barrel: 8,5x63 R
The 8,5x63 R is in fact a rimmed 338 /.280 40� impr. (there is a non-rimmed as well). The 20 year old wildcat of mine is CIP approved, eventually reaching German industry standard (all major firearms manufacturers like Krieghoff and Blaser take orders)
Many bullets from 150 gr to 300 gr print to the same PoI, velocity range (if you want to) is from >3500 m/s 150 gr to 2500 fps/300 gr.
On five continents with this rig we took anything from doves to ducks and from bucks to buffs and from roe to rhino (got my best pronghorn with it, in eastern Wyoming at 385 Leica measured yards).
Regards
RD
PS: On trips in the hundreds we never had trouble at police or customs concerning "wrong headstamp" (cases are fireformed from 7x65 R).

If I ever have to decide on just one rifle, for North American game, it will be my Ruger #1 chambered for .280 RCBS.

As much as I love my Weatherbys, the Ruger .280 seems to combine good barrel length, simplicity of function, and a cartridge that achieves near-7mm Rem. Mag. performance with far less powder. Recoil is so manageable that it is of no concern.

The rifle is mounted up with a Leupold fixed 6-power scope, again for simplicity. The only drawback is that you have to fire-form cases- come to think of it, that just means more time at the shooting range, not a drawback at all!!

Kodiak bears and prairie dogs? One rifle for all North American game? That might be a fun fantasy to kick around but let�s get into reality for a moment. No one in their right mind would want to shoot all day in a prairie dog town with a cartridge suitable for Kodiak bears. And I am pretty sure I don�t want to hunt bears with a prairie dog rifle.



So forget about the �one rifle� concept. That�s just something the gun writers and editors stir up now and again when they don�t have a new idea to write about. The entire subject is as lame as the old 270 vs 30-06 debate at best. One the bad side, it misguides new hunters into some poor choices for their first rifle purchase.



The idea of owning only one rifle that can do it all is very tempting to a young hunter on a tight budget and I fell for it myself when I started. What I ended up with was, at best, a compromise. I had a rifle that worked fairly well for mid sized game and performed poorly on game at both ends of the �North American� game spectrum.



I�m sorry to say that I no longer have my first rifle. It was a good rifle but the cartridge was not suitable for the high volume of shooting involved with varmint hunting and all the practice I needed learning to shoot. It lost its luster for me long before it�s barrel gave up the ghost.



Owning one rifle to use for all North American game makes as much sense as trying to play 18 holes of golf with only one club.



BTW - if one is serious about hunting everything North America has to offer you are going to need three rifles. One for the little varmints, one for the big things that bite back, and one for the critters in the middle.