Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles need reccomendations...TWO Rifles ONLY........best calibers?

243 and 30-06.

I hate to say 243 though. On second thought make it a pair of matching rifles in 257 Roberts (120 Nosler Partition available in factory ammo) and still the 30-06.

My choice would be a 6.5x55/260 remington and a 35 Whelen. With those 2 cartridges you could kill almost anything [up to Water Buffalo] in the world with little fuss.

30/30 and 300 mag of your choice

OK. Listen carefully.

Get a pair of matched stainless synthetic Rem 700s. One in .223 the
other in .308. Put a 2.5-8x Leupold on each.

For the .223 buy a case of Remington 55 grain softpoints for varmints and a case of Federal 55 grain TSX for deer. Set them for a 200 yard zero. Kill small and medium things frequently.

For the .308 buy a case of Federal Powershok 150 grain softpoints for deer and a case of Federal 150 grain TSX for larger game. Zero them at 200 yards. Kill medium and larger things frequently.

Buy more ammo as necessary.

And this is the most important thing:

Never ever come back to this website or you are doomed to forever tilt at the windmill of ballistic bliss and descend rapidly into rifle lunacy...

And May God Have Mercy on Your Soul.

25-06 and 338WM. Pick which rifles you like them in.

220 Swift & 300 WBY

338WM & 7mm-08

243 and 280 both in Remington Mountain rifles'

I use a 7 STW and 300 Win for all my hunting.Love the range and hitting power of those belted mags on large game.

I'll pick two that I own:Marlin 336 in .35 remington with 1.5x5 leupold for still hunting, and:Winchester model 70 classic featherweight in .30-06 with 2.5-8 leupold for all other hunting.

wow, thx for all the wisdom....fyi, I do have a 22lr for plinking...right now leaning toward marlin XL7/XS7 based on strong performance/value reviews (unless 2010 prices go way up), so those caliber offerings may have the advantage....

That takes a lot of the fun out of it--if I read their webpage right, the choices are .243, 7-08, .308, 25-06, .270, 30-06.

7mm Rem Mag and 375 H&H

+1

I'd recommend the 6mm Remington (a 7x57 Mauser case necked down to 6mm or .24 caliber) for your "light" rifle (varmints, antelope, deer) and 7x57mm Mauser for your medium rifle for deer, elk, caribou, moose, hogs & black bear. Recoil is minimal with either round.

In addition to the 7x57, you could also consider either a .270 Winchester, .280 Remington or .30/06 Springfield as a medium rifle. I have listed these cartridges in the order of the amount of recoil generated by each using lighter to heavier big game bullets. Indicated approximate recoil does NOT include light-weight, varmint-type bullets.

The 7x57 is hard to beat since it seems to kill well far beyond the amount of recoil that it generates. Depending on bullet weight, recoil is about 15 ft/lbs to 18 ft/lbs using 120 gr.-175 gr.).

The .270 is another cartridge that seems to kill far beyond it's rather light recoil. Recoil about 17 to 19 ft/lbs using 110 gr-170 gr. bullets).

The .280 (7mm) Remington is a slightly better killer due to the heavier bullets it will "throw", but again... the heavier bullets tend to generate a bit more recoil. Recoil about 17 to 20 ft/lbs using 120 gr. to 175 gr. bullets).

Generally speaking, the .30/06 is a great round, but with 180 grain bullets or heavier (190-220 grain), it generates about all the recoil (approx. 19-26 ft/lbs using 125 gr. to 220 gr. bullets) a normal hunter can reasonably handle. Some hunters find the recoil of the 180 grain (or heavier) loads a bit much, but most hunters can handle up to and including the 180 grain loads without too much trouble.

Of course, the fit and shape of the rifle's stock and the overall weight of the rifle can and does affect the "sensed recoil" felt by the rifleman.

In addition, the ".308 family" of slightly shorter cartridges fall into these same categories... namely the .260 Remington, the 7mm-08 and the .308 Winchester.

I hope this information is useful to you.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Two rifles, eh?

Kimber 7-08
Sako 338 Win Mag or Weatherby 338-06

I would go with the 223 Remington and the 30-06 Springfield.

220Swift everything up to and including any deer, take your pick of 7x57, 280 Rem, 308 win, or 30-06 for big stuff.

I like this answer alot..Common sense appraoch

i suggest a .280rem and a .300remington ultra mag i own both those calibers and since i have them the other 3 dont see much action i have not hunted with my .280 yet but shot it alot and i tell you its a heck of a gun it would probably be the last one id sell