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

There is no "best" ... only thoughtful opinions.

A good answer would also need to know where you live and what percentage of game you plan on shooting the most - and what percentage of stuff the least. Also do you live in the wide open prairie country, the semi-open western range, the piney woods or the north-western coastal rain forest?

Without knowing any of that - I'd recommend you go with a 223 and a 30-06, too.

i'd start with the .243... it's both useful, for everything up to and including deer, and useable, as it is extremely easy to perfect shot placement with the lighter recoil and less noise...

it's a piece of cake to load for as well, when you take up handloading....

when the need arises for a bit heavier rifle the .308 or something like it will do all that you could ask...

For what it's worth, I have a .223 and a 7mm Mag. My next rifle is gonna be a .243 to fill the gap.....

Yup !

My vote for the OP's purposes is 243 and 30.06.

For Colorado where I live and hunt...

.22LR
7mm RM

If I didn't have varmints in the mix,
then my two choices would be the 6.5 x 57 or 6.5 x 55
and the 338/06.

So, what are you gonna get, Dan Reed?

I like this idea too!

.375 h&h, and .223. Have both rifles, and absolutely everything in between. I have the .223 in both semi auto and bolt action rugers and they are some of the best shooters. .375 h&h is a real shooter in just about any rifle you can find, yes even savages for the many that dislike them. You could pretty much hunt anything in the world on down to deer sized game with excellent results. Yes, a .375 h&h generally provides better results on deer sized game than a .270 or .300 will. A .223 would work absolutely excellent on anything deer sized and smaller. Two best calibers???? .375 h&h,.223 (5.62) Hands down I prefer them in bolt action remingtons, have a bolt ruger .223 that i like alot as well.

Oh really? The .375 kills them more dead?

If learning to handload is on the agenda, then I'd go a 260 and 30-06. Those two, and a good press can cover all the critters you'd ever want to shoot that dont have big sharp teeth.

If you have no intentions of learning to reload, then I'll jump on the 243/30-06 bandwagon.

Only suggestion would be to get them both in the same rifle, and scope them the same... Like say a Montana in 260, and one in 30-06, both wearing VXII 2-7x33's

IMO:


Calibers .223 and 300 WSM

257 AI & 338-06

With those you've got everything from varmints and longer range shooting for whitetails to the biggest game on the continent down pat.

If you're not concerned about varmints, step 'em up to 30-06 & 9.3x62 and you're set pretty much any medium to big game world-wide.

375h&h and 270 win light weight and never look back

I can't recall if I've responded to this yet so here goes. How about a pair of matched mausers in 7x57 and 338 win mag, both with 24 inch barrels. I have these in blue and walnut and their backup is a matte blue and synthetic 21 inch barrel 9.3x62 with irons. I still need to put a set of irons on the 338 for the set to be complete. Les

6.5x55 or 25-06 for deer/varmints, i would prefer the 6.5x55 myself. a 30cal. magnum or 338win for elk. if i had to choose just one... the 30cal. magnum win or short, though i'd go with the win.

7mm-08
338 Fed

Schewe, That's your opinion!

Well thanks again for all the replies. I originally posted this question so I could START the education and decision process and thought it would take a while, a good project this winter. With so much good info already, I would feel good about several choices. I wont be able to shoot much until the spring anyway since I am still hunting deer in Ohio til feb 7th... What I actually buy will depend on if I buy new or used and what is available. If Marlin doesn't get carried away with price increases, I think I would get a pair of them. Based on all the input, here is what I think I want: .....MORE THAN TWO

Even though I will keep reading and learning til I buy, subject to a good deal tipping the scales, I guess I would get a .243 win. for deer and varmints, but still want a .25-06 too!
As for the bigger rifle for Elk and deer , I WANT a 7mm rem mag , maybe marlin will offer in XL7....but if I can find a great deal on a .30-06, I am sure it will work for me just fine.
I am excited to read that these new bullet designs are even more effective in smaller sizes than previously thought, but that is probably in a different thread...