Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Pick two rifles for all your big game hunting!

I�ve very often contemplated having just two rifles for all big game hunting (let�s say, everything above varmint-class�.deer and pronghorn up through elk and moose here and springbok on up to kudu/gemsbok/zebra in Africa). I�ve often thought, as well, that I�ve come up with the ultimate solution�at least several times. But then I start thinking again and decide I can do better.

I know I�m over-thinking it. There are many rifle/cartridge combinations that can do the jobs required. The minutiae of trying to prove one cartridge is better than another really is ridiculous, but we do it anyway. It�s even more ridiculous in light of recent bullet technology (read: BARNES) that make the old argument against light rounds (penetration) basically moot. I mean, an 85gr TSX shot out of a .243 can now be reliably expected to penetrate an elk to the vitals from almost any angle. That just wasn�t true of .243 bullets 25 years ago, but old habits and beliefs die hard. In fact, I can guarantee this thread will have several comments about �greater bullet weight is a better killer� when in reality, greater bullet construction is probably a far better consideration.

I�m concerned with recoil as I have some old injuries that make it nearly impossible for me to shoot big magnums comfortably. However, even if I didn�t have the injuries, I�ve come to the realization that with today�s bullets, you simply don�t need magnum power to kill the game animals we�re describing.

I believe a two-rifle battery should have a bit of overlap�just enough so one rifle could be a backup for the other if absolutely necessary, but not so much that you�d ever have much trouble determining which rifle would be best for any given job. For example, owning a .280 and a .30-06 would have so much overlap that there would be many instances where both rifles would do the job equally well, hence the owner would tend to reach for his �favorite� rather than considering the actual utility of each rifle. If the same owner had a .257 Bob and 9.3x62, there would be less �using the favorite� and more using each rifle for its intended purpose.

I�m very interested in what two rifle folks here would select. Of course, it depends on where and what each of us hunt, but getting ideas always helps. For a guy like me, I�d think a .25-06 or .270 Win is about perfect for the open country I hunt, and a short action sledgehammer like a stainless/synthetic .338 Federal is great for getting in the coastal rainforests and tiptoeing around for elk and blacktails and such. There is enough separation between the .25-06 and .338 Fed that I doubt I�d ever choose one over the other for the same job, but they could conceivably back each other up in a pinch. The line would blur a bit more with a .270 Win, but I think I�d still have a good two-rifle battery for what I like to do�.without excessive recoil and without excessive overlap.

So, my choices would be a 24" Winchester Model 70 Sporter in .270 Win (with Cerakote) and a 22" Winchester Model 70 Extreme Weather re-bored to .338 Federal. The .270 shoots 130gr TSXs at everything and the .338 Fed shoots 185gr TSXs.

What say you all? What are your thoughts on a perfect two-rifle battery for big game?

PS: I�m assuming everyone owns a .223 so I�m not including �varmints� and lighter game or cheap, non-painful practice shooting in this scenario. This is strictly about non-dangerous game animals.

No big bears or DG in my hunting, just elk and smaller.

7mm RM
300 WM

In that order of preference.

Edited to add:

OK, for the picky, those are cartridges, not rifles.

Ruger M77 or MKII would suit me just fine and in fact that is what my 7mm RM and .300 WM are chambered in, respectfully.

375H&H with 270gr TSX and 30.06 with 180 gr TSX

Akin to picking two pairs of socks.

Ain't happenin',in my house................

what the heck, I'll just vote for two of the ones I already have:

35 whelen and 6.5 swede

Any rifle you like with decent sights and chambered for any "modern" cartridge from .24 through .30, and another from .27 through .33. By "modern" I only mean post about-1900

Helpful, huh?

Seriously, I think the hunter and the technique is more important than the tools...

-R44

Beware the Best Injun,with the Best Arrows.............

Best injun do fine with any decent arrow. Poor injun still starve given best arrow ever made.

If limited to only 2 rifles for all my hunting needs from varmints to dangerous game I'll stick with my Win M70 30-06 and Win M70 375 H&H.

But the choice of only '2 rifles for everything' is more of a personal preference than anything else.

Pre-64 M70s in 270 FW using 130 NP or BBC..and 375 using 250 and 275 BBC..

257 Wtby 100gr TSX

7.21 Tomahawk 140gr TSX

Never ain't not been interested in the whole cake and eating it too.

All of which is easily arranged.

Show me a guy with one or two rifles and I'll show you someone who knows nothing about same......................

You would be dead wrong there. Go back to Huntamerica.com and strike up a conversation with a guy named Meyrick who go's by the screen name "Herne" and hails from Dorsett U.K..He will prove your assumptions completely wrong beyond a shadow of doubt.

Kimber Montana .223 run out to AI and a CZ Safari .404 Jeffery

Rest assured,you impress far easier than I and have shot a whole lot less too.

If only for starters..............

You are full of more schitt than a christmas goose. The man owns two centerfire rifles and has killed more big game in a year than you and I likely will in a lifetime. I don't really care to argue the point, so if you have doubts, just do as I said and go strike up a conversation with the man.

Huntamerica ? That's the new home of Lee24 aka LeeinSC.

Tell yourself whatever it takes.................

This is gonna get funny ..... and then sad .... I'll stop reading when we get to sad

You too dipschitt.