Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What top 3-5 rifles for hunting the world? Gunwriters et al.

Probably a different take.

Airrifle for small game. 350RWS Diana. Less red tape for travel and it does well for small game. I don't think that this counts against the tally.

270 winchester for varmits/coyotes/deer/antelope/mountain game in most scenarios. I think that the JOC tribute+timney/talleys/Z3 does it.

300 Weatherby- I would love to have this in a Melvin custom.
This would be for Moose/most bears/Mountain Asian Game at long range. I haven't heard many folks taking chip shots at Argali in Tajikistan. Great for African plains game.

458Win Mag- This is for big stuff up to elephant. It would work for elephant but I have one other gun in mind for that. Mauser or Winchester CRF by Lon Paul or Sterling Davenport. I didn't choose the Lott because I think that this is all you would need. Great for Brown Bear and big moose too. I have a Whitworth Express in 458 Win from 70s and its all I would need for big stuff but a custom would be nice.

500 NE- double rifle-Anderson-Wheeler- This is the first gun that I would get if I won the lottery.

22 LR
22/250 (this would be 223 if doing a ton load of pd shooting)
.308
7 Mashburn Super
375 H&H

Dober

Built on Model 70 actions for hunting the world, I would want redundancy/overlap at each juncture, but yet a chambering that would basically be the best right in its middle ground, so:

223 (8 twist for versatility)
243 (8 twist for versatility)
30-06
375 H&H
416 RemMag

Each one can go up/down the scale if needed via reloading, and each can be loaded in such a way to excel at both long and short range.

First, I don't think the .458 is that much better, if any, than a .375 for large African game. Alsotrhe .375 is good for plainsgame. So...

.375 H&H

That done, there is no purpose for a .416.

Second choice is .300 Wby. Practically point blank out to almost 400 yards and kills anything it hits legally. Choices so far...

.375 H&H
.300 Weatherby

The overlap eliminates the need for anything in between. It also eliminagted any long range cartridge down to and including .270. Now you're down to varmints and maybe pronghorns, though the .300 Wby would take care of pronghorns just fine.

.375 H&H
.300 Weatherby
.243 Winchester or .25-06

Add the .22 LR instead of any other rimfire due to economy of ammo...

.375 H&H
.300 Weatherby
.243 Winchester or .25-06
.22 LR

Finally, get a .223 for shorter range varmints and for center-fire practice...

.375 H&H
.300 Weatherby
.243 Winchester or .25-06
.223 Remington (7.7 inch twist)
.22 LR

There you have it by process of elimination. If I could have one more, assuming the .22 LR didn't count, I'd pick either a .30-06, just because they're neat, or a brush gun like a lever action .45-70.

Well, am I stupid and have limited my gun rifle battery to 1 gun. Also, don't plan to hunt around the world, just Alaska where I live. The rifle is a Ruger M77 MKII CF .338WM, topped with a matte Leupold Vary X-III 2.5-8x.

All righty then...

1] Winchester 9422 w/quality aperture and correct height post front sights

2] Cooper 57M .22 lr.

3] Sako L579 22-250

4] Winchester Model 70 Classic Featherweight (NH) in .308

5] Winchester Model 70 (Pre 64) in .375 Holland

.22 lr
.223
6.5X55
.45-70

.22 RF
.223
.243
.30-06
.458 Win Mag

Jeff Cooper's thoughts and practice were that everything that didn't need a .458 could be handled with a .30-06/180 NP.

Expat

I can do this on paper, and if I wasn't such a rifle looney I'd do so for real:

Keeping only (3) rifles for the world over:

1. 22 lr
2. 243 Win
3. 9.3x62

Keeping only (4) rifles for the world over:

1. 22 lr
2. 243 Win
3. 30-06
4. 416 Rem

Keeping only (5) rifles for the world over:

1. 22 lr
2. 243 Win
3. 30-06
4. 9.3x62 (9.3 back in the mix so I can go back to (3) three)
5. 416 Rem

I've been trying my best to whittle down to (3) three, but I keep falling off the wagon.

Best

I'm not getting on a plane to "hunt the world" worried about varmints,or potting meat.They're a seperate game all their own.Besides I never ran into a varmint that didn't bite the dust when hit with a 270....maybe not the thing for sustained PD shooting but like I said that's a seperate game and doesn't fit my equation.I'm not lugging a 22 rimfire to Africa to shoot francolin and stuff.The PH will likely have something for that.

So my "5" would be a 270,30/06,7 mag,and a pair of 375H&H's.Plenty of overlap,all are shootable,and from what I know,more than ample from up close to as far as I'm rationally or ethically capable.

What the first three can't handle, seems the last two could,and on an African hunt focusing mostly on dangerous game with plains game the side show,I'd take both 375's along.With one set for 250 Bitterroots or 250 TTSX,and the other with a good 270-300 gr bullet,seems I'd be set for most stuff and would have no need for a smaller medium.If one crapped out, the other is right there without missing a beat.


Years past a 300 magnum of some kind would have fit in there to good effect but mostly I don't hunt with them anymore.Seems a 7 mag and 175's comes perilously close to 300 mag performance.I know I'm not the first to have gone this route.


And I might like something like a 404J to replace one of the 375's, or a 416,if I'd owned them and had any experience with them,but don't.....seems everyone I know who buys a 416 never shoots the things.They sit in awe of them and break out the 375's

I guess I'd have little problem finding ammo anywhere I went with one of these.All these rifles would be Mausers or M70's.

22LR
8 twist 223 Rem
8 twist 6mm Rem
7 Mag
9.3X62 or 375 H&H

Well Rick, you are more erudite and sophisticated than I am....

Luckily I have perhaps 1/10th the experience. That makes decisions easier!

1. 223rem - varmint rifle.
2. 25-06 or 260rem - good deer and antelope rifle.
3. 30-06 or 300wm - good all-round rifle.
4. 9.3x62 - for wild boar, elk and moose.
5. 458 Lott - for the really big stuff.

Hey Bob,

I'm not destined to be a world wide hunter either, and i do not depend on my hunting to feed my family (though i once did). I call coyotes for the sheer joy of it, and would do it if i could not carry a rifle.

I'm curious about whether you hunt small game at all though? I hunt squirrels because they are an abundant resource which improves my rifle skills and provide a lot more hunting (and shooting) experience for the time and personal resources invested.

I spent 5 days hunting deer, this year, firing a total of 2 shots.
On at least 3 squirrel hunts, this season, I have limited. This means at least 15 shots on game for those 3 days.
More days than not, while deer hunting, i end the day without shooting. Don't ever recall a squirrel hunt that ended that way.

And I can hunt squirrels 5 minutes from my home, and that's walking, not driving.

I listed 2 rimfires in my 5 picks because that is what I use the most, while hunting.
As for centerfires, I could likely do everything i'll ever want to with my Featherweight 25-06.(which didn't make the 5 rifle list!)

John: Oh yeah I used to do a lot of it...particularly grouse here in New England but also rabbits,ducks etc...I really started hunting on grouse and pheasants like many of us did,and used to do it a LOT.

I do like to hunt squirrels with a 22 RF and do some of that after deer seasons close here...anymore it is mostly just to get out and mess around.

I don't do as much upland as I used to because a lot of it is done in October and I am either still bass fishing then, or hunting out west.

But I still like all kinds of small game hunting....just depends on the agenda,seasons, and what my friends are doing at the time.

Well since the OP stated the "World Over" that changes things for me.

1) 22 LR - my Cooper JSR serves me well here in Texas
2) 243 - nice and handy anywhere in the world
3) 30-06 - not because I am a lover just because they work
4) 375 H&H - same as above
5) 12 ga. pump gun - utility, utility, utility

Randy

My list is very, very similar. Except I went with the 3o-o6 and a 375 Ruger.

"What top 3-5 rifles for hunting the world? "

12-ga?

7 MM Mashburn Super
.375 Ruger/.400 H&H