Not a bad idea, I have one. But like one of the other's said, it's probably not a bad idea to go with a muzzle loader if you're going to do it because like said person said.....You not only have an excuse to purchase another weapon, you have another excuse to do more huntin'

If you ain't huntin' boy, you ain't livin'...WOOOOEEEEE!

Whenever I go on a huntwhere I won't be able to get home that day, I take a backup rifle. I've never needed it, yet. But it's better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun, and not have it......

I agree with the others on a back up rifle. When ever I go on a trip where i will be staying overnightI take a back up.

As to which one, give us some more info on your hunting situation (game, range, etc).

when I go on trips far away I always take a backup gun too. I always take 2 completely different guns, I take a bolt action thats sighted in for 200 yards+ and a lever action or 7600 pump in case of a drive or thick area to hunt. I am left handed so my back up is usually one that either a righty or lefty can shoot in case someone in camp needs it.

Goodness, guys, I thought this was a gunnut page, where we all have 5-15 backup rifles.I love guns, esprecially bolts.

Last time I went to newfoundland, I didn't take a backup rifle. I took a bad fall and hit my scope. I was worried about it, and my guide didn't want me to take a test shot. It wasn't off too bad, but wished I took another rifle, I had to borrow the cooks gun. I know for now on, any paid hunt, I plan on taking two rifles.

Every year when I go camping my truck is loaded with guns. This year I had my 7mm Mag(primary), .270 win(backup), .223(for fun), 12ga(quail, dove, just in case), 9mm Glock(sidearm). If theres no deer around, at least we can go out and do some target shooting.

Niceresponse a-hole, way to help him out.

Our hunting camp is almost 5 hours away and I always bring a backup gun for theof us. Usually its my 44 Deerfield(which I wind up taking out half of the time anyway).

Between the 2 calibers you mentioned, I think either are fine. Im not sure how many other calibers you have but if it were me, Id get something thats not close is size and capabilities ofyour current 270wsm. Go big like a 444 or 45-70 lever gun or go smaller like a 243, that way you can use the back up rifle for other situations like varmit hunting or if you ever go bear hunting something like that. If you currently have a wood stock maybe go SS and synthetic incase it rains you can take that gun.

I think the 50ML for a backup is a great idea if you dont already have a ML. You can get a have decent ML for a couple hunder bucks.

We always have a extra gun with us. There have been several times people showed up that weren't planning on hunting and we loaned them a gun to use. We normally have at least 20 guns to choose from if we are hunting from the house. Or if we travel somewhere we normally take at least 2 guns apiece. We have had to switch guns because of a drop or accident before so it is good insurance. My buddy was hunting elk in Colorado and wrecked his 4 wheeler and broke the stock on his gun but he had a back up to hunt with. You never know what might happen.

One thought about a back up rifle is overlap. What I mean is to have a selection of calibers that serve more than one purpose. My primary deer rifle is a Browning .30-06. When I still hunt or drive, I use a 7mm-08 Remington Model 7. I also own a .243 Browning, that gets used primarily for woodchuck hunting, but can also be used on whitetails. All three rifles are sighted in for deer hunting at the start of the fall, with appropiate loads. I also have an Encore .50 cal. muzzleloader for the blackpowder season, that I also could use for regular season.
Will

I always take a back-up rifle. Good luck.