5 Essential guns: What do you shoot?
 

As far as I can figure, there are 5 guns that are essential for any hunter to own (along with a bow, of course):

12 Gauge
.22 LR
Deer Rifle
Predator Rifle
Slug gun/ Muzzleloader
Bow

Did I miss any? What do you shoot?

got to have a decent 12 ga. for birds - Remington 11-87 Premier

big rifle for those pesky elk - Remington Sendero in .300 Win magnum

medium rifle for distant deer and antelope on the open prairie - Remington Mtn rifle in .260 rem

long range predator and pd rifle Remington VSSF II - 22-250

Several medium range pd rifles ...various Remingtons and Savages, couple of TC carbines .221, .223s and .204s

Some rimfires- a few of those

and accurate pellet rifle for those covert tree rat adventures

Is that five ?

Those are essential but I fill in all the caliber gaps and such with other guns.

.22lr Autoloader
.17 Boltgun
.204 Boltgun
.223 AR
.243 Boltgun
7MM Boltgun
.338 Boltgun
.35 Levergun

20 gauge SxS
12 gauge - 2 O/U, 1 autoloader

.357 revolver
9MM pistol



5 essential;

Scatter gun - small game & self defense
22lr survival
medium/large size game
Dangerous game
larger caliber revolver

there was an article on a 5 gun rifle battery...

I believe it was...

243win
.280rem
.30-06
375 h&h
458 lott

this setup allowed for each gun to also have a backup on any hunt and hunt the entire world...

ie... if your 458 broke you still could get away with using your 375...

and vice versa.... if your 280 broke you could use your 243 or 30-06 etc...

Stoeger M2000
Dad's old Remington
AR framed 6.8spc
Same
CVA Wolf
Wicked Ridge Invader

What's the question? 5 ESSENTIAL as is "must have" or as in "starting/foundation", "you aint a gun man without these 5" etc???

My personal "must have/do all" list of 5:

1). 22LR (I own 3, started as a kid with a Marlin bolt. Now prefer the Ruger 10/22)

2). 30/06 (Rem 700, for me it was a "good ol" woodstocked, blued, blind magazine ADL under the Christmas tree when I was 12yrs old back in the early 80s. Have many bolts, love others, have another 06 700, a 70s vintage BDL as well. I honestly feel sorry for the youngsters today not getting a chance to appreciate what the old ADLs and QUALITY Remingtons used to be like. Rem still builds a decent rifle in their BDL and higher lines but the ADL/SPS/What they are calling it this year/Wallyworld trim line guns are JUNK!)

3). 12ga (Of all my shotguns I prefer my A-5, Benelli or my Citori. BUT for someone just starting or looking for one shotgun I'm going with the tried and true Rem 870!)

4). 45acp (Well if you call yourself a "45 man" and yet yours ISN'T a 1911, then you AINT a "45 man"! :hit: Of my 3 1911s, 2 of them are Colts.)

5). 50cal Muzzleloader (I have a "retired" Knight Wolverine that did it quite nicely for it's decade plus that it admirably served me. But it was replaced by a Savage ML10ii that I would KILL to protect! If for some reason I couldn't have the smokeless or someone asks me to recommend a good inline, I would recommend the T/C Omega.)

That's my "5 gotta haves". I started to drop either the 22, the 45 or the ML and subsitute a Winchester or Marlin lever gun (I have a W94 30-30, and Marlins in 35 & 45-70) but honestly I feel a person is better covered with the above 5 vs dropping any of the above and subing in a levergun.

Good Man Above says we MUST spend the rest of our lives with the same woman, he didn't say NOTHING about the same gun!!! :woot:
HL

I don't need a slug gun/muzzleloader where I'm at, I don't need a predator rifle, and I don't consider a bow a gun, even though I own three.

What I do consider essential for me is;

.22 rifle
Shotgun, primarily for turkey
Deer rifle (30-06 would do fine if I was limited to one caliber)
Revolver (41 or 44 mag)
Semi automatic handgun (40 cal or above)

Thank goodness I'm not limited to only five. As my BIL said the other day, if you know how many guns you have, you don't have enough.

+1....

That being said, here's my take on the list

12 Gauge...One of my Browning O/U 3" Superposed
.22 LR...Rugar 10/22
Deer Rifle...Just 1? Ack!!...Savage 99 in .308
Predator Rifle...Browning A-Bolt in 25 WSSM
Slug gun/ Muzzleloader...Mossburg 500A

1. Mossberg 500
2. Winchester Model 1890 .22 short
3. Marlin Xl7 .270/ Ruger M77 7mm rem mag
4. Savage Model 24 .223 0/U 12 gauge
5. Mossberg Slugster smooth bore/ Lyman .54 Trade Rifle Flintlock
6. Bear Charge 70#

"If you know how many guns you have, you don't have enough."

That is an awesome quote...i might use that one sometime.

5 "KEY" guns, hey? Okay, I'll try to narrow it down to five...
1. Ruger SR9 semi-auto pistol with light/laser in 9mm, modded with Ghost Rocket trigger connector, lighter springs, and Galloway Precision stainless pieces.
2. Savage stainless bull barrel bolt action rifle in .17 HMR, with 4-12X40 AO scope.
3. Remington 870 12 gauge with 26" hunting & 14" home defence(with light) barrels.
4. Ruger tang safety M77 bolt action deer rifle in .270 Win, with 3-9X40 scope.
5. '56 Husqvarna Swedish Mauser bolt action moose/elk rifle in 30.06, glass bedded into
a Boyd's laminate stock with 4-12X40 scope, shoots smaller than .5 MOA.

My five that get the most action.

Rem 513T 22lr
Ruger No. 1 22-250
Ruger No. 1 300 wm
S&W 57 41 rem mag
Ruger 22/45 22lr
Okay make it six the Lyman .54 GPR has to get in the mix.
I love my Ruger Red label just don't shoot it all that much.

I agree that these 5 types of guns are a great starting point for a fairly complete gun locker.

12 ga -- For me, I have 2, a Mossberg 500 with a bunch of barrels, and an old Browning auto-5 2 3/4" only. I love them both for certain stuff.

.22 Again, I have 2 favorites. And even though a 10/22 is on my short list to buy, I currently hunt squirrels and other little furries with a Marlin 25 bolt with an old Bushnell 3 x 9 x 32. Works very well. And my other baby is a 1926 produced Winchester model 06. A real beauty that was my father-in-law's gun as a kid. He gifted his Savage 99 to my when I had his 06 blued, and I re-worked the stock myself. It's a great little pump, and will shot 'em all, .22 short, long, or long rifle. after he died my mother-in-law told me to take the 06 as well .. since none of his own son's wanted anything to do with guns. Too bad for them.

I have many deer rifles but my current sweetheart is an old Swede Model 94 in 6.5 X 55 with a 17 " barrel and an older Weaver 2.75 OR 5X ... either or, not a variable. I leave it on 5X and it's mounted on the old weaver pivot mounts and rings. Very versatile and accurate enough for the short range swamp hunting I do.

Predator rifle would have to be my Model 98 German in .243. Though it's a short action round in a long action rifle it will feed well if you load the magazine properly. It is my best tack driver of all my rifles.

My slug gun is the Mossberg 500, but I have 3 different smoke-poles. A traditional cap and ball rifle which is a CVA Frontier with a 24" barrel. Actually shoots pretty good with 65-75 grains of loose black powder. I also have an old in-line "Country Boy" from Navy Arms (from china) which is very heavy but shoots just ok, and then a Traditions Lightning LR in .45 that shoot VERY well with 275 gr bullets in sabots pushed with 100-120 grains of pyrodex or other equivalent powders.

But you forgot to mention a side-arm for target and/or home defense!!!! ???

Here in lies the problem. The way you figure, differs from the way others figure. We have all seen these threads before, only worded a little different. Some threads ask about 5 guns, some ask about 3 guns and some even ask about 1 gun. In my opinion, the 1 gun thread makes the most sense because if the chit really hit the fan you couldn't carry 5 guns and ammo very comfortably.(but this thread is about hunting, not SHTF)

However, if I had to choose five guns out of my safe, right now,(for hunting purposes), it would go like this....

1. Savage bolt action 22LR
2. Remington 700 VTR .223
3. CVA 30.06, single shot (with open sights for the timber)
4. Browning X-Bolt 300 WSM (I'm good out to 500 yards from antelope to elk)
5. Benelli M2 12GA (the best shotgun made)

My 5 essential firearms that I own that meet MY HUNTING NEEDS in KS:

Marlin 60 .22lr semiautomatic rifle: small game and running coonhounds.

Custom AR-15 16" HBAR .223rem semiautomatic rifle: Coyotes and Pdogs

Ruger M-77 Mark II .30-06 bolt action rifle: Whitetail deer

Benelli Supernova 12ga pump action shotgun: Birds, coyotes, and turkey

Ruger Super Blackhawk .44mag single action revolver: Small game, coyotes, deer

So those would be the 5 that I would hang onto if I ever came to dire straights and had to sell out. But, since variety is the spice of life, and luckily for me, I'm NOT in that dire position, I don't have to deal with limiting myself to only 5.

Suffice it to say that I have two safes and have everything covered on shotguns and the rifles are from 22 LR right on up through several 30-06s. I'm not much on handguns and only have two revolvers (Ruger stainless 6 with 22LR and mag cylinders and an older 32-20 six shooter) and a .380 Beretta pistol.

I've got all my bases covered. :)

Marlin 39A .22 - even feeds CB Shorts for squirrels at the feeder
Beretta OU 20 gauge - all I need for grouse & pheasants
Sako FinnLight 30-06 (soon)
Ruger Blackhawk 357 Mag - was my grandfather's - only shot it a few times - boom!
Bowtech Guardian (quietest "gun" I own - hehe)

No fair... No way I'm agreeing to add my bows into my firearms limit! It was bad enough trying to cut down to 5 firearms, let alone trying to cut down to 5 total of firearms and bows!!!

I stand by the statement: variety is the spice of life! I don't like making up my mind, I don't like it so much that I have a left hand bow and a right hand bow!