If you could only pick one...
 

I know there's been threads like this before but I'm bored and the forum is kinda slow right now...so,

Only one rifle to do it "all"...deer, antelope, some elk, occasionally pigs and coyotes, some black bear. Nothing in Alaska or Africa for this rifle.

I'm going to say a 6.5x284 with a nice 140gr Accubond. Custom (stiller, Borden or defiance) action, carbon barrel in a McMillan Hunter stock with a Leupold VX-6 3-18 scope.

I think that would be a decent hunting rifle for a one gun arsenal...

What say you?

Been asked before and I'm gonna say it again.

Thirty Aught Six

I'll stick with my SSG 69 in .308, shoots sub MOA out of the box. It does anything I want it to do and I've been shooting .308 or 30-06 for 60 some years so the ballistics are pretty much burnt into my brain. The 150 or 165 grain will put down most anything shootable here, maybe a 180 for Red Deer or Hogs. The Kahles scope is what came with it, I figure the people at Styer (and the Austrian army) know what works.

I like to stick with military size ammo for the simple reason, if the fit ever does hit the shan, NATO ammo is more likely to be available. Battlefields are often strewn with useful stuff.

My go bag has a folding FN FNC (AK 5) in it. Basically a better Kalashnikov, in .223, built for punishment (built like a brick) and cold weather proven. Takes standard NATO (STANAG) magazines. Battlefields are often strewn with useful stuff.

I am a bit paranoid, I've been places that were business as usual one day and turned to chaos the next day. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

What rifle? Optic? Bullet?

A Remington 700 BDL, or Winchester Model 70; in 3006. I'd top it with $200 in glass from Nikon or Simon's. The thing about hunting guns is they get scratched, and loaded and unloaded all day long. They get soaked in the rain and snow as you sit there waiting for the deer to walk by. Some times you give them to friends to use. I don't want anything really nice to use as a tool like that. I reload Ballistic tips, but for off the shelf ammo Power Points in 150 grain are a great round for deer or black bear. They are my "goto" off the shelf ammo for about $18 bucks a box.

Since we're talking the lower 48, my pick would be the 270 Winchester, topped with a 4-12x Leupold or Nikon. You can handload bullets from 80 to 180 grains to suit any hunt, but if you don't handload or don't want to mess with different loads, a 130 grain properly constructed bullet would be suitable for just about everything you could hunt.

I love my Rem700 chambered for the 280Rem topped off with my leopold 3x9 scope shooting either Hornady 139gr SST or Nosler 140gr BT Bullets.

Not a particular fan of the .308 Win. I do own 2 but IMO the 30-06 is much more versatile especially when talking heavier bullets for elk and big black bear. The .270 is a dandy cartridge but not usually all that accurate with the heavier bullets. It shines with 130 grain bullets but in my experience the accuracy drops off considerably as you get into the heavier weights and IMO a minimal cartridge for elk and requires good shot placement.
I have a bunch of rifles by Rem, Browning, and Win but the one that I find myself using more and more is my Tikka T3 Lite in 30-06. This rifle is light, accurate and the bolt is slicker than snot on a door knob. I have it topped with a Burris Fullfield 3-9x with a BDC reticle that works very well out to 500 yards.

For me it's my trusty old sporterized Argentine Mauser 98 with yes, it's old tip off mounted Galaxy 4X scope. Ammo Hornady 165 Interbond or whatever it's called. But for yotes I'd rather use a lighter bullet.

7mm Mauser on a Remington long action.

That's an interesting one...

Not a bad choice. An efficient, effective cartridge, capable of using a wide variety of bullet weights. Has been used to to take game as large as elephants.

280 AI, 22-23" barrel
or
300 WSM, short action, 23-24.5" barrel

both light, but not too light, 6.5-7.5lbs rifle, synthetic, stainless,

I think I need both.

I figured that might raise an eyebrow for someone. I'll admit, it's a fairly subjective choice, not a purely objective one. I rebuilt an ADL in 7x57 as one of my first projects apprenticing under a smith in high school. I built it as a low recoil, long range "practice" rifle, but one capable of hunting any game I might pursue in the lower 48. I haven't shot that particular rifle in over a decade now. I've generally considered it to have been basically the same pursuit as the 6.5 Creedmoor/6.5x47L rifles popular today.

Objectively, I thought about 7-08, 284win, 280, 6.5-06, 6.5 swede - heck, my knee jerk first thought when I saw this thread was 7mm Rem... But the 7 Mauser has held a place in my heart a long time, and it'd do all of these species quite well.

:fighting0007:

Boring pick.... BUT.... for me it's the .30-06.... Lots of load options. Plenty of umph for everything in the lower 48. Plenty of range. Plenty of available ammo...


Can load light, can load heavy... or can pick a quality bullet in between and have one load for everything...


Lots of good answers to this question. But my safe will always have at least one '06 ready to hunt with.


-Jake

:party0007::party0007:

Well, for 35 years I only owned one centerfire rifle, in .243 Winchester, it did fine but we don't have elk in NC... :)

gonna be different, a mike mille built AR-15 chambered in 358 wssm, with a 2x8 loopy with a TMR reticle and an M1 elevation turret.
RR

I'll have to take my 300Wby. It may seem like to much for the smaller stuff but I have never had a single animal compain it was too much gun to kill them. It is topped with a vx3 3.5-10 Leupold. Load is the 180 Barnes ttsx and max charge of rl19. It has taken every kind of game animal I shot exept Prong Horns.

wild bill g, they complained, you just couldn't hear them after that roaring .300WBY round.

No they never complained just fell over and played real real real dead. To be honest with the barnes bullets meat damage is not severe either.

Got 2 dozen big game rifles in the safes. Love ALL of them for various reasons. Lord said, "One woman!" He never mentioned ANYTHING about "one gun". But for convers sake, I'll leave the rest of my arsenal out & admit it'd come down to either my Rem Custom Shop 700 LSS 280Rem (4.5x14x44 Zeiss atop it) or my latest pet, a Savage 110 something or other 7-08 I had the tube chopped to 18" (it has a 2x7 Redfield atop it). Any Elk inside 400yds of either would get a 160 Barnes from either for his troubles. Any smaller critters suffer a 140 Barnes.

The 280 is a 24" SS on lam stock. When I bought from a Rem Factory Rep 20yrs ago, I was MUCH younger, lighter & stronger! Now I'm closer to 50 than 40 & Id likely pick the lil Savie just because the whole pkg is 7# & carries like a baby in momma's arms. I always said that BOTH the 7-08 & 280 HAD to be great because they had the best of the 270 AND the 30-06 going for them! After years with both, I can vouch such a statement is CORRECT!!! :wink:

Funny you say that...as that is my trusty boomstick. However I have found the Hornady SST to corkscrew and group 4-6''.

Both Nosler and Win Balsitic tips at 140gr are MOA out of it though.

To answer the OP's question I would say a .30-06 in a good bolt gun topped with a Leupold 3-9 or 4-12 scope, and shooting whichever 168 or 180 grain hunting bullets that grouped best in that rifle.


At this stage of my life, I have a pretty good battery of rifles in my safe, but if I had to choose just one for any of North America's big game, except maybe coastal brownies or polar bears, or if its raining, I would grab my .300 Weatherby. Its topped with a Leupold VX-3 4.5-14x40 CDS scope, and would shoot either my Barnes 168 or 180 grain TTSX handloads.


For rainy weather, I'd pick my Rem 700 Stainless/synthetic in 7 mm Rem mag, that is topped with a Nikon Prostaff 4-12x40 with the BDC reticle, and shoot my 160 grain Nosler accubond handloads.

This one would be a relatively easy choice for me - any well built 7mm, be it a WSM (preferred) or long action. Throw a Burris Eliminator on there for confident shooting at any practical range with any load. 139 SSTs for small game, 168 Hunting VLDs for almost anything and then a big Swift A-Frame for Elk/Moose/Bear. Nothing that rifle can't do (for typical North American game at least) be it big or small, close or far. A close second would be a .308 shooting the 178 ELD-X or Nossler Partitions anywhere from 140-180 grains (hand loaded) tailored to the game being hunted.

I missed this comment the first time I read this thread, and I would like add to it by saying "depending on where your bullet hits the animal."


I shot my last two bull elk, each with a single 168 grain Barnes bullet from my .300 Weatherby. Both bulls were the same size 5x5s.


The first bull was standing broadside about 100 yards away from me. The bullet entered in the crease just behind his shoulder and exited behind his far shoulder. There was a 30 caliber entrance hole and about a 3/4 inch exit hole. He ran less than 10 yards and fell dead. There was very little meat damage from that 168 grain TSX bullet.


The second bull was standing quartering to me about 175 yards away. My 168 grain TTSX bullet hit him on the point of his near shoulder breaking the large ball joint where the leg meets the shoulder blade, then went through the center of the elk, stopping in the ham of the opposite rear leg. He basically just fell dead. The upper end of his front leg bone was shattered and most of that shoulder was heavily bloodshot and had a 2-3" diameter wound cavity through that it.


I knew before I shot the second bull that I should wait for a broadside shot, and hit him behind his shoulder, but he was standing next to a fence that I didn't have permission to hunt on the other side, and he was looking at me. I also reasoned with myself that the last Barnes bullet hadn't ruined much meat, so I went ahead and shot him on his shoulder. Bad decision.

That statement is true of almost any hunting round...

I'm a big fan of the ol'e 270 Win and/or the 30 ought 6.

You'll get hundreds of opinions ,you'll have to make the final decision. The problem is there's so many good ones out there. I like the 7mm Rem Mag for long shots.

If i could only have one gun, it would not be a rifle it would be a remington 870 12 ga. combo.

For me, I’d go with a .270 Winchester with one of the new 3-15X scopes. I’d shoot 110gr TTSX and 130gr TTSX and happily take all the mentioned critters with no fuss.

7mm Rem Mag in a Rem Model 700 in a Bell & Carlson synthetic stock shooting a handloaded 160 gr Nosler (either Partition of Accubond) topped with a 3x9 Leupold. Been using that combo for quite awhile and it has never let me down. I have taken mulies, whitetails, blacktails, elk, black bear, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, mountain goat and hogs with it. Nothing flashy, just dependable results.

I will take the 7mm Rem Mag as well, I have had a Weatherby vanguard with the synthetic stock since 86 and the rifle is still performing admirably. For thin skin game Seirra Game King 160gr has resulted in drt. For other game the partition in the same weight. Though I have a Nikon Monarch 3-9 right now vortex has peaked my interest. I've had the vortex range finder for three years now and it is sweet.

My Winchester 300 Mag which is currently scope less. I banged up the last scope trying to get my little Honda 200 ATV across a stream so I could drag an elk.

Failed to notice the replacement scope is 30mm. Cabela's ring supplies were very low last week.

In spite of being voted "Jolly Green Giant" of my high school, I don't relish carrying cannons for my typical ~4 - 6 hour jaunts. Must be the shoulder strength that flags mentioned...

Shoots pretty flat and hits pretty hard. The recoil is fun when something is in the scope. Animals "tend" to flop over and quit moving. 'Cept when I miss. Running game is far, far more difficult for me.

7mm Mag is likely my second choice. Might be about first but that gun is just too purty to hunt with all the time.

The .270 with synthetic stock is easy to hunt with. Black synthetic looks like hell to me, I'm a wood guy having been a cabinet maker. Not worrying about the stock is nice at times though. Black synthetic is immensely practical.

Bullet choices? I remain unconvinced that is often of supreme importance. I don't worry too much about what load I am using. I once found my hand loaded Grand Slam bullet wedged in an elks spinal column. I could have reloaded that bullet. Perhaps a bit too sturdy? If using something less than 7mm, I would worry more about bullet construction. Of course I use bullets "made" for the game I am chasing. Though I would likely be "OK" if forced to use lead bullets....within reason.

Super grade 30.06 or 700 with good synthetic stock & Timney trigger. Leupold optics

If I could only pick one, it would be a Ruger M77 Hawkeye in 358 Win and would top it with a Leupold VX II (or 2) 3-7x33. What I like about the 358 is that it can shoot 180 grain bullets at near 30-06 velocities and 225 grain and 250 grain bullets will take pretty much anything in NA. If I could choose only one bullet it would probably be a 225 gr NP but, I could easily easily swayed to choose a 225 gr Sierra GameKing SPBT because they are really accurate in my Hawkeye.

My 358 Win has been my deer rifle of choice and my primary or backup rifle for the last few year's elk hunts. Sadly, this year was my last elk hunt. Age, along with back, knees and shoulder problems, finally made me realize that I'm no longer the spring chicken that I am (or was) in my mind's eye. Just means that I'll be doubling up on my deer, turkey and hog hunts.

For lower 48, I'll stick with my Ruger M77 7MM Mag. Though I might go to better glass. But the 3-9 Bushnell I have had for the past 20 years is still going strong. I can find light to heavy bullets on most shelves.

while the rifles might seem a bit too powerful in many peoples opinion
I think most of us tend to select the rifles and calibers we have the most confidence in,
or have had the best results using.

I've never regretted using a synthetic stock/stainless weatherby mark V in 340 weatherby,(similar to these two pictures)
for most of my western hunting
I've used a sako 375 H&H carbine for the thicker timber