RE: What rifle will cover ALL my needs???
 

the 30-06 is king. great performance on all north american game, and you can get a variety of loads for cheap.

RE: What rifle will cover ALL my needs???
 

The 30-06 is a great all around cartridge. However do not over look the 280 Rem. or any of the 7mm and 300 magnums as well. All of these are excelent one rifle game getters from antelope to moose and black bears. I also wouldn't hesitate to hunt elk and moose with a 7mm-08 or 308 either.

RE: What rifle will cover ALL my needs???
 

Far as the 270 wsm goes, its a *****cat to shoot. Havent shot a 300wsm yet;) But for mostly deer hunting u dont need a 300 anything. It would be a 270wsm or the 30-06 for me. Id also consider a 7mm rem mag.

RE: What rifle will cover ALL my needs???
 

Duffy has a good idea on the Encore. Heres another idea that is similar....but a little different.
If you really want to save $$ and are already commited to a Savage....what about getting a used Savage 110 in 25/06 and then getting one of the Adams & Bennet barrels from midway in either 35 Whelen or 338/06.
I would guess you could get the used Savage for about $200 and the cost of the extra barrel, barrel wrench, barrel vise, and the go, no-go gauges would be around $275. From then on you could switch back and forth if you really needed to.
On the Encore I think you need to have a scope for each barrel or you will need to keep mounting and remounting one scope to the switch barrels. On the Savage you could get by with one scope, but would still need to tune it in each time you swapped.

RE: What rifle will cover ALL my needs???
 

Thanks a bunch guys for all the advice.

I would love to grab a used rifle for a couple hundred bucks. They are just no where to be found around here because it is shotgun only for deer season. Any rifle hunting requires a few hours trip to PA or the Northern zones of NY.

I have looked for used guns and have seen a few but they are not much cheaper and the selection is pitifull.

Any advice on where to look in a non rifle friendly area??


I love the looks of MANY of the rifles out there today. The Remingtons, Brownings, Rugers, Winchesters.......they all are great looking guns. I like the Savage guns with wooden stocks and they are within a tolerable price range for the limited amount of use I will get out of it.

I guess the WSM are out for me.......THANKS. I don't want excess recoil and also don't want to pay double for ammo.

I wish I could bring myself to just grab a Wally World package gun for less then $400 bucks but I just think those black plastic stocks look silly and cheap.

Decisions Decisions

RE: What rifle will cover ALL my needs???
 

Go to a gun show and shop for some used Savage rifles...or if you can't find any at least buy a few used copies of "The Shotgun News" to "Gun List" and look through the classifieds for used Savage rifles....they are out there... or...
Take out an ad in the local biggest city newspaper and run a "wanted" ad for what you are looking for. A used Savage with a decent barrel shouldn't be too hard to find. If you get one based on a 30/06 case, then you can do the barrel switch i talked about to 338/06 or 35 Whelen withough changing the bolt face or the magazine or follower.
If you are really commited to going for a "one gun" approach, I suppose the 30/06 or 7mm mag would be the way to go.... But I think the 25/06 with a 35 Whelen or 338/06 barrel would be a cool cheaper way to get 2 different ranges of hunting out of one gun. Same for the Encore idea.

RE: What rifle will cover ALL my needs???
 

Newsflash!!!
I just got off the Midway site...I saw a "Adams and Bennet Re-barrel Yyour Savage Kit"... product # 529194 ...
It included the 35 Whelen Chrome Moly Blue 24" barrel with 1 in 14" twist, the barrel nut wrench AND headspace guage....for 174.99!!!!

Now I'm thinking hard on taking my own advice!

RE: What rifle will cover ALL my needs???
 

If I was subject to only one rifle, it would be a .300 Wby. Mag., or a .300 Win. Mag. Good luck.

RE: What rifle will cover ALL my needs???
 

I have to agree, for all north american game the 30-06 wins hands down. With todays bullet technology no longer can the magnum crowd beat up on the good ole 06! It's generaly cheaper, easier on the shoulder and there are very few if any manufactures who don't offer a rifle in this cal.

RE: What rifle will cover ALL my needs???
 

Iv uesd the 30-06 for yaers and i agree if I could anly have one it would be a 30-06 by the way the one that I have is a savege 110 good look