One do it all rifle caliber? What if TWO?

taliv said:

i spent 52 nights out of the past 8 months in a small overlanding trailer, I had imported from south africa, mostly in national forests and BLM land.

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That's way cooler than whatever rifles you might have with you, color me jealous.

I think we left out a .22 LR rifle because it is a given that EVERYONE should have at least one of those floating around the house.
So for a pair of centerfire rifles, I would go for either a nice bolt action .308 Win (for those who prefer short actions) or a similarly configured .270 Win (for those who prefer long actions). I considered the .270WSM, but the much longer barrel life and price of ammo dictates the more common and economical .308 Win/.270 Win.
As for the other, it has to be an AR-15 in 5.56 NATO, preferably a 1 in 8" twist of whatever length you prefer. My 16" barrel carbine sports a 2-7x scope and is surprisingly accurate at 200 yards and beyond.
So I guess I agree with the 7.62 and 5.56 NATO crowd. Economical ammo or handloading cost, good barrel life, and very tolerable recoil.

.458 socom and .35marlin .

just kidding. .30-06 bolty (maybe because I'm rebuilding a Remington 721 right now) and .22LR.

375 H&H and 6.5x55 Swede. History and flexibility enough for most of the planet. If I get two votes (was it in the rules I couldn't propose 2?) I'd go with a 404 Jeffery and 7x57. I suppose I should offer an All-American vote as well; .458 Lott and 270 Winchester.

223 and 30-06 if deer and elk are on the list

A 6mm of some sort, dasher, 243, 6x47 lapua and a 300 or 338 magnum if moose and elk are regularly targeted or the shooter just wants to get kicked harder by the rifle

Depends on much more unknown information, but without knowing more:

Just one: .280 Rem

Just two: .260 Rem (or 6.5x55) and 9.3x62mm (or .35 Whelen or .375 HH Mag)

That's a hunting focus, but these would vary wildly depending on game sought or other uses.

If i had to only own one rifle it would be a .300wm built on a 700 with a long throat.

.243 built on a 3.1"+ mag length action (not sure what id use right now) and 300wm built on a 700 action.

This is assuming i can have a pcc or something similar for fun shooting. If not then the .243 changes to .223.

All of which are calibers i dont currently own......

30.06, there are so many bullet weights. You can load for bear, varmints and anything in between.
5.56/.223 is also respectable, with many bullet types, and models of rifles to choose from.

If I can only save two rifles before my house burns down it would be the AI AW with the .308 Win barrel (currently has a 6.5 CM barrel on it) and the Daniel Defense M4300s 10" .300 BO machine gun along with cans for both. So I guess that's my answer, one bolt gun and one machine gun in .308 Win and .300 BO that would cover hunting and home defense. Both cartridges offer supersonic and subsonic options, lots of load configurations, lots of bullet weights and both .30 cal.

Too bad it has to be two centerfire rifles because I would choose a 30-06 and 22 magnum, but will settle for an AR in 5.56. The 30-06 well it is self explanatory but for those that do not know or reload you can use the 30-06 to make a .308 and from the 308 cartridge use it to make a 7mm-08 case if you needed to.

If you have a neck turner you can use a 30-06 to make about 40 or 50 cartridges! Case forming is alot of fun

NIGHTLORD40K said:

You know, I wonder if sales of .17 and .22-250 rifles went up significantly during the great Obama Ammo Famine......for awhile, it seemed this was all you COULD get!

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I never had a shortage of 17hmr. If only 2 center-fire calibers, 22-250 and 338-06. That covers everything from slow bluedot loads to 4000 fps and 338-06 would be good enough for elk moose and bear. A good 50 inline would cover most anything. Good thing I don't need to only own 2.

.30-30

And if I needed a second caliber, then .30 WCF would do the trick

JeeperCreeper said:

.30-30

And if I needed a second caliber, then .30 WCF would do the trick

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Lol.

Unlicensed Dremel said:

Just one: .280 Rem

Just two: .260 Rem (or 6.5x55) and 9.3x62mm (or .35 Whelen or .375 HH Mag)

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I'm with Mr. Unlicensed on this. The .280 is a great all around caliber, which has served me well from Alaska to Africa. But for a two rifle battery a .26 Rem. and a .338WM cover all the bases.

Two rifles from any source ... .22LR and '06.

Although, If I had to pull stuff from my safe, it would be .22 Remi pump and .308 Sav 99. Yeah, I'd grouse over not having the bigger 06 on occasion, but not very often. And these two are SOooo nice to carry and shoot

30-06 just too many combo's of bullet weights and powders.
jmo
JD

Man, I just got to know where all these folks are finding center fire .22LR ammo to say nothing of .22LR Center-fire rifles!

-kBob

kBob said:

Man, I just got to know where all these folks are finding center fire .22LR ammo to say nothing of .22LR Center-fire rifles!

-kBob

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They only sell them in commonwealth nations.

6.5 Grendel. Where I live I wouldn't ever really need 30-06 for hunting and if I only get 1, 6.5G is far better for defensive or target shooting. I can shoot it cheap for .23/rd or accurate/game worthy for .85/rd. Recoil is minimal, power is decent for medium game, bc is great for lr target. I can do .75moa with 123gr Hornady ELD-M in my 18" LaRue although, if it were my only rifle, I'd use my 1-5x24 Weaver instead of the 6-24x50 Bushnell it has now.

Offfhand said:

I'm with Mr. Unlicensed on this. The .280 is a great all around caliber, which has served me well from Alaska to Africa. But for a two rifle battery a .26 Rem. and a .338WM cover all the bases.

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I sure wish more rifles were chambered for .280 Rem. It's such a great caliber.

Newtosavage said:

I sure wish more rifles were chambered for .280 Rem. It's such a great caliber.

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I agree, also two of the brands that already offer them, Winchester and Browning opted to go with a 1:10 twist, slower than you see with pretty much any other full power 7mm. I would be interested in an X-Bolt in .280 if it had a 9 or even 9.5 twist for the heavier, slicker bullets.

Got it covered Big Horn Armory model 90 =460/454/45 plus birdshot loads.Henry 22lr,both trapper size 16 inch.One on each side of my pack.

A bit of a brag: I inherited my late wife's Win 63. I have my ex-wife's little Deluxe 22 semi-auto Browning. My father gave me two bringbacks, a Walther Model 2 and a single-shot Mauser training rifle in .22 rimfire.

Any one of them would be in residence with my '06.

Well, since they're all keepers, I'll just keep 'em, thank you very much.