One rifle for all hunting in the US?

[dww]

If you needed to use just one, for all big game hunting in the US, what would it be? Assume you can use any load available (i.e. accelerators in the 30-06, up to 250 grain Barnes Originals)

I think a SS win 70 classic in either 30-06, 308, or 338.

Opinions?

ALso, which, if any, scope?

 

[sm]

on same page

Model 70 in '06
Make mine blue and wood please

 

[achadwick]

Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker in 30-06. Loopy 3.5-10x VariX-III.

Oh, I have one of those!

 

[goalie]

My "one rifle" is a .375 H&H magnum Remington 700. I can load it light and fast or heavy and a tad less fast.

 

[9mmepiphany]

if your definition of "big game" include the "big" bears, i'd like the margin of the .375 h&h. i've found it's recoil less punishing than the .338

 

[goalie]

9mm is correct. It is my personal experience that even 300 grain solids out of the .375 H&H send less perceived recoil into my shoulder than anything out of my friend's .338.

 

[Preacherman]

I'd be torn between the .375 H&H and the .45-70. One can load either round "up or down" to various levels of performance. The .375 would be best in a bolt-action, but the .45-70 can equal or exceed its short- to medium-range performance in a lighter, handier rifle, with a faster lever action, which would be useful for a self-defence situation. The .375 would be faster to reload with a detachable magazine, but the .45-70 would hold more rounds in a full-length tubular magazine. The .45-70 would be easier to reload if supplies were limited - heck, one could use black powder or one of the substitutes, like our forefathers did over 100 years ago! Choices, choices...

 

[Jaywalker]

Thirty years ago I bought a .270 to serve that purpose. It'll work on elk and lots of folks still use it on moose. Big bears I always left out of the calculation, figuring I'd buy something specific for that, if and when. The benefit of that approach is that I had a great cartridge for the 99% of the hunting I normally do, without having to have my head kicked out from under my hat by recoil.

With your choices, I'd still go for the 99% route, and a .308 would fit it well. It's likely more accurate and certainly lower recoil than the other choices, and both would help encourage practice. Very low-cost mil surp rounds are available, which again encourages practice. Also, I don't think an elk would be able to tell the difference between a .308 and a 30-06. The .338 is a fine round, but is much more than I, at least, need for my hunting.

There's been a big move afoot in the last couple of years to declare the .270/.308/30-06 marginal for elk. I've stared at the keyboard for awhile now, trying to think of a polite synonym for "hogwash," and am having a little trouble, so just let it go. If you want a .338, by all means get one. If I like a rifle, I practice with it. If I just like a rifle and am not convincing myself that I need it, I can get rid of it when I no longer like it. Sorry, philosophy mode off.

As to rifles, I concur with your choice. I recently generated a liking for an unneeded 300 Win Mag in a new Winchester/USRAC Model 70 Classic LT, wood and blue. The store didn't have a stainless there in wood, or I might have bought it instead. This is a really fine rifle. The stock is nicely done, the checkering wraps around the slim fore-end. It weighs 8 pounds with its 26-inch barrel and tames the recoil well. The blueing is nice and the trigger adjustable. I won't finish wringing it out until after hunting season, but I'm now a believer in the M70 - it's a quality rifle. Initial indications are that it might well be an honest MOA rifle, out of the box. They don't sell the Classic LT in short action, though, so a .308 would move you over to the M70 Feathrweight.

Good luck,
Jaywalker

 

[Smoke]

30.06 would be more than enough for most north american game.

Only when facing ALaskan moose or grizzly's would I want a little more ooomph.

45-70 will do nicely, just don't make me shoot it too far.

Smoke

 

[David4516]

How about .280?

 

[Mike Irwin]

.300 Win. or Wby. mags with proper bullet selection would be a good choice.

 

[Picher]

The 30-06 in a Tikka or older Rem 700 comes close, but there really isn't any such rifle/cartridge.

Not many of us will ever hunt the largest, or most dangerous game in North America. Most of us will shoot deer, a few Elk, and moose. Cartridges needed for bigger game than that are too painful to use for every day hunting and shooting.

After using a 30/06 for almost everything from woodchucks to deer for over 30 years, I've gone to a .270 Win. and have never been happier! It's shot deer up to 200 lbs and up to 450 yards away. It's shot a few woodchucks, and a partridge or two (head shots) and won a few turkey shoots, running deer shoots, and been a ball to shoot with 90 grain target loads.

Buy a rifle that can do that kind of duty and you'll be a happy guy, until the BIG GAME trip of a lifetime. Then go out a buy a rifle for that hunt. You'll deserve it by then.

John

 

[AZRickD]

I have considered the 7mm-08 for that all-around rifle role.

Rick

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The modern .30-06 in "Lite Magnum" or "Hi Energy" loads just about equals the old .300 Win Mag loads. With premium bullets (which is what these factory loads have), the .30-06 will handle anything on this continent nicely.

While I'd like a .375 Mag for facing a coastal Brown bear, how many times in my life will I get to shoot one of those critters? And even then, my old, familiar pre-'64 Model 70 just might be the best choice, anyway -- I KNOW I can shoot it well.

 

[CB900F]

DWW;

I'm steppin' on the heels of Achadwick here, but only because he almost got it right .

Mine's a Winchester new model 70 stainless classic LHB in .30-06 w/BOSSCR. In a McMillan stock with a Turner full Whelan sling. The scope is a silver Leupold VariX III 3.5 X 10 50mm in Leupold mounts.

900F

 

[Larry]

For me it's a Winchester M94 BB in 375 Winchester. I load them myself, use a tang sight and don't take shots over 100 yards.

The 100 yard limit has not been a problem. Last year we had six hunters that claimed 400+ yard kills shoot at a target 400 paces away. One hit it every time and five missed it every time. A seventh opted out because he only brought three 338 untra mag rounds with him.

An adition to your thread would be, how much do you practice before a hunt?

I'll usually put 100 rounds of practice in before a hunt, broken up into three or four sessions.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Jaywalker wrote it up quite well - - -

I really like to have the options of specialized rifles for particular hunts. If I knew I was going to use only one rifle from now on, for everything on this continent, I'd be strongly tempted to go with a standard weight .30-06. Either a fixed 4X scope, or possibly a 2x7 or 3x9.

I don't argue with the .270 or a number of other fine cartridges. I base my choice of the '06 on the vast array of both factory ammo and bullets for handloading which are available. For moose or big bear, sure, I'd prefer a bigger rifle. But I have components to load up for those, too - - I'd not shoot as far as some of my hunting buddies would, is all. It is the larger animals which influence me toward the '06 above the .308.

Name a particular hunt, and I can probably come up with a specific-use rifle a bit better than the '06, sure. Hill Country whitetail - - something lighter is fine. Long range antelope - -A flatter shooting round would be nice. Big hogs in the brush or bears in the alders? Hard to best a .45-70. Elk or caribou atlong range? My .338 would be a good choice. I don't have firm plans for a newly-acquired .375 H&H yet, but that'll wait a bit. Besides, it's more FUN to shoot the .30'06 than the big magnums.

But, if my big game hunting uncle phoned this evening and said, "Jimmy broke a leg, and the __(blank)___ hunt's already paid. Can you leave on Sunday?" I'd worry about clothing and licenses and such, but I wouldn't worry about my .30-06.

Best,
Johnny

 

[Mr. Chitlin]

No bears, 300 Win or Wby Mag. Add bears, probably a 340 Wby mag.

Scope - Leupold 3x9x40 VXIII

 

[JohnKSa]

6.5-06.

With the light bullets it should shoot nearly as flat as a good varmint round.

With the heavier bullets you should be able to do a number on pretty much anything you hit in the right spot.

The Europeans use the 6.5.x55 on elk-size critters with no problem. 6.5-06 has a pretty good velocity advantage on the 6.5 Swede.

 

[JimC]

This question and many like it have surfaced for many years. In my opinion, there is no magical one cartridge does all but...

If I had to choose one of my current rifles to do everything, it would be my .340 Weatherby SS w/Leupold Vari-X III 4.5-14x.

It's a little more than the .338 Win., which I like very well, but not quite as much as the .375 H&H but it will get the job done.

With the .340 I can load down to 180 gr. Nosler BTs and go all the way up to a 300 gr. SP or solids by Woodleigh. Swift make a nice 275 gr. A-frame that goes well between the 250 and the 300 gr. bullets.

I think a SS win 70 classic in either 30-06, 308, or 338.

.338 and, the scope would depend on how far your shots would be and, open country or brush/woods, etc. A good variable [Vari-X III] from Leupold would be my suggestion.

 

[Watchman]

The .30-06.

It will do from 45 grain ( saboted accelerators) to 250 grainers.

You can go from varmints to bears. There is no cartridge that will take as many different weight bullets and has as many options to reload.

 

[Sarge111]

.338 Winchester

will do it all with horsepower to spare. The '06 is good, very good indeed- but if big bitey/stompy/scratchy things were in my neighborhood, the .338 would be my choice.

The .375 Winchester has been calling my name for a long time, though, and I'm about to give it a whirl.

 

[Slingster]

I would favor a medium bore as an all-around rifle for North America so that one is prepared for brown bears. Thus the minimum caliber for me would be .338 and the range would include .358, 9.3mm, and .375.

In terms of cartridges, I'd stick to standard and magnum-cased rounds to give more up-side when handloading, and I don't think there's a need for the super-magnums. Thus .338-06 and .375 H&H are probably the minimum and maximum for the range, with readily-available cartridges like .338 WM, .35 Whelen, and 9.3x62 in-between. More esoteric choices could be .350 RM, .358 Norma Mag, 9.3x64 Brenneke, and .376 Steyr.

 

[dww]

How often do we really hunt bears?

I agree with the 30-06 crowd, although I own several 308s, including the Steyr Scout, and no 30-06 rifles.

I have a 270 remington Titanium, a 358 BLR, a 35 Whelan Rem 700, a 375 H&H Model 70 Classic stainless, and a 450 Marlin take down.

I think the BLR in 358 has sufficient punch and is sufficiently light, and accurate, and fast with a followup shot.

A bolt gun in 358 would rock. A pseudo scout in 358 would be marvelous.

dww

 

[Black Snowman]

The ranges you're shooting at and even whether or not you want any meat left makes a differance too. For hunting a .30-06, 300 Wby, 300 WSM or 300 Win Mag is probably plenty if you keep your distance from dangerous game and have some backup.

For protection I want more power. Fore example, to stop a charging polar bear I want 30mm HEDP, preferably from an AH-64 Apache flying at 100+ ft with me in it. I don't like the idea of getting mauled