One Rifle Hunter

[Bazoo]

I am not a 1 rifle hunter, but very close. My primary rifle is a Winchester 94 30-30. I am probably going to start using my Winchester 92 44 Magnum in that role though. They are nearly identical as far practical use. I am a 2 handgun hunter, both Rugers, a 44 Special Blackhawk for big game and varmints, and a Single Six 22 convertible for small game and varmints. So while not truly a 1 gun hunter, I'm a limited gun hunter.

 

[westernrover]

After I buy good optics, all I can afford is one rifle.

 

[Resist Evil]

My rule of thumb is spend no less on the scope than the new rifle's price.

 

[Trey Veston]

Great thread and a concept I followed for a few years when younger.

My first rifle when I was 12 - 24yrs old was a Winchester XTR Featherweight in .257 Robert's. Took deer, elk, coyotes, and antelope.

When I got into my 20's, I decided I needed something more resistant to deflection in brush and my dad gave me a custom built Mel Smart model 70 in .35 Whelen. Hunted with it a few times until found out how rare and valuable it was.

I went and bought a new Ruger All-weather rifle in .30-06. It was the infamous canoe paddle model. Used that for another 30 years until my dad passed this past Spring and I inherited 20+ rifles.

I would like to take some game with a few of them.

 

[Hookeye]

My rule of thumb is spend no less on the scope than the new rifle's price.

I'm not putting a 2K scope on my rifle.
Maybe 1K, but not 2K.
Am not going on an Ovini Expeditions adventure (unfortunately).

 

[Hookeye]

Great thread and a concept I followed for a few years when younger.

My first rifle when I was 12 - 24yrs old was a Winchester XTR Featherweight in .257 Robert's. Took deer, elk, coyotes, and antelope.

When I got into my 20's, I decided I needed something more resistant to deflection in brush and my dad gave me a custom built Mel Smart model 70 in .35 Whelen. Hunted with it a few times until found out how rare and valuable it was.

I went and bought a new Ruger All-weather rifle in .30-06. It was the infamous canoe paddle model. Used that for another 30 years until my dad passed this past Spring and I inherited 20+ rifles.

I would like to take some game with a few of them.

I had a boat paddle stainless .308 win w Trijicon Accupoint 3-9X. Ugly and boring.
Proly would have been closest thing to perfect, if subscribing to being a 1 rifle hunter.
So naturally I sold it LOL

 

[mcb]

If I was a one rifle hunter I wouldn't be waffling between three or four options for what I am going to take for tomorrows TN opening day of rifle season. I will be taking two rifles no matter what since, "two is one, one is none" but which two?

 

[westernrover]

Optics are more than just the scope. I use a spotter, binos (usually several if I'm not alone), and riflescope. I've got almost 10K in optics not counting cameras, and I don't even use a rangefinder or RF binos. All that stuff has as much to do with hunting as my one rifle. FWIW, my rifle was $500, but it was a long time ago. It might be more now.

 

[.308 Norma]

My rule of thumb is spend no less on the scope than the new rifle's price.

I'm not putting a 2K scope on my rifle.
Maybe 1K, but not 2K.

My custom .308 Norma Magnum (my retirement gift to myself) set me back a little better than $3,000. I only paid about 10% of that for the 3-9 Weaver I put on it. The rig seems to work okay though.
BTW, the 3-9 Leupold I spent about an hour comparing the 3-9 Weaver to was the same price - $299.00. The Weaver was "clearer" around the edges, and seeing as how I had a Weaver on my first big game rifle, it's the one I wanted anyway.

 

[Riomouse911]

I could hunt anything I think I ever will with my Model 70 in 7mmRem Mag and/or Mauser 96 American in .270.

But like @LoonWulf posted above, variety is a good thing. I find having a choice of gun/caliber/load tailored to a particular need, is pretty cool.

Stay safe.

 

[Trey Veston]

My custom .308 Norma Magnum (my retirement gift to myself) set me back a little better than $3,000. I only paid about 10% of that for the 3-9 Weaver I put on it. The rig seems to work okay though.
BTW, the 3-9 Leupold I spent about an hour comparing the 3-9 Weaver to was the same price - $299.00. The Weaver was "clearer" around the edges, and seeing as how I had a Weaver on my first big game rifle, it's the one I wanted anyway.

I wear glasses and have astigmatism. I could never tell the difference between a $200 Vortex and a $500 Leupold. All I care about is ruggedness and the reticle.

 

[Peakbagger46]

Well I tried this year to be a two rifle hunter, bought a nice and light Weathermark in 6.5 Creedmoor. Scored a deal on 140 grain Accubond seconds, worked up a decent load, and was all ready to go.

When the time came to go roam the mountain for mulies, my Sako 06’ called to me from deep in the bowels of the (modest) safe. So I dusted her off and made meat. This Scandinavian piece has filled the freezer with a ton of fine table fare over the last decade or so.

Maybe next year I’ll take the little 6.5 out…. Maybe.

 

[hillman23]

Like many of you, I started with one but continued to find reasons to change. The first hunting rifle I bought was a beautiful Sako AV chambered in 338 WM. It killed deer and elk as well as anyone could want and I still have it. But the weather is too soggy to not go with stainless steel out on the west coast so I rustled up a New Haven classic model 70 chambered in 338 again. I cut the barrel to 23” and put it in an HS Precision stock and it was my one hunting rifle for a while too. It performs with the efficiency inherent in the 338 WM cartridge that I came to appreciate with the Sako. I still love it and it remains my elk rifle. But somehow, I started noticing the weight of that rifle increase as I got older so I decided to get a lighter weight dedicated deer rifle. I ended up with a wonderfully accurate stainless Tikka T3x in 6.5 Creedmoor. So now I have a rifle for blacktails and one for Roosevelts.

 

[Chuck R.]

What got me away from the "one gun" was 23 years worth of PCS moves.

When stationed in Germany & hunting in Austria, then 4 different states, in addition to hunting New England where I grew up, I quickly realized that the game and more importantly the conditions varied greatly. The clincher was one season dragging a 26" barreled 8mm Mag through the "big woods" south of St. Helens. It had worked great for elk in CO. Then there was the quartering 6pt blacktail at 45yds with my .270 and a 130grn at 3130 FPS.

So I, or my equipment rather evolved. Even here in KS, I don't use the same rifle, but tailor equipment to how I'm hunting in an area.

 

[Gun-Reck]

Well, that didn't last long; I am a hypocrite, I guess.

Stumbled upon a CZ 557 in 6.5x55SE. Another one of those I've "lusted after for years".

I am, at the end of it all, an incorrigible rifle wh**re...

Had a similar experience with a Ruger African in that same chambering.

Song-of-the-Sirens.

Kept it as an aperture rifle, to atone for my transgression.

​

If you can find any of the discontinued SE loaded Norma Professional 140 gr. Partition ammo, it is outstanding, and at component cost.

 

[.308 Norma]

Anyone ever voluntarily want to become the proverbial "one rifle hunter"? I've gotten to the point in my life to where I only want to deal with one; a Vanguard in 30-06. It's just easier to deal with only the one rifle, and not have the others messing around in the back of my head. No more "should I take this one, or that one, or the other one"?

I guess I've never been anything other than a "proverbial 'one rifle' hunter." Over the years, I've had and used a lot of different rifles, chambered for a lot of different cartridges. I've even sought the "perfect all-around, all-purpose big game rifle" a few times (which BTW, is my .308 Norma Magnum ), but I've never worried for one second about which rifle to take when I go hunting, much less worried about whether or not I was carrying the "right" rifle while I was hunting.
Of course, I have a "varmint" rifle (a .22-250) for coyote hunting and such, and I have a .22 rimfire for really small "varmints" like ground squirrels. But I don't think that's what you meant because using my .308 Norma Mag for shooting ground squirrels would be absurd. And hunting deer or elk with a .22 rimfire would be absurd, as well as illegal.

 

[luv2safari]

The obvious choice is the 30-06, and I would use a good quality 180 grain bullet.

My personal choice for a one rifle round is the 9.3X62. It kills with authority and doesn't blow up meat. I used it's ballistic equivalent 9.3X74R for cape buffalo on down to the tiny Steenbok. For North America it a super bear, elk, moose, and deer round, and it isn't bad as an antelope killer with the light 232 grain Norma bullets loaded to a higher velocity. It's a well suited African round, developed in 1905 by Otto Bock for the average European African farmer and the 98 Mauser rifles.

This plain old Husqvarna FN 98 in 9.3X62 with a Leupold VariX III 2.5-8 has become one of my favorites. It's the bottom rifle...nothing fancy. I use QD mounts so I can use iron sights if the scope fails or I need to do real close quarters work. I installed a Timney Sportsman trigger now set at 2.5 pounds.

 

[luv2safari]

My custom .308 Norma Magnum (my retirement gift to myself) set me back a little better than $3,000. I only paid about 10% of that for the 3-9 Weaver I put on it. The rig seems to work okay though.
BTW, the 3-9 Leupold I spent about an hour comparing the 3-9 Weaver to was the same price - $299.00. The Weaver was "clearer" around the edges, and seeing as how I had a Weaver on my first big game rifle, it's the one I wanted anyway.

The 308 Norma Mag is what the 300 Win Mag should have been, IMO.

 

[Trey Veston]

This was going to be my ultimate do-it-all hunting rifle for big game in Idaho...



Custom pre-64 Model 70 action with an XTR Featherweight barrel chambered in .30-06 Ackley Improved. I developed a load using 180gr Nosler BTs going 2850fps that will group 3/8" at 100yds.

Then my father passed and I inherited dozens of amazing hunting rifles, so now I want to use some of them to take game with.

 

[Pat Riot]

I don’t think I could ever own just one rifle to use for everything.
You see, I have bad luck with some things.
If I only have one of anything like guns or tools when it comes time to use it something goes wrong. It breaks, won’t work right or, in the case of tools, just disappears until it’s no longer needed and it then reappears.

A good example is just 4 days ago I took my Ruger SFAR to do some final sighting in before tomorrow’s start of deer season after doing a very deep cleaning on it.
It’s running over gassed with the adjustable gas block on 3, the highest setting, but under gassed on 2. It’s tearing my brass up.
So, it’s heading to Ruger and I put so much time into it I didn’t really bother with my Marlin 336 so I am unprepared for tomorrow.

Oh well, such is life.

 

[Old Hobo]

"Anyone ever voluntarily want to become the proverbial "one rifle hunter"?"

No, not me.

 

[M65Man]

Can't, don't want too, cause I got too many 30-30's, all different configurations, that I just love for their individual qualities!
I got as fine a 30-06 as a woods-mountain hunter could want, a Original Tikka pre Sako M65, a Model 700 270 Remington, both scoped, and few others, but for my hunting I always grab a 30-30, and this 1971 NRA Centennial, thus Mod 64 is my favorite! Everything about it lends itself to quick on sight, perfect balance for off hand shooting! It barely beats out my Mod 94 Carbine, and 336 Marlin, but it does what a hunting rifle supposed too just right!
I like scopes but I have killed way way more game with iron sights, and I like all types, peep or open! I've never shot a deer past 75 yds, vast majority inside 50yds, and some inside 10yds. That's hunting!
BUT, if, I had to settle for one, it'd be the Mod 64, Hands Down! In the first pic, thats a deer id just shot couple weeks ago, laying on side of the road this side the curve. Id been sitting on my stool, but had turned to look up mountain behind me. He came around logging road over my left shoulder saw me turn to look. I just raused and put it in base his neck. He fell in his tracks!

 

[Hookeye]

Weather took me down last weekend, last thing I want is my snot sloshing in my skull when I shoot a deer.
Lighter, less recoil, less blast..........it tends to limit ones choices.
Get picky as ya get older.

 

[Rodfac]

Anyone ever voluntarily want to become the proverbial "one rifle hunter"?

I've toyed with the idea since my 20's (now 77), but found that I really like the experimentation involved in loading for a variety. But, forced to pick one and only one fore evermore...it'd be my wife's wedding gift to me in '71...a Sako Forester in .308. With it I've killed a lot of deer, three elk, a multitude of woodchucks, and even some ground squirrels using cast bullets.

With factory loads from 125 gr HP's to heavy 200 grainers for elk or moose, the .308 will do it all. Mounted with a 2-7x Leupold in solid steel Leupold mounts, and glass bedded for consistent accuracy, it'll still give me ~1 MOA groups with selected loads.

I love that old beast...and the beautiful gal that's spent her life taking care of me....YMMv, but they'll both do for my tastes. That's her in the center, son #1 to the left, and my ugly mug on the right....Pic #2 is my old Sako....Regards, Rod

​

 

[ojibweindian]

Weather took me down last weekend, last thing I want is my snot sloshing in my skull when I shoot a deer.
Lighter, less recoil, less blast..........it tends to limit ones choices.
Get picky as ya get older.

Hope you're feeling better!