Using various rifles and calibers thru the years, and having to get used to varying trajectories got me thinking. When all I used was the old .06, I rarely if ever missed what I was shooting at. I was so used to it that when I got my first .300, I was shooting over objects at loooong range. The flatter trajectory actually hurt me.
Wondering how many of you wish they would have spent the lions share of your lives hunting with just one rifle.
Thinking if I could do it all over again I would have my custom rifle built to my spec's and use that rifle for everything.
Then there's caliber. Since the game I hunt consists mostly of medium to large game, with small varmints only thrown in for trigger practice, mine would undoubtedly be a .338-06AI.
It would have a Kevlar/Carbon fiber stock, stainless metal with a dark finish, and one of my Leupold 1.5-5 scopes. Since I like light rifles weight would be about 6-1/2 lbs.
There's nothing that I hunt that that combination wouldn't be about perfect for.

I have been looking for that 1 rifle for a long time and haven't found it yet.
But the search sure is a blast.

I hunted with a m77 300winmag for 14years, 180grn @ 2960fps or so. After that time and thinking back on it, I would have been fine with a .270 or 30-06.

what is the fun with doing that? I usually take 2 and sometimes 3 to hunt with. Often using a different gun each day matched to the type and distance of shooting I plan on doing.

Fortunately, I don't have to hunt with only one gun in North America ... but I do have "the rifle" if I had to.

Is a .338 Win Mag pre64 M70 with a Krieger cut rifled stainless bbl, lovely irons, and the metal all done with Gun Kote. Is set into a lovely McMillan stock and wears a 3-9x40 MC Zeiss Conquest scope on Leupold QR rings.

Took it from the plane to the range in Jackson Hole some years ago, and it shot a 2" group with 225 gr Barnes Xs on the 300 yards gongs ... exactly where it was supposed to impact.

IMO, there is no "one gun" that will cover everything from high-volume varmint shooting to Grizzly.

Possibly 2?

Maybe 3?

etc... That's how the safe gets too full!

quote:

Originally posted by rcamuglia:
IMO, there is no "one gun" that will cover everything from high-volume varmint shooting to Grizzly.

Possibly 2?

Maybe 3?

etc... That's how the safe gets too full!

If that ain't the truth....

However I could easily live with a .243, a .280 and a .338-06.

I could easily get by with a .22-250 and a .338 win.mag.

If you know how to stalk you can live with one gun.
http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/1...es_nyheter/14531326/

quote:

Originally posted by rcamuglia:
IMO, there is no "one gun" that will cover everything from high-volume varmint shooting to Grizzly.

Possibly 2?

Maybe 3? ...

When I first read that, I thought it said:

Possibly 27

Maybe 37

Then I was sitting here wondering about using all of them. Now I look back and it is 2 or 3.
-----

Hey DWright, It isn't too late to build the rifle of your choice and thin the rest out if you so desire.

There is a "Trick" with getting the Trajectories very similar with a lot of rifles so they all shoot just about the same though. It is being lucky enough to find a good Harmonic node at a specific Velocity, using a specific B.C. Bullet.

But, Vapo has a "catchy" Acronym for it, so I'll let him explain it.
-----

I'm still not sure which Rifle I'd use as the "Single" Big Game for me. I do like being able to have a selection to meet specific Hunt Requirements.

English is me second language.
Please can some one explain to me the following
"Hunting with just one gun"
I do not understand it.

I've been hunting "mostly with one gun" for more than 25 years now, it works out just fine for me...

DM

I don't know how anyone could hunt prairie dogs and brown bears with the same gun.

quote:

Originally posted by DWright:


It would have a Kevlar/Carbon fiber stock, stainless metal with a dark finish, and one of my Leupold 1.5-5 scopes. Since I like light rifles weight would be about 6-1/2 lbs.
There's nothing that I hunt that that combination wouldn't be about perfect for.

That describes the -06 I have been hunting with for the last 25 years except mine is blue and wears a 2-7 Leupold Compact. 7lbs total.

quote:

Originally posted by DWright:
..... Wondering how many of you wish they would have spent the lions share of your lives hunting with just one rifle.
Thinking if I could do it all over again I would have my custom rifle built to my spec's and use that rifle for everything. .....

I would love to do it all over again! But figure I'd just still end up with several.

As far as remembering the different setting,
I use a piece of masking tape on my scopes with the zero and trajectory listed for several different ranges.

quote:

Originally posted by DWright:
Using various rifles and calibers thru the years, and having to get used to varying trajectories got me thinking. When all I used was the old .06, I rarely if ever missed what I was shooting at. I was so used to it that when I got my first .300, I was shooting over objects at loooong range. The flatter trajectory actually hurt me.
Wondering how many of you wish they would have spent the lions share of your lives hunting with just one rifle.
Thinking if I could do it all over again I would have my custom rifle built to my spec's and use that rifle for everything.
Then there's caliber. Since the game I hunt consists mostly of medium to large game, with small varmints only thrown in for trigger practice, mine would undoubtedly be a .338-06AI.
It would have a Kevlar/Carbon fiber stock, stainless metal with a dark finish, and one of my Leupold 1.5-5 scopes. Since I like light rifles weight would be about 6-1/2 lbs.
There's nothing that I hunt that that combination wouldn't be about perfect for.

No thanks. Variety is the spice of life. I only have one wife so I'm going to have multiple rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by scottfromdallas:
I only have one wife so I'm going to have multiple rifles.

I wonder how many rifles Tiger Woods had....

quote:

Variety is the spice of life. I only have one wife so I'm going to have multiple rifles.

If you stick to one wife, you can afford LOTS of rifles....not the other way around, for sure!!!

I have a safe full of rifles, cheap rifles stacked behind the safe, boxes with partially completed rifle projects all over the shop.....you get the picture.

When I started hunting in earnest (when i still could) I bought a Ruger thumb safety model in 338 Win Mag, put it in a decent carbon fiber stock, added a Leupold low power variable and had it Magnaported. The first group of Federal 210 grain Nosler partitions went into a half inch, and I have never hunted wiht anything else in the last 20 years, everything from antelope to the biggest north america has to offer.

When I was young and poor, all I had was a 270. It was my deer rifle, my groundhog rifle, and my target rifle. I rarely missed, deer rarely ran after a hit. Now I have more than a dozen deer rifles. I miss, bring the wrong ammo, can't find the safety, and track deer.

I don't want to go back to one rifle. I have 3 sons to arm, and I like the variety. I think I would like to somewhat consolidate. Maybe a keep a few switch barrel Savages, and a few custom Springfields, set up the same. Maybe in 270, 30-06, and 35 Whelen. I'd want the same safety on all of them.

Just one gun???...I'm working on it now..a German drilling 16/70 over 7 x 65R with a 22 Hornet full length barreled insert..topped by a S and B 2.5-10 x 50 scope. Weighs 6 lb 12 oz without the scope..25 1/2 inch barrels. Shoot woodcock to Moose...but I would want more for the big bears.

quote:

Originally posted by Art S.:
I have a safe full of rifles, cheap rifles stacked behind the safe, boxes with partially completed rifle projects all over the shop.....you get the picture.

When I started hunting in earnest (when i still could) I bought a Ruger thumb safety model in 338 Win Mag, put it in a decent carbon fiber stock, added a Leupold low power variable and had it Magnaported. The first group of Federal 210 grain Nosler partitions went into a half inch, and I have never hunted wiht anything else in the last 20 years, everything from antelope to the biggest north america has to offer.

That's exactly what I'm talkin bout!

quote:

Originally posted by JonP:
Just one gun???...I'm working on it now..a German drilling 16/70 over 7 x 65R with a 22 Hornet full length barreled insert..topped by a S and B 2.5-10 x 50 scope. Weighs 6 lb 12 oz without the scope..25 1/2 inch barrels. Shoot woodcock to Moose...but I would want more for the big bears.

That's what my "go to gun" is, it's a Krieghoff drilling with a couple insert bbls...

DM

My bank account has limits but my interest in hunting does not.

I have found myself faced with a choice; sit home with lots of firearms and other material possessions or be away from home with one of the few firearms I own, little else, and possess lots of adventure.

If I purchased a double rifle it would put a serious pinch on my annual recreation. If I bought every neat-o gun that I saw in the AR Classifieds I'd be home bound.

On another note, I have started to exclusively use one shotgun for all my bird hunting and it seems to have at least helped in improving my historically poor shooting. I can't see why the same logic would not apply to rifle hunting.

Like Plainsman456, I'm diligently looking for that one rifle. Thus far, every rifle I own has had some flaw that causes me to keep searching.

quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:
Like Plainsman456, I'm diligently looking for that one rifle. Thus far, every rifle I own has had some flaw that causes me to keep searching.

Exactly the reason that I have the rifles I do as well.
However, and that said, I think I have several that could work for a one gun battery for the animals I hunt.
I've finally quit buying more rifles and began working on the ones I presently have to bring them up to snuf. Reshaping stocks and refinishing stocks and some metal work to my taste.
I've also sold several of my firearms in the last few years, and actually enjoy the ones I kept much more. I also think my marksmanship has improved at longer ranges with what I'm shooting now because of that.

Where I live in Oklahoma, I could probably get by with one gun--my .243, but I wouldn't be happy about it. I suppose I would need to have my .30-06 also--I might get drawn for one of the elk hunts in the state.

I don't think it is practical to use just one gun for everything hence the need for a reasonable battery of guns. I do however use my Winchester m70 in 270 winchester for the bulk of my big game hunting and I use a heavy custom 223 for the bulk of my varmint hunting but, if I were limited to just one gun for everything it might be a 25-06, which I also have. The 25 is small enough to be a potent varmint round while being powerful enough to take big game and has a track record of great success to back it up.

If DWright means big game hunting in N America then I could get along fine with just an '06, which is what I seem to use most often on serious hunts. If taling hunting around the world including some dangerous game then the addition of a .375 H&H of the same action would be my choice (it is). Over practical hunting ranges the trajectory is pretty much the same between the two cartridges.

If talking hunting/shooting in general then a battery of rifles is necessary plus a shotgun or 2 and a rimfire .22LR and then handguns of single and or double action, auto and single shot......that's what got me the 2 gun safes full of guns....

Larry Gibson

I hunted with just one gun for 30 years. A Remington 700 BDL in 270 Win. I shot 90g Sierra HPs at 3500 fps for varmints / small game and used 150g Noslers at 3000 fps for deer, black bear, elk and mountain grizzlies (not Alaskan brown bears). Never let me down ...

A one gun solution would be the 270Wby. Flat shooting and hard hitting with premium bullets, mild recoil, very accurate easy to carry factory built rifle (Mark V Ultra Lightweight). The 7mm Rem. Mag would work as the economy version. I don't live by this, I have too have many rifles for many specific purposes. If I actually had to choose one rifle to live with for the rest of my life and may have the chance to possibly hunt the world, I would have to choose the .378Wby. Trajectory, energy, bigtime stopping power, and I would just give up on p-dogs and gophers. Maybe the .338-378 due to recoil, but some of the caliber restrictions would bite me in the ass. Maybe I just couldn't do it, most of the game I shoot is with the .260Rem.

OK, I'll play the game.

I will first say that I am narrowing down my personal use collection, and I'm down to 3 with plans to add another. I currently have selected to keep my Merkel 160 Double Rifle in 8x75RS as my primary gun for all North America big game. I then have my JP Sauer Sidelock Drilling in 12x12x8/57JR which I use for bird hunting in dangerous locales such as Montana's wilderness or the Colorado mountains, but also occasionally for deer here locally. Then I have kept my David Murray Hammer 12-Bore sidexside shotgun built circa 1894 in Stonehaven, Scotland as my primary gun for all upland birds, ducks, and turkey. I plan to add a 450/400 double rifle to this battery. The only gap left would be for long range (300-600 yards) for both big game and varmits. I have a Ruger #1 custom in .300 H&H I could keep for that?

But just one gun for everything, it's got to be a drilling. It's the most versatile and effective gun ever. A 12x12x.30-06 would make the ultimate NA one gun battery, with claw mount scope and ability to change bullets based upon the target. If you've never owned a drilling, you owe it to yourself to get one. They are smart and invaluable, and usually very well-made and accurate.

Mike

I did this on a smaller scale when I was a kid. I had a Winchester Model 72A .22lr bolt shooter with a Weaver 4x rimfire scope that I shot all the time. I had the trajectory memorized and could really shoot it well. It had a 24" tapered heavier barrel on it and I had refinished the stock twice. The safety would become unengaged every once in a while and I would take it apart and fix it. I had adjusted he trigger down as low as it would safely go.

One day out in the desert that surrounded an alfalfa field I shot 43 jackrabbits with 150 rounds. We used to buy .22 shells by the 50 count box back then and none of this carton stuff. That was for the rich kids.

I don't know where it ended up but wish that I still had it.

It's pretty hard to do isn't it. . . . . .

My main "go to" guns are a .243, 7-08, .338-06 AI, .300 WM, and a .375 Ruger.

Except for the .243 I could make anyone of the others a 'do all' gun for all my hunting purpose's.
Now if I went to far away lands and hunted dangerous game, then all bets are off, except possibly for the .375.

I'm also thinking that I could just use my little light weight Kimber in .7-08 and hunt everything here from rats to Roosevelt Elk, and be happy. All I would have to do is use different bullets, and maybe not even that.
Then, all the money I would save by not buying different components for all the guns I do have, could go for a buffalo hunt in Africa.
Crap! That would mean I would have to keep the .375! . . . . . . . never mind. . . . .

Since I have only one wife (for 18 years), I think it's okay that I use more than one rifle.

But my go to gun is a .308 Win for most stuff.

a .308 and a 12ga with some interchangeable barrels is all you need. will kill anything in north america.

hank williams said " a shotgun, rifle, and a 4 wheel drive and a country boy can survive"

i wonder what rifle???

I currently have only one centerfire... a 308 Win.

From this year:

401 yards:



304 yards:



200 yards:

Nice goin! My point exactly.

Few people would doubt that a fellow could get by with just one rifle but the real question is why should he??
I routinely hunt with several rifles --not at the same time-- and have never had a problem with varying trajectories. But then, I've only shot one head of BG beyond 300 yards. I know how to stalk aka hunt.

quote:

Originally posted by DWright:


Nice goin! My point exactly.

Thanks DW.

The load was a 165 Accubond at 2,770-ish.

I typically load an "elk bullet" and use it for everything, coyotes to elk.

Next year I'll be using the 150 Nosler e-tip a 2,850-ish... it's fun and interesting to use different bullets.