Those of you that follow the gunsmithing forum might remember that I am planning my future battery of rifles for the hunting that I currently do (or hope to do in the future). At one time or another I hope to have the opportunity to hunt antelope, whitetail, mule deer, elk, Alaskan moose, and black bear. I'm not a varmint hunter and I don't really have a desire to go to Africa. Here's what I've come up with...

.300 Savage (Savage 99)
.270 WCF (pre-64 M70)
.30-06 (Mauser)
.35 Whelen (1903 Springfield)

I won't go into which rifle I want to use for which game, as there is a lot of overlap and everyone has their opinion about what is suitable for what. But for the game listed ... Have I got something for each animal? I think I do, but what would you add?

Have fun with it,
Bob

Looks like a good group to me. I don't think there's anything in NA that you can't bring down with what you've got there. In fact, it's very similar to mine:

.300 H&H (M70)
.338 Winnie ('03 Springfield)
.416 Rem Mag(M70)

with a .270 Winnie (M70) otw.

Note: Had to edit mine because I'm rebarreling my .375

[ 06-17-2003, 20:31: Message edited by: JLHeard ]

Fine choices, but I really don't think that you need that pre-64 .270; you should probably send it to me for safe keeping!

I'd almost wager that you are a young fellow and also wager that eventually you will change at least one, if not both, of your statements about not hunting varmints and not being interested in Africa. Easy--then you just get some more shooters!

If you are going w/ the .270 (or .280 ) & a Whelen (or .338-06 ) you don't really need the .30-06. You could really cover it w/ those (2) & maybe slip in that .375h&h just in case you get that Africa bug.

I'd ditch the .270 and the .35, maybe pick up a .375 H&H.

bobvthunter,

This has to be a daydream of everyone who has ever hunted. One thing I would do is too get whatever rifles all of the same make. That would be the Rem M-700 BDL. All triggers could be adjusted to the same pull and all the rifles would handle the same. It might be bad form trying to take the Winchester safety off if you happened too be using the '03 Springfield. The Leupold 2x-7x scope on all rifles would also help not confusing me. The cartridges would be the .308 Win. for whitetails and black bears. The .280 Rem. for all other medium sized game and the .338 Win. for the big boys. With the .338, I wouldn't have too exclude the big bears. I have had and liked the .35 Whelen, it's a fine cartridge. It just isn't as flexible as the .338. The .338 has a much broader selection of bullet shapes and weights going for it. Thanks for the chance too play with this old dream again. Good luck.

bobvthunter, all good choices Bob. A couple of others I like and use are the 7mm-08 and .338 WM.

bob
The only thing you need to add to your list is a sharp skinning knife.
If you can't do it with those rifles it just can't be done.

Bob -- You have the animals desired covered very well with your selection. --------- My battery is .257 Wby, .300 Winny and .358 STA. My second battery is 7mm STW, .340 Wby and .416 Rem. I am always looking for something else to play with, constantly searching for that perfect battery. Good shooting.

[ 06-18-2003, 00:15: Message edited by: phurley ]

I would add two or three to your list, but considering youve got the model 99 its not nessesary. I have a list similar to yours and still find myself pulling the 300 out regularly just because I like it so much. Seems like the only talk thesedays of the 300s is that they would die out if there werent so many of them, but no mention of the fact that there were so many sold because they were so ballistically close to a 30-06 and nearly 1/2" shorter!
I was thinking about loading up some heavy for caliber bullets, maybe even some big RNs just to see how they shoot. And if you change your mind, the 300s with a 125 grn ballistic tip @ 2800 fs also makes a worthy varminter that you can shoot all day long. But its best load is a 165 @ 2600fs. Versatile and pure pleasure to shoot and the other three will make fine back up rifles.

The only thing I would ad to your list is a good sidearm, it could come in handy once in a while.

Well...since you already have some very nice cartridges, why not adding the .338WM, and later one of the .416's?

In reality, all you need:

.270 or similar
.338WM
.416