Please help me round out my 6 gun battery for North America. Currently I have four: (1) Handgun hunting is covered by my Smith and Wesson Model 657 .41 Magnum. (2) My old Glenfield Model 25 is my .22 rimfire. (3) I have a Marlin Model 336 lever action chambered in 30-30 and mounted with a rear peep. (4) My last rifle is a Ruger Model 77 Mark II chambered in 7-57 Mauser and topped with a Leupold 3-9x40. I want to add two rifles to round out the battery. What are your recommendations? Thanks.

338 win mag
22-250

Good question.

I mostly agree with mrftj, I just happen to like a different .338 cartridge a little more:

22-250 for varminting
338 RUM for your big game needs

you have a 7x57, and 22rf what more do you need? Just buy what you think is cool at this point.

It's not a rifle, but to round out any N/A battery, one needs a scattergun. 12 bore is my preference, but YMMV.

Oh yea, you do need a scattergun. The most useful gun a man can buy. Self defense, small came, big game and birds. If I had to live off the land for survival with one gun, I would probably choose a 12ga.

A shotgun is the next choice followed by a gun that would serve for what you want to shoot and where you live. Some would choose a long range varmint rifle and others might pick a muzzle loader. I suggest a 243 that will be a varminter and a back up deer sized game rifle.

Other bigger guns can follow when you get the bucks for more guns and longer trips.

If we're just talking rifles, you must get a 223.

If you think you'll ever need something bigger than a 7x57 (and I doubt you ever will) anything from a 300 Mag to a 375 H&H would do.

I'm assuming you have a 12 ga shotgun as others have suggested (another must have).

Dogger: Assuming that you want to hunt everything, I would recommend one rifle from the .338WinMag/.340Wby/.338RUM group (I prefer the .340, but I have had several .338WMs...all of the .338s are excellent and versatile cartridges). And I would recommend one rifle from the .375 caliber group: .375H&H or .378Wby. Any of the .416s are also useful too (I have a .416 Wby and I like it).

.375 H&H.............bullets from 235gr through to 350 gr woodleigh's, and a Varmint rifle in 22/250 or .243 winchester.

I agree that you need the shotgun, but what about a smoke-pole? This will give you additional seasons to hunt in lot of areas. The new in-lines are have great accuracy and range! Maybe you need to increase the battery to eight..

I forgot to mention that I do own a Remington Model 870 12 guage, so I am covered on the shotgun aspects.

I'd like to add two more rifles, but can't decide on which calibers or actions.

r/ Dogger

I also bowhunt, which is why I have not picked up a smokepole. The last deer I got was during blackpowder season... a smokepole hunter pushed the deer into my funnel, where I was waiting with the bow. In Virginia, you can bowhunt during blackpowder season. So... I haven't felt the need to acquire the blackpowder. If I did, I would probably take a more traditional approach, rather than a modern inline.

I think I made too perfect a choice with the 7x57. It is such an excellent cartridge, its usefulness has kept me from buying others. Much to my chagrin!! There is a little red cherub with horns sitting on my shoulder, telling me "you must buy another rifle!", and a little white cherub sitting on the other shoulder, telling me the .22 and 7/57 can cover it all. It didn't help when I visited Sierra's website and saw the pic of a nice Alaskan brown bear taken with a 7x57 with a 140 grain pill...

I really want to listen to that red cherub...

quote:

Originally posted by Dogger:
Please help me round out my 6 gun battery for North America. Currently I have four: (1) Handgun hunting is covered by my Smith and Wesson Model 657 .41 Magnum. (2) My old Glenfield Model 25 is my .22 rimfire. (3) I have a Marlin Model 336 lever action chambered in 30-30 and mounted with a rear peep. (4) My last rifle is a Ruger Model 77 Mark II chambered in 7-57 Mauser and topped with a Leupold 3-9x40. I want to add two rifles to round out the battery. What are your recommendations? Thanks.

.22LR
.270 (or similar)
.338WM (for 99% of your big game hunting)
.416 (any CRF .416, tuned for DG hunting)

.223...

.375 H&H...

BigRx

quote:

Originally posted by murftj:
338 win mag
22-250

ditto - for NA - if you want to go to Africa one day substitute a .375 H&H for the .338 Win Mag.

Get the .338 Win Mag in stainless; either a Win M70 or a Ruger M77.

I'd get the 22-250 in a Remington and just have the trigger worked on. If you aren't big into varminting then get a CZ 527 American in .223 for a cheap ammo/practice/occassional varminting rifle.

Unless you do a lot of longer range varminting, get a .223 "walking around rifle" & a .338wm. If you think you might get to Alaska or Africa, get the .375h&h.

223 Remington

338 Winchester

A 223 and a 375 H&H would be realistic.
But for fun how about a 9.3x62 and a 6mmx223 (6x45).
I have had several 223 and a light weight rifle is more useful than a heavy varminter.
The 9.3's come in handier rifles than some of the 375's I've handled and will do the same job.
The 6x223, well, you can shoot varmints and deer, a 95 gr. Partition is better than a 60 gr. Partition.

.270 (I like the .270 Wby Mag)
.375 H&H Mag.

Best, Starcharvski.

.243 and .375,

Both are more versatile than the calibers immediately above and below them.

.338 winnie (will handle anything in NA and 90% of Africa)

and a .40+ (mine is a .458 win) but any .416 or 458 would handle anything bigger and nastier than the .338 would be comfortable with.

gabe

An AR in .223 for varmints, and a .300 Winchester Magnum for the big game and distant shots.

Clearly, a 12ga SxS shotgun and a .375 H&H.
Along with your .22 and 7x57 you really don't need anything else.

Sell the others and put the money away for a trip to Africa!

Les

Put a nice stock on a Savage 116 in 300 Win Mag and add a 416 Taylor bbl from A&B for $148. They swap out in 5 minutes with perfect headspacing. This counts as 1 gun since the cost is very low. Take the set anywhere and shoot anything.

Then the choice is between the 223 and the 204 Ruger. Serious varminting = 204 and lots of shooting = 223.

Only six ?
45 Colt Single Action Army
12 gauge pump (Rem 31 or 870)
22LR (Marlin 39)
223 Rem (Interarms Mini Mauser)
30-06 (Brno ZG-47 or FN Deluxe)
375 H&H (Interarms Whitworth)
Hunt the world.

I would suggest a "classic" in say 30-06 with a real nice piece of wood on whatever action design you happen to prefer. More of a "pretty" gun that goes out on the easy hunts where it won't get bashed up.

And then maybe get a Magnum in say 300 or 338 in case you decide you want to hunt Moose or something and figure you want a little more punch. Certainly nothing wrong with the 7x57 in those regaurds.

Back in its early years the most natural next step up from the 7x57 was an 8mm. Still a good choice IMO, I think you should consider trying a 325 wsm.

Hard to beat a 22-250 for varminting.

Have fun with your choice, most importantly is to get what YOU want..

The 338 win mag and 416 rem mag will handle any big game in the world.I used my 338 for deer hunting last 20 years shot 81 deer with 81 shots.

I would choose the 338 win mag and the 416 rem mag as my two big guns.I have even shot 81 deer with 81 shots with my 338.

Get a Thompson Center Encore and these 3 barrels
223 Remington
375 H&H or 338 or 35 Whelan, or 9.3x62 or 405 WCF, or 45-70, or 450 Marlin.

and then get a Remington M870 12 gauge.

You could actually shoot a 12 gauge Encore but why when an 870 cost the same as a Encore barrel.

I screwed that up I meant these 2 barrels.

You could do the same thing for more money in a Dakota Traveler, HS Precision Take down, Sauer 202 take down, or my choice Blaser R93.

If your only going to limit yourself to those rifles, then you might as well buy the best.

I stumbled onto a never fired Ruger M77 Mark II in 6mm Remington. Beautiful wood and the trigger is even nice and crisp. So the varmint rifle is on hand. Anyone have any recommended loads?