Beware the man with one rifle, he knows how to use it.

[swampthing]

Funny to see this post as I recently was just thinking about this! When I was younger and could only afford one rifle, I knew it VERY well. I killed plenty of game with one rifle and always knew my holdovers, load data and handling the rifle was second nature. Now that I am older and richer, I have to slam the door on my safes to keep rifles from falling out! Every time I grab a rifle now I have to look for notes on sight in, ballistics, load data and such. Just a few weeks back I sold off a few rifles and will try to concentrate on one rifle per year, mastering it. I have a weak spot for new guns so I will see how this goes! I am a believer of the "beware of the man with one gun" though!

 

[Wapiti151]

I agree with some others, I think it’s all about confidence, and you only get confidence from shooting. Those with one rifle, are probably VERY confident with that rifle...as it’s the only one they shoot. I have a ton of rifles, but I don’t love them all equally...the ones I love the most get played with the most, and I’m most confident with those rifles because of the trigger time on them. I’d be far more worried about a guy with 50 rifles who shoots a lot, than I would of a dude with one rifle that sits in the closet and collects dust.

 

[TX_Diver]

So what’s the rifle?....

Seriously! This whole thread with no mention of what rifle, caliber, etc.

 

[Tmac]

Do you think they can execute better in the moment of truth with multiple rifles or better with one rifle they are married to? I use mine for coyotes in the off season. Hunting coyotes will for sure tighten your groups lol! Those dang things are so much smaller and move so much faster than you think! Successful predator hunters are strait killers. I agree with shooting a lot and being comfortable behind the trigger regardless of the rifle but I can’t say I think they are just as deadly with multiple weapons as they would be with one. I have my turret positions memorized for every distance to 600. After that distance I have to refer to my Kestrel. I can’t say doing that with multiple rifles would be easy.. more often then not big deer simply don’t give you enough time to fiddle around and figure your solution to make the shot. I practice ranging, kestrel reference, implementation on the turret and shooting in a step by step program. With this one rifle my shots beyond 600 take 31 seconds from start to finish. When I started it was nearly two full minutes to complete this program. My whole life besides work though is dedicated to mule deer hunting. I’m a freak and I realize most people are not this way.

Not sure as my sample size is pretty small. But in my experience, the few I’ve been around execute with multiple rifles equally well. Generally the rifles are of 1-2 similar types, or at least with very similar triggers. Myself, I have some 25|06, 270, 280’s I use fairly interchangeable with loads that have very similar dope to 400. I only shoot the 280 past 400.

One guy I am thinking of does equally well with his 3 primary bolt guns, is deadly with both his AR’s. He also uses his Glock 40 to take head shots on cow elk and also to harvest his Black Bear to 100 ish yards or so. I can’t hold a candle to him and I shoot much better than most, within my range limits. His favorite is a 300 WM, he does have it memorized to 800 or so, which makes him fastest with that gun, but no more accurate.

I am often guilty of hunting Coyotes with my Deer/Elk rifle, but do use a dedicated varmint rifle in 221 Fireball I am good with out to 300 or so. Dropping some Coyotes at 250-300 or so would up the game for the vast majority of hunters I suspect, both one gun and multi gun hunters.

 

[robtattoo]

As posted above, unfortunately 99% of 'one gun guys' buy a box the weekend before season opens, shoot 10 at the range & carry the remainder during hunting season.

The 'one gun guy' I have absolute & utter respect in, is the guy that's been shooting, probably, nothing but core-lokt ammo from his factory m70/700/m77 (what's gun manufacturer's obsession with 'sevens', by the way?), but goes to the range religiously every week & kills a box full. Every week for 10+ years. Mostly that guy is shooting at most 300yds & has no interest in the further berms. THAT guy is going to fill his freezer, give some excess to his bowhunting buddies who.....awwww, bless 'em, and probably donates a load to his church or social group.
THAT guy. That guy is a guy I wanna hunt with.

 

[ThinkLeicaBuck]

I am still looking for that one rifle...

1800 weatherby

 

[ThinkLeicaBuck]

As posted above, unfortunately 99% of 'one gun guys' buy a box the weekend before season opens, shoot 10 at the range & carry the remainder during hunting season.

The 'one gun guy' I have absolute & utter respect in, is the guy that's been shooting, probably, nothing but core-lokt ammo from his factory m70/700/m77 (what's gun manufacturer's obsession with 'sevens', by the way?), but goes to the range religiously every week & kills a box full. Every week for 10+ years. Mostly that guy is shooting at most 300yds & has no interest in the further berms. THAT guy is going to fill his freezer, give some excess to his bowhunting buddies who.....awwww, bless 'em, and probably donates a load to his church or social group.
THAT guy. That guy is a guy I wanna hunt with.

Haha 7’s is right.. wth? I agree man! Gosh a good ole box of core lokts from Walmart and my dads pump 30-06. I love memorie lane

 

[BAKPAKR]

1800 weatherby

If I were right handed, I think I would probably have a Backcountry in 280 AI.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

I would ask the question, do you want to be a master of your rifle? Or a master of marksmanship? you can memorize 1+1=2, but that doesn’t mean you understand why.

7 Ps ring true. Prior proper preparation prevents piss poor performance

 

[hodgeman]

I do almost all of my hunting with one rifle. I own other rifles and a couple of them I shoot technically shoot better with. I just sold a chassis rifle that was the best shooting rifle I've ever owned. But I hated to take it hunting- it felt odd and unnatural and I just never warmed up to it. Conversely, I've got a well worn 300WSM that I've shot a lot and carried even more.

When something has gotta die... I know which one I grab.

 

[prm]

I agree with the premise that practicing with only one rifle is likely to produce better results. That applies to most of us who do not put in the time to be proficient with more. Having said that, hunting really isn't that difficult most of the time. The harder the situation, the less time to think, the more the results of mastering one system will be revealed.

 

[ChrisAU]

The problem is mechanical things break. Had it happen with my #1 this past deer season. It led to a flurry of rifle buying lol.

 

[5MilesBack]

I didn't have more than one rifle until later in life, and that was after I gave up rifle hunting for the most part and took up bowhunting. Now I have several rifles, a few shotguns, handguns, and a couple ML's.......yet I still hunt with a bow all the time. Oh well, at least they're all worth more than I paid for them......while they sit in the safe. Some of them make it to the range every now and then, and they still hit the gongs when they're aimed that way.

 

[Trogon]

Most guys with one rifle cant shoot for shit.

 

[SIontheHunt]

while I agree with the premise, are you one rifle guys shooting squirrels and rabbits with your 7SAUMs? If you hunt in a lot of different situations you would be best served with multiple guns that are fit for the task. A sledge hammer can pound in finishing nails but that doesn't make it the right tool for the job. For big game it boils down to optics more than rifle/caliber. As many have said and proven 6.5 to 338 is going to work for antelope to grizzly bear. A rifle with a lower power optic for whitetails and hogs in the thick southern forest and a higher power optic for open country, rimfire for varmints and small game. maybe a semiauto for defense/larger varmints. Even that feels too practical.

As for me, I prescribe to Larry Potterfield's point of view. How many guns does one man need? well maybe just one more...

 

[ecsn7d]

What most folks finding to be their “one gun” for big game hunting? What’s the one you gravitate to get the job done and are very comfortable with?

 

[BCsteve]

"Beware of the man with only one rifle, he probably doesn't have enough interest in firearms to take the time to shoot it accurately"

 

[JeffRaines]

I believe in it.

No doubt there are guys out there who own multiple rifles and know how to shoot very well... but for every one of those guys, there are multiple guys out there who buy and chase “the next big thing”, spending way too much time researching cartridges and running calculations vs actually going out shooting and hunting.

Not only does this cost them time, ability, and money - but those things together also cost them OPPORTUNITY. The money they waste chasing the next big thing could be spent on tags or gas, the time could be better spent on scouting, and ultimately the ability costs them shot opportunities. Instead of being out shooting at distances from field positions they’re busy tinkering with different loads and bullets - while it’s still shooting it’s usually never from field positions.

Again, some guys are able to do it all and do it well. Not knocking those guys at all, but for the average joe they’d be better off buying one or two rifles tops and focusing on those... really on just one, and having a second similar setup for a backup.

 

[wyosam]

"Two is one -one is none."

Always have a backup rifle ready to go during hunting season.

And train seriously with both of them.

Yep, a backup is good. I’m going to trim my stable down a little. I built a really nice hunting rifle this winter. After my first trip to the range with it, I ordered parts to build it a sister. First was a 280ai. Waffled quite a bit between that and a 6.5-284 (already have another tikka with a heavy target barrel chambered in that one). So # 2 will be a carbon barrel for that one, and the same Mesa stock. #2 will wear the heavy barrel in the off-season for range fun. #1 will wear a 6Dasher barrel in the off season. That gives me a lot of shots a year on rifles that fit and feel the same.

My backup will be a seamless switch, and guests will get a hell of a nice loaner.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tdot]

I agree with the theory... sorta. Built my one gun last year and started selling off the rest. Realized I wanted a backup, so I'm building up a very similar gun this year, to maintain familiarity. Like the idea of having lighter and heavier calibers, so I made each gun a switch barrel... apparently I don't agree with the one gun approach.