One rifle you could hand anyone to hunt anything? (Western US)

[Conrad101st]

Sako Finnlight in 7 mag or 300 win mag

 

[Antares]

My loaner is an 18" 6CM Tikka, factory stock, 6x SWFA, bare muzzle, zeroed with factory 108 ELDM.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

This is my maximum wallop loaner.
20” tikka 308, whitebox 168 eldm, Leupold 2.5x, 6 lb 11 oz, 200 yrd check the other night

 

[Plague]

My 6 arc tikka would fit the bill. 21” bartlein fluted 3b with the 223 bolt face opened up. Printed mags. Maven rs1.2 in sportsmatch rings. Still in the factory stock with a vert grip. Waiting on a rokstock lite. Just over 8.5 pounds loaded with a can. My 11 year old spots his impacts 100% of the time from prone. He can comfortably shoot it all day. It’s heavy enough to shoot well easily from field positions. The rifle is terminally effective out past 650 yards in any DA the 107 tmk will stabilize with my 1:8 twist. In most conditions it’s still above 1800 fps out to 750 yards. 5 mils or less elevation dialed to 750 yards in most conditions. I would hand this rifle with my handloads to anyone hunting anything outside of dangerous game with 100% confidence it will perform.

 

[Hondo64d]

6CM/243, but if I didn’t want to listen to people whining about its “too small” I would give them a 270 or 6.5 PRC.

I’d probably have two, a 6 Creedmoor for the masses, and for those that complain it’s not enough gun, a .460 Weatherby.

John

 

[jgilber5]

basic setup but my loaner is a tikka t3x lite .270 win with a nikon BDC 2.5-10 zeroed at 200. Hashes for 3 and 4 with factory 130 gr ttsx. Super easy to hand to someone in any realistic hunting scenario and have them shoot it well. My and my buddies wife have no issues with it either.

 

[coyotekilla]

Im gonna stray from the pack, and i own 4 tikkas... could hand to anyone... that means kids, women, and lefties... that says 1 rifle.

Beretta brx1. Its ambidextrous, accurate and a switch barrel... thought op's point is 1 caliber. Id take it in the 20" 6.5 creed.

I have 1 in 243, that would be my second choice, but with elk in the mix, creed wins. If kids are excluded possibly the 30-06 offering.

 

[rlproctor03]

6.5 prc seekins Havak. It’ll kill anything maybe besides a grizzly. It can be had for under 2k. Easy choice!

 

[WannaBeRambo]

Probably 30-06 with all weather stock and scope with drops engraved on the turret. Suppressed, so it cuts recoil and noise. Since OP is a guide, I wanted to do him a favor by not suggesting a gun that a less experienced shooter might find too much to handle causing him to gut shoot an animal forcing the guide to chase it across two mountain ranges.

So suppressor cutting noise and recoil makes the rifle far more manageable and less intimidating for the client. Even 7mm-08 would do, the idea is a cartridge that can knock them down so they don’t get up yet you can get at Walmart in a pinch. Also, the ammo can be on the cheaper side too if you are hunting close in.

The scope with the drops baked in so the guide can range it say at 400 yds and just glance over to confirm the scope is on “4”, KISS. I’ve seen even experienced hunters forget to dial their drop in the excitement.
Some shooting stick, tripod and Armageddon bag might be good idea, too.

Rifle Begarra or Tikka entry level models.

While people are tempted to bash peoples rifle decisions, not everyone can do all the learning and training necessary due to other commitments. The rifle they bring may even been borrowed for the hunt.
I’m sure the guide is very aware a hunter that misses or is intimidated or otherwise dissatisfied is probably going to tell others.

 

[Jordan Smith]

Probably 30-06…Even 7mm-08 would do, the idea is a cartridge that can knock them down so they don’t get up…

That notion is an old fallacy. Shoulder-fired cartridges don’t reliably knock large game down. Bullet placement and tissue displacement cause game to fall down, though.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

That notion is an old fallacy. Shoulder-fired cartridges don’t reliably knock large game down. Bullet placement and tissue displacement cause game to fall down, though.

yup, I did a big jump in previous decade from 140 gr accubonds from 270/270 wsm at full length barrel speeds where majority of game ran 60-100 yards, skipped right over the standard short action cartridge class and went right on down to little 6.5 grendel in shorter barrels with 123 gr eldm and see the next ~25 animals over 8 seasons to 420 yards with average recovery distance of 11 yards while lots of those from two kids getting their first kills, tells the entire story, bullets matter, not head stamps

shop bullets first, then cartridges that can drive them, then rifle options...in that order, we only hunt in Alberta, nothing else for shooting related stuff, only thing we haven't killed with grendel is an elk, but we don't target them often (I personally don't like them), otherwise moose, muley, whitetail, black bear, wolf, antelope and bighorn sheep have been part of those ~25 animals with grendel 123 eldm's, walk right up to everything and only a few 50 yard runners have occurred

 

[Aussie Dan]

There are countless reasons. Because it’s not a priority to them. Because they don’t have the experience out west or hunting in general to know better. Because they think they know better and don’t. Because they have sentimental attachment to a rifle that is not as capable as something more modern. Because they don’t have enough time prior to the hunt to adequately prepare. Because they are flying across the country or down to Mexico and don’t want to bring a rifle. I could go on.

I do have the conversation. But just because I have the conversation doesn’t mean they will already own what I think they need. And if they don’t, should I expect them to run out and buy it instead?

Let them. It’s their hunt and their choice. But for as often as someone plans to hunt with something like that, very rarely does that last the entire hunt.

Congratulations. That is impressive of you. Not everyone is as experienced or capable.

My entire point here is that I can’t control the Indian. So yes, the arrow is important to me because it’s what I can control.

You’re contradicting yourself. Was it your job to help them be successful or not? What if what they brought simply will not work? There’s plenty of reasons for that to be the case as well.

This has almost nothing to do with my personal preferences. The question is what will work for the most people in the most situations. Not what works best for me.

I definitely think that adding more qualifying questions to your booking system will help a lot with SOME of the issues that you are hoping to alleviate by having a do it all, idiot proof loaner rifle.
suggest some drills, field position practice etc, get the clients themselves to qualify their competency.
Which is also a great idea whether the need for it is a competency issue or whether its a mechanical issue.

As many others have said- a tikka in whatever cartridge you prefer from 243 to 6.5prc (having the option of quality factory ammo is pure gold) will definitely do the job, add in a NF 4-16 atacr or a maven rs1.2 in UM rings and youre pretty much bombproof.