The general purpose rifle

[Moose83]

In this age of specialized rigs for every niche...does anyone out there still pursue the idea of a general purpose rifle? Something that's not perfect but will work for most of the hunting you do, or that you drag along as you go about your daily life. Jeff Cooper had his scout rifle concept which had some neat ideas, but I think eventually became too narrowly focused on specifics to be truly general purpose. I also think where people live has an affect on what features they want. For me personally...at this point I consider my rss my general purpose rifle. It's relatively short, light, handy and easy to pack around. The 6x swfa is simple and so far reliable. The .223 is cheap and easy to shoot, has long barrel life, and I've proven to myself that it works on game up to moose reliably. At this point the only thing I'd like to add would be a good set of back up iron sights and a wood rokstok lite if I can ever scrape up the cash....lol.

So... anyone else have a rifle they consider general purpose? If so... what features do you look for? We have members here scattered world wide... I'm genuinely curious what others consider general purpose, should make an interesting conversation!

 

[Hoodie]

Tikka Superlite 6.5 CM. Tract Toric 2-10x42 in an ugly DNZ Gamereaper single piece mount.

Boring, tough, and I can't really justify anything else. Only rifle I own at the moment. I've killed an elk and bear with it, but these days I'm pretty much exclusively a blacktail guy.

The only thing I'd probably change is to step down to a .223.

 

[Macintosh]

Yes, I give it considerable thought and pursue it.

Agree 100% that “the answer” in most cases will look different depending on where you live and where/how you mostly hunt, more so than on WHAT you hunt. I would argue that theres very, very, VERY few people that have any use for true ALL purpose utility, that dont have multiple specialized rifles. Just for instance, if you live in wyoming are you really going to agonize about how good your rifle is for hunting in thick timber in northern new england, and potentially make a different choice as a result? I highly doubt it, though if you did I think you’d likely land on a different answer. Everyone has their different subset of hunting style and locations that dictate their requirements and priorities.

For me, I live in northern new england and most of my local rifle hunting is tracking and still hunting in mountainous thick timber and swamps. Shots are +\- never more than 100 yards, and most are under 50 yards. 20-30 yard “take the shot NOW or miss out” situations in extremely dense woods where visibility is severely limited are entirely normal and not at all the exception. So a compact, maneuverable rifle with an extremely wide field of view scope having a very bold reticle is perhaps my biggest requirement. For a rifle to be “general purpose” for me it has to at a minimum be pretty comfortable doing that^, and then I add in whatever other requirements I have for when I travel to hunt. That would be a “nice to have” rather than a “must have” and might not find its way into “general purpose” if I lived elsewhere.

 

[Ferrulewax]

Tikka, 6.5cm (hopefully 6creed soon), rokstock (or lite), swfa 3-9, UM or Sportsmatch rings, suppressed.

 

[justinspicher]

This is a theory for most folks rather than a reality. It makes for good internet discussion.

 

[Deere_Man]

A 22-250 with a good 3-9x40mm scope. A fast twist 1:8 is a bonus, but not necessarily a must have. This will cover from groundhogs to Wapiti.

 

[JCMCUBIC]

I have a working gun that lives on the ATV and is always with me on the farm. I generally throw it in the truck when I'm going to pick something up. Tomorrow I'll be working outdoors and it will be with me. I guess it would be considered my general purpose rifle. I've got a lot more that would work, but it's the one that gets used.

Kimber Montana, .223, SWFA 6x, 20 MOA rail (can't remember make), Seekins Low rings.

 

[Choupique]

anyone else have a rifle they consider general purpose?

For me the constant I always had around was a marlin .30-30 with a 2-7 scope. Good enough for all things that may require a rifle in day to day farm life in Louisiana. Did all the things for me for 20 years.

Last couple years, especially since figuring out a .223 might be ok for shooting deer, its been a 16" AR with a scope. I didnt even take the .30-30 out the safe once I got a suppressor for the AR.

So if somebody told me "hey we're going do stuff that requires a rifle, but I cant tell you what it is until after you pick" id grab the AR. It truly is a do everything rig from varmints to elk to 2 way range work.

 

[Oscillating Ocelot]

By sheer number of animals killed, the my general purpose rifle is an old pre-64 243 that is on its fourth or fifth barrel since my dad built it the first time back in the late 70's. It has been used on everything from prairie dogs to elk.

My new general purpose is a 16-inch 6.5 PRC in a HNT26 chassis, its a pleasure to carry and shoot.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

For years and years, I used my FN action .25-06 for everything. I had 70-grain varmint loads and 117-grain deer loads. I shot the barrel out on that rifle and I have since come to accept that I should use a “more efficient rifle” for varmints and plinking.

 

[Unclecroc]

This fills my need for general purpose. Ruger m77 Hawkeye all weather 25-06. 3.5-10 leupold with a cds cut for 90gr hammers. My one rifle to pursue woodchucks to elk in any conditions.

 

[hunting1]

Guess I am a FUD but mine would be a .308 Kimber Montana and a a quality 3x9/2x10 optic.

 

[Macintosh]

This is a theory for most folks rather than a reality. It makes for good internet discussion.

Do you mean that for most people the actual width of the purposes they need to cover isnt so wide or the needs so specific that “general purpose” has a lot of meaning? If so I agree.

 

[Balderdash]

Tikka 7mm-08. 18-20" 1:8 barrel. Bushy 3-12 LRTS. I'm working on a LH one for myself now. Probably put it in a KRG. I have a 18" .308 Tikka/KRG with a NF 3-10 that I set up for my kids and as a loner. Really handy, really rugged rig. The KRG's are handy for changing fit for various shooters, which we do a lotbof at this stage of the game.

Also have a 18" x bolt SPR and a 20" CA/KRG in 6.5CM set up similar. Great guns at the range and in the field; really not much a guy can't do with them.

 

[43.6N]

Tikka 223
Swfa 3-9
Rokstok

Can compete with it: PRS tac division
Can hunt with it.
Not perfect for any one thing, but won’t hold you back either.

 

[Ferrulewax]

This fills my need for general purpose. Ruger m77 Hawkeye all weather 25-06. 3.5-10 leupold with a cds cut for 90gr hammers. My one rifle to pursue woodchucks to elk in any conditions.
View attachment 1032324

Those bullets have to be going mach 12 coming out of that barrel

 

[Moose83]

This is a theory for most folks rather than a reality. It makes for good internet discussion.

Totally agree its more of a theory than anything else in this day and age... and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't own more than one rifle. But I'm also often struck by the fact that if I would just concentrate on owning and setting up 1 or 2 general purpose rifles it would make life simpler and cheaper in keeping components or loaded ammo on hand and help me to concentrate on actual training/practice rather than chasing the next shiny thing. But as a person truly fascinated by firearms it's really hard....lol.