The one-rifle hunter

[excaliber]

300 Win Mag for me shooting 200 gr ELD-X's for everything I hunt.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I've been using the same Rem. 700 in 7RM since 1980. Same Leupold scope as well. For elk I use Core-Lokt 175 grain bullets and 150 grain for deer and antelope and anything else like jacks and coyotes.
Bought my wife an identical 700 in .270 in 1983 with a nicer Leupold and still shoots as good as ever. 150 grain bullets for deer and antelope and 150 grain for elk. I always take it as a backup rifle but I have never needed it in 35 years.

 

[stickbowcoop]

I will be if I can decide on a caliber.

 

[juan trueno]

This Collier rifles model 7 in 7-08 is what I use for everything. I’ve got a couple others almost exactly like it from the same guy that are almost indistinguishable one in 308 and one in 257 Roberts. And one of those goes as back up for this one if I’m more than a few hours from home and my son uses the bob or my howa alpine 6.5 when he’s along. So there’s definitely a reason to have them all- but This rifle is just better for some reason so I always use it. I’m going to have to paint it this year. Too much upkeep right now.

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[Burnt Reynolds]

My goal is the one gun solution. I have a love hate relationship with trying new kit. I'm thinking I'm there with my nosler 300wsm.

 

[Rifles And More]

Like most everyone else, I have a pile of rifles. But, I always grab the Tikka 30-06 when it comes time to head out the door. It has worked, taken a beating and just shoots. Until it quits I'll stick with it.

Another oddity:
I can't seem to get away from Sierra Gamekings. Last year I did load development with some 185 Berger bullets, shot lights out. When it came time to go I grabbed the 180 Gamekings again, just couldn't do it. Not this year though, I'm going to switch...maybe.

 

[TwoTikkas]

This Collier rifles model 7 in 7-08 is what I use for everything. I’ve got a couple others almost exactly like it from the same guy that are almost indistinguishable one in 308 and one in 257 Roberts. And one of those goes as back up for this one if I’m more than a few hours from home and my son uses the bob or my howa alpine 6.5 when he’s along. So there’s definitely a reason to have them all- but This rifle is just better for some reason so I always use it. I’m going to have to paint it this year. Too much upkeep right now.

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Nice little rig! I gather you are quite happy with the M7. A gunsmith buddy of mine is currently buying a couple 6.5 Creedmoor reamers,and talking me into a project. I've never owned a M7. Kinda like an itch that needs scratched. What would you tell me is the very best thing about the M7? And the worst. I would value you opinion for sure.

 

[wyodan]

Like most everyone else, I have a pile of rifles. But, I always grab the Tikka 30-06 when it comes time to head out the door. It has worked, taken a beating and just shoots. Until it quits I'll stick with it.

Another oddity:
I can't seem to get away from Sierra Gamekings. Last year I did load development with some 185 Berger bullets, shot lights out. When it came time to go I grabbed the 180 Gamekings again, just couldn't do it. Not this year though, I'm going to switch...maybe.

I always use the Gamekings myself. I've never had one fail me, and all of the 180's out of my Win Mag have been perfect mushrooms when I've been able to find them. I have never seen a need to change bullets.

 

[robtattoo]

I'm very much the opposite of the one gun guy, but in the last couple of years, I've devoted a lot of my range time to working up various loads for my little .358 win. I've got ammunition on hand for everything now from squirrels to grizzlies, just in case I ever choose or need to become a one gun guy! I have complete confidence in this little rascal from my boot toes to 400yds. It's killed a pile of pigs & my biggest buck to date & in all but one case it's been a bang-flop cartridge (the one failure was poor bullet selection on my part)

 

[juan trueno]

Nice little rig! I gather you are quite happy with the M7. A gunsmith buddy of mine is currently buying a couple 6.5 Creedmoor dreamers,and talking me into a project. I've never owned a M7. Kinda like an itch that needs scratched. What would you tell me is the very best thing about the M7? And the worst. I would value you opinion for sure.

I love the model 7 for sure especially with the stainless action available again. I like that it is a half inch shorter and an ounce or two lighter than the short 700, has the same size magwell, and retains the drop floorplate- unlike anything based on the Forbes/ nula though I suppose Barrett could introduce a drop floorplate fieldcraft. Not that I care anymore- but ITs available in short magnum version with wider fees rails larger boltfsce different follower etc. THere are a few lightweight stocks available for it out. The bob is a tight fit but with a fairly minimal size chamber it works fine with the confines of the mag box. Because the trigger is right up against the box there’s nothing to mill out for a Wyatt’s box etc. so you are stuck with the 2.88” ish that it comes from the factory.

For a 308 or 300 savage based cartridges when you aren’t worried about running bullets with a BC of .8 or whatever- it’s outstanding. If you want to be able to run 2.95 inch cartridge overall length- forget it. That said- of course in the creed or something else based around a 300 savage you can shoot long bullets. No issue with 143’s. Plenty of magazine box left. I use a bartlien 2b at 20” which means a 7 1/4 lb all up rifle- but with a smaller tube it’s easy to get your weight below 7 all up. Easy

I add a little more user friendly bolt knob, drill and tap the rear receiver screw to match the front, add a timney, true the bolt face and add an m4 style extractor and because I like the way it feels when you shoot it- i do gretan firing pin and spring. It makes everything else feel like a flintlock.

That stock is a McMillan KS and weighs 24 oz. I think McMillan is making that pattern again and it and the bansner/ high tech specialties stocks are my favorite patterns. The bansner finishes heavier though by 3-5 oz depending on recoil pad of choice and is no longer available. There are several options out there for a 25 oz or so stock though so look them over.

It does everything I need and in the configuration I have them put into they do everything I want as well. And like I say, even following the same basic recipe kind of like guitars I suppose- for whatever reason one really is just it and the others are just “real nice”




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[TwoTikkas]

My smithy buddy isn't real big on the short rear bridge,but it's my rig. They are pretty affordable right now new. Of course Ill shoot the donor,so who knows what might happen there. I'm still on the fence with the whole Creedmoor thing. Since my daughter bought one,I'm warming up to it.

 

[juan trueno]

No magic in the creed for me either. I like it. It’s cheap to load for and shoot but no more so than the 7mm08. I know the short rear bridge on the 7 bothers some folks, but personally I’ve never seen an issue. I’ve got old receiver with only on screw hole for the rear scope mount, I’ve got one old one that’s been drilled and tapped for a second hole and I’ve got a newer one that came with two holes for the scope mounts. The gunnabove has only one screw hole and it’s been rock solid for a long time now all over Alaska Idaho and the Appalachian/ blue ridge. I’d rather carry a 9lb 40” rifle than 7lb rifle that’s 44-46” long. Overall length and balance is a bigger deal to me than anything else when it comes to usability over a wide range of conditions.


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[durangobrad]

I have been a one rifle hunter for the past 3 years. Tikka T3x Lite Stainless in 30-06 with a burris fullfield II 3-9x40.

 

[TauPhi111]

As much as I'd like to be a one rifle hunter, the varied types of big game hunting I do would make it highly impractical. The 24" barreled 30-06 I've been taking out west the past couple years would make doing bear and deer drives in the rhodo and laurel choked mountains of PA a living hell. For that I use a short barreled 358 Win and a Savage 99 in 250-3000. And here in Ohio we cant even use bottlenecked cartridges for deer, so it's either my Rem 870 12 gauge or my Glock 10mm if I want to hunt the firearms season here.

I'm thinking a Barrett Fieldcraft 308 or a 7SAUM build is in my future though, so maybe that will change my outlook

 

[slowelk]

Tikka 30-06. 150gr cor-lok for deer and antelope, 178 eld-x for elk. No need to mess with anything else. I play around with other things, but it's certainly my favorite.

 

[MTarrowflinger]

Kimber Montana in 7mm-08. 145gr Barnes LRX.

 

[sndmn11]

This year is a first year for rifle hunting. The wife chose a 7-08 Weatherby Vanguard, and I chose a 30-06 Vanguard. I think the 7-08 is a sleeper and I would have chosen it if not for a horde of 30-06 ammunition that my step dad has. Both rifles hold under an inch, she is even comfortable enough shooting to keep a 10 shot group at 200 yards within 4", and she has only fired a rifle 83 times now.

 

[Daniel Bybee]

About to simplify things in my house, the wife wants a Tikka t3x lite in 7mm08 and I'm going to go with the Tikka t3x lite in either 308 or 30-06. I just need to figure that out. Ballistically they will do everything we want and more for Arizona and for the states we visit (Idaho,Colorado, and Utah).

 

[Vids]

I have a .308 Winchester Model 88. It was my grandpa's rifle, that's what I started deer hunting with and never needed to buy anything else. All scratched up at this point from 60 years of hunting, not sure if I want to re-finish it or just leave it as is. Sort of cool to think that some of those scratches are from his hunts, and I'd imagine he's pretty happy somewhere knowing his grandson is chasing elk and other critters in the mountains with it.

 

[JFK]

All I hunt with is a 270win. I’ve thought about buying another rifle, but so far can’t justify it. Shooting 130gr factory Barnes ammo and it does everything I need it to.