Thoughts on one rifle?

[TaperPin]

I know it's not the sexy option these days, but a .30-06 with a 26" barrel scoots pretty good. I never understood why that's not more popular, when 26" .300WM's are so prevalent.

I was looking at a vintage factory Remington 721 with a 26” 30-06 barrel and thought the same thing.

My favorite rifle this year has a mid weight 28” barrel and hasn’t been hard to carry and keep the muzzle out of the dirt.

 

[JPW13]

I play this game almost daily and it's resulted in waaaaaay more rifles and indecision than less - so I hope this thread can help get me down to JUST ONE ... or maybe TWO?...

My thought on having one rifle is that it should meet these criteria:

• Widely available factory ammo – Easy to find and cost-effective.
• Reloading flexibility – Balanced efficiency and performance.
• Capable for most North American hunting – From whitetail to elk with strong external ballistics.
• Manageable recoil – Because shot placement matters more than raw energy.

But then I start worrying about practice and barrel life and having to have only one rifle to play with - and what if something goest wrong? I'd need a back-up. So then I start thinking if I had two it would give me:

• Extended range capability – A high-performance cartridge extends ethical hunting distances while maintaining familiar ballistics.
• Preserving barrel life – A practice rifle saves wear on my primary hunting rifle.
• Managing recoil for long sessions – A lower-recoiling rifle allows me to train more without excessive fatigue.
• Reloading efficiency – Sharing bullets simplifies logistics (and gives me a chance to learn the longer range ballistics of the primary hunting rifle and shorter distances with the practice rifle)

So that leads me to two rifles being the answer for 2 main reasons:

• A practical rifle for high-volume practice
• A high-performance hunting rifle that shoots the same bullets.

But then I get stuck at the next step. What pair?

.308 Win + .300 WSM
7mm-08 + 7mm PRC
6.5 Creed + 6.5 PRC
.223 + .22 Creedmoor

To name a few rabbit holes I've gone down...anyone know THE answer? LOL

 

[wind gypsy]

I could likely live with one hunting rifle but not one rifle entirely. A sporter in 6.5 creed and a similarly configured 223 could cover an awful lot.

 

[wind gypsy]

My old ass has finally accepted the "one woman" concept and you wanna talk about having only one rifle? I think not!

You're talking about instead of 0 women right? Definitely not an option with rifles.. Multiple women, now that sounds like torture.

 

[KenLee]

You're talking about instead of 0 women right? Definitely not an option with rifles.. Multiple women, now that sounds like torture.

I never claimed to take the easy or smart route.