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.

 

[wyosam]

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

Seems like those 4 pairs would cover things pretty well. I’m not a mathematician, but I’m pretty sure 4 two-gun solutions is better than 1 one-gun solution. Although, I don’t think any collection of one-gun solutions is complete without a 1/4 bore.


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[MountainSide]

I've shifted to using a Blaser R8 over the past few years, except when sheep hunting. I have a number of barrels, but could probably get by on a 22LR, 223, and 300 win barrels. One stock, with the same trigger and ergonomics, and change the barrel for the intended application. I have thousands of rounds through my 22lr barrel, and then switch to the appropriate barrel when hunting, mostly the 270Win.

The downsides...cost, and the system is on the heavy side, 8.5-10lbs depending on configuration.

 

[Weldor]

I've shifted to using a Blaser R8 over the past few years, except when sheep hunting. I have a number of barrels, but could probably get by on a 22LR, 223, and 300 win barrels. One stock, with the same trigger and ergonomics, and change the barrel for the intended application. I have thousands of rounds through my 22lr barrel, and then switch to the appropriate barrel when hunting, mostly the 270Win.

The downsides...cost, and the system is on the heavy side, 8.5-10lbs depending on configuration.

Nice rifles for sure. Weight is the thing to me. I try to stay around 8 maybe 8-1/2 with optics and suppressor.