If you could only own ONE bolt action rifle ? ... not a troll thread

DAJA said:
The intent of the thread was not about WANTING to have one gun, it was what for whatever reason you could only have one. Reason doesn't matter.... could be anything from a irons only milsurp.. a fav. hunting rifle.... to a custom rig.

Its an interesting range of possibilities.

Maybe we are just a little too spoiled in this country to imagine it.
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The reason for having only one changes the answer. If it were because of economic hardship I could safely eliminate anything needed for large or dangerous game, anything more than a few miles from home, and since target shooting is more expensive than local hunting I'd best write off anything like that. Most rifles are cheap compared to the costs of shooting a meaningful amount, and nearly all of them are pocket change compared to the cost of hunting as anything other than a local. In this case I'd probably just keep my old M70 7mm STW that Ted Gaillard built for me since I already have it and sell everything else to buy groceries. Having a pile of guns that I couldn't afford to hunt or shoot would be pointless.

If the reason was due to legal restrictions the answer changes to the finest switch-barrel I could find, with a rather large collection being exported and liquidated to pay for it. Its quite a swing from one extreme to the other but both are valid depending on the reason for only having one.
 
blasted_saber said:
How high is your horse? Or how large is your ego? Just wondering?
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There is nothing "high horse" or egotistical about my post, I stated my choice based on my experience and why it makes sense to me. I also stated why a couple others don't make sense to me, but allowed that limited to certain locales that they were probably more than adequate...........I just suggested that the 308/303 crowd expand their horizons a touch considering the variety and sizes of game found world wide and fantasize a smidgeon............again nothing egotistical about it.
Perhaps it was the suggestion that there is a whole world beyond Ontario's borders that tweaked your ire............
 
c-fbmi said:
There is nothing "high horse" or egotistical about my post, I stated my choice based on my experience and why it makes sense to me. I also stated why a couple others don't make sense to me, but allowed that limited to certain locales that they were probably more than adequate...........I just suggested that the 308/303 crowd expand their horizons a touch considering the variety and sizes of game found world wide and fantasize a smidgeon............again nothing egotistical about it.
Perhaps it was the suggestion that there is a whole world beyond Ontario's borders that tweaked your ire............
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Well, I for one, took absolutely no offence to your border reference. However, I would still like you to retract that remark so that I might resume my gravity free existence.
 
It would be a calibre that had widely available factory ammo. So I'd go with either a .308 or a 30-06 (preferred). And the rifle would be scoped but also have iron sights.
 
DAJA said:
Don't know if I buy the "different era" part completely. Its certainly a different era regarding elephants but wouldn't this also suggest guys are not REALLY learning their craft and rigs today too? I agree due to all kinds of reasons you might not be able to practice to the same degree for this purpose but I also think lots of hunters are not "shooters" today.

Back to that old saying.... beware the man with but one gun. Obviously suggests a guy who really learns what he's doing with what he has can be very effective.

No doubt in an ideal world a 7mm or .303 is not the perfect choice for elephants but what your example tells me is we at least equally need to LEARN to be effective instead of just PURCHASING to be effective.
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Well, you're banned, but I will respond anyhow.

I wholeheartedly suggest that most people are not learning their craft today in the same way that men like Bell did. You simply cannot equal the experience that you could get in the early 20th Century by joining the British military or simply packing your trunk and heading into the barely regulated game fields of Africa. Or the game fields of North America either. There was more room and fewer people in the old days and a person could traipse the countryside hunting and shooting. Try, for example, taking your rifle out for a walk in many jurisdictions nowadays and doing some impromptu shooting. Just doesn't fly.

The interesting play on the "beware the man with one rifle" is aptly put by Mike Venturino - "Beware the man with one rifle...he may not have enough interest to learn to use it properly".
 
Hands down, it would be my 30-06 built on the mauser 98 action and receiver, open sights, tuned to 165 gr pills. I have two of them and bar none, I have yet to see a similar quality crafting and machining tolerances than on those. Their irons shoot true and are fantastic! 30-06 can be found in any corner in North America!
 
358 BLR said:
Well, I for one, took absolutely no offence to your border reference. However, I would still like you to retract that remark so that I might resume my gravity free existence.
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I'm afraid 358 BLR, that gravity has hit Alberta like a sledgehammer with the oil downturn and the recent election outcome...................I doubt retracting my observation would again set you free to fly about "sans gravity"
 
For me a 7mm-08 is fine. With full powder I can shoot moose, black bear, elk, deer, cougar, wolf, at decent ranges (100-200y) and can get managed recoil rounds to shoot smaller critters.
 
Savage model 10 in .308 like the precision model which comes with 20" barrel accustock and accu trigger. Only mod would be the excellent 10 rnd mags from Northern Rebublic.

That or a Barrett 50 bmg lol
 
My first choice would likely be my old Husqvarna (commercial FN98 Mauser) in 30-06 which will certainly do everything in North America and with proper bullet selection, everything in Africa and India...with the possible exception of the big cats.

In .308 my choice would probably be an L42 ... a handy well balanced rifle, not too heavy, 10 round magazine and scope cammed to 1000 meters...

I considered my Savage 99 in 308, but have had extraction issues with factory ammo....so that let the Savage out of the running.
 
Lee Enfield said:
My first choice would likely be my old Husqvarna (commercial FN98 Mauser) in 30-06 which will certainly do everything in North America and with proper bullet selection, everything in Africa and India...with the possible exception of the big cats.

In .308 my choice would probably be an L42 ... a handy well balanced rifle, not too heavy, 10 round magazine and scope cammed to 1000 meters...

I considered my Savage 99 in 308, but have had extraction issues with factory ammo....so that let the Savage out of the running.
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:)Good choice. When my Dad passed away, I inherited his



A Husqvarna model 4000 light weight, and in 30-06. It 'got the call' a few years back for a Mule Deer hunt on draw in Alberta where I was guided by my Daughter & Son In Law.



Looks as though it will be handed down to one of my Granddaughters when I'm finished with it as most other family members are lefties.
 
rem 700 .308

most parts availability
most after market parts
easy to work on
can fill multiple roles/configurations from hunter to tactical or long range
reliable
accurate
cheap
off the shelf match and hunting ammo
 
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