Best all around bush gun (rifle or shotgun)

i would use my winny 94 in 30-30
short - light enough to carry and effective enough with 170 grain modern ammo
stone dead reliable
easy to carry with empty chamber and loaded mag - one sweep of the lever and u are ready to go

the 12 guage is nice but lacks range and is heavy fully loaded
 
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Not to start another thread thought this is about a hunting rifle not defense .After reading think i will go with a 30/30 marlin for deer hunting up north bye Bancroft .CT has them with date stap 2013 that would be a H if im right .had 1 out and seemed to cycle fine sorry it is a tread about self defense for bears
 
I built an ideal bush rifle using a 20" Weatherby carbine in 308 (5 shots, with Irons) with a McMillian pistol grip stock and Magpul folding stock. The idea was compact. I put a 1 x 4 illuminated Millet scope (I have it on the EE right now as my Midland has now replaced my need for a bush rifle and moving forward with another project.

Another ideal bush rifle is my Marlin 30-30 (6 shots), my H&R 30-30 with heavier loads. The bush gun, IMHO, has to be one that is versatile in use, heavy enough to down a marauding animal but also capable for use as a competent hunting rifle. It should be short, have irons sights and capable of quickly chambering a round and shooting straight.

After that, then it is just any old rifle. My perfect camp rifle, to be honest, is my 303. It has the battle sights for very quick shooting and the flip up tang. It also has 10 rounds in that clip. Not so good as a bush rifle as it is a little long and the wood is too damn nice for a camp/bush rifle yet. My goto is my Midland 30-06. It's as basic as a rifle gets, but very accurate, a hard hitting round and very reliable. It has decent irons on it too. Again, too long as a bush rifle. Following that would be my Parker Hale Safari, again in 30-06.
 
kamlooky said:
Lots to consider.
Open country or bush?
The biggest thing is how fast can you load what you decide to use.
I sure like the idea of a 35 caliber.
Hence my BLR81 in 358win. Two mags full.
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Perhaps, you missed the OP's opening line in the thread? "Best all around bush gun (rifle or shotgun)" Why worry about open country then?

I agree with the choice of a lever gun. Pick your cartridge of choice and have at it. A short barreled .44 Mag. would be very compact, portable, and effective at short range.
 
"...and shorter is better for me..." Not if you're an FNG. Mind you, a 20" or so 12 guage with rifle sights and slugs is what you need. Don't expect to defend anybody from a big kitty or Yogi at under 100 yards though. You'll never be fast enough.
 
I'll voice the minority opinion, and say I haven't found short barreled rifles or shotguns to be appreciably faster handling than a 24" barreled bolt rifle. A 28" barreled double shotgun is a pretty effective bird gun in thick cover, and I doubt many gunners would consider themselves handicapped by it, but the overall length is the same as for a 24" bolt rifle.

I haven't found my Ruger International to be appreciably handier than a full length rifle, though it is lighter. I have found that short rifles are easier to point in the wrong direction, and seem to lack the natural pointing qualities of a longer gun.

As far as rate of fire goes, I would be willing to bet that I could keep a pretty close race using a well tuned Mauser to any lever action, for AIMED fire.

FWIW, if I were out in BC or the Yukon where there was a real danger of tripping over a griz, the rifle in my hands would be a bolt action .375 H&H with a full length barrel and open sights.
 


I love my Ruger 44 carbine. Around 6lb and 37" IIRC (pretty much identical size to a 10/22). Handles nice, and its very nice to carry around. One in the chamber, and four in the tube, cycles everything from 180-300 grains with no issues (currently using 300 grain XTP's). Recoil is super light, and follow up shots are very quick because it is a gas operated semi.
 
The bush across this country is not simply a willow choked jungle without any breaks. The land is dotted by lakes, which provide the opportunity to spot game at long range along shorelines. Power lines crisscross the landscape, and game animals make use of these so that they can move more easily, so they can graze on grass, and so they can more easily see approaching danger. You don't have to travel very far in the bush before you run into open stretches of muskeg, taiga, or tundra. In some areas, eskers or rock outcrops provide the viewer with wide open vistas. In other areas, fires or commercial cutting opens wide stretches of land.

The point is that the bush hunter is better served with a rifle than a shotgun, and for the record, that rifle is best if it can reach out to a quarter mile. But because the hunter can find himself in a situation where the action might be close and fast, a rifle that handles easily and quickly has the advantage. A short barrel alone isn't the full answer. For the rifle to handle well, it must have balance. If the barrel is too short, with too light a contour, it will feel clubby, and prove to be slow and difficult to hold on target unsupported. A short barrel must have a heavier contour if it is to balance as well as a light contour long barrel, so just whacking that 24" tube off at 16" might not produce the desirable results you envisioned.

A scope should be low power, with a wide field of view. Magnification makes it easier to see a distant target, but is a disadvantage for close work. A low power variable would seem to provide the best answer, but its not the only answer. I have done some credible shooting on game sized targets beyond 300 yards with a 2.5X scope; after all, the primary benefit the scope has over irons is not it's magnification, but the fact that it puts the target and the aiming point on the same focal plane.

I was brought up on bolt actions, so the bolt gun for me will always be the top choice. But there are all sorts of actions that are suitable for the bush hunter, from bolt to lever, to pump, to auto-loader, there is no one right answer. But IMHO, you severely limit yourself by choosing a rifle/cartridge combination that's only effective to 150 yards, just because you hunt in bush country.
 
Boomer said:
The bush across this country is not simply a willow choked jungle without any breaks. The land is dotted by lakes, which provide the opportunity to spot game at long range along shorelines. Power lines crisscross the landscape, and game animals make use of these so that they can move more easily, so they can graze on grass, and so they can more easily see approaching danger. You don't have to travel very far in the bush before you run into open stretches of muskeg, taiga, or tundra. In some areas, eskers or rock outcrops provide the viewer with wide open vistas. In other areas, fires or commercial cutting opens wide stretches of land.

The point is that the bush hunter is better served with a rifle than a shotgun, and for the record, that rifle is best if it can reach out to a quarter mile. But because the hunter can find himself in a situation where the action might be close and fast, a rifle that handles easily and quickly has the advantage. A short barrel alone isn't the full answer. For the rifle to handle well, it must have balance. If the barrel is too short, with too light a contour, it will feel clubby, and prove to be slow and difficult to hold on target unsupported. A short barrel must have a heavier contour if it is to balance as well as a light contour long barrel, so just whacking that 24" tube off at 16" might not produce the desirable results you envisioned.

A scope should be low power, with a wide field of view. Magnification makes it easier to see a distant target, but is a disadvantage for close work. A low power variable would seem to provide the best answer, but its not the only answer. I have done some credible shooting on game sized targets beyond 300 yards with a 2.5X scope; after all, the primary benefit the scope has over irons is not it's magnification, but the fact that it puts the target and the aiming point on the same focal plane.

I was brought up on bolt actions, so the bolt gun for me will always be the top choice. But there are all sorts of actions that are suitable for the bush hunter, from bolt to lever, to pump, to auto-loader, there is no one right answer. But IMHO, you severely limit yourself by choosing a rifle/cartridge combination that's only effective to 150 yards, just because you hunt in bush country.
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Agreed but he has stated he isn't hunting, he is looking for something handy to "discourage" unfriendly critters, which I would say won't be taking place 400 yards away across a lake.
 
Finn Aagard mentioned in a couple of articles how his Winchester M70 .375 never felt right again after he chopped the barrel from 25" to 22", and he got rid of it shortly afterwards. Also interesting to note that the PH's of Africa, who do face dangerous game in thick cover on a regular basis use either doubles or large bore bolt rifles with longish barrels... no stubby lever actions or pump shotguns there.
 
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