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

Heavy, but LOVE my SIG SSG3000 .308. I'm a relative novice but can shoot 1/2 MOA consistently with my hand loads. Always take to range. If not that, Mosin sniper.
 
The most versatile rifle, if you could only own one, would be a switch barrel rifle, with 4 bolt bodies, or 4 interchangeable bolt heads to handle .223, .30/06, .300 magnum, and Rigby/Weatherby sized case heads. With this rig, the variety of centerfire chamberings are only limited by your imagination, and except that you would have but a single receiver, you could still shoot any centerfire cartridge you wished.
 
I have the switch barrels in my T/C Contender collection so have that covered.

My choice if I could only have one bolt rifle is it would be in a 375 cal. cartridge.

My favorite bolt action rifles are my Rem 700 LSS (black/gray laminate stainless steel) my favorite 375 cal cartridge is the 375RUM.

My 700 LSS in 375RUM has a shortened to 21" barrel loaded with 260gr Accubonds @ 3020fps I would not hesitate to hunt game when conditions are right out to 500 yards when I pop the scope off and mount my rear ghost ring sight I load the rifle with 350gr bullets @ 2450fps gives cloverleaf 50 yard groups.

With my aging eyes and the 350gr bullets I wouldn't hesitate to take shots on game with this combo out to 200 yards.

I figure when I am old and can't handle the recoil anymore that I will just download my rounds to 375 H&H/Ruger levels.

Oh yeah there is something awesome about a fast/accurate 375 cal rifle/cartridge combo.

Finished_21_Inch_Rem_700_LSS_in_375RUM_Dec_2009_002.jpg


Finished_21_Inch_Rem_700_LSS_in_375RUM_Dec_2009_009.jpg
 
Easy choice Brno Zg47 7x57 Mauser inherited my dad's old one built in 58 second gun he owned beautiful shape shoots straight and long for the rare big game hunt you need something with a little more punch but I mostly deer hunt and it has never failed me smooth action it's a dream machine
 
Camp Cook is bang-on with a .375 of some sort. If I'm going to be restricted to one rifle, it needs to work on everything I've ever hunted or ever will hunt. It's gotta kill small stuff without destroying it, big stuff no matter how big, it's gotta be reasonably pedestrian in velocity so as to not wreck meat on a close shot, have a flat enough trajectory to reach out to 400 yards when it has to, and on top of all this it needs to have enough penetration and authority to have some actual "stopping power" if things ever go south on a hunt for things that bite or stomp. A long time ago, a lot of guys smarter than me used to say that meant a .375 H&H. I think they're still pretty smart.
 
Camp Cook is bang-on with a .375 of some sort. If I'm going to be restricted to one rifle, it needs to work on everything I've ever hunted or ever will hunt. It's gotta kill small stuff without destroying it, big stuff no matter how big, it's gotta be reasonably pedestrian in velocity so as to not wreck meat on a close shot, have a flat enough trajectory to reach out to 400 yards when it has to, and on top of all this it needs to have enough penetration and authority to have some actual "stopping power" if things ever go south on a hunt for things that bite or stomp. A long time ago, a lot of guys smarter than me used to say that meant a .375 H&H. I think they're still pretty smart.

+1 ^. If you insist upon being limited to a single-barrel, single-chambering gun, then this is the only reasonable answer. Do you really want to be limited for the rest of your life by choosing a .308 or .303 or .257 ? The deal of a lifetime comes up on an African safari, or an Alaskan Brown Bear hunt, or an Australian buffalo cull, or whatever...and you are forced to either say "Gee, thanks, but no..." or at best "Wellllll...if I wait for the perfect shot presentation, and if everything else is perfect, and I have another guy to back me up (with a proper rifle!) and if I do my part, this should probably work...probably...maybe..."
 
Camp Cook is bang-on with a .375 of some sort. If I'm going to be restricted to one rifle, it needs to work on everything I've ever hunted or ever will hunt. It's gotta kill small stuff without destroying it, big stuff no matter how big, it's gotta be reasonably pedestrian in velocity so as to not wreck meat on a close shot, have a flat enough trajectory to reach out to 400 yards when it has to, and on top of all this it needs to have enough penetration and authority to have some actual "stopping power" if things ever go south on a hunt for things that bite or stomp. A long time ago, a lot of guys smarter than me used to say that meant a .375 H&H. I think they're still pretty smart.
+2 ...
 
The most versatile rifle, if you could only own one, would be a switch barrel rifle, with 4 bolt bodies, or 4 interchangeable bolt heads to handle .223, .30/06, .300 magnum, and Rigby/Weatherby sized case heads. With this rig, the variety of centerfire chamberings are only limited by your imagination, and except that you would have but a single receiver, you could still shoot any centerfire cartridge you wished.

That's a lot of action length for a 223 but I bet the extra weight would keep it nice and steady in the gopher patch.
 
probably the last rifle I would sell would be a .375H&H Sako "mannlicher" style stock carbine I have.
 
New Model 70 Winchester in 7mm wsm, probably an Extreme Weather. It would last, it would be incredibly reliable, it would shoot very smoothly, it would be surprisingly accurate, it would serve as a mountain rifle if necessary. If I could not buy this I would buy its clone, the Montana Rifle Company Extreme X2. Both these almost identical rifles made by different companies are an excellent value as factory guns.
 
My father-in-law gave me my hunting rifle. It's a .30-06 built off a K98k Gebirgstruppen action. Would've been nice to have in its original form, but it's great as it is. Very light and handy.
 
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