The 3 Hunting Rifle Battery Thread

[Andy54Hawken]

orygun,
I hope your .30-06 gets better soon ... Nothing worse that a "sick" rifle to a true rifleman..
Andy

 

[Mister Bisley]

I'd have to go two rifles and a pistol...Ruger 10/22, Ruger M77 Hawkeye in .338 win mag and a Ruger Blackhawk Bisley in .45lc

I likes me some Ruger.

 

[JRuby]

My old marlin model 81dl not fancy but I have had it since I shot small bore in 4h.
My FN mauser in 7x57 and my 9.3x62 mauser. Honorable mention goes to my model 1100 shotgun. I would choose my model 28 357. With those I could hunt anything I wanted and be happy.

 

[orygun]

orygun,
I hope your .30-06 gets better soon ... Nothing worse that a "sick" rifle to a true rifleman..
Andy

Thanks, Andy.

For the record it's not "sick". It's just getting a little "PO" type love.

 

[U8395279]

Every forum has to have the "What 3 rifles would you pick for your hunting rifle battery" thread. I'm not sure why its always 3, but for tradition and the sake of brevity, we'll stick to 3. What 3 rifles do you or would you have to do all of your favorite hunting?

I only hunt for rockchucks, coyotes and deer with a rifle, so my needs are fairly simple. But, being a complete rifle nut, I could think of hundreds of combinations!

...........

What I would want:

Winchester 1885 Low Wall in 22 Hornet as a general kick around rifle

Winchester M70 Featherweight in 257 Roberts for nicer weather deer hunting

Winchester M70 Featherweight Stainless in 270 Winchester, bedded in a McMillan Edge, for when its nasty out

Both the 22 Hornet and 257 Roberts are very old and outdated cartridges. Not much in the way of selection of ammo for them these days. Are you perhaps a reloader? If not, I would definitely advise against them.

My 3 main hunting rifles were in calibers:

223 Remington
243 Winchester
270 Winchester

It sounds like they would cover anything that you would like to hunt just fine. The .243 is quite popular for hunting blacktails in western Oregon.
.

 

[No_Regerts]

Both the 22 Hornet and 257 Roberts are very old and outdated cartridges. Not much in the way of selection of ammo for them these days. Are you perhaps a reloader? If not, I would definitely advise against them.

My 3 main hunting rifles were in calibers:

223 Remington
243 Winchester
270 Winchester

It sounds like they would cover anything that you would like to hunt just fine. The .243 is quite popular for hunting blacktails in western Oregon.
.

I am an oddball cartridge guy and have to reload to fuel them. My reload bench is therapeutic.

In all actuality and in a practical sense, my picks make NO sense. Anything that shoots the hornet will likely be available in 223 with a lot more performance. The 257 Bob is best in a long action where someone would get more out of a 25-06 in the same action. The 243 with its faster twist will do anything a Bob will do up to 100 grs in a short action and quarter bores don't make a whole lot of sense compared to the 270 when shooting bullets over 110 grs.

But I love me some variety and I LOVE classic cartridges.

 

[JRuby]

I am an oddball cartridge guy and have to reload to fuel them. My reload bench is therapeutic.

In all actuality and in a practical sense, my picks make NO sense. Anything that shoots the hornet will likely be available in 223 with a lot more performance. The 257 Bob is best in a long action where someone would get more out of a 25-06 in the same action. The 243 with its faster twist will do anything a Bob will do up to 100 grs in a short action and quarter bores don't make a whole lot of sense compared to the 270 when shooting bullets over 110 grs.

But I love me some variety and I LOVE classic cartridges.

I am a great fan of the 257 Robert's and think it is underrated as is the old swede. I would gladly hunt with either of those with a good load for deer.

 

[No_Regerts]

I am a great fan of the 257 Robert's and think it is underrated as is the old swede. I would gladly hunt with either of those with a good load for deer.

I stupidly sold a Ruger M77 MkII Ultralight in 257 Roberts with a Leupold FXII 4x. I used this rifle loaded with 115gr Nosler Partitions as my timber deer rifle. Absolutely dumped 2x3 blacktail with it.

 

[slingshot1943]

First guns I ever bought.
1906 Win 22
308 Win model 88
12 ga model 97 Win.

for many years they were pretty much all I used.

 

[3MTA3]

I stupidly sold a Ruger M77 MkII Ultralight in 257 Roberts with a Leupold FXII 4x. I used this rifle loaded with 115gr Nosler Partitions as my timber deer rifle. Absolutely dumped 2x3 blacktail with it.

I have one of those! Only difference is I have a 2x7 Leupold on it. Every once in a while I think about selling it for something else, but I know I'd regret it.

 

[No_Regerts]

I have one of those! Only difference is I have a 2x7 Leupold on it. Every once in a while I think about selling it for something else, but I know I'd regret it.

Awesome little rifle. I like handy rifles like this. I also had my eye on an M70 Classic Compact in 7mm-08 but they were discontinued.

 

[snarlingdog]

17hmr for small game.
270 for deer
7mm for elk

That's what I use now. But I also love my 30-06 too

 

[Ura-Ki]

Three Gun Battery, Hummm! SO many to pick from! Right now if I had to go I would say my Savage 111 Bolt with new 1/8 twist wyld chamber 22 in barrel, My Tikka Super Varmint in .30/06 ( my Nasty conditions, High Mt Rifle) and As always, my Commercial Mauser in .375 Wetherby Mag!
Yesterday I would have said my 97 Winchester take down, My NRA 03 Springer Target in .30/06 and the .375mag
Tomorrow it will be my CG 63 in 6.5X55 Swede, My M77 Hawkeye in .338 win mag, and.....yup, you guessed it, the .375 mag

 

[Capin JRo]

22lr, Marlin model 60 for small game. Older model with the longer barrel, shoots straight.

308win, Revolution bolt action. This handles my big game and has for the 20 years it was given to me by my dad and used by him for 15 yeas before that.

308win, H&R handi rifle. What can I say I love the 308win. I just added this it is lighter and more compact than my revaluation and I have a 223 barrel as well.

 

[Rocklock]

.32 for the little stuff, .58 for the serious stuff, 45-70 Marlin for the really serious stuff.

 

[jsparks747]

what I want:
Barrett 98B in 6.5mm Creedmoor for an all around good gun
Mossberg MVP LC in .308 for small to medium game
Tikka T3x in 300 win mag for long rang shots

 

[mhinagoya]

22 lr (Anschutz or CZ 452 bolt action)
25-06 or .270
375 H&H

 

[etrain16]

Well, not a hunter, but I thought it would be interesting to consider the OP's question, who knows, maybe someday I'll find myself out hunting and have to make a decision.

I did a very little bit of small game hunting (grouse, squirrel, rabbit) in Eastern OR many years ago, which we used a .22 bolt action for. If I were to do that again, I would probably, based on my current guns, choose my Ruger American Rimfire in .22lr - great little lightweight and accurate bolt gun. I could also be happy with my Marlin 7000, Marlin 60 or 10/22.

For something larger, I'd be forced to go semi-auto at the moment - either an AR in .223 or .308 But I'm looking at getting a bolt in .308, and a Savage Model 11 is high on the list. I sold off my Gunsite Scout, or that would be a consideration too.

I suppose in a pinch, if I needed a larger cal bolt gun I could pull out the ol' Mosin

 

[eightyeight mag]

17hmr small game
.308 win deer
.300wsm elk

 

[MrMillspecer]

I would grab my.

Winchester mod 70 in 30/06 good for yotes to moose
Remington 870 magnum 12 ga. Any and all birds.
CZ 452 American in .22 lr. Small game. Try packing 500 rounds of 12 ga.

Or the Remington 6mm
AR 15
And the single six .22/.22 mag or 10/22

Or 30/30
An Ar15
And the Buckmark or Mk1 or Remington Sportmaster, all .22lr.

Most likely option one if forced to pick.