Two rifles

[parsons_12b]

If a person wanted to get two rifles in the same cartridge one set up for general hunting and one set up as a varmint/tactical rig. What be be the best options in both rifles and caliber. let the ideas fly.


J.P.

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[Wallygator]

Have you considered a DPMS LR-308 with a different upper for hunting? With the .308 cartridge you can load lighter weight bullets for varmints, I just shoot the 168gr at them, they still go "poof"


wg

 

[parsons_12b]

not a bad idea I was thinking two bolt guns a but a semi auto with two uppers not a bad idea

 

[the4thshake]

The cartridges that come to mind are .243, .260 and 7mm-08. What do you hunt and where? How far do you want to shoot? Do you handload? We could get a bit more specific if we had some more info.

 

[parsons_12b]

Shake you are right I will be more clear. I'm looking for a hunting rifle for deer and elk mostly close ranges inside of 200 yards if i cant get that close there is no need to take a shot. I want something that is light weight and easy to carry throught the brush here in the valley. The other rifle I'm looking for is something more like I hate to use the term sniper rifle but something similiar to that. I would like to be able to confidiantly hit man sized targets out to 600 yards and also use it for yotes and rock chucks over east. I currently do not have the ability to reload so having ammo that is easy to get off the shelf is important. I'm open to just about any ideas.

 

[the4thshake]

Since you don't reload I will have to go with the good old .308. The choice of ammo alone trumps any ballistic advantage of a less popular chambering.

How about a Stevens 200 for a light hunting rig. You won't cry when you bang it all up in the woods. For the other rig you can go with a Savage 10fp. Both are quite a bang for your buck.
Spend the extra cash on some good clear optics.

 

[Wallygator]

Since you don't reload I will have to go with the good old .308. The choice of ammo alone trumps any ballistic advantage of a less popular chambering.

How about a Stevens 200 for a light hunting rig. You won't cry when you bang it all up in the woods. For the other rig you can go with a Savage 10fp. Both are quite a bang for your buck.
Spend the extra cash on some good clear optics.

Great advice, the Savage's are hard to beat for the price. You could also look around for a used savage99 for the hunting rifle

 

[speelyei]

here's another option:
pick your caliber. I am a .308 fan as well...
go to gunbroker and order a heavy barreled action in .308 (or whatever caliber you like) for $410 +s/h
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=152223054

go to stockys stocks or similiar, and pick a stock, like a B&C for $203 +s/h
http://www.stockysstocks.com/servlet/the-110/Bell-Carlson-tactical-700/Detail

There's your tactical rifle. Add scope, rings, and a 20 MOA base, and you're good to 1000yds! pick a scope with mil-dot reticle and target turrets and away you go

For a sporter, you can do the same thing, but pick a sporter barrel contour and a monte carlo stock. get standard rings and bases, and a 3x9var.

another screaming deal is the weatherby Vanguard synthetic

here's a varminter in .308

here's a .30-06

 

[parsons_12b]

I have been doing some research and I'm leaning twoard either 308 or 270 now I know that they don't make many heavy barreled 270's but if I bought a savage replacing the barrel should not be too hard.

 

[the4thshake]

There isn't much in the way of factory loaded target ammo for the .270. If you wanted a long action, a 30-06 would give you a much better selection of ammo to choose from.

Are you sure you only want one caliber? Two would give you much more versatility. You will most likely be shooting different loads in each gun anyway.

 

[parsons_12b]

the biggest reason I want to keep the calibers the same is simplicity. I know that you would likely have different loads in different rifles but in a SHTF situation you could atleast get by with the same ammo.

 

[codeman583]

seems to me this will be a 30-06 win... i'm sure about 20 people will come up with something different....

the 30-06 "can" be loaded down to 110 grains but for the sake of accuracy at distances stay in the 125-150 grain range, then with all the bullets out there for these you can go clear up to 220 Grainers for Moose.

Ammo is truely everywhere for these. There bullets will easily go from coyote to moose/bear, and in a lot of long range competitions this is a caliber still being used... along with all the hard to find hybrids.

back to my small block chevy example in another post, though a 6mm ackley improved may in someone's mind be the best all around bullet, the chance of you finding that on the shelf either here in the valley, or out in a sporting goods shop in eastern OR is going to be tough... stick with the older calibers 30-06, 243, 270, 308, and etc.

once you said "Elk" I knew this would be a good fit... and FYI this is the same thing I am going for. going to get a hogue overmolded for my pre-64 model 70, and use it for Varmints, and game.... other calibers will be available sure, but this will be one that will always be with me in a day of shooting. for you with having even an inkling of elk in mind your going to want a 30 cal round or more... there is a lot of discussion on the 270, however it is a borderline caliber for elk.

 

[codeman583]

the biggest reason I want to keep the calibers the same is simplicity. I know that you would likely have different loads in different rifles but in a SHTF situation you could atleast get by with the same ammo.

plus you would have a backup gun that can shoot your ammo stockpile from the other..... your smarter then you look

 

[unionguy]

.308.

Boston T. Party's "Gun Bible" should, IMHO, be read by every firearms owner. He convinced me of the .308 for your exact question...it works well as a hunting/bolt gun and as a battle rifle...with great options available.

Then, the training I received at Appleseed convinced me of the need to be well trained in the actual rifle you're shooting...so I'm scaling down my collection to just a few variants of firearms rather than many. Since every rifle has its own ergonomics, variability in accuracy, etc...knowing how to shoot a few rifles very well outweighed having lots of different ones that I don't shoot as often and are therefore less familiar with.

 

[parsons_12b]

I agree that the 270 is not the iseal elk caliber but in my own experiance I have shot two cows both inside 200 yards with my dads 270. Neither animal ran more than 20 yards after being hit. I agree that 3006 is a good all around cartridge but it has never realy gave me a warm fuzzy I don't know why but is just does not.

 

[codeman583]

I agree that the 270 is not the iseal elk caliber but in my own experiance I have shot two cows both inside 200 yards with my dads 270. Neither animal ran more than 20 yards after being hit. I agree that 3006 is a good all around cartridge but it has never realy gave me a warm fuzzy I don't know why but is just does not.

I agree.... it doesn't have the luster and mystique of the WSM's or the 308.... they are very popular right now... those and the .243.... but the .243 is not much of an elk round..... I think most would agree.

when I told my brother I chose a 30-06 he was like "why? you could get more velocity out of a 300 win mag, 300 WSM, 270 WSM would be perfect or...?"

the response is: can you easily get ammo for that caliber? sure in bigger areas, but back out east it will be sparse, and with the 30-06 you have more room for bigger bullets, and loads then the .308....

Just my Opinion obviously... the 308, 243, 270, and in some cases 300 win mag are ultra easy to find... the thing I wanted was ability to shoot cheap surplus ammo if need be, ramp up to handloads for the bigger, and smaller ends of the game spectrum, and still be able to shoot the cheap surplus stuff.

I'd say get a nice .243 and the Weatherby Vanguard in 300 WSM on here for $350 with a scope but then again, that would defeat the purpose.

if you hadn't have said elk I would have easily said get a .243 great for varmints, great for dear, and if you want to pop a bear and run for your life be my guest.

 

[torpedoman]

combo varmint/elk my choice would be a 25-06 in fact that's what i built for mine.

 

[Wallygator]

You are welcome to try my .308's out if you would like. I typically use 168bthp's for varmints and targets. I use to hunt with 165's to keep the ballistics close, but now I use the 165's in a savage 99 to hunt with.


wg