Best all around hunting rifle?

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YOU CAN NOT KILL SOMTHING TOO DEAD,ESPECIALLY IF IT MIGHT EAT YOU.
I have a .308 and consider it a deer rifle.I suppose you could kill a mouse , elk or grizzly with one if you had nothing better and a .243 is not a dangerous cartridge. I live out west and due to the lay of the land , hunting here often involves shooting at ranges in excess of 200 yards and I like a cartridge that hits really hard at longer ranges and this the .375 does.At 200 yards it hits with more energy than the .308 has at the muzzle. I have several rifles and choose which rifle I am going to use based on where and what I am hunting.The poster ask for one rifle for everything everywhere so again I will take the .375 H&H which fires a .235 gr bullet at 3000 fps with 4300 foot lbs of energy and no one can debate the leathality of this round for any game anywhere, maybe this is why it is still a popular cartridge after 100 years.If the poster ask best all around rifle for any game in Arizona I would say probably a 30/06 ( I own three ) but the question was any game anywhere and I really would not hunt big bears with a .243 I will leave hunting dangerous game with .308 family cartridges to the poster from NY
 
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I have owned a fair amount of firearms since my first at age 12. Over the years, due to this and that, life happens, etc, I sold them all. Fast forward about 10 years and I decided I needed to rebuild a solid gun collection of the "staples".
Budget is a consideration now with a wife, kids and bills. ;)
First item I purchased came last year... a used Tikka T3 Lite in .270WIN w/ a basic Leupold 4-12x40.
That should cover anything that I personally would possibly want to shoot at. From hogs to deer to elk.
I think a .30-06 is probably one of the most versatile cartridges ever, but the .270 ain't too shabby either and I got a great price on my rifle. The action and trigger on that Tikka are stellar.

BTW, this is my first post here. Long time lurker, decided to register just to add my $0.00002 worth!
 
Just buy a Browning or a Savage in .308 or .30-06 and be done with it. Not enough ballistics difference between the 2 to matter, though I will say that I have found .30-06 ammo more readily available right now, but don't let that be a basis for your decision. Just flip a coin... You'll be just as well off with one as you would the other.
 
My father has taken that range of game, deer to moose, with his Savage 99 in 300 savage with a lyman peep. But I'm not near the shot he is so I would fall back to another of his rifles. Let's get wild up in here, A Ruger #1 in 416 Rigby. I know, I know, you're thinking way too big fro deer, but I have a 285gr cast bullet load that's a ***** cat and still holds 2 inches at 100yrds. Pleasant to shoot but drops deer DRT. And then of course I have a full house 400gr load that will drop anything on in this hemispere, even a zoo escapee.

Okay, can I type Kitty cat :rolleyes:
 
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Bolt '06, anybody's rifle, but I'd lean towards a classic 70 or some other Mauser derived/controlled feed just cause its trendy. But a 700 would not really be a drawback. I like the old '70 trigger for its simplicity though.

Give it a 22" tube, stainless metal, but coated dark, synthetic stock, with a Leupold fixed 6x, preferably a 6x42.

I'd zero that rascal for a high tech 165 gr slug and sally forth.
 
If you do your hunting before your shooting, the a handloaded 7x57 in a modern rifle like the Ruger M77 MkII would be my choice. It has always been my impression that the average American hunter is over-gunned. But then, I would shoot a prime steer in the fore head rather than through the shoulder also. "Precision" shooting is what hunting should be about.
 
Regarding sights, I like 3-9X Leupold VX 2 or 3. They are clear enough to see game in any hunting conditions I choose and deadly accurate at any reasonable range. The nice thing about them is that they seem to be lighter than many other scopes I've had. The lighter, clearer, tougher and brighter a scope the better!!!

I don't have secondary sights on my big game or varmint hunting rifles, but it's easy enough to add good ones if you feel you must. If you're going to Alaska or any place far from home, bring an extra scope, all sighted in, with Weaver or other detachable mounts. It can save your hunt. Better yet, bring another rifle.

I've already said that I recommend the .30-06 as the best all-around caliber. A Tikka T3 Lite is a great rifle to carry, but I prefer a bit more weight when shooting multiple shots of heavier cartridges than .243 Win, from prone or sitting positions. (I'm almost 70 and am more recoil-sensitive than when younger.)
 
arch308 said:
A good bolt action 30-06 with a good 3x9 scope and back-up iron sights. It's all anybody would ever need.
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Pretty much my take on it as well. If you use a good quality scope I don't see the need for back up irons, I'd probably just take a back up scope as mentioned by Picher as well. Something simple like a fixed 2.5-6X power should work. I've been to Alaska to hunt twice, and hunt some pretty rough country chasing elk and have never had a scope fail on me in the field yet. "Knocking on wood!"

I'd use any of these three below.
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L-R, M70 Extreme Weather .270 Win, M70 FWT .30-06 McMillan Hunters Edge stock, and M70 .338-06 McMillan Hunters Edge stock.

The .338-06 is my favorite of the three but all are capable of taking anything on the North American soil. I'd prefer my .338 for the big stuff with teeth and claws. ;)
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A .30-06 bolt action with IRON SIGHTS. The closest think I have is a nice 1903A3 Smith Corona with a 2 groove Remington barrel.

It is very accurate though a touch heavy.
 
Sold my 30-06, sold my 7mm rem mag, now its my 110 .270 win. This rifle shoots better than you can imagine, even with me firing it, I may take Fathers day and go to range to pick up some tri-pod practice with it.... if its not to dang hot here..;)
 
Best all around hunting rifle

The question in the post was "What is the best all around hunting rifle." Several calibers will do the job but the answer to the "Best all around hunting rifle" is a matter of rifle choice, not caliber. Caliber can be anything of a dozen or more. A well placed shot with a .308, 270, or even a 30-30 is better than a miss with a .458! It also depends on the weather and where you are hunting! If I were hunting in very wet conditions, I would use a stainless steel rifle with a composite stock like a Ruger Model 77( or one of several others). If it was reasonably dry, I would choose a Savage model 99 in 308 or a Winchester Model 94 if the distance of the shooting was not long range. So the answer to the QUESTION is it depends on lots of things! Weather, distance, personal ABILITY, and personal choice. Might as well ask what is the best all around rifle caliber? Many people didn't read or remember the question and tried to answer the rifle caliber question. Chuck Hawks touches on the "the BEST all around rifle" question in one of his posts and it actually was a list of rifles! Best for you might not be the best for me or it might change with different conditions or different hunting situations!
 
It would be between my 7mm Rem Mag or my .308. Both can handle most critter big or small.

I'd top either with a Nikon Monarch.
 
.45-70 if you always hunt brush or are a better hunter, more patient hunter than myself, .308 for everyone else.

I'm gonna toss my hat in the ring for "back up iron sights are 100% not needed". Buy a decent scope and don't worry about it.
 
the a handloaded 7x57 in a modern rifle
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I'm glad someone threw this caliber into this mix. My preference would be a CZ 550 American chambered in the 7x57 Mauser. It was discontinued, but you can still find them around. This is a very popular European hunting cartridge for Moose and most of us know the stories about the elephants taken with it back in the day (not recommended). Loads can be hand tailored to accomadate anything from varmint to elk.
 
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