The question is as open as if you had asked "what's a good satisfying dish for a big hungry man?" Too many answers!
I was in a gunshop this weekend, drooling over an odd duck of a rifle: It was a customized Siamese Mauser ('98) that had been custom stocked and rechambered to .45-70. Thinking of how much fun it would be to hotrod a 405 grain jacketed bullet out of that super strong action, I wanted to make him an offer (he had it listed at $1200, but I'll bet I could have had it for $900), so badly. I could see the hogs dropping to it. I could hear the "thwack!" of the bullet striking a bull elk.
Man. Talk about a great concept. And it's a completely different suggestion from every other post here. Weird? Yes. Limitless? No. For one thing, even hotrodded, it's going to suffer from drop issues. But it could easily be loaded up to be a going proposition for a novice at 200 to 250, and for an expert out to 300+, if he chose his shots carefully. (We're not talking about horsepower issues, here-- it's about being able to hit reliably, due to drop and drift.) But it's not out of line as an answer to your question. ("good big game rifle?")
Or consider how nifty some of the sporterized Springfields and Enfields out there are. I rechambered mine to .35 Whelen, and it's the cat's meow. (Any good rifle in that cartridge would be superb for the purposes you mentioned-- even sheep, with the lighter weight bullets.)
Agreed that the M70 Classic is the preferred breed of Winchester.
I was in a gunshop this weekend, drooling over an odd duck of a rifle: It was a customized Siamese Mauser ('98) that had been custom stocked and rechambered to .45-70. Thinking of how much fun it would be to hotrod a 405 grain jacketed bullet out of that super strong action, I wanted to make him an offer (he had it listed at $1200, but I'll bet I could have had it for $900), so badly. I could see the hogs dropping to it. I could hear the "thwack!" of the bullet striking a bull elk.
Man. Talk about a great concept. And it's a completely different suggestion from every other post here. Weird? Yes. Limitless? No. For one thing, even hotrodded, it's going to suffer from drop issues. But it could easily be loaded up to be a going proposition for a novice at 200 to 250, and for an expert out to 300+, if he chose his shots carefully. (We're not talking about horsepower issues, here-- it's about being able to hit reliably, due to drop and drift.) But it's not out of line as an answer to your question. ("good big game rifle?")
Or consider how nifty some of the sporterized Springfields and Enfields out there are. I rechambered mine to .35 Whelen, and it's the cat's meow. (Any good rifle in that cartridge would be superb for the purposes you mentioned-- even sheep, with the lighter weight bullets.)
Agreed that the M70 Classic is the preferred breed of Winchester.