Wbb
I too like at least one gun in the slot between .204/.223 and .308. Either a .243, .257 roberts, .250-3000 savage, .25-06, 6.5x55, .260 rem, something like that. Right now mine is the .25-06 (and I have a couple .243s for that matter as well, and a 6.5x55, and a .303 Brit) Something for whitetails that kicks less than .308, and thus can be put in a very light rifle, and has equal or better PBR. Other than that, your lineup looks great.
As you know, in a concurrent thread in rifles, we are discussing simplifying, with a focus on hunting, and in my analysis which resulted in me being able to convince myself to part with 6 or more hunting rifles, I have narrowed it down to essentially 10 north american centerfire rifles in 8 calibers, plus 1 as-yet-unobtained Africa-only caliber for the future, for a total of eleven centerfires to cover all game worldwide in all conditions & terrain. But this EXCLUDES rimfires, shotguns, and other categories, so obviously I'm not nearly down as simple as I ultimately want to be.
However, I was able to gather a little more clarity as to why I think I need so many rifles for different north american hunting niches (right or wrong), and here's how it breaks down, AFTER the simplification
(again, this excludes milsurps, some of which are great for hunting, and excludes handguns, shotguns, combo guns, rimfires, & air rifles, and excludes the vaporware africa rifle also). As you can see, rifles are ranked 1-10 (actually A-J), roughly in order of muzzle energy and thus general game weight range they can take down cleanly/ethically, and the game categories represent the species I am interested in, and grouped by similar body weight & overall toughness of critter:
A. .
223#1, 1 in 12 HB (NEF), 40-45 gr: (1) Small Varmints [at long range]
B. .
243#1, HB 1 in 10 (Custom M98), 55-70 gr: (1) Small Varmints, and (2) Coyote/Beaver
C.
.223#2, 1 in 9 (AR15), 64 gr powerpoint to 68 gr bthp: (1) Small Varmints, (2) Coyote/Beaver, (3) Pronghorn, and (4) Defense vs Human Predators (herein, "DVHP")
D.
.243#2, 1 in 10 (NEF), 85-95 gr: (1) Coyote/Beaver, (2) Pronghorn, (3) Sheep & Goats, (4) Whitetails, and (5) DVHP.
E.
.25-'06, (Howa), 117 gr: (1) Coyote/Beaver, (2) Pronghorn, (3) Sheep & Goats, (4) Whitetail, (5) Mulies, (6) Black Bear, and (7) DVHP
F.
.303 Brit (SMLE), 150 gr: *Specialty Rifle* for vehicle carry - pretty much ONLY for shots at (1) Coyote/Beaver, (2) Wild Hogs, and (3) DVHP when out & about and otherwise unarmed but in need of real firepower. But is in a power range that would work well for many species without being overkill.
G.
.454 Casull & .45 Colt, iron-sighted, 240-260 gr (Rossi Puma 92) - also a *Specialty Rifle* for a variety of game (depending on how loaded): when a light rifle for a looooong hike is needed, for (1) Whitetail, (2) Mulies, (3) Black Bear, (4) Wild Hogs & Caribou, (5) Elk, and (6) DVHP.
H.
.308 Win (AR10), 165-180 gr, depending: (1) Black Bear, (2) Wild Hogs & Caribou, (3) Elk, (4) Moose, and (5) DVHP
I. .
35 Whelen, 250 gr: (1) Wild Hogs & Caribou, (2) Elk, (3) Moose, (4) Brown Bear, and (5) African (Plains) Game
J.
.45-70 Gov't (Marlin 1895), level 2 loadings, 350-500 gr: (1) Moose, (2) Brown Bear, (3) African Game, and (4) Backup All-purpose hunter.
So, as you can see, the things to notice are...
-the .25-06 is the most versatile, with .454 casull and .303 brit in second place in versatility. Actually, the .308 would tie for the most versatile if I included for it whitetails & mulies, but I'm not too keen on recoil and don't deem it necessary; and besides, my .308 is an EBR, and thus in certain states prohibited for hunting - and it's not a precision rifle. 3rd place for versatility is a 3-way tie between .243, .308, and .35 Whelen. P.S. I have another .308 turnbolt but it's slated for sale as one of the 6!
-I end up with 3 rifles (plus rimfires) for small varmints, 5 for coyote/beaver (medium nuisance species), 3 for Pronghorn, 3 for Sheep & Goats, 3 for Mulies, 4 for Black Bear, 4 for Wild Hogs & Caribou, 3 for Elk, 3 for Moose, 2 for Brown Bear (& polar bear), and 2 for african game (will be 3 when I add the .458 Lott or a .416
). So, it's a pretty nice balance in terms of being able to grab at least 3 rifles for most any single species, then ask the locals which of the 3 they have most luck with when I get there, or otherwise look at terrain, etc., for the best rifle choice among the 3. Or if it's a multi-species hunt, pick the one that fits best. About the only thing I question in my list is whether the .308 is sufficent for moose, or would the .35 whelen be the minumum...regardless, the whelen would be the *primary* if I went after moose.
OK, as we knew, I'm insane.
I'm gonna try to eliminate .243 or .25-06, one or the other, probably .25-06. Actually, what I need to do is sub out 6.5x55 for both .25-06 and .243 - that eliminates a caliber but still leaves me one real good goldilocks caliber. Probably eliminate the .454 too, at least as a hunting rifle.
Don't even get me started on rimfires (I dare ya!).
Hey Jack, why do you use a .30-30 for mulies and a .308 for whitetails, when mulies are ordinarily in more open plains areas whereas whitetail are in typically more densely wooded areas? Plus mulies tend to be a tad bigger - so aren't those 2 calibers reversed of what they should be? Or do you not hunt whitetail?
Oh yeah, for backup protection, .45 colt or .357 mag revo for puma/hog/feral dog/black bears, and .454 casull revo for brownies.