Rifle Battery/Caliber Selection

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I'm a little puzzled at the moment with rifle caliber selections, and I hope y'all can help. I've been a serious handgun shooter for most of my (youngish) life, but as of last year I took the plunge and after careful consideration, bought a Savage Euro Classic in .308, and had the Savage Custom Shop make me the same rifle in .223. I've since added a .243 Savage Euro Classic, and a .22 Savage Mark II Classic to my collection.

So, I have a .22 for plinking/squirrels, a .223 for varmints/coyotes, a .243 for deer, and a .308 for deer/pig/whatever (I love my .308).

I feel happy with my choices, but of course we all have that nagging feeling in the back of our minds that "the collection is incomplete!" If I buy another rifle, I'm pretty set on buying another Savage Euro Classic - I love the Monte Carlo stock, iron sights, and Savage action/barrel nut configuration. SHOULD I buy another rifle?

Potential Calibers:

Production: 22-250 REM, .270 WIN, 30-06 SPFLD

Custom Shop: 7mm-08 REM, 25-06 REM, 260 REM, 300 WIN MAG.

The "production" calibers are easily available, I would need to have the Savage custom shop make me the other calibers for a reasonable fee.

Whaddya think? Leave it as is, or get another (or 2, or 3)? I have a nice tax refund coming soon, so I wanted to gather opinions.
 
Never pass up the chance to get another rifle.

Based on your present calibers and the choices you mentioned, I would recommend the 270 to round out your list.
 
Kraig, I didn't want to mention it in my post, but I am strongly leaning towards the 270.

I'm very interested in hearing what other's opinions are, so keep em' coming!
 
Rifle battery/Caliber Selection

You already have a .308, you will not gain any capability with the .270. I would move on up to the .300 Mag or .338 Mag. The will give you better range and
better choice for bear, moose etc. Either would give you better game range.:)
 
Well with that collection it sounds to me as you need a WSM in there. Get yourself something new and different like a .270 WSSM or something like that. Great guns for alot of different shooting situations. The euro classic is a nice gun as well. Its the only Savage rifle made that I would own as Im just not a Savage guy but those euro classics are very sharp looking
 
As stated earlier, the .270 is awfully close to your .308 (which is IMHO a great round). The same goes with the 30-06. My hunting rifle selection is similar to yours with the exception of manufacturers. I would recommend something in the .338 WinMag. You would then be covered for all North American game including dangerous game. It's a proven round and hard hitting out beyond my comfort zone as far as distance goes. I happen to have a Browning BAR chambered for the round, regardless the manufacturer have a good recoil pad installed (I like the Pachmayr Decelerator) and you should be good to go. I've never needed much of an excuse to purchase another firearm be it a pistol, or a rifle so we could keep on going. The only empty slot I have in the dark recesses of my mind would be a 25-06, but that's just me. It would fill the gap that you picked the .243 for. Enjoy your newfound addiction. :D
 
I totally agree on the addiction part! My SO is always telling me that I have too many guns - thankfully, now that I am doing a lot of rifle shooting and all my Savages look almost exactly the same, she thinks I have settled down and really like one of my guns... ;)
 
Hmm...

two recommendations for the Winchester magnums.

Between the .300 and the .338, which would be a better choice given my current choice of calibers?
 
I'd sell the 243. With a 308 and 223 i don't see a need for it. You can do 99% of anything you need to do with those 2. You don't have a true long range gun and a 270 would fill that role, but I'd pass on over the 270 and go straight to the 7mm Rem mag if it were my money.

Or consider a levergun. No gun collection is really complete without one.
 
There are several rules one must follow in buying guns:
No.1 They don't eat (maybe ammo)
No.2 Always buy never sell, trades yes(always up)
No.3 You can't trust a used gun hunting - so get a new one.
 
Good start on the rifle collection.
I agree with others that there is some redundancy in the mix.
Caliber selection is closely overlapping and all in bolt-actions.
The .243 is probably the one I'd let go for a different caliber or action.

Jumping up to a .300 Win.Mag. or .338 Win.Mag. on the top end is going in the right direction, but are you going to really use it?
I once was told that everything in North America can be hunted with a .308 and a .45-70...so, I got one of each. :)
Remington 700 POLICE & a Marlin 1895, respectively.

I also agree a lever-action would be good.
That could be the .45-70.

If you don't need a BIG caliber, but want some 'reach' in a different action, the suggestion of the 7mm Rem.Mag. is a fine choice.
It doesn't kick as hard as the .300 Win.Mag., and in a Browning BAR MkII autoloading action, the 7mm Rem.Mag. is a nice gun.
The rifle is very well made and the gas-operation soaks up some of the recoil, making for a soft-shooting rifle.
I chose one of those, too. Glad I did! It's my sweetheart rifle.

If you want to stay with a classic cartridge in a bolt-action, maybe Savage has a .375 H&H for you.
I personally went for a 700 in .375 ULTRA after the .338 I had didn't satisfy my want for something that gave a satisfying kickback. :D
I found out at the same range session that my Beretta 1201FP shotgun kicked HARDER with 3-inch slugs than the .375 ULTRA in my rifle.
:eek: HARDER.
So, I now know the shotgun with slugs is my hardest kicking long gun, if that puts recoil into perspective for you.

Hope this helps you find a nice rifle for your tax return! ;)
 
Some gun shops are selling the Weatherby Vanguard rifle pretty reasonably. I bought a new one last week, chambered in .257 Weatherby Magnum, for $299.99. I think this cartridge would fit neatly into your current battery. However, if you plan on shooting it a lot, the Weatherby ammunition is pretty expensive. But since you reload (at least your moniker suggests that you do), you can shoot as cheaply as you can with any other comparable round (just take good care of that precious Norma brass :)).

Of course, I didn't see any hairy-chested cartridges in your inventory. Maybe a .338 Magnum or a .45-70 could fill that gaping void? ;)
 
I would say hands down you need a big magnum. Get the 300 Win Mag and be donw with it. It would be a long range shooter for sure. That is were I would go.
 
Between the .300 & .338, it depends on what you'd want to do with it, which depends on where you are. If you want to tromp around my home state of Alaska to hunt brownies, go with .338, but shoot one first to see if you like the recoil. If you want to reach out for deer further than with your .308, go with .300.

I don't see a lot of brush guns in your list. :D No serious hunter's collection is complete without a .45-70. There are also non-magnum cartridges that will get the job done, like .338 federal or .35 whelen, but you'd have a harder time finding ammo. And if you reload for .44 magnum, there's also .444 marlin.
 
Just wanted to thank all those who replied to my question, and I have decided to add a .260 Remington to my battery.

I'm leaving the medium-bore rifles for later - I have no need for one at the moment.

I really wanted a 6.5x55 SE, but Savage doesn't offer them and even though I'd be reloading, I wanted readily available factory ammo for whatever caliber I picked, and US ammo in the 6.5 Swede is woefully underpowered.

Any final thoughts before I take the plunge?
 
It's your money and your decision so enjoy. If you eventualy want a well rounded rifle battery then you will probably want to add medium and large bore rifles to your collection.
 
Honestly it all depends on where, how and what you hunt, as a target shooter I tend to purchase small accurate calibers never had a need for large calibers biggest I've owned was a 243 which is one of the best deer rifles I've used.
In younger years I hunted eastern white tail deer and took several deer with one round each from my Winchester 70 243 while buddies used the 270 or 30-06. Bullet placement will win every time.;)
 
I think you have low to medium covered. You can add a 6.5 or 7mm to the mix but it wouldn't add any utility.

If you want to be a completest as far as rifles for all types of game you need to add a dangerous game rifle. For North America that would be .338 up to .45.

Look at the .35 Whelen
 
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