What is your minimum rifle battery?

My list is a little weird but would work, even in Alaska:
1. 22lr, I like lever actions so a slick operating Henry is my choice.
2. 357mag, like I said, I like lever actions and short bbl Winchester or Marlin can bring down lots of game and it is a handy and very reliable dense woods or brush gun. Besides you can also carry a revolver like a GP100 or my choice of a S&W 686+ and the revolver and rifle can share ammo like the cowboys do. Of course, you could go full cowboy and opt for a single action revolver like the overbuilt Varquero. Of course those out there who think bigger, you could substitute .44mag or .45LC.
3. .223, AR15 platform is my choice for higher capacity if encountering a pack of wolves but a nice bolt action would work too.
4. .308 or 30.06 in a bolt action for bigger game. A nice .270 would also work. I think a Savage with an Accutrigger and the best scope you can afford would do the trick.
I would feel pretty safe and well heeled if I had to go with the rifles listed above.
 
You could get away with three very easily. A 22lr, 12guage shotgun, 270 Winchester. Jack O'Connor killed everything from coyotes to grizzly bears and moose and lots of them with the 270.
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I got to the discussion late, but I agree with Mystro. The variety of these three choices sufficiently covers the critters that you'll be aiming at.
 
Ha! I did this for years and years and never wished I had anything else:

.22 LR
12 gauge
7mm Rem Mag


The 7mm Rem Mag could be interchanged with a .270, .30-06, or .300 Win Mag. There are tradeoffs for each, but they would be acceptable.

If you wanted a little more oomph, I could see substituting a .22WMR for the .22 LR.

If you wanted a little less oomph, I could also see substituting a 20 gauge for the 12 gauge.

I say keep it simple and short. If you have too many, then you frequently end up with the wrong gun in your hand.
 
My grandfather was a Depression era hunter/fisherman and my mother reported the family partially living off game he shot and fish he caught during those troubled economic times. He was never a "gun enthusiast" in the least but I was always impressed with the utility of the three firearms that he possessed and used often, for everything and anything worth hunting in North America. All three were apparently purchased in the early fifties and included the following: a single-shot, Remington Model 514, bolt-action, .22 rf rifle; a Remington Model 760 "Gamemaster", pump-action rifle, chambered in 30-06 Springfield (a gun I have owned since the late sixties and which has taken more than a few whitetails. My grandfather had a Lyman 4x scope on it but I've always had a Williams "FoolProof" receiver sight on it) and a Remington Model 870 "Wingmaster", pump-action shotgun, chambered in 12 gauge (a gun now owned by one of my brothers).
I would argue that these three guns are everything you'd ever need to hunt any game successfully with in North America. My grandfather would never comprehend why I "needed" more (in my case, many more :o) guns than he made do with. Of course, he'd never understand the concept of "catch and release" fishing either...:eek:
 
.223 for basic hunting
.308 for more experienced such as longer range shooting
.30 06 for more impact on heavy targets(i.e. bear)
300 win when you absolutely need something dead in one shot, this is for big game hunting

my personal preferred round is 308, and for that i use sierra gameking
 
My choices

If I had to have 3 I would pick

AR-15 .223
A good bolt action 308
Lever action 45-70

If I could add a 4th

a 300 win

good luck

Jay
 
If necessary, for centerfire rifles, I could live with a .243 Win, bolt action with a good 3-9x Leupold VX-2 and a reloading outfit, an assortment of bullets, cases, primers and a couple of powders.

However, I don't have to. :D
 
I can do all I need with a .22 LR, .30-30, and a .308. If necessary I could drop the .30-30, I just don't want to.
 
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