Who subscribes to the 'one rifle' lifestyle?

I respect the concept of a one-gun man. My Dad was sort if like that although he was very good with anything he picked up.

However, I just enjoy guns too much to limit myself to one. AR15, Garand, Sako A7, Marlin1894, M1 Carbine, and after shooting a Mosin Nagant I now gave a hankering for one if those too.

If God meant for us to shoot just one gun he wouldn't have made so many fine firearms designers!
 
If I was to have only one of any type of gun it would probably be a shotgun. I literally can't imagine buying more than a second shotgun. I have one 12GA and I can't fathom what I couldn't do with it. It shoots skeet and trap ok, I could hunt small game and birds with it, and anything on up to deer. It would be useful as a SD gun for home and I don't need to but I could use it for bears too.

I can see myself with 2 shotguns, 4-5 rifles, and 8-10 handguns. But I admit I could probably do everything I needed with 2 of each, not counting .22s.

What can I say: I'm a hobbyist.
 
In the beginning, there was a .30-06 and all was good. We practiced on targets, then woodchucks and crows and got pretty darned good with it, but there weren't many deer around, so we sold it and bought a .22-250 and life was good, and shot some deer with it.

Then, after missing a few good-sized bucks due to brush deflection, got another .30-06, but kept the .22-250 for targets, turkey shoots, and varmints, but it was hard to see misses on woodchucks in the grass like we could with the '06 and wind deflection over 200 yards was terrible.

I got a 6mm Remington Varmint and life was good, until I had to carry it several miles when hunting. It was deadly to varmints and was a killer to carry.

Moral of the story: Buy a .243 Win and use it for everything, until you get sick of having only one rifle/caliber and can afford another rifle.
 
There was a long period when Uncle Sugar cramped my style with small dorms on base and temporary apartments off base. A Rem 788 in 308 with a budget 4X scope was it. I picked it because it was the the single cheapest gun in the store that was suitable for Mulies, and I thought the relationship would be short.

The outfit turned out to be a tack driver that embarrassed others with expensive outfits at the range. Two simple screws and the stock and 18" barreled action fit side by side in small places ... no need to check a rifle Uncle Sugar didn't know about into the armory. It was my one and only for 9 years.
 
I don't know if I necessarily subscribe, but money and time being what it is, that's pretty much how it is. I bought my .308 over two years ago now, and when I did, I did it knowing that I wanted to at least try to go all the way with it; hunt, target, reload. It has served its purpose with 4 whitetail and about a dozen coyotes under it's belt, while shooting golf balls at 300 yards during the summer.

I bought a .223 AR15 'varmint rig', but honestly, I think it's been out of the safe twice in the last 6 months. I enjoy shooting the .308 so much I could probably let the AR go. The only reason it was purchased in the first place was the thought that I could buy a carbine upper and have a kit of sorts; flat top heavy barrel scoped and some kind of piston or DI 16". Haven't gotten around to the second half of that equation yet.
 
I believe in having one rifle for EACH purpose:

Short range target shooting (under 300 yards)
Long range target shooting (over 300 yards)
Small game/varmint hunting rifle
Large game hunting rifle
Carbine for defense
Rifle for sunny days
Rifle for days when I eat eggs for breakfast...you get the picture

While some rifles may be able to handle all these things relatively well, I prefer to have a rifle (or any tool for any application in life for that matter) that is best suited for the task at hand. I am not there yet as I am relatively young and money is not unlimited, but I do not ever see me having one non-22 rifle.
 
I was just thinking about this and my Grandpa.He was as much of a "one rifle" man as anyone I've known. His father-in-law gave him a Win 94 .30WCF for a wedding present (1916) as that is what he used for hunting for the next 40 years. In fact, he was a one cartridge per hunt guy, too. However, even he had an old 7mm Spanish Mauser stashed in the closet, and bought my dad a used Savage .30-06 for his 16th birthday ($35!). That was all during the Depression.

Rifles are like magnets, once you have one rifle it seems to attract others to your safe/closet/cabinet sooner or later. My dad hunted mostly with his .308 Rem 760. Somewhere along the line my brain diverted and I ended up with a bunch of rifles.
 
Since I haven't hunted deer for more than a decade I've sold all but one of my center-fire rifles.

The one I can't let go of is my 1980 Win. model 94 trapper .30-30. Oddly enough I bought it after I'd already given up hunting. Just had to have it.
 
Since one is none, I have two to have one. A Romanian Kalashnikov because it always fires, a lot. A 30/30 Winchester for beauty and to ride the high country.
 
Browning Leveraction Rifle

One of the take-down pig hunt laminates in Stainless, .308, Scout scope mount...

...because I need an excuse for a new gun!
 

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Believe if your stuck with one rifle you certainly can know it better,however many rifles are really interessting to have around.Shooting small game with a 30/06 has it's problems,and shooting large game with .22 has even more.
 
If I had a ton of money a double rifle/drilling could work for the kind of hunting I do

but the thing is for a drilling with two centrefire barrels and one shotgun barrel + hella expensive qd scope mounts and it being made to fit me I wouldn't dare take it to the woods.

hard to decide on a calibre to, rimmed cartridge naturally, flat shooting and stopping power?
 
I've been down to a single rifle on several occasions, every now and then I sell off whatever I have and start over. I sold all but a couple of my long arms at a gun-show not long ago...

What I usually keep is something short and handy like a BLR or maybe a bolt action that is reasonably light.

Right now I'm down to two centerfire guns and I'm trying to sell one of them to finance something I've never had before.

The one that I'm keeping this time is something long and unhandy - a 243 with a 24" heavy barrel.

The one I'm selling is an unfired M1A Scout Squad. By the time I got it delivered, I'd already gotten interested in something else.

I'm bad about that.
 
Two ways to be happy with only owning "one rifle":

Handload and also cast bullets with a good variety of molds and jacketed bullets. Choose a cartridge that really will Do It All, like a .280rem AI, .30-06, or since you handload; a wildcat like one of heavy Gibbs ctgs, a .30/284 or .338/284.

If you have a .357mag handgun, could choose a .35 Whelen AI and since you handload, your rifle could shoot handgun bullets as well.

Probably would want a really well-made rifle, like one with a H-S Precision or McMillan stock and a cut-rifled quality barrel with short oal chamber.


The other option is to own only the one "rifle" but switchbarrel it with different barrel contours, chamberings, stocks and even scopes to fit your need at the time.

Pretty hard to beat a .30-06, .30-06AI or .30 Gibbs for jacketed bullet selection range and variety of bullet molds available. Team one of these with a .32 H&R or .32 Long handgun and you have a nice combo.
 
I would like to think that when I save up enough money for a Weatherby Vanguard s2 in 30-06 and put some decent grass on it, then it will be the last "hunting rifle" I'll ever have to buy. It should be good for anything I could ever see myself hunting from elk to coyotes. That being said, it definitely won't be the last centerfire rifle I buy, as I already own 6 and am always looking for something new and different.
 
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