Opinion: best overall rifle for hunting?

[Dunndm]

I wanna know what everyone thinks is the best overall hunting rifle for Northern America hunting: caliber, barrel size etc

Looking to get a new rifle here fairly soon.


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[Scottyboy]

300 win mag as ammo is readily available most anywhere should you need more or forget to pack when you travel. Can be loaded for the biggest of NA game and also tamed down for smaller critters.

Barrel length of a win mag I believe is best at 26” but more often than not with a production rifle it will be 24”. I use a can when possible/allowed so I shy away from anything longer than 24”.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I have lots of rifles in lots of different calibers but if I had to pick just one of my guns I’d probably keep my Winchester 70 extreme weather 30-06.

 

[Dunndm]

300 win mag as ammo is readily available most anywhere should you need more or forget to pack when you travel. Can be loaded for the biggest of NA game and also tamed down for smaller critters.

Barrel length of a win mag I believe is best at 26” but more often than not with a production rifle it will be 24”. I use a can when possible/allowed so I shy away from anything longer than 24”.

Ive been looking at that exact gun for a while now. How can you “tone it down” to shoot small game?
I currently have a .308 but I sorta just want a new gun hahah


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[hodgeman]

The one you shoot the best... rifle fit is pretty personal and in the era of modern bullets almost anything can be a "one rifle for N. America" proposition.

A 7mag or 300 of some flavor is tough to beat for a one gun solution.

 

[Wilderlife]

.300WM seems to be popular over there.

I used a .308 for years over here, and with great results - Weatherby Fibreguard. Dozens of deer, goats, pigs, assorted small game, and two scrub bulls, all fell to my .308.

In recent years, I wanted for a little more power and range, so I bought a .300WM off a friend of mine an original Sako A7. So far I've shot a few pigs and deer with it over here and it's been fantastic. I'm only loading 150gn bullets as I have lots of them leftover from reloading for me .308. It certainly hits the critters hard!

If I go over to North America or New Zealand for a hunt anytime soon, and I don't bring a bow, I'll bring my .300WM for sure.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

IF you want,.. accuracy, flat, fast and easily controllable recoil, ( without, a Brake ) the .270 WSM or, a 7mm Rem Mag and of course it's gotta be in, a Tikka T3 ! Love my 2, Tikka SS lites,.. a matched pair in .243 win. and .270 WSM. with a 24 inch bbl. Both rifles, weigh about, 7.5 to 7.7 Pounds with, the 4.5 X 14 Burris scopes and steel Burris Zee Rings, Costing about,.. $1,100 each, TOTAL ! IF Recoil bothers you,.. DON'T buy, a .300 Magnum unless, planning on Braking it, as it's NO fun, to shoot 180 - 215 grain Bullets, in one of these Magnum Rifles,.. without a Brake !

 

[Dunndm]

IF you want,.. accuracy, flat, fast and easily controllable recoil, ( without, a Brake ) the .270 WSM or, a 7mm Rem Mag and of course it's gotta be in, a Tikka T3 ! Love my 2, Tikka SS lites,.. a matched pair in .243 win. and .270 WSM. with a 24 inch bbl. Both rifles, weigh about, 7.5 to 7.7 Pounds with, the 4.5 X 14 Burris scopes and steel Burris Zee Rings, Costing about,.. $1,100 each, TOTAL ! IF Recoil bothers you,.. DON'T buy, a .300 Magnum unless, planning on Braking it, as it's NO fun, to shoot 180 - 215 grain Bullets, in one of these Magnum Rifles,.. without a Brake !

I mean it’s going to be used for hunting and once I sight it in I only shoot it about once a month cause ill shot my less powerful rifles when I want to just shoot around. So it’s not going to be a 50 shots a day sorta thing


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[N2TRKYS]

Remington Model Seven SS in 7-08 with 20" barrel. A .308 would be equally as good.

My other favorite is a Remington Model Seven SS in 7 SAUM with a 22" barrel.

Both have Leupold VX3i scopes sitting in Talley lightweight rings. I feed them both Nosler bullets.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

We ( son and myself) Hunt in the Mountains and high Desert country of, Idaho, Utah and Arizona.
Walk, stalk and climb up/ down Mtns about, 2 to 5, miles from, the Truck. Son has, a 7 mm-08 Tikka and I have a .270 WSM. Tikka. I sold my custom built .338 Win Mag as it was a bit too heavy and too much,.. recoil to "practice" with !
Both of us got Elk this year. We practice, "Field positions" and "dial" our scopes out to 700 Yards with, the Rifles that we are going to hunt with. I have, a 22- 250 and a .243 win., they are NOT the same as, using a bigger bore, full power load for "real World", practice, as all Rifles have different,.. POI's, WIND bucking attributes, recoil, trigger pull weight, and cartridge "reach", ( drop ) etc. I "know" my .270 WSM and what she will,.."DO" all the way out, to 700 Yards !
I'm now 72 years old, got my first buck over 55 years ago and have owned, a chit ton of Rifles and Calibers, since.
The best two Cal's, I like today, for a combo of,.. Deer, Elk, Antelope, up to Moose that are still "pleasant" to shoot, I listed for you ( my opinion and what, I USE ). Plus, I ain't carrying more than an 8 pound Rifle and all that Elk meat back to the Truck ! Just MY,.. 2 cents ! ENJOY that,.. .300 Magnum as that's what, most guys think, is necessary to hunt with,.. today !

 

[eamyrick]

I just went through this same thought process and decided to build a custom 280. One rifle go get it all done. $26 bucks a box for quality ammo to practice. 24 inch barrel and carbon stock.

 

[zacattack]

I wanna know what everyone thinks is the best overall hunting rifle for Northern America hunting: caliber, barrel size etc

Looking to get a new rifle here fairly soon.


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I’m partial to Winchester Model 70 in .30-06

 

[Scottyboy]

Ive been looking at that exact gun for a while now. How can you “tone it down” to shoot small game?
I currently have a .308 but I sorta just want a new gun hahah


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I should have worded it differently, meaning you can find a 160ish gr bullet all the way up to the 215-220ish range. Very versatile in that sense.

Yes, it can have some recoil as mentioned above..if you are recoil sensitive (not knowing how heavy your rifle will be etc) you can potentially have your barrel threaded (again, depending on a multitude of factors) and throw a brake on. Christensen Arms slayer brake does wonders.

 

[TomM]

M70 30-06 22-23” barrel. I have used this flavor on whitetail, blacktail, wild hogs, ground hogs, black bear, brown bear, and mountain goat; was never disappointed in the results.

If I need more than a 30-06, I am looking for .375 H&H class of rifle. If I want better tradectory (moot point today with rangefinders and reticle/turret options) I reach for a .270.

Yep, pretty boring but effective.

 

[elkguide]

I too am beginning to get a "few" miles in the saddle and have hunted in lots of different venues and have used lots of different calibers and rifle configurations. At my age, I really don't need another rifle, (my last 4 purchases have been living in my son's safe since there is no more room in mine) but I'm drooling over one in one of the local gun shops. (It's a .338-06AI and oh so sweet!)

IF I were to be limited to only one rifle, it would be a .300 Win Mag. The recoil of the WM doesn't bother me probably because I shoot regularly. (36 rounds off the bench through a Cooper model 56 in .300 WM yesterday). As I got older I went for the lightest rifle I could put together but now, I've gone back to carrying an 8 pound rifle and finding that I'm able to make my shots at varying ranges in most any circumstance.

So I'm very happy that I'm not limited to just one rifle but if I were as I said it would be in .300 WM but as to which breed of a rifle????????

 

[Aroy]

Do you reload? I think that has a big persuasion on what route you’d wanna go.
That being said I like my 7mm and 28 nosler.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Any decent gun in 30/06 would be my choice. 22 inch barrel from a stock offering. I have a Remington 700 loaded with R22 pumping 180 grain bullets at 2900 plus fps and, it shoots light out. I can load 20 rounds of premium ammo for about $10. I can also load it down to a ground hog load. Hard to beat an '06 as a one gun option.





As far as gun, do not over look the Ruger American for a true hunting platform. Cheap, accurate as all get out, and is just a no frills hunting rig. A hunting gun for the brush doesn't need a Walnut stock. Nor, does one have to pay high dollar for a great value. There is a reason people buy the Ruger Americans and put $2500 worth of optics on it out of the box. They are built to be that accurate

 

[mtmuley]

.30-06 in the rifle flavor of your liking. Kill anything on the planet. mtmuley

 

[Jimbob]

If I was buying one gun right now it would be a Kimber Hunter in .308.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

If I was buying one gun right now it would be a Kimber Hunter in .308.

I have a kimber montana 308, I love that gun. I had to think long and hard if Id want my Montana 308 or my m70 EWSS in 30-06, the only reason I decided that Id take the 06 if it was a just one rifle was because I can shoot more 200-220g bullets through the 06 if I wanted to.