One VS Many

[digger11]

Nobody can eat just one!

 

[roninflag]

see I am starting to lean to that 1 gun man thing. I have a few toys but think I might want to focus on just one.

Dragman- one good gun makes things simpler. trying to keep track of brass for each gun and different calibers . remebering loads. . i could hunt a lot more an my life would simpler with less . i have two really trouble free rifles. a rem sendero 7mm with a krieger barrel and a rem 700ti 300rsaum .

 

[trueblue]

Rifle choice(s) depend a lot on how far and what you're planning on shooting. I'm pretty much a 2-gun sorta guy.

A 1st rifle used for everything out to long range - say from 0 to 700-900 yds depending on what I'm hunting. For that, a 7mm/300 win mag wildcat is what I'm planning on. That chambering will be excellent for anything I plan on hunting out to my self-imposed distance limitation.

A 2nd rifle used for what I think of as "Extra Long Range" - from 700/900 yds out to my (currently under-developed) shooting ability, a chambering of *much* greater capability is needed. For that, I've decided on Kirby Allen's 338 Raptor wildcat. It strikes a brilliant balance between the common big 338's (RUM/Edge/Edge +P/Lapua/Lapua AI/etc) and the truly monstrous 338's (338 Allen Mag/338 Chey-Tac/etc).

So that's kinda my thinking on the "One vs Many" approach.

PS - I must admit that for strictly short range hunting, a Marlin 1895 45-70 (with some hot handloads!) would round out any hunting range or game I would *ever* encounter.

Fmajor
You are right on tract with this thinking.
I have a 7 Rogue and a 338 Edge for the exact reasons

 

[barnesuser28]

Another +1 to fmajor, our long range rigs are a 338 Lapua for elk way out there, a 284 win for deer/antelope way out there, and a 6.5x284 for deer and everything smaller way out there. I plan on rebarreling the 6.5x284 to something more barrel friendly or get the next barrel nitrated because i like to shoot sage rat towns with it.

 

[fmajor]

Fmajor
You are right on tract with this thinking.
I have a 7 Rogue and a 338 Edge for the exact reasons

Thanks!

I just did some reading on the 7mm Rogue - looks like a fantastic chambering. Not too different from the 7mm/300 WM, but enough to notice! If I read correctly, TMR managed to get a longer neck from the 300WM brass than the 7mm/300WM gets which seemed to help with minimizing jump.

 

[Greyfox]

I'm somewhat of a hybrid. I shoot rifle competition, both rimfire and high power in the off season, so I end up shooting different rifles for different applications. For my LR hunting, I have a few LR hunting rigs that I work with in the off season, but generally stick with one during the hunting season. I have one rifle in particular that I have used for the last several seasons. I know this rifle like the back of my hand, it's exceptionally accurate, and I have had great success taking several head of game and coyotes out to 1100 yards. If I find I find one my other rifles that I'm working with offering an advantage over this rifle, I will try it for a hunting season. I'm the same way with my handguns and shotguns. I have many, but have used only a couple of each for over 35 years. I am a believer in familiarity with a firearm, but also believe that you can mentally imprint a particluar firearm with enough time, practice, and good record keeping in the case of loadwork. iMO.

 

[Joe King]

Good points to both sides. Out of the 1/2 dozen hunting rifles I own I only hunt with 2, and 80% if it done with the 7mag. 90% of my shooting is done with the 7mag, that includes handguns too. My approach is, for the same reason Jeff gained so much confidence in his 300win, and putting the "man that has one rifle" theory into practice does produce results.

 

[WildRose]

This isn't ment to be a 1 gun VS many guns for everything but for long range purposes only. I have lots of tools for many different jobs, but when it comes to your long range hunter weather it's Hogs, Deer, Elk, etc. do you prefer to have 1 setup or a couple to choice from??? My one friend has 1 gun and says he only has 1 problem now. I have another friend who has 6-7 long range guns. Just wondering what most think?

It's hard to have one "do it all gun" when it comes to rifles.

A heavy rig for long range or extremely long range makes sense. For backpack hunting or hunting in tough, steep terrain it doesn't especially when you join the over forty crowd.

If my budget was so limited I could only afford one, then I'd get either a 7mm STW or 300wm and go with something like a light varmint contour so I could have sufficient gas to get the job done to 1,000yds and still have a rifle I could stand to pack around when the going gets tough.

I got along most of my life as a "one deer rifle kinda guy" but I now have half a dozen rigs that are a bit more specialized now.

There's no wrong answer on this one, just what fits each of us best.

 

[webs]

Another +1 to fmajor, our long range rigs are a 338 Lapua for elk way out there, a 284 win for deer/antelope way out there, and a 6.5x284 for deer and everything smaller way out there. I plan on rebarreling the 6.5x284 to something more barrel friendly or get the next barrel nitrated because i like to shoot sage rat towns with it.

243, 22-250 or 223 with a proper twist?

 

[barnesuser28]

243, 22-250 or 223 with a proper twist?

I was thinking 6mm BR or 6.5x47 Lapua, maybe another 6.5x284 but have the barrel melonited.

 

[WildRose]

Another +1 to fmajor, our long range rigs are a 338 Lapua for elk way out there, a 284 win for deer/antelope way out there, and a 6.5x284 for deer and everything smaller way out there. I plan on rebarreling the 6.5x284 to something more barrel friendly or get the next barrel nitrated because i like to shoot sage rat towns with it.

To replace the 6.5x284 I'd do one of two things.

Stick with the same caliber and go with a premium stainless barrel, break it in and have it melonited; or in the alternative do the exact same thing and chamber it in .260 Rem.

It's just hard to beat the 6.5's for deer/antelope and smaller stuff.

 

[WildRose]

I was thinking 6mm BR or 6.5x47 Lapua, maybe another 6.5x284 but have the barrel melonited.

Shoulda red this before I responded LOL... .gun)

 

[barnesuser28]

To replace the 6.5x284 I'd do one of two things.

Stick with the same caliber and go with a premium stainless barrel, break it in and have it melonited; or in the alternative do the exact same thing and chamber it in .260 Rem.

It's just hard to beat the 6.5's for deer/antelope and smaller stuff.

I agree, i dont like the really short neck of the 260 so i will probably go with the melonited 6.5x284. Plus, it has enough power to take advantage of the 160 grain matrix's high BC.

 

[WildRose]

I agree, i dont like the really short neck of the 260 so i will probably go with the melonited 6.5x284. Plus, it has enough power to take advantage of the 160 grain matrix's high BC.

I struggled for a long time before making my decision on the 6.5's. I got two, one in .260 (AR platform) and one .264wm.

I can have as much fun as I want shooting the hell out of the .260 and save the .264 for hunting.