What is your minimum rifle battery?

[kawasakifreak77]

.22lr & 6.5 Swede, that'll kill anything around here easily. Two or four legged.

Got a .300blk for a suppressed toy. But could kill anything around here with that between having supersonics & mouse fart lead loads.

If I had to worry about fuzzy things that can eat me, .375H&H, hands down.

Never had anymore than two rifles at a time, one always a .22lr & a centerfire that can drop a deer to 200 yards.

[imp]

First has to be a .22, probably half the game I have taken in my life has fallen by the lowly .22lr.

Next would be either .270 or .30-06. I currently own both, and consider them practically interchangable for my needs.

Third, I suppose would be an intermediate, my favorite being 7.62x39, but .223 or .30-30 would work fine too. Short to medium range brush gun for pigs and such...

After that, the last need would be for a thumper for big bear, and since I lack experience in that field, I won't even hazard an opinon.

Lol, my father did tell me once that if a .30-06 wouldn't do it, it didn't need doing. Suppose that's the luxury of living in the east.

[Rev. Chad]

In my home area, SW Virginia, which is mostly wooded mountains and some river bottom land, the biggest animal you will encounter is a blackbear or the occasional stray milk cow. Given that, I feel perfectly fine with a lever action in 30-30 and some type of .22 Mag or .22 LR rifle. A good 12 or 20 guage shot should round out any other needs.

[FairWarning]

.22 LR
.308

These two can take care of just about any hunting or "evil black rifle" needs.

[Kleab]

- Browning BLR; 300 WSM for large game.
- Browning X-bolt; 280 Rem for medium game.
- CZ 550FS or Browning BLR; 243 Win for small game.
- CZ 527 Carbine; 7.62x39mm for brush gun/child's first hunting rifle.
***Alternative to CZ 527 Carbine would be a Sig 556R in 7.62x39 to double as a family defense gun in an emergency situation.

I love my CZs and if they made rifles chambered in those other two calibers, they would likely be listed as CZs as well.

[natman]

A minimum RIFLE battery for HUNTING in ALASKA:

22LR
223
30-06
Lever action in 45-70, 450 Alaskan, etc.

All would be stainless / synthetic. It rains a lot in Alaska.

[PeteApps]

I have three of my four now.

Ruger 10/22 for plinking and small critters
Colt AR 15 for bigger critters and two legged vermin
Marlin 1895 in .45/70 for the big game

I am partial to the lever guns, the next rifle will be a Marlin 336 in .30-30 to fill in the gap.

[44 AMP]

Yes, reading comprehension is a dying, if not lost art...

interesting to me, in the RIFLE forum, in a thread asking what 4 RIFLES...
that so many people said 12ga shotgun....

Sounds to me like the OP has it pretty well covered already.

For a long range "reacher" for antelope and deer, many said .270 Win. My personal preference would be the .25-06. IF you handload, a 6.5-06 is even better, and both have advantages over the .270.

Lots of folks said .223, and if you are wedded to the AR platform, its fine. But if you are looking at a bolt gun, there's nothing a .223 does that a .22-250 cannot do, and some things a .22-250 just does better than a .223.

There is a huge amount of overlap in cartridges, and so there really isn't any wrong choices, just some that are more versatile, or better for a specific application than others.

Things like ammo availability, different action types, etc are important factors when choosing what best for your situation, but are meaningless when discussing the merits of specific cartridges and loads in comparison with each other.

Flat trajectory is also meaningless when discussing the round's performance after it hits. And before it hits, all flat trajectory does is make it easier for the shooter. Flat shooting rounds are more "forgiving" of range estimate errors (when shooting at big game size animals especially). For instance, if that deer/antelope/elk, etc was actually 350yds away, instead of the 275yds you thought it was, a very flat shooting round could still be a clean kill, where a very arched trajectory round might be a wound, or a clean miss, under the same conditions.

For those who know their round's drop, AND accurately know the range, flatter doesn't mean a lot. It's when you think your are right, but aren't that flatter helps most. And that's why we like it!

[Kimbercommander]

First off I dont know if you can have to many guns.

However, and yes I am a Peckerwood with to many guns living in the hills, if i had to pick a minimum of four this is what i would pick.

1) .22 Mag in a Ruger 10/22 platform - yes they are spendy but they are very, very effective out to 300 yards.

2) 25 -06 or a 6.5 Creedmore or Norma.

3) A .300 Win Mag in just about any thing that will be fed that round. Yes I am very partial to the .300 Win Mag.

4) IF I was to ever hunt bison or huge trophy bear and my .300 could not be used I would probably look at a .458 Lott.


This would be my list but for everything I have ever hunted I have used my .300 Win Mag. From deer to moose and everything in between. I have taken black bear, cougar, and a wolf with this and all died where shot. The moose took 2 shots to put down but the second was not really needed. I believe bullet choice and shot placement are key to hunting. Not really bullet diameter.

And if I could toss in a fifth rifle it would be a Ruger Scout in .308 just because they are such sweet handling rifles.

[Johnny Falcon]

.22LR, your choice of action
AR15 in 5.56
Bolt action .30-06

Done.

[shurshot]

.22 LR & .270 Winchester. In a shotgun, I would take a 20 Ga.

[tubeshooter]

Budget minded rifle set for Alaska?

My choices:

1) 22 LR
2) .223
3) .30-30
4) .30-06 or .45-70


Plenty of combinations would work, but those are the 4 I would go with. I actually would prefer .45-70 for my dangerous game gun, but I think you would find a nice used '06 much easier and (at least somewhat) cheaper and not give up much. The only non-negotiable item would be #1.

[MrBorland]

No dangerous game around here, so mine would be:

1. 22LR bolt rifle. An Anschutz MPR would be my pick, since it can be scoped, or used with apertures for target shooting.

2. AR15 in .223

3. Bolt action hunting rifle in a mid-range cartridge for varmints, deer- and hog-sized game. I'm thinking in 7mm, such as a 7mm-08, but a 7mm Mag is a very versatile cartridge for the handloader.

4. Lever action pistol-cartrridge carbine, e.g. Marlin 1894 .357mag or .44mag. Versatile, fun, and easy to load for, widely available factory ammo, and makes a good short-range woods and/or HD gun. Plus, I've been to a few handgun ranges where rifle-caliber rifles aren't allowed, so I could still have some fun there anyway.

[Been there]

.22LR Marlin 99M1
.223 Sako
6.5x55 Sako or Tikka
12ga semi auto

[Picher]

(Okay, no .22LR or shotgun...too bad.)

I find myself lugging a CZ 455, .22 Mag around a lot more than anything else, except when actually hunting coyotes or deer.

I subsisted with a .30-06 for many years and highly recommend it for Alaska, provided it's in a stainless bolt-action with a great synthetic stock.

The secret to flexiblity of a cartridge is handloading. We used 100, 125, 130, 150, 165, and 180 grain bullets for this fine hunting cartridge, loading for everything between crows and woodchucks to large deer and bear. I've killed red squirrels, skunks, crows, woodchucks, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, porcupines, and over 20 deer with a .30-06, Rem. 700 BDL.

(Now use .270 Win. for several years, but it's not as flexible.)

[coldbeer]

17 hmr, 223 rem, 30-06, 45-70 gove. covers just about everything

[Father Time]

4 Rifles for the "hunter"

1. Basic targer/marksmanship = 22lr (everyone needs at least one)

2. Small game through medium game hunting rifle = .243 (second choice would be 22-250)

3. Medium through large game = .270 win (Can take any game anywhere in North America)

4. Can be whatever you need to fill a percived "gap" in the previous three.

Something to think about for the 4th rifle:
A accurized and heavy/bull barreled .223 for long range training/shooting.
Why .223? Because ammo is very available/inexpensive (thanks to the popularity of AR-15's) and the little .223 round will force you to get good at the fundamentals of long range shooting (like calling wind, understanding drop, velocity loss at range etc)

[armsmaster270]

So far my minimum is:
Delton Echo AR-15

M-1 Garand in 7.62 Nato

FN action 300Win Mag

Browning A Bolt Stalker 7mmWSM

.303 Enfield MK3Mod1

Remington 740 30-06

Marlin Lever action 30-30

Ruger 10-22

[Husqvarna]

I am almost there
bolt 308
bolt 22lr
Semi 9,3x62 more and more this is my gun" love the calibre everything just drops, pigs, moose and a bear, synthetic stock so no worries

I do have to contend with a 6 gun limit by law and having two shotguns aswell I only have one spot left

it is going to be a lever action in 357mag, for stalking small deer and badgers

when finances will allow the 308 bolt will be replaced with a switch barrel in 223 and something more (probably 9,3x62 and have that scoped and have the semi with only the reddot

[Jim243]

What is your minimum rifle battery?

12 volt.

or

223.
243
270
&
35 Remington

Jim

[chewie146]

Right now I have .22s and a .270 for bigger stuff. That's it. Kids are expensive! I do have more than 1 .22. However, in NM, .270 is as big as you need to go. It's flat shooting, has available varmint bullets, and doesn't recoil enough to knock your teeth out. If I had to pick one gun, though, it wouldn't be a rifle. It would be my 870.

[jimbob86]

Minimum?

.22lr

5.56

.270WIN

12 guage pumpie shotty.

[silvermane_1]

see my sigline

[horselips]

Twenty-Two Long Rifle? Are you kidding me? All you can "hunt" with a .22 are rodents, squirrels, rabbits, and big bugs - certainly nothing a propertied Republican Gentleman would ever consider eating. As for shooting another fellow predator, that is simply not done, out of professional courtesy.

For any and all North American game, I would be happy to settle for .223, .308, and just for fun, .45-70.

[PVL]

Please forgive me, I can't resist...

My minimum rifle battery is one of those 3v coin cells that goes in a red-dot sight.