Two rifle set for North America hunting, what cartridges would you pick.

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Seriously... who pays 10 grand for a guided Montana Dall Sheep hunt and tells the guide, “Hey, can we swing by the 7-11 on the way to the hill? I need a box of .30-06 core-lokt”
I've Hurd a lot of story's of guys getting the gun or ammo lost when flying, that would suck. Think some guys who there stuff a head of time.
 
I had one of the original XP-100s with the mid style grip in 7mmBR. .Also owning a 7mm mag and a 7-08 (all Remingtons) I thought about having a guy I knew in Carson taking that XP and making it into a rifle like I described. Unfortunately, at that time, synthetic stocks for rifles were fairly new, made of fiberglas and not that light. I would have wanted a 18-20 medium bull barrel with flute to lighten but stiffen and something like my US-made Burris 6X compact scope. Weight should be <7# for all day carry after yotes, lopes, and deer
I wanted to do that with the xpr-100 my dad had, it was a 35 rem then a 358win witch I shot a lot, he had the McMillan stock which I liked, would have been a great in a rifle stock. He had a savage striker I 7wsm that would be nice to. Dad used Burris scopes.
 
With the OP's scenario of travelling from one hunting situation to another I would have to ask myself what sort of game I would be going after. I am less inclined to go after prairie dogs or furbearers, nor am I particularly interested in hunting bears. I would look more at hunting a variety of hoofed game, ranging in size from pronghorns and deer to elk and moose. With that in mind I would look to either a 6.5 (maybe a Swede, maybe a CM) or a 270 Win for the lighter caliber rifle, and a 35 Whelen for the heavier caliber. However, I might also be inclined to just bring a 30-06 with premium bullets, and make my second gun a shotgun of some sorts for upland game and birds.
 
They dont HAVE to be heavy. My abolt weights 8lbs 2oz scoped. Its actually my second lightest rifle, and while recoil is stout its not unpleasant.
I don't consider myself particularly recoil sensitive, but I'm pretty sure that practicing enough to become proficient with an 8lb 375 would preclude the "shoot well" part for me...as well as making me poor...er.
 
JumboJVT said:
I don't consider myself particularly recoil sensitive, but I'm pretty sure that practicing enough to become proficient with an 8lb 375 would preclude the "shoot well" part for me...as well as making me poor...er.

My .375 H&H weighs 9lb on the dot with the scope and sling. It's not bad at all shooting a 250gr bullet at 2,800 fps.
 
I don't consider myself particularly recoil sensitive, but I'm pretty sure that practicing enough to become proficient with an 8lb 375 would preclude the "shoot well" part for me...as well as making me poor...er.
No one believes me that ifs not really a bad recoil impulse, untill they actually shoot it. Then its almost impossible to get it back till IM out of ammo.

Reloading for it costs me about the sams as my .280AI, 75¢ a shot or so.

I also found a guy locally with those 250gr GMX loads for 25 bucks a box.
The recoil from those is noticeably lighter than my handloads, which would be expected as they are 20gr lighter, and traveling the same speed.
Those are what i usually let people shoot, as they dust blue rock as well as my heavier loads, but FEEL less intimidating.

Personally I find .300wm more offensive in general than this .375.
 
Except the buddies that got scoped lol.
only one, and if it hadnt been a leupold, i wouldnt have even got to make fun of his cut.
After the bleeding stop, he still went back and shot the rest of the box.
I think the real issue was he let it push his shoulder back but left his head still. He usually shoots it off the bench with a pod, so it dosent shove his upper body around as much.
 
only one, and if it hadnt been a leupold, i wouldnt have even got to make fun of his cut.
After the bleeding stop, he still went back and shot the rest of the box.
I think the real issue was he let it push his shoulder back but left his head still. He usually shoots it off the bench with a pod, so it dosent shove his upper body around as much.
Ya I remember the pictures he still looked happy, or the embarrassment was showing lol. I've been lucky never got scoped, but did get big by a peep sight when I was 4 or 5. In have to ask my dad what gun that was lol.
 
I've had the idea for years to build a match pair of rifles, like what they would do in Africa. We don't have the big stuff like Africa but still think it would be nice to have two rifle to work with. But a 7mm rem mag would cover every thing here, but two rifles are better one lol. I'll never have The money but thought it would be cool to do a hunting road trip, going state to state and try hunting different animals.

The first rifle would be the most versatile gun, think having the game size cut off around mule deer or smaller black bear game size. But something that could work hunting varmints, like woodchuck or coyote.

Rifle two for bigger black bear, elk, moose, up to big brown bear and bison, even some of the bigger planes game animals like in Texas. The cartridge would have to shoot fairly flat tho, but 400 yards should be plenty for any type of hunting in North America, same for rifle one.


to pick the cartridges the action type used make a big difference, for these I was thinking standard mauser 98 type actions. My choice would be commercial FN's. But m70 type of cz action would be nice to. Both with appropriate scopes, with qd rings and back up sights. stock could be wood or glass/carbon something ambidextrous with a straight comb,

There are a few cartridges I would like for rifle one, it would be hard to pick but many would be great. Here's what I think I I'd use.

Rifle one, 7x57
Rifle two, 375 ruger

what would you pick, I should have done 3 guns because a shotgun would allow more game.
Since I can't shoot birds with a rifle, a shotgun would cover rabbits and squirrels too.
For coyotes through mule deer, 260 Rem.
For elk, moose and bear, I think my 300 mag covers it.
These shoot similar BC bullets to similar velocities.
It makes grabbing your rifle and going easier.
 
For guns I own...

I could go with the .243 and 7mm Rem Mag in the safe. Woodchucks to moose. ;)

If, and that's a HUGE if, I win the lottery and get to hunt a big brown bear... then it's the .300 Weatherby also hiding in the safe.

I know a lot of guides say .338 or .375. But put a 220 gr Partition in the boiler room with Roy's baby and you'll be just fine. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
The Mach2s a tad slower, but recoils even lighter and its just as accurate.
Mine.was built on a ruger 10/22 using a 20" 96/22 barrel. It blew up from time to time simply because there wasnt enough mass in the bolt assembly to keep the bolt closed till the pressure dropped. It tended to be exciting to shoot.
Anyway when it wasnt disassembling itself, it would hold some very tight groups, and was a blast to shoot at cans of water.

I also had a 17hmr, and I liked the mach2 better. lower noise, jiggled your sight picture even less, and still shot way flatter than you need for 100-150yds.
Those little white rocks in the backstop are great fun. I haven't found a prairie dog town I can shoot yet.
 
Now that I'm older (approaching 74), I found that shooting my .300 WSM and .375 H&H was getting unpleasant. I exed out Alaska and its various bears from my agenda, and confine my self to the lower 48 and its fauna. Accordingly, my two choices are 6.5x55 SE (I have a Ruger No. 1 and a Ruger 77 African in that caliber) for everything except elk and 7mm RM (I have a Win M70 in that caliber for elk). That's my story and I'm sticking' to it.

Emphatically (while chuckling),
 
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