If you could only have one long gun for all purposes

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If you can't get closer than 1000 yards, you need to work on your hunting skills.

If you're referring to something in a wide open area, you need to devise a different tactic.

Besides, not too many here on this forum have ever even shot 1000 yards, let alone do it successfully on a regular basis.

The shotgun is the most versatile tool for one gun.
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What's that shotgun going to do for you at 300 yards? Nothing.

Your tactics are determined by the situation. You change theory to match reality, not vice versa.
 
What's that shotgun going to do for you at 300 yards? Nothing.

Your tactics are determined by the situation. You change theory to match reality, not vice versa.
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What's your 30.06 going to do to bag a duck or a rabbit? How much terrain in North America is there where you can't get within 100 yards of a large game animal? You can't change reality to match theory...
 
44magnum in a browning lever gun. Kill any animal or man out to 100 yards.
Light, easy to move around in the woods. Light recoil and you can have a handgun in the same cal. Heck of a round in a great package.
 
Remember, unless SHTF or some other scenario takes place, and assuming the law is still in effect, reaching out and touching someone makes you the aggressor no matter what the intent of the other guy was. Even a zombie at 500 yds. will be considered the victim because he is not an immediate threat to you. The shotgun may not reach out, but is much better to defend you and yours at distances that are easy to justify. If you are talking about sniper work here, well that is a different ball game only you can justify. . . .and besides, if you already have a 45-70, then you really don't need anything except a good shotgun.
 
When I answered this question before I was basing my answer on my area, the south east. I now see that every area could require a different answer.
 
Tough call, but if I could only own one long gun, it would have to be a 12 gauge shotgun. I hunt, and the shotgun would let me take all manner of game. Barrels are relatively inexpensive, so easy to have a 24" rifled slug barrel with integrated scope mount for deer, and a 26" removable-choke vent rib barrel for small game (and clays); throw in an 18.5 inch smoothe-bore cylinder for home defense and you've got all the bases covered ... inside 125 yards at least.

If I could add a rifle to the shotgun, no question it would be a scoped bolt action in either .308 or .30-06. With a shotgun and a rifle I'd be good to go.
 
What's your 30.06 going to do to bag a duck or a rabbit? How much terrain in North America is there where you can't get within 100 yards of a large game animal? You can't change reality to match theory...
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If you don't think you can take a rabbit with a .30-06 without shredding it, you obviously don't handload. And let's be honest, if you don't handload you're not REALLY serious about shooting.

I'm not a waterfowl hunter and have no interest in it.
 
If it was only one I would pick either a 12 gauge pump combo that had a 26-28" barrel along with a 20-22" deer barrel with rifle sights.
Or another compromise would be to find a clean older Savage 24-V combo with the 20 gauge and .223 or the 20 gauge and 30-30 combination.
Those were some good old guns.
 
I'd probably get a bolt action in 223. The ammo is widely available at reasonable cost and in a variety of bullet types. FMJ could take small game, hollow points for varmints and soft points for medium game up to deer size. Put a moderate scope like a 2-7x33 on it and you'd be well equipped for most situations.

If it ever came down to using it for self defense, the 223/5.56 round has a decent record with the US military over the past 40 years.
 
Thank you Meeteetse. You do have a good point. The question was about "one long gun" and not about what else you would have. So I stand humbly before you. I dont own a shotgun at the moment so I guess my .41 rem-mag Ruger would be my short gun.
 
The one long gun that would satisfy most needs would be, IMO, a 12-gauge shotgun (pump or semiauto, your choice) with two barrels, one set up for firing birdshot for bird hunting, the other for slugs and buckshot, incorporating rifle sights, for home defense and big game hunting.
 
For HD the sound alone is scarry to intruders.

The Pump Remington wingmaster 30" barrell can kill birds, rodents, medium sized game inside of fifty yards. Slugs can even take down large game. The sacrifice of having only one long gun would have to be the long yardage. Shotgun shells are cheaper than most centerfire rifle bullets.:fire:
 
I have to reiterate my point on the shotgun. A Maverick is basically a Mossberg that can be had on the cheap. There isn't much that could go wrong with my shotgun, from what I can tell-- it's an extremely simple mechanism, shells are cheap, and quite frankly, for home defense, when would you be shooting over 100 yards, unless you live in a mansion or something? You can't just shoot someone because they're on your property, from what I recall... they have to be threatening you somehow.
 
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