What is the ideal rifle?

Question

I am a novice hunter and am going to purchase a rifle to hunt hogs and other larger game. I have always heard that a 30.06 is ideally the best choice but I don't know what my other choices would be. Any advice?

Answer 1

I'll probably catch a lot of flack for this but I'm going to say it anyway.

The .30-'06 Springfield cartridge is not the ideal cartridge. It is a very good all-around cartridge, but there are many cartridges that are just as good, and some that are better for some applications.

In all probability you could purchase a .30-'06 rifle and hunt with it happily for the rest of your life. Some folks like plain vanilla ice cream as well. And some of us prefer things a bit out of the ordinary.

In all probability, if you ask 100 gun cranks of what the ideal rifle consists, you'd probably get at least 230 different answers. My point is that you have to decide what is ideal for you, and in all probability, that ideal with change under different circumstances.

Me? I have two rifles I consider ideal for North American hunting. Luckily, I have one and it is a production rifle. It is the Browning BLR in .358 Winhester.

My other ideal rifle would be a custom job. I'd start with a Brevex Magnum Mauser action, fit it with a Shilen match grade barrel, and stocked in Circassian Walnut. Caliber? .375 H&H Magnum.

Ask me tomorrow and I might say the caliber would be .416 Rigby. And if you ask again the next day, I might specify a short action and a Mannlicher-style stock and .350 RemMag for the caliber.

Tastes and ideas change.

What is YOUR idea of an ideal rifle?

Doc

Answer 2

The .30-06 Springfield is an ideal all around rifle for any North American big game. So is the .308 Winchester. Anything .308 or larger will work well on even the biggest hogs. For hogs I use a .350 Remington Magnum.

Best.

H

Answer 3

Don't be in too big a hurry to make a choice. 30-06 is a great cartridge, but there are plenty of others as well, and both the "other large game" and where you're hunting will greatly influence your choice.
Hog hunting tends to be a fairly short-range affair, sometimes very short range. I've rolled five at once (and nearly killed myself dragging them out of the woods) with a lever-action, and for decades I've lusted after a buddy's double barrel rifle in 8x57, perhaps the ideal hog gun, but neither is likely to be your choice for all-around hunting.

Answer 4

i admire the Remington seven-hundred myself. the suited deer high quality is the .25-06 Remington. inspect sales from wearing products shops like Academy. They run sales on popular rifles such because of the fact the Mossberg bolt-action which could be had for an relatively solid value. Strictly for deer you do not want something larger than a .308 or .30-06. The .270 is likewise an astonishing decision. As has already been stated the .243 is the minimum deer high quality. happy looking. H

Answer 5

people who push the 30-06 are seeking a good "all around rifle" but it isn't necessarily the right one. Yes I went thru the 30-06 faze, and yes it is a good rifle. But, I switched over to a .270 about 30 years ago, and have never regretted it once. I have taken antelope, mule deer, black bear, elk and wild boar with it and have never had a problem. And I don't mean feral pigs, I'm talking true russian boars. My .270 with a 150 grain sierra boattail spitzer point bullet will shoot farther, faster and flatter than a 30-06 with a 165 grain bullet. Read a few of Jack O'Connors books to see what the .270 is capable of.
A 30-06 does kick. The .270 kicks less. A .308 winchester kicks less, and will still do everything you want it to do. My partner hunted with a rifle chambered in .308 and I watched him take trophy mule deer, black bear, antelope and even elk with it. He switched to .308 because of a shoulder injury that kept him from handling the harsher recoil of the larger calibers. My advice is to go out with friends, try a few shots with different rifles in different calibers to see what fits you, what you are accurate with, and what is comfortable for you.
shoot safe

Answer 6

The best thing I would recommend would be an SKS rifle, or AKS, or AK 47/AK74.The 7.62 round is low recoil, and the rifles are very accurate. Stay away from the Russian hollow pt bullets as 3 out of 10 will misfire so get a good ammunition to hunt with. This will bring down both hogs and deer and not "beat ya to death' like the 30-06,308,and definately stay away from the .300 win. mag. I have seen many of these in the paper for sale with the caption, fired once, only one box of shells shot thru rifle, etc, etc. Yes they are a flat trajectory bullet, but they kick like a mule on steroids, and that is why there are so many in the paper for sale. If you are hunting in brushy areas a 30-30 round is heavy and punches thru quite well, just make sure of your target. Deer season is about over with so if you are hunting where ya get a 200 yd + shot then go with the .308, or 30-06 with a good scope for that range. Might also check out the '03 Springfield rifle as well, they have excellant long range accuracy

Answer 7

A 30-30 would stop most game. I have a 30-06 and it is a very effective and accurate rifle. A 30-06 kicks harder than a .30 cal. If you want a real big bank a 300 or bigger magnum will provide a healthy blast, but is a bit much for a novice.

Answer 8

Hats off to Randy for giving the .308 its due - it will do 99% what a .30-06 does with 15-20% less recoil.

However, even the great champion of the .270, Jack O'Connor himself, was reputed to have given an off-the-record nod to an even better, but still under-appreciated, calibre, the .280. It can handle bullets up to 175gr., approaches 30-06 energies (which the .270 does not), and due to the ballistic efficiency of 7mm bullets, retains those energies further downrange. With handloading it can approach factory 7mm Magnum loads. Ok it kicks more like an '06 than a .270, but for some reason I feel a 130gr. .270 kicks more than a 180gr. .308 - something to do with recoil velocity and the pressure curve of the powder's burn rate, I would imagine.
Withal, my first recommendation would be a .308, its as much gun as you can get without getting beat up. Use 147gr. generic FMJs ("ball" ammo) to get acclimated to the gun, then work up to 180gr. controlled-expansion jacketed soft-points for big fat hogs.

Answer 9

A 30-06 is a fairly large cartridge, and in good
hands can, and has taken everthing on the
North American Continent.
It produces a fair amount of recoil and might
be 'a bit much` for a novice to learn on.
That said, shot placement is everything in hunting.
As a novice, you'd be advised to develope some
skill before you hunt anything, (we frown on letting
wounded animals suffer), and especially dangerous
animals like wild hogs. ('Wing` one of them and
you might pay for it.)

Answer 10

There are hundreds of rounds that would fit your use. Some factory and some wildcat. It all depends on what you want.

I am going to assume your not reloading. So there I would have to stay with older rounds that have been around for a long time. Me I would go with a 25-06 or 7mm-08 or 308. All will do the same thing as a 30-06 with slightly less recoil.

--243 Win Great round light recoil can find ammo for it all over.
--244 Rem (6mm Rem) dying because of original rifle.
--257Roberts can still be found great cartridge many deer and antelope have lost there lives to this cartridge.
--25-06 (30-06 where the neck is down sized to 25 caliber) The best 25 cal cartridge on the market ever. That is how I feel about the 25-06.
--270 Win (Same base cartridge as the 25-06 just bigger bullet 270 no 257) Great cartridge second only to the 30-06 in popularity
--7x57mm Mau (Old trusty just about identical to 30-06)
--7mm-08 (308 Win case necked down to take 7mm bullets great cartridge) another great cartridge now that the 7mm bullet size is getting more technology dumped into it.
--30-30 Good cartridge but only available in single shot and lever guns.
--308Win great cartridge can take just about any game in NA
--30-06 great cartridge can and has taken all game in NA and many other countries.
--8-57mm getting harder to find but still a good choice.

Now stepping up to Magnums.
--240 Weatherby mag expensive ammo and hard to find.
--264 Win mag this cartridge is a power house great cartridge can kill anything in NA but it is on the downward slope it might pick back up due to better bullets and powders now.
--7mm Rem Mag one of the best mags out there. Lots of down range energy for long shots gets used a lot out west.
--7mm Weatherby Mag more power than 7mm Rem mag but costly ammo and hard to find.
--7mm STW (Shooting Times Westerner this is the top of the heap in the 7mm mag world gulps powder at an alarming rate of 120+ gr each shot. High velocity very long range. Was developed by Rick Jamison of Shooting times for a long range deer and elk cartridge for shooting in south Texas Sendero's also chambered in the Remington rifle with that name)
--300 Win mag the mag all other are compared to. Good range good power. Will kill any thing in NA and around the world as well.
--300 Weatherby mag like all Weatherby mags expensive ammo and hard to find not to mention Weatherby rifle are expensive as well.
--8mm Rem Mag The most unsuccessful cartridge ever that says it all.
--338 Win mag many say greatest elk grizzly and moose cartridge ever. Some say recoil too much for average shooter. Can be hard to find.
--340 Weatherby Well like I have said before expensive and hard to find.