It doesn’t exist. I think we all know that. But for some reason I keep trying to find it anyway. The question of “what if I could only have one,” or “how much could I do with just one gun” still interests me quite a bit.
The scout concept was supposed to be exactly that. But I have tried a number of scout rifles and I just can’t get behind them. The forward mounted rail ruins it every time.
Anyway, it is difficult to locate the right balance between weight, portability, accuracy, capacity, and the like. There always seems to be a compromise where you end up being better suited either toward hunting or precision, but most often you just end up with something not particularly well-suited to either.
The closest I have come to my ideal candidate here is a Tikka CTR in .308, and for an optic something in the 4-16x44 form factor (FFP) or similar/close to that. It’s still a bit on the heavy side but it is the most accurate rifle I own, and it’s not overly heavy to where I can’t or won’t carry it (medium contour not full bull). Just would be nice if it was a tad lighter. Especially after you put a suppressor on it.
Would love to know if anyone else has struggled with this question and if they have had any epiphanies.
Oh man, this is a rabbit hole you can spend your entire life chasing and not come to any conclusions.
There’s definitely something to be said about having different tools in the toolbox for different jobs. But it’s also easy to take that to the extreme and go nuts. I need one rifle for hunting from a tree stand at whitetail deer between 0 and 300 yards, another one to hunt from a tree stand from 300 to 600 yd, and yet a third one to hunt from a ground blind from 0 to 200 yd, etc, etc, etc. Before long you have 30 rifles in your safe, your majorly in debt, you don’t have time to become proficient with each and every one of these so you’re only an average or worse than average shot with all of them.
Basically by definition, the one rifle to rule them all is a compromise. It’s a jack of all / master of none proposition. Every single hunt you take it on you could think of something you would want different about it. But, it’s one rifle that you can spend your entire time with, become great with using, excellent proficiency.
I’ve decided that the reason why the 30-06 and it’s family ( 270, 280, 280ai, Etc) is that they are the Jack of all / master of none option and there’s just a ton of people who don’t want an absolute house full of guns. And this class of cartridge is basically capable of anything from tiny animals up to the largest North American game . While not technically children, the 6.5 PRC and 7 mm SAUM, would also fit into this category.
Personally, while I do hunt it’s not the only thing I do and I certainly spend more time just enjoying myself at the range rather than being in the woods due to a lot of issues. Therefore I’m okay with having a larger than normal number of rifles. My collection shrinks and then grows depending upon what I think is important or fun. I’m okay with that. That certainly may change as I get older.
1 Rifle for the rest of my life, I would have to do a custom 25 PRC, Bergara action, 22 inch bartline barrel, medium contour, threaded with whatever brake or suppressor I can imagine. Backlight chassis, with some sort of top end vortex or nightforce optic, with Area 419 rings, Just an absolute lazerbeam of a cartridge, mild recoil, medium weight, could Do NRL hunter matches, could take deer hunting, could be an ELR rig, would wreck coyotes and rabbits, Also could throw in a copper bullet for some elk hunting, thats my pick!
This exact question has me considering the Seekins Havak PH3 rifle. One stock, one trigger, one optic, many caliber options to fit my hunting needs. I hunt in Alaska (Sitka Blacktail, Moose, Caribou, etc.), South Central Texas (whitetail, feral hogs, mule deer, etc.) and have another trip planned for South Africa (Plains game, and the tiny 10) so as you can see one caliber would limit me to much.
What are y’all’s thoughts about the barrel swap style of rifles? Could this be the way of things to come or is it a gimmick to get me to spend more money?
Good question. I purchased an element M3 last year with this situation in mind. So far I’ve only shot the original Barrel from the factory with it though.
The big thing I see people complaining about with this style of rifle is that the replacement barrels can be quite expensive in almost the same cost as a brand new rifle itself, that is at least depending upon the company that makes it. Also, in the case of the ph3 or element, the scope is mounted to the receiver, so when you change out a new Barrel you’re going to have to completely re-zero your scope each and every time. Some older styles were the scope mounted to the barrel didn’t have that problem. There’s also the significant chance that they won’t make a barrel in the particular caliber that you want
The 223’s I’ve got now have been my most enjoyable rifles for a while now. Barrel life is phenomenal, no recoil, shoots to about 400-450 yards, cheap to shoot/reload. It’s just fun to take shooting. The smaller caliber will make some people uncomfortable for hunting, so here’s what my alternate picks would be:
270 Win or 6 .5 Creedmoor if I’m trying to get the best balance of barrel Life, recoil, cost, terminal range. In all honesty, if you want to go a tad lighter, the answer is probably the 6.5 CM.
22 or 6 CM if I’m willing to trade some barrel life for performance. Can usually get away with shorter barrels without giving up too much MV. Factory ammo options.
308’s also usually a top contender, but it’s what you have now. Barrel life is also incredible, cheap to shoot, manageable recoil. Not a fan of the limited shooting distance, but would realistically work for 90%+ of hunting scenarios, even out west here.
I have many rifles ( most collect dust) but I have been really trying to get good with 1 rifle. I had been using a 6.5 PRC with a 20 inch barrel to shoot suppressed but even with a 20inch barrel getting into and out of box blinds it still felt long. Vast majority of my hunting is out of box blinds or out of ground setups and needed a shorter rifle as I do not hunt without a suppressor anymore. After a lot of research, I decided on the tikka rough tech ranch with a 16 inch barrel in .308. I was a little scared with the 16inch barrel but I have really come to enjoy it. My hunting round is a 130 he Barnes TTSX which does everything I need it to do and does not go below 1800 until past 400 yards. It also really likes Sierra tipped game kings in 165 grain and the SMK in 168. I am about to jump into reloading to try and get a little more speed out of some of my rounds. But my 140gr Barnes factory loads are averaging 2930 at the muzzle.
I currently have it sitting in a woox super Lagara stock and I really like it I have also shot it out of the factory stock and it is not as bad as some of the other tikka stocks I have seen .
I have tried several scopes on it from LPVOS’s to higher magnification scopes. I wanted the LPVO as it felt a little heavy with my normal scope and the woox. But I have settled back on a Leopoldo vx5HD 3-15 x 42. I feel this gets me enough magnification to hunt but will allow me to see a little better when I need to. My eyes are not what they used to be. Basically, my hunting range is 400 and in. I can achieve that with this rig with a few different ammo types. I have also rung steel out to about 550 with it and could keep stretching that out if I have a place to do it.
Basically, this rifle has given me more joy than any other I have owned. Now I don’t hunt western game so no elk,bear,pronghorn but what I do hunt (deer,pigs,yotes) it does an amazing job. I still have the 6.5 PRC to play with long range if I want to but I find myself grabbing “shorty” everytime I go out. People look at me funny when they see it but after seeing it perform they change their tune a little bit .
Anyway sorry for the long post but I really do love this rifle.
Never thought of doing this with bolt gun to be honest. Hm… With ARs anyway, that was supposed to be the dream: one lower, and just swap uppers, go from 5.56 to 300 BO, etc. but in reality everyone just ended up with a complete rifle of each anyway, haha.
I never thought I’d be saying this, but I wonder if the 25 Creedmoor is Goldilocks cartridge now. It’s still a bit limited for rifle selection and ammo options currently because it’s newer, but has a lot of PRS support and brass coming soon from the top companies. Barrel life is probably about the same as the 6.5 CM, but should be better than the 6 CM and give better wind deflection. Also has a lot better MV than the 6.5. Hmm…
I guess kinda chasing a rabbit, but I am having a Howa 1500 rebarreled in 25CM for the grandkids to hunt white tails in OK. I can load Barnes 117gr LRX and should be a great rifle for that purpose. I think I would want something a little heavier for moose and elk knowing that people will say it’s shot placement that counts.
I honestly the best do it all rifle is one that can adapt and that’s why I’m getting a custom action that has swap able bolt faces so if I need a different caliber I can just do a barrel swap and I’m cruising. With that I have the same consistent setup that I don’t have to retrain on a new system just have the appropriate dope