Just one rifle ever

[Mack The Knife]

It wasn't the first wildcat round, you are thinking it was the first varmint cartridge.

Could well be, Mark. Not too knowledgeable on the subject and my memory is anything but reliable.

Thanks.

Mack The Knife

[Mack The Knife]

If one could only have one rifle the `expert` view is that it should be a .22 and the choice is limited to .22lr, .22 rimfire mag and .22 Hornet with the latter two being considered the most versatile nowadays.

Very interesting! Do you agree with that, Grumpy?

There was a famous American writer-hunter, forget who, who claimed that he could traverse the U.S. and live off the land with just a .22lr or was that a .30-06?

Mack The Knife

[shahid]

With better bullet options for .222 and .223, sooner or later the 45 grain .22 hornet had to pass into oblivioun as is happening. I had a BRNO .22 Hornet which I sold off last year. Is the .22 Savage in existance these days ? Ammo available in the states ?

[Satpal_S]

Talking of a versatile one Rifle.

Has to be a 30-06 Springfield.

Rifles and ammo plentiful.

Owned one Remington 700 BDL with Leupold 3-6X for almost 15 years.

Shot everything from Rabbits, Fox, Whitetail deer, Black bear, Moose with it.

Did almost all my target shooting upto 400 yard range with it.

How did I go about it, by reloading suitable loads.

Lubed Cast lead bullets with reduced Shotgun powder handloads for Small game like Rabbits etc..
These underpowered loads do not damage meat and are quite accurate, they lead the bore quite a bit though.

Saboted Sub caliber bullets for flat shooting long range varmint hunting like Praire dogs in S. Dakota.

Slightly underpowered 130-150 grain bullet loads with moderate recoil, for day long 200-300 rounds target shooting. Muzzle energy reduced from 2800-2900 Fp range to 2000-2100 Fp range for much reduced recoil and longer case life with good sub MOA accuracy.

Normal loads similar to commercial ammo for Deer and Black Bear.

Also reloaded some hot loads with Muzzle energy of 3500FP similar to 30 Win Mag/versus 2800-2900 for regular loads. The cartridge thus loaded can be used on dangerous game too, none though exists on American mainland. Used it on Moose, though a normal load would have worked fine too.

This rifle along with a 3X Scoped 6" barelled S&W Mod 29 .44 magnum Revolver and a .22 S&W Target Pistol was my Primary hunting battery for those years.

Do not try reloading Cast bullets with shotgun powder unless competent enough in reloading, it burns much faster than Rifle powder and could cause case ruptures and burst primers, unless done properly.
Same warning for hot loads, if done improperly can be very dangerous.

Having said that it is very hard to live by the one rifle doctrine in America. Every so often a person is offered perfect rifles both modern and vintage for Peanuts. Most people therefore aquire upto 10 or more Rifles before they realize they are not even shooting some of them for months.

Gotta go to work now almost 7:40.

Have fun shooting!!

Satpal

[Grumpy]

Mack The Knife, it`s the survivalists ( and general pundits ) opinion that a .22 ( LR, Rimfire Mag or .22 Hornet ) is the most versatile calibre if one can only have one rifle because most of the game one encounters is small in size. A centrefire ( apart from the .22 Hornet ) rifle is of little use on birds and Rabbits because of the extensive meat damage. I can tell you for a fact that the .22-250 and .243 leave very little to eat from a Rabbits carcase. It`s a matter of practicality as whilst a more powerful calibre would give a better chance of taking a larger animal they are totally unsuited for small game. Those small calibres however allow the chance of a head shot on larger game.
Nowadays of course, the .17 HMR could be substituted for the .22 lr......and maybe even for the .22 rimfire mag.
The AR7, introduced in the early 1960s as a survival rifle for US Air Force personnel ( but never adopted ) was chambered for the .22 lr. It is still available in its original form from Henry Reapeating Arms. The Savage 24F was designed as a survival gun and it was introduced in 1989. The 24F-20 has a rifle barrel chambered for the .22lr, .22 Hornet, .223 Rem or .17HMR over a 20-Gauge shotgun barrel. It has been joined for general hunting use by the 24F-12 which has a .22lr, .22 Hornet, .30-30 Win or .17 HMR barrel over a 12-Gauge barrel. The only other dedicated survival gun that I can think of is the Springfield M6 Scout ( introduced 1982, re-introduced to the US market 1995 ) which is Czech designed and built and features a .22 lr or .22 Hornet barrel over a .410 shotgun barrel. It qualifies as possibly the ugliest gun ever created. Note the emphasis on small calibres with all these guns.
The .30-06 is often described as the most versatile calibre available and in many ways it is - purely due to the range of ammunition available to it. It became popular because of the millions of ex-service rifles that were made available to American hunters post WWI and again after WWII. It also happens to be an excellent hunting calibre. Amunition is available in anything from 55 gr `Accellerator` ( Sabot ) cartridges to 220 gr - 240 gr if you handload.

[Grumpy]

By the way, although the .22 Hornet and .222 Rem are regarded as semi-obsolescent there is still a place for them. Whilst more powerful .22 centrefire cartridges are available they are not always ideal for the required job. The .22 Hornet is considered rather puny but it is excellent for small game and animals such as Foxes/Coyotes out to 150-200 yards. The more powerful .222 Rem has suffered because of the popularity of the .223 Rem but still has advantages over the .223 - not least its inherent accuracy. Both the .22 Hornet and .222 Rem are quiet and ideal for use in close confines. Ammunition for the .22 Hornet is cheaply and widely available in Europe - in the UK probably every gun shop stocks it - and the .222 is not much less available.
The popularity of the .223 Rem owes much to its use by the US armed forces but it will be interesting to see how much that popularity declines when the military cease using it - which is going to happen in the near future. Apart from long range match use use with the 80 gr bullet there is little to commend the .223. The .222 is more accurate at shorter ranges and the .22 PPC superior for long range use. For hunting purposes with a 80 gr bullet the .243 is far more effective.
If bigger was always better we`d all be using .460 Weatherby mags for everything from bunnies upward which is clearly ridiculous.
The ideal one rifle for everything doesn`t exist but for those who can only have one rifle the opinion of the experts and survivalists that it has to be the .22 lr, .22 Rimfire mag or .22 Hornet makes an awful lot of sense.

[eljefe]

...Lubed Cast lead bullets with reduced Shotgun powder handloads for Small game like Rabbits etc..
These underpowered loads do not damage meat and are quite accurate, they lead the bore quite a bit though....

HI Satpal, I'm a fan of the 30-06, and commend it for its versatility.What 'DOT ' shot gun powder did you use for the reduced loads? also, did you use a dacron/ felt filler in the case for better ignition?

Do you cast bullets or pick them up from NEI etc? Ask because there was a bit of a hullabaloo about using wheel weights in the US for casting-sudden rediscovery of' toxic contents' as though lead wasnt enough!! Leading must have been a major hassle-did your groups last > 20-30 rounds?

The accelertor 55gr concept was terribly impressive, hope they got the sabot separation right finally...I havent used those, but 110gr cast on a 300WM were the llightest I've used.

...Also reloaded some hot loads with Muzzle energy of 3500FP similar to 30 Win Mag/versus 2800-2900 for regular loads...

Was this a typo or did you mean MV? FPS? I am a bit confused about FP-usually denotes ME? care to share the powder and bullets used here?on a 30-06, you are approaching magnum figures-impressive.
Reloading is not popular in India and my experiences were while I was abroad, used a lot of 3031 and 4350

Not to restart the neck Vs full length resizing all over again (there are enough full scale wars in progress over this issue...) what did you prefer for the hot rodding?

Also. for the 44 Mag, did you use factory loads or the keith style heavies? good to hear of your experiences.

Best
Axx

[Satpal_S]

eljefe:

At work, so will be brief.

Going by memory, for cast bullets in 30-06 used Green Dot, with hot primers and Dacron filler. Bullets were cast by a buddy of mine. Was excellent for Rabbits. Gun needed cleaning after every 25 or so shot session at range. leading really depends a lot on how the bullets were cast, speed of propulsion and how good they were lubed.

Re:Hot loads for 30-06, no typo here loaded upto 3500 Foot Lbs Muzzle Energy, 180-200 Grain range bullets were used. Output was very similar to 300 Win Mag. Don't remember the details about powder though was some kinda IMR Powder.

Always washed, polished, inspected cases before sizing. Used full length sizing. Could have gotten by with neck sizing only as cases came from my gun which was a B/A.

44 Mag was my hunting gun too, did not reload those loads bought factory loaded ammo. Killed Deer satisfactorily upto 75 yards with handgun, used gun primarily from Tree stands and while hunting in Heavy Brush.

Hope that helps, sold most of my guns when moving from NJ to California in 1997.
So been almost 9 years since I shot any kind of Rifle.

Satpal

[z375]

Hey Guys!

It has to be a .375 Mag for me

cheers!

I'll second that, my friend

[eljefe]

I'm sure you will Zubin!
What 375 do you have?
Best
Axx

[z375]

Asif,

Mine is a Cogswell & Harrison with a Zeiss Diatal 6x42 onboard that sits on claw mounts, i mostly use open sights though because most of our shooting doesnt warrant the use of a scope, also tends to bug*3r up the overall feel and pointability once a scope is mounted.

p.s - hows your double doin?

regards,


Zubin

[eljefe]

Great Zubin,
I am with you on the claw mounts and balance.
The beastie's make over has been stalled, awaiting an olde english style recoil pad from US and also for some warm weather, possibly a checkering tool and the maestro will start his magic.
We should post pics if it happens.
Best
Axx

[shahid]

Mine is a Winchestor Model 70 bolt action with a swing mount scope. Any body has idea of .375 Mag H & H Rimmed cartridge for Double rifle being available ? A very nice double from Shule of Germany is there for sale in patna.

[mehulkamdar]

My next rifle will be my last one.

Ditto my next shotgun, next handgun...

[eljefe]

Keep on doin it Mehul!
Best
Axx