IF I owned Only (4) Rifles What Would they Be?

I know the only 3 rifles to hunt the world or 4, or 5,  or, 7 etc. has been done numerous times. Fortunately in this country, we are not forced into that situation YET. Be sure to vote responsibly in November to protect your second amendment rights.

If I could only own four rifles  what would they be? I will keep it sensible and NOT include African game. I will be 65 in October and have never been to Africa even though I dreamed of hunting there as a kid growing up. I still have a dream of taking a brown bear someday, God willing and the creek don't rise. Right now it is simply not financially in the cards for me, however I hang onto the possibility of someday.

I mainly hunt whitetail deer, and the majority of those have been taken with an Ithaca 12 GA shotgun, or a muzzle loader prior to NYS opening most counties to rifle hunting in the last 5 or 6 years. I have taken one moose in New Foundland (with the Ruger .300 Win Mag)  and have been on three baited black bear hunts, plus several unsuccessful early bear hunts in the Adirondacks of NYS. My favorite hunting as a farm kid was limited to 99% woodchucks (I loved growing up during the 50's and 60's before the world went nuts and you could use kids and guns in the same sentence and we had never heard of "Political Correctness", and the chucks were very plentiful in those days. I do not see as many since coyotes became so numerous. I have been on a few whitetail hunts in Maine and only once had an opportunity to take a crotch horn buck on the last afternoon of a week long hunt. I let him walk. One other Maine hunt did give me a short glance at a beautiful monster buck, however I simply could not get on him fast enough to make a high percentage shot.  My brother and I had a wonderful whitetail trip in Saskatchewan a few years ago and I passed passed up several bucks.

That being said, and going forward hunting mostly woodchucks, whitetail deer and possibly black bear and holding out for a brown bear, this is what I would pick if doing it over:

First the discussion assume rifle #5 for plinking and a fun gun in the form of a Ruger 10/22. See I am breaking the rules already, cause you just gotta have a .22.

My FIRST of four choices would probably be a bolt action .223 with a 4X12X40 scope on board. The .22-250, the .204 Ruger etc. shoot flatter, the various .17 HMR's, .17 Hornets etc. are fun,  however ammo for the .223 can be had at a bargain in a lot of outlets. The .223 would do everything I wanted it to in the fields of NYS out to 300 yards or so. It is deadly on coyotes, big woodchucks, and inexpensive to shoot, and one can see impact of the bullet through your own scope without a spotter.

MY second choice would be my Savage bolt action Weather Warrior in .308 Win. It handles like a dream, is deadly accurate and .308 ammo is likewise very available. It is an ideal caliber for hunting NYS farm fields and combined woodlots and also the big woods of Maine. It could easily be my deer and black bear rifle with the right loads and also to take wild boar if I ever get the opportunity to do that.

I would keep my Marlin Model 1895 45-70 as I dearly love that rifle and sometimes just want to carry a lever action. With the right loads it makes a 200 yard whitetail gun (Hornady LeverEvolution loads), and with the Buffalo Bore 350 grain penetrator or similar loads from CorBon, Garrett Cartridges and others is capable of taking anything on the planet with the right loads.

My last choice would be to get my Ruger Model 77 .300 mag back if I could. I let it go a few years ago and have always regretted it. It had a professional trigger job, a top notch scope on it and a muzzle brake. With 180 grain bullets it was very accurate and if going to Alaska to hunt brown bear, would be the gun I would take with me. I normally would favor a heavier caliber gun, however knowing the Alaskan brown bear hunt would be a one time event and knowing that a LOT of brown bears have fallen to the .300 Win Mag, IF I had the rifle still I would take it with me. In part that is because my only opportunity on the last day of the hunt could come down to a 175-200 yard shot and I know the .300 Mag would do its part IF I did mine. Also it is a perfect gun for a second opportunity on the prairies of Saskatchewan or other Canadian provinces for whitetails.

Check with me tomorrow and I might change my mind. Fortunately right now, I still have the freedom to keep what I have or sell or trade on of my existing guns for something I might like better.

Dan

"Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that these liberties are a gift from God? Thomas Jefferson

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government."

Patrick Henry