Everyday Outdoors: Picking an all-around hunting rifle, Part I - Morgan Messenger

Folks often ask me what I recommend as an “all around” hunting rifle. The answer can vary greatly, depending on their definition of “all around.”

For many hunters in this neck of the woods, that means a good setup for whitetail deer and possibly black bear, that will also serve them well on a Western hunt for mule deer, antelope, or elk. Some may want to add a trip north for moose to the list of possibilities. In my case, on a recent hunt out West, I used my Tikka T3 chambered in .300 Win. Mag., topped with a 3-18×50 Leupold riflescope, to take, in three consecutive days, a coyote at 470 yds., a very large whitetail buck at 220 yds., and a spike elk at 200 yds. That rig performed perfectly on

The author’s favorite “all-around” rifle.

three very different sized animals, at a variety of distances. I then used it, with complete satisfaction, for the various deer seasons when I got back to West Virginia. I think that qualifies as a very versatile rig.

There are lots of combinations of rifle, cartridge, and sighting system that serve very well for those purposes. But the idea here will be to try to get to a short list of the most practical.

To clarify our goal, we are not going to address extreme long range shooting here. But we will discuss what is needed to consistently and ethically take game animals at distances out to five or six hundred yards, which can be a huge advantage on the hunting trip of a lifetime.

Let’s start with the rifle type. I believe that most hunters looking for a rugged, versatile, accurate rifle, chambered in cartridges suitable for the task, will be best served by a bolt action repeater. I’m not saying that other types of rifles won’t work. But the bolt action is king of the hill.

Also, even though wood has served very well for centuries as gunstock material, for durability purposes, we probably want some sort of synthetic stock. Likewise, blued steel is the traditional metal finish, and with reasonable care will last decades, but we may want to consider stainless steel or some type of modern finish.

In most hunting scenarios, we will be pretty well served with a rifle/scope combo that weighs in at around 7-9 lbs. That makes it heavy enough to hold steady and help absorb recoil, but not prohibitively heavy for most folks to carry around. There are too many good makes and models to list. Research tests from credible outdoor and firearms publications, then visit some local gun stores to see what you like.

Next, let’s look at sighting systems. To work well under the wide variety of conditions that we may encounter, I believe the logical choice is a variable powered rifle scope. Standards such as the 3-9×40 (3 through 9 times magnification, with a 40mm objective lens) offered by all major manufacturers will serve pretty well. When we include open country hunting into the mix, I prefer a bit more magnification — something in the neighborhood of 14-18 power available on the top end. But don’t get carried away. As magnification increases, field of view decreases, as does light transmission and eye relief. A bigger objective (front) lens lets in more light, but also makes the scope bigger, heavier, and requires it to be mounted higher above the bore. There is no free lunch.

I also want my scope to be capable of dialing down to no more than three or four power, for use in heavy timber. Therefore, I think the optic sitting on top of our project rifle should probably be something in the 3-15, 4-16, 3-18 class, or something similar, with a 40-50 mm objective lens. Since we are looking for something that will help with accurate first round hits, the scope for our all-around rifle should have a reticle with some sort of hashmarks for precise holdovers of different distances and precise holdoffs for wind. External target type adjustments afford an even higher level of precision, but require a bit more training and practice to use effectively.

This lays a pretty good foundation for a very versatile rig. Next week, we will sort out which chamberings will do what we need for this project.

Wade Shambaugh has lived in Morgan County his whole life and is a lifelong outdoorsman.

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Everyday Outdoors: Picking an all-around hunting rifle, Part I - Morgan Messenger
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