I'm sure this has been discussed before, but with new cartridges and types of rifles hitting the market every year...

If you had to choose just one rifle to live with for all purposes the rest of your life, what would it be?

Do you choose an old faithful, something you currently own, a modern precision rifle or a semi auto AR platform or something else?

Rifle manufacturer, caliber, action, utilitarian value, etc. and why.

That's a tough call. I'd go with a (modern semi-auto .308) Fulton Armory M1a with an 18 inch barrel and try to get the weight down with a composit stock.
Versatile, easy to find cartridge in an platform that can be accurate at a distance or devastating in close, and the benefit of multiple magazine sizes. Too heavy to be a bugout gun, but in this scenario I'd prefer to be able to shoot larger game than a .22 can handle.

Savage 10BA Stealth 6.5CM. Have to stick with my bolt gun for reliability. It's enough to drop anything I need and accurate enough to get me out there. I like my 22" barrel on it vs the normal 24" since it lives suppressed. I like my other rifles, but this one is something I'll always have. My Grendel AR would be a close second if I just didn't love my bolt guns so much.

I've been slaying em with Dad's old Rem 700 30-06 for decades, and plan to continue for several more decades

What bullet and grain weight does it like best?

I get the best results with 168g SMK.

Edit: I hand load all my ammo but it shoots 168g Federal Gold Medal Match just as accurate. Below is a target I got shipped with the rifle.

a Remington 121 The Fieldmaster. By far the best rifle I have ever owned. There is very little I cant do with it.

If we are talking about centerfire, I change my mind from time to time in this exercise. Right now probably a Winchester 70 in 30-06. For a long time it was a 94 in 30-30. But I can do so much more with an 06.

Tx-Ag2010 said:

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TacOps X-Ray 51. Its my favorite rifle and it isn't even close.

.308 Win, stupid accurate, bullet proof, and by far the best fit and finish on anything I own.

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BCStalk said:

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Savage 10BA Stealth 6.5CM. Have to stick with my bolt gun for reliability. It's enough to drop anything I need and accurate enough to get me out there. I like my 22" barrel on it vs the normal 24" since it lives suppressed. I like my other rifles, but this one is something I'll always have. My Grendel AR would be a close second if I just didn't love my bolt guns so much.

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This. Love my ARs but dammit if this wouldn't be the go to. We just got an ashbury precision one in and it's a sweet rifle.

hot_rod_9384 said:

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30-30 lever action

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Hell yeah!

Savage model 99 in .243.

I love my 270.......but my 338 win mag will kill anything I point it at from a long ways.

If I stay in AK forever, 338 win mag Browning x-bolt stainless stalker

For down south, Remington 700 mountain 270

agsalaska said:

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a Remington 121 The Fieldmaster. By far the best rifle I have ever owned. There is very little I cant do with it.

If we are talking about centerfire, I change my mind from time to time in this exercise. Right now probably a Winchester 70 in 30-06. For a long time it was a 94 in 30-30. But I can do so much more with an 06.

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My three exact choices too. I have Dad's pre-64 model 70, 30-06. I buy new guns but I always pick that 70 in the end.

This guy seems to make a pretty good argument for one rifle:

Dude kills a lot of stuff with one rifle

FN SCAR 7.62 (.308)

I've got a Browning A-Bolt II in 7mm-08. That was the first rifle that was ever mine and mine alone. It will shoot 120 Nosler BTs and 120 Barnes TTSXs into little groups over 45.0 grains of Varget. It will also put 140 Nosler Accubonds and 140 Sierra Pro Hunters into Sub-MOA groups, though not to the same POI as the 120s...







I would be content to hunt all of North America, and even African Plains game with my 7mm-08. My only concern, and it might be unfounded, is that it is an A-Bolt.

The problem with an A-Bolt is that there are so many dang parts on an A-Bolt...you have to have a bunch of spares in case anything breaks.

It wears a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40, but has also worn a Burris FF II, Bushnell Elite 4200, Leupold VX3, and others. But the Zeiss just fits it perfectly.

I've got another A-Bolt in 243 WSSM, which is a hoot to shoot and a joy to carry at 7.25#. It's all day sub-MOA Accurate and kills deer like crazy with 90 NBTs or 85 TSXs, but I don't know if I'd go after elk or moose with it.

So the other I would consider is a Weatherby Vanguard S2 in 300 Win Mag that I stocked in a McMillan with Edge Fill. It wears a Leica 2.5-10x42 in Talley Lows. All up she weighs 8# 3oz with a magazine full of 180 TTSXs.



She's beautiful and a joy to carry, but I hate shooting her. Recoil is...noticeable.

100 yards, with either 73.0 of IMR4831 and a 165 TSX or 71.0 of IMR4831 and a 180 TTSX:




at 300 yards, with 180 TTSX load:


Those two little red marks on the 300 yard target are two more shots at 300 on a different target (Same POI) and I just overlaid them to see how they fit into a group.

Not bad for an 8# 300 Win Mag.

300 Win Mag no question for all around rifle. Give me that and a .22 and I would be set for all comers.

Tikka T-3 300 WSM 180 Gr Swift Scirocco ll - Double Tap Ammo

Cooper 54 in 6.5 CR with 3.5x18 glass.