one firearm for all game?

[Chewy1]

I'm new to long guns, and was just wondering about the options. Is there one firearm that can be used for birds all the way up to deer or beyond, either by switching barrels or something else?

 

[u812]

12 ga shotgun
3 choke tubes,bird shot all the way up to slugs.
If you want a rifle go with a .22,many say to small for deer but I have seen many deer taken with one.

 

[Furync]

Remington 870 combo. Has a barrel for slugs and a barrel for shot. And it's not expensive. And it goes bang... every time. I love mine.


EDIT: Although I should add that having only 1 gun is nonsense... it's sort of like having only 1 knife... why stop at 1?

 

[Kismet]

Hey there Chewy !

How about you pay for the "search" function on BF, then put in the "one rifle" or "is .22 enough", or really, just about any gun reference you choose, and you will find hundreds, maybe thousands of threads about this very thing. Costs about $10 a year, and you will find information about everything that can be discussed.


U2's answer is a good one.

 

[Old CW4]

My vote is for a Mossberg. You can fire shot, slugs or even quickly change out the barrel for a 50 cal muzzle loader barrel.

 

[banana-clip]

Remington 870 combo, smooth bore for birds and rifled slug barrel for deer.

You could also get the single shot HR 12 guage combo with 2 barrels.

There are even over n unders with a shotgun barrel and rifle barrel, I think remington makes them.

Furync is right, the one rifle one knife stuff is crazy.

 

[Bushman5]

the problem with "the do it all rifle" is that your ammunition costs get VERY expensive. Lets say you hunt big horn, bears, elk, moose, deer etc, your going to need large cal ammo. Thats fine, but when you start hunting smaller game such as beaver, wabbits, birds, etc, your not only wasting expensive rounds, your liable to blow apart your kill and make it a pulpy mess.

IF i had to go with JUST one firearm, it would be a shotgun with a wide vareity of chke tubes and shell choices.

 

[Cpl Punishment]

The shotgun is the only real choice for "one gun that does it all". I'd argue that a 20 or 12 ga is necessary, primarily due to the .410's small shot load and paltry 93 grain slugs not being real useful for larger game.

You also don't need a rifled barrel for the shotgun. Foster or "rifled" slugs do just fine from a smoothbore, and it keeps you from having to buy very expensive sabot slugs.

 

[quietmike]

The Thompson Center Contender or Encore or the NEF Handi rifle are other options.

With these you buy the gun in the initial caliber you prefer and you have the option of buying additional barrels that range from 22 LR to 45-70, shotgun or muzzle loader barrels.

I would suggest starting with a good 22 rifle, CZ 452 or Ruger 10/22 would be my choice, and get your feet wet shooting and hunting small game. Then you could upgrade, depending on your preferences and needs.

Asking for a do-it-all gun is like asking for a do-it-all golf club or a do-it-all construction tool, it can be done, but the extra work and the end result probably wouldn't be what you had in mind.

 

[evbouret]

any dependable 12 ga would be my choice. I'd go out on a limb to say it can take any animal on the planet. Anything from rabbits/squirrels/birds to wild boar/bear/deer/elk/moose etc.... Given it also has its limitations, particularly range, and the weight of 12ga ammo.

I also have seen large game fall to a 22 but the shot placement has to be absolutely perfect. Head shots only.

 

[6shooter]

As everyone said, a 12 gauge and a mix of shells is pretty much the only choice for everything.


If I was to pick a centerfire rifle cartridge for everything from varmints to bison, it'd be a .270. Small enough that you could keep a rabbit together with a headshot, and big enough to drop a bison with a through and through, or a headshot, though it would be illegal to bison hunt with one in Canada(BC at least), as you are required to have a minimum 180gr bullet, which I've never seen for a .270.

 

[saxon]

I think mine would have to be a 20 ga. I grew up in Wisconsin and Ohio isn't much different terrain. We had several shotgun only counties and I saw lots of deer taken with 20 ga slugs. I always prefered it for small game. I only used my 12 ga for ducks and then only because we never knew when some geese would fly over. A 20 just didn't quite reach up there and grab em.

 

[Md 25v]

No question for me- My AR-15 is an all in one
I have uppers in:
.22lr for small game
.223 for coyote and varmints
243wssm for deer
.50 Beowolf for hog/bear
and a little .410 smoothbore upper from a gunshow last year just for fun. There's gonna be a 20ga upper next year and I'll definitely get that.

 

[SDS]

Furync


Remington 870 combo. Has a barrel for slugs and a barrel for shot. And it's not expensive. And it goes bang... every time. I love mine.


EDIT: Although I should add that having only 1 gun is nonsense... it's sort of like having only 1 knife... why stop at 1?

"Fear the man who owns but one gun, for he likely knows how to use it." - author unknown


SDS

 

[Samael]

I read the thread title and thought "12-gauge shotgun." That said, my Rem 700 in .300 WMR is the perfect "big game" gun. I wouldn't recommend using it on birds and squirrels, though.

 

[PrimitiveMan]

My main hunting weapon is a remmy 870

My decision is...

I am buying a spare Remington 870 express 12 Gauge. Synthetic stock. Sling. Ammo sleeve for the stock. Chokes stored behind the buttplate. Then i am going to get a short barrel Abt 20" or so with rifle sights and chokes. Probably have to have the barrel custom made, but it would be an awesome weapon.

It would shoot everything from birdshot, to buckshot, to slugs.

One barrel.

 

[JD Mandrell]

I'd have to go along with the ".12 gauge" folks here. There is little, if anything, that you can't take in North America, 4 or 2 legged, with a good .12 gauge and appropriate choke/ammo.

 

[u812]

You could also go with an over and under.They are getting harder to find.
You can find them with .22 over .410.....30/30 over 20ga.....30.06 or .223 over 12ga.
Springfield made the M6 and Savage made a couple models.
I have been wanting a M6 but they have gotten very hard to find too.

 

[eisman]

Combination guns are very popular in Europe. You can get pretty much anything you want made. But there are reasonable alternatives. Valmet and SKB used to offer O/U's with interchangable rifle barrels. Winchester did too, back when they were making the 101. Browning still does as a custom. Lots of less well name guns out there, you have to look. I still kick mself for not getting one of the 12ga/30-06 interchangable sets.

 

[Idaho Jarhead]

My go-to gun is my .300 Win Mag. I have two of them. With them I have killed elk, moose, black bear, and three difference species of deer. I also took a grouse with it one discouraging day of elk hunting a couple of years ago. I know that sounds kind of silly, but I shot the head off from about 30 yards out, it fell out of the tree and I had it cleaned and in my plastic baggy, leftover from lunch, two minutes later.

I prefer big game hunting and don't get into the birds a whole lot. I do own two 12 ga shotguns though.

I honestly don't feel that there is a "one gun solution," just like I don't think there is a "one knife solution." But if you are just starting out and purchasing your first firearm, I would consider what I wanted to do most with a gun (ie: big game hunting) and then come back and ask which gun would be best for that type of shooting. Personally, I prefer a larger caliber weapon. I like to know that my target is going to either drop or drop very quickly after hitting it. Hunting is hard enough without having to stalk your prey after pulling the trigger.

FWIW, my next firearm purchase is going to be a .45-70. The more I learn about that caliber, the more versitile I find it to be.