Hi

Well I know that it is going to be very difficult to say what the perfect hunting rifle will be since their are so many factors.

Let me give a idea how the rifle wil be used.

Animal: Medium to Big game
Range: 100m - 200m
Location: Savanna to very Dense Savanna (Bush Veld)

I know that almost any type of rifle will be lethal, it all depends on shot placing, but there is nothing wrong with a great rifle

Thanks
DeadSet

What's so hard? 30-06 (or 308) bolt action about 7-8 lbs scoped and ready to shoot. I'd take a Ruger with a 2.5 fixed scope load it with 180gr (or 160gr) Nosler Partitions.

See how easy it is?

I'll vote for the .30-06. You have a wide selection of bullets from 110 grain to 220 grain with a multitude of points and basses.

Savanna?? Dense Savanna? Bush veld??? May I ask where you are at??? I don't want to get too personal here....

I like the .308 myself, but the 30.06 has very similar ballistics. I never owned a 30.06, but I know that many swear by it.

Thanks for the replies..

I sm in Namibia Africa, I have seen hunters used a vide veriety of calibers, anything from .270 to .375 ...

the. 270 is very accurate but a little to light for the bigger game such as Kudu, the .375 again to heavy ....

We own a .308 as well as .30-06 ..... But a baliber that is fairly new here and looks very promising is the .25-06 ... Also the .338 ....

My vote goes for my Remington 7600 in .35 Whelen. The cartridge has lots of thump when needed, but can be loaded back for lighter game, and the pump action rifle allows for quick follow-up shots (if needed) in the thick stuff.

I personally would prefer my 7mm Rem. Mag. It's good for long range, packs a terrific wallop, and the recoil is reasonable. There are enough good bullets in this caliber so you can make a good selection according to the game and conditions. I'm not a fan of magnum rifles by any means, but this one seems to do it all. It'll bring home the bacon while not leaving you a spastic cripple from the jolt. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

The perfect hunting rifle to me is,one that's light, fast, very accurate and does what I ask of it.
I have a 7600 35 whelen, with a 1.5-5x leupold scope, that I consider the perfect 0 to 200 yard gun.
I have two guns that I grab the most a 35 whelen pump and a 7mm rem mag kimber M98. The kimber is heavy, but shoots very well and has never let me down, except for when I sighted it in too far (340yards) it was a opp's I thought the field was 250yards. I shot over a deer up hill shot @ 140yards a week later. I checked the field out after the opp's with a laser range finder, and found out what I thought was 250 was 340 yards. I call it a $3000.00 mistake, the deer I shot at was a honest pefect 150 class whitetail and I would pay 3k for that shot over again. I don't get many chances on public land for whitetails of that class.

Guess I'd have say the .270 Weatherby Magnum. I've killed elk and mule deer with mine and I'd probably use it on anything in North America except a Grizzly. Of course I wouldn't shoot a Grizz with anything less than a bazooka. I would , however, use my ex mother-in-law as bait.

Well, from experience I would say that the .270 is a bit to light and to fast for the terrain I have to hunt in. Just one small twig and it is a complete miss. I cannot say that it is not accurate, we all know that the .270 is deadly if it comes to accuracy.

I guess that I would have to make a couple of compromises when it comes to selecting a rifle for what I need it for.

80% of my shots are of my feet, 30% of my shot are when the animal is running. About 60% of the shots are less then 150 yards. 70% of the animals I shoot are kudu (Big antilope in Southern Africa), others include anything from Eland to oryx and black Wildebeast also as small as Springbock.

I guess you might wonder what I do, lol ... Well I am a tracker that are usualy send to get the wounded animals. So i walk most of the time. So I need something light, not too long, and still need to pack a punch, even if the animal is running away, because you might only get that one oppertunity.

So figured that the .270 might be to light for the big game but the .338 to heavy to carry around. the 30-06's accuracy drops a bit too much over long distances, to i opted for something inbetween..... the 25-06 .....

Do you thing I am making the right choice?

DeadSet

DeadSet,
Nope, wrong idea. If the 277 is too small, what makes a 257 better or bigger? Let us see, 277 and 338 dead between is 308

You guys plopped all around this one, in my opinion. If the 06 is not the answer here, due to a bit more umph needed, the obvious answer is the 300 H&H or the 300 Win Mag. In Africa I would say both are common, but you might want the 300 H&H as I have a feeling it might be more common.

Now the 300 with a 180 is hard to beat for thin skinned game of the size you are talking about.

Rats SwampFox...I hate to give up my .30-06 and have to agree with you, but I believe you have it pegged. One of the .300 magnums probably would be the better ticket. I go with SwampFox.....

Let see at 100 - 200 meters trajectory is not a problem. I would go with a bigger bullet. 35 whelen or 338-06. Recoil is not a factor and the bigger bullet will preform better on the game.

longwalker

In all actuallity there is NO perfect hunting rifle. If I said that my .30-30 was the "best of the best". Someone would not agree with me. And I wouldn't blame them. If I said that my super duper.XX-XX with X x X scope made by Acme Scope and my rounds were gold jacketed. There would be someone that would disagree with that too. Your hunting envirnment and what you are used to and/or prefer is the best and perfect hunting rifle. Oh how I do love my Winchester mod 94 in .30-30 for close in and personal hunting.

Bushmaster, I cannot but agree with you. It is all about personal preferance but it is good to get other people opinions and point of views. They might just see something that I did not see that might make a difference at the end of the day.

Thanks for all the input recieved.....

DeadSet