Tom Leoni
AH fanatic
As a die-hard classic-rifle fanatic, to me the pleasure of hunting is largely in taking my favorite weapon on an adventure.
I have my dream large medium bore in the form of a falling block single shot in .375 H&H flanged, topped with a crystal-clear 6x Zeiss scope. This one has relegated all my other hunting rifles to the gun cabinet, pretty much permanently, also because I can use it to hunt virtually everything that walks anywhere on Earth.
However, the pleasure of "hunting" for another rifle is still there, which is why I'm thinking of building my equally-ideal medium/smallbore rifle. I used to have a .333 Jeffery bolt with a 2x Lyman scope, which I foolishly traded in for an antique book, and I'm still kicking myself for it.
The choices are as following, in no particular order: a) a pre-war Mauser in 8x57mm; b) a pre-war Rigby in .275; c) a new Highland Stalker in the same caliber; d) a Westley Richards in .318; e) a Mannlicher-Schönauer in 6.5x54mm.
I don't need a screamer caliber, since another pleasure of hunting for me is to get close to game. I have seldom taken a shot longer than 300 yards. Weight is also not that big a deal, since I'm still relatively young and fit. This rifle would be for deer or (at most) elk sized game at the moderate distances I've described, and ideally I would outfit it with a scope, if it didn't already come with one.
Any advice (whimsical or otherwise) from fellow rifle-fanatics would be greatly appreciated.
I have my dream large medium bore in the form of a falling block single shot in .375 H&H flanged, topped with a crystal-clear 6x Zeiss scope. This one has relegated all my other hunting rifles to the gun cabinet, pretty much permanently, also because I can use it to hunt virtually everything that walks anywhere on Earth.
However, the pleasure of "hunting" for another rifle is still there, which is why I'm thinking of building my equally-ideal medium/smallbore rifle. I used to have a .333 Jeffery bolt with a 2x Lyman scope, which I foolishly traded in for an antique book, and I'm still kicking myself for it.
The choices are as following, in no particular order: a) a pre-war Mauser in 8x57mm; b) a pre-war Rigby in .275; c) a new Highland Stalker in the same caliber; d) a Westley Richards in .318; e) a Mannlicher-Schönauer in 6.5x54mm.
I don't need a screamer caliber, since another pleasure of hunting for me is to get close to game. I have seldom taken a shot longer than 300 yards. Weight is also not that big a deal, since I'm still relatively young and fit. This rifle would be for deer or (at most) elk sized game at the moderate distances I've described, and ideally I would outfit it with a scope, if it didn't already come with one.
Any advice (whimsical or otherwise) from fellow rifle-fanatics would be greatly appreciated.