What next rifle?

[6string]

Ugh, all these "vanilla ice cream" rifle recommendations!!!

Clearly, you NEED a turn of the century German Schuetzen rifle chambered for the 8.15mm x 46R cartridge!

Seriously, though, schuetzen is a GREAT target game. You typically shoot at 200 yards from the standing position. Bullets are invariably cast lead, and typically you handload your cartridges right at the bench, using the same case over and over again.
The rifles are most often equipped with precision iron sights, or sometimes with a scope. Set triggers adjusted to a very light "hair trigger" pull are the norm.
The scoring rings are quite small.

Schuetzen is a great target discipline if you want to master offhand rifle shooting.

Or, if you just have to sit down to shoot, you could buy a benchrest rifle in 6mm PPC.
Why not jump right in and get a heavyweight "rail" gun???

If you like hunting, recoil, and spending lots of money, you can't beat a Holland & Holland double rifle, preferably in a stout safari cartridge like the 470 Nitro Express. They are still hand made, one by one, built to order. Prices start at $100,000.

Anyhow, those are just MY recommendations!

 

[weatherby]

A nice double rifle in something heavy hitting.
A single shot maybe a rolling block.

 

[cmansguns]

more "plain vanilla" (but super fun!) recommendations

As other have stated: Classic, iconic, semi-auto 30-06 M1 Garand,
iconic Winchester 94 (in 30-30 of course) to keep your JM camp company, Savage 340E sporter in 22 Hornet for those elusive Ohio whistle-pigs, prairie dogs, wood chucks, or whatever you call them out there. Classic blue (or parkerized) steel and walnut.

 

[Bald1]

Can you deer hunt with any rifle or are you limited to the straight wall cartridges? If so it’s time for a Ruger 77/44.

 

[petepeterson]

.22 Magnum.
I find it very useful for killing critters when the range isn't point blank.
Pretty reasonable to shoot, as well.

 

[bigben55]

Oddly enough, I deer hunt private land in Indiana where most and rifle is legal. If I went back to hunting deer in Ohio, I got a nice CVA Inline, a few BP sidelocks, or I could use a 12ga slug gun.

Can you deer hunt with any rifle or are you limited to the straight wall cartridges? If so it’s time for a Ruger 77/44.

 

[Birdhunter6]

While an M1 or an M1A is a good suggestion, IMHO, 1 centerfire bolt action just isn't enough.

The .300 Magnum and .338 Win would be good choices if there's a elk in your future. If you are thinking in terms of prairie dogs, coyotes, wood chucks or just something thats a joy on the range, a heavy barrel bolt action in 22-250 or .223 comes to mind. While the .223 wouldn't shoot as far or as flat as 22-250, it would share ammo with your AR.

 

[biku324]

Ruger #1 in 30'06 or 338 Win Mag.

 

[SweetMK]

Rather than a specific rifle,, or caliber,,
how about a specific goal,, ??

My goal was to own a "one hole gun"

I did not care the caliber,, I simply wanted the result.
I tried over a dozen guns 22LR on up to 7mm-08,,
none were one hole capable,,

THEN, i found a "NEW" gun at Green Tops Sporting goods store,
They bought ALL the display guns from the Las Vegas Shot Show,,
that were hand built to show off the "NEW" Remington 700 Sendero.
They had at least a dozen calibers,, one of each,,
I selected the 300 Win Mag.

It took a month of tinkering,, but, I found a reload that allows that gun to shoot "one hole"

Trust me,, achieving that is WAY MORE FUN than buying another hunting rifle.

Oh,, some guy at work brought in his target he shot that had 3 holes in it,,
I photocopied the target, three times,,
I took it home, and shot out his hits at 100 yards,,
duplicating his hits,, with 9 shots.

THAT gun was my favorite purchase,,,

 

[2152hq]

Thx guys. Good suggestions, keep them coming. A couple follow ups...
-no, I don't handled
-I live in SW Ohio
-I hunt deer, turkey and small game
-have plenty of handguns and shotguns

I've thought about getting a big bore rifle. My goal is to have literally every gun I could conceivably ever need for any outdoor purpose, before I retire in a few years. I could get the 45-70, but they're pricy as is the ammo any while I could swing it, I don't see me shooting it all that much. .......

You don't 'need' any other rifles for what you do.
You don't care for the BigBore stuff.
You don't HandLoad.

Unless you have a specific passion for something (say, like Pre-War European Sporters,,or Winchester pre-64's, etc),,or a specific caliber to fiddle with because it's an odd one and takes extra effort to load it and the firearm may well be a rarity as well,,,then you seem to have all the bases covered.

You can do everything you want to do, where you are (Ohio), with what you have.
Buy ammo,,or get into handloading.

 

[ischia]

.22 Magnum.
I find it very useful for killing critters when the range isn't point blank.
Pretty reasonable to shoot, as well.

I second your choice. I have a lever Marlin 1894 in .22mag. great to shoot with the Redfield 7-9 scope. VERY hard to find and quite pricey now. Have one in .218 bee. As new but don't shoot it at all. ??? PRICE of ammo Duh! The .22 mag is just right.Companion for my model 48 S&W as well.
SW

 

[oink]

No love for a bolt .243 or 7mm08?

 

[serger]

If I lived where you live I would get an AR with both a
.223 upper and a 300 Legend upper. That way you
could take it hunting for just about everything you
would probably see. Then you could get run time on
it and save all the nice guns from getting beat up as
much.

And right now they are available and cheap. Also
get more magazines than you'll ever need in case
you need them.

 

[DEF3]

Not being sure if your planning to hunt, plink or enjoy a day at the bench. I had the 06 and hunted with it. Not much fun at the range tho. Picked up an old REM model 7 in 308 years ago. Much more comfortable to shoot. Lightweight/short a solid north east woods rifle.You can get pretty much the same performance as an 06 with todays factory ammo. Have shot plenty white tail with it. Last year I shot a moose at roughly 150 yards using Nosler 165 Partitions. Clean pass thru, piled up after going 30 yards. Again, not sure what your needs are.

 

[BB57]

The M1, M1A or BM-59 would all be agood choice. I actually prefer the BM-59 over the M1A.

An M1 carbine is also a good choice.

A precison rifle is a nice to have item. It doesn’t have to be overly fancy. A decent Remington 700 in .308 with a 175 gr bullet will get you out to about 1100 yards. With a 168 gr bullet it’s a solid 600-800 yard rifle.

One of the military .22LR trainers is nice to have. Top to bottom:
Springfield M2
Remington 513T
Stevens 416
Winchester Model 52 (unmarked A).

Or a Kimber 82G.

A single shot like this Browning 1885 Low wall is fun to shoot and quite accurate. The more recent (last 40 or so years) versions use hanger for the fore arm that fully floats the barrel.

Uberti also makes a very nice copy of the Winchester 1885 in a couple different models.

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

That's the one I have, a Rossi 92 in .38/357. I got the short barrel, blued. It's a fun, handy gun for sure! I do agree, the sights are not the best. Tell me about the Steve Gunz sights.....

It's basically a Skinner type peep sight mounted on the top rear of the breach block. See here: Adjustable Bolt-Mounted Stainless Peep Sight Safety Replacement [PS-02] - $69.95 : Steve's Gunz, Rossi 92 Specialist

John

 

[erikpolcrack]

You should consider a Savage 110 or an Axis in a caliber having a standard (.473) base like the 30-06 or 308 and their derivatives. Easy-change barrels opens up a whole world of other cartridges as you find the need (or want).

 

[Golddollar]

How about a Remington 700 in .375 H&H. I used to have one, but I had to sell it when I lost my job. It was a great rifle, more accurate than you might imagine.

 

[TheTinMan]

Several rifles that have been mentioned:

Winchester Model 64 Deluxe Deer Rifle (a spiffy Model 94, in .30-30 of course)

Medallion Grade Browning High Power (circa 1970). Basically a slightly updated Mauser 98 made in Belgium.

Sako A III Carbine with Mannlicher stock (.270 with vintage Redfield Widefield 3-9x scope)

And somehow I left out a Ruger No. 1. I recently got a 1-B chambered in .270 with a 26” barrel. The action is so short it’s the same length as a bolt action with a 22” barrel. I love shooting that rifle. I’ve had the one shown below for a while but it is in NIB condition and 1 of 248 ever chambered in .30-30. I intended to shoot it when I won the auction but just can’t do it.

7mm-08 is a nifty cartridge. Short action with ballistics virtually identical to the venerable 7x57 Mauser. Not .308 availability but you can find it, and it’s an excellent deer cartridge with fairly light recoil.

 

[panamajack310]

I myself am particular to battle rifles. You can pick up a good enfield #4 mk1. British .303 is plentiful and will take down everything on the planet including polar bears, rhinos, and elephants. The British used the .303 in everything planes machine guns and rifles. Is a well proven round. The cool thing about the enfield rifles is that you can throw a scope on them or leave them with open sights.