Best All Around Rifle???

[Grizz1754]

I am moving to Anchorage (via the Air Force) and was hoping you could inform me of the best all around rifle to have for hunting in Alaska. I plan on huntng moose, elk, ect. You dont necessarily have to say a brand but style, calibur, ect. would be nice. Thanks in advance for the input

Dave

[Kay9Cop]

There's a lot of information already on the forum about this question. The search function is your friend.

That said, if you aren't going to include brown bears in your hunting, most any rifle suitable for whitetail deer will do fine here in Alaska. If you are going to include brown bears, get the biggest caliber you can shoot effectively (that's the key...bigger bullets don't do any good if you can't hit what you're aiming at), but .30-06 is the generally accepted minimum. .338 Win Mag and bigger is most often recommended.

[logman]

.338 wm

old .338 Ruger M77 RS with a Leupold 1x4 and a RCBS basic reloading set-up

[anonymous1]

My new multi purpose .338

Browning XBolt .338

[BRWNBR]

a big one....
big guns kill anything...
little guns don't....
and i just "happen" to have one for sale! lol

[TomM]

Bolt Action, 30-06, go forth and kill stuff.

[AlaskaTrueAdventure]

immortal words...

...in the immortal words of a old Steven Stills song..."Love The One Your With".
Bring any 30 caliber or bigger.
Bring whatever you have, or want to have.
Bring any gun that you really can shoot accurately.
But....Bigger is better.

Dennis
AK TAGS

[strangerinastrangeland]

Milsurp Finnish M-39 Mosin Nagant in 7.62X54R is exceedingly accurate, reliable and tough enough, Ive never broken one.

The gun preforms like an 'Honest Man', does its job well, needs little more than cleaning and never complains.....and those are rare.

[Amigo Will]

Most will suggest the gun they use.First they believe its the perfect gun and second if someone else will get one then at least two folks will think its the best gun. Truth is probably the 338 winmag is the best all around gun for the true all around Alaskan hunter and good for all of the state. I just hunt S.E. and keep shots close and bears most everywhere so use a 45/70 for everything as the extra range of the 338 ain't needed.Figure out what you want to hunt the most but still give some protection if ever needed and ask what the folks in the area you will live like the most and go with it.

[AGL4now]

If your a awful, hunter get a big cartridge. If your a master hunter, get a little cartridge. If you are in the middle, get a in the middle cartridge.

Most Alaskans are way over gunned. Most Alaskans standing flat footed, shooting off hand with no support could not hit a 8" paper pie plate at 100 yards 3 out of five shots, with there Alaska BIG game rifle. They will argue that they can, they truly think that they can, but they can't. On a bench he'll shoot 1 1/4".

Now get the same man a .243 Win. to plink with for 1/2 hour, and he will hit the 8" plate 4 out of 5 times. I am not advocating the .243 Winchester. Just that if good hunters can get done with a Bow & Arrow, a good hunter can get it done with a modest cartridge.

A man can either have powerful hunting skills, or a powerful firearm, but he does not need both. People now confuse killing game with hunting. Hunting is hunting, as a rose is a rose. Good luck.......

[hodgeman]

This thread could go forever as everyone has a favorite but a good .300 or .338 Win Mag in a rifle you can shoot a pie plate with consistently to 250 yards from field positions would be fine.

An AKDFG published commentary on the subject suggested a .300 magnum class bolt action with a low power variable scope in a weatherproof stock. I'll not argue as it describes my most commonly used and current favorite rig. In the Interior where I'm at its a very common setup.

A .30-06 is often recommended, works and is recommended in yet another AKDFG published commentary on the subject.

If "all around" includes coastal brown bears you may even look to a .375 but you'll pay the price in recoil and ammo or components. You'll also be overgunned for about everything else. Depending on your recoil tolerance your shooting accuracy may suffer too. Many coastal brown have been killed with lesser ballistics too.

Alaska big game varies from wolves, deer, carribou on up to moose and grizzly and beyond that on up to bison, muskox and brown bear from temperate rain forests to mountains to tundra to artic plains. Thats a pretty wide range for "all around".

Craig Boddington has a very well done book (albeit slightly dated now) on the subject- North American Hunting Rifles. It is well worth tracking down and reading- its usually available in bigger bookstores, Amazon, B&N and the like.

[AlaskaCub]

My reccomendation is if you have something in a 30 cal (ie 308,30-06,300 WM) stick with that for now. If you dont own one of the above then they would be a good place to start. Once you move up here and if you become an avid hunter I suspect you'll end up with about 3 go to guns for hunting Alaska when all is said and done with. Cant go wrong with a 30 and most guys I know that bought/own a 338 WM or 375 H&H on a reccomendation for a good all arounder cant shoot them for shiznit. Once you move up here and your settled in and you meet some of the guys you work with, after a few trips to the range you'll get a feel for what you want and what you need. Oh and I almost forgot, unless gun maintenance is something you enjoy, stick with stainless/synthetic!

[marshall]

Browning XBolt .338

Nice look package, wouldn't mind adding that to my safe.

[AlaskaCub]

Nice look package, wouldn't mind adding that to my safe.

Except its a Browning!....grin

[elim]

Except its a Browning!....grin

AlaskaCub I thought the same thing they had me right up to the word Browning.