How many have hunted the west with a single shot rifle?

[chevyman181]

Hello all, I've been interested in starting to hunt with a single shot rifle. No real reason why just thought it would be interesting. I was just wondering how many of y'all do it and your experience? The good, the bad, the ugly?

I grew up in TN bow, muzzleloader, and rifle hunting. In college, I started leaving the rifle at home a switched to a pistol. Life has me in ND now where I primarily bow hunt but we get ID and MT every few years bear, elk, and deer hunting.

 

[BAKPAKR]

A single shot rifle should not handicap you. I hunted mountain goat with a single shot pistol because it had a greater range than my revolver.

 

[Salmonchaser]

I have #1s I love to use; last year I used the 257 Roberts, 275 Rigby and my .375H&H. Never felt handicapped.

 

[David658]

Hunted with a frontstuffer for almost 40 years, no handicap at all.

 

[longbow51]

My wife and I have but hardly qualifies. .204 Ruger and .223 Remington from Dakota Arms, Nesika Action.

 

[shb]

A Plains Rifle still feels like cheating to people that grew up bowhunting.

 

[Bigjay73]

I had about 15 seconds to load a round and shoot this guy at 300yds. I was already prone, but it turned into a fire drill. Wouldn't have mattered if I had a bolt, semi auto, or single shot, one shot was all I was going to get.. I've never felt handicapped with a single shot.

 

[BrentD]

Hello all, I've been interested in starting to hunt with a single shot rifle. No real reason why just thought it would be interesting. I was just wondering how many of y'all do it and your experience? The good, the bad, the ugly?

There is no bad and ther definitely is no ugly. The most beautiful rifles ever made were (and are) singleshot.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with muzzleloader, but the very apex of American rifles are the black powder CARTRIDGE rifles. They are the finest balanced, most handsome, and incredibly effective rifles.

They will also make a rifleman out of you to use them to their fullest advantage.

I'd love to go on and on and post dozens of pics, but I'm a bit limited with only my cell phone. But go for it. Find a style of rifle. Then a make and model. Decide on the types of projectiles and powder. Then dive in. But whatever you do, go with whatever trips your personal trigger the most and have fun.

 

[6mm Remington]

I have two Ruger 1B's, one in 6mm Remington and one in 30-06! I love the looks, the style, the strength of the actions, and how nice they are to carry. Yes they are a bit heavy but I sure like hunting with them. I have hunted a lot with both of them and have not every felt short changed somehow or handicapped using one. I shot a really nice 2x2 (7 or 8 year old deer) a couple years ago. Saw a couple does and did not see the buck yet............. I pulled up and shot a nice fat doe and she ran out of sight in the junipers after I shot hitting her in the lungs. My friend yelled buck, big buck and I was already reloading another cartridge in the chamber and I was up and on him before he made it 25 yards and disappeared forever. I shot him in the neck right behind the right ear as he was angling away from me. Two more steps and he would have been gone. He dropped immediately. When we got up to him, the shots were only about 70 yards, I could see the doe laying about 10 yards away from him just down the slope from the buck. That was my 6mm Remington I was using on this pair shooting 100 gr. Partitions I hand loaded.

I'm just a bit fond of the 6mm Remington and the 30-06 too!

 

[steveshuntn1]

I haven’t hunted out west yet, but my go to rifle for whitetail hunting is my H&R .444 marlin single shot. It’s my favorite gun and I’ve put 38 deer down with it(6 doe and 32 bucks)over the years. A single shot will definitely make you believe in that old saying of make that first shot count! Go for it…you won’t regret it.

 

[WapitiBob]

My stw is essentially a single shot as the cartridge is too long to feed. It’s never been an issue.

 

[Irishman]

I mostly use a single shot rifle. The only time I don't is when I'm in an area where I know there are lots of grizzly bears.

 

[chevyman181]

A single shot rifle should not handicap you. I hunted mountain goat with a single shot pistol because it had a greater range than my revolver.

What is your pistol set up? I've been thinking about a 6.8 spc. I think it would be a nice little pistol set up.

 

[old roper 42]

When we moved to Co 1977, my first bull was shot using #1 7mag. I still have rifle but it now 30-338 mag. I also have 2- varmint rifles that are #1. One is tight neck 6ppc other 22BR also tight neck and both have Keplinger set trigger.

 

[noharleyyet]

Elk...once

https://flic.kr/p/2hQjHeU

 

[OntarioHunter]

I have heard that accuracy can be hit or miss with Ruger #1. Some guns are great and some not so great. Truth or fiction?

Two friends hunted cape buffalo with Ruger #1. One dropped his bull with one shot from .375 but the other guy had a bit of excitement with 45-70 ... especially when his PH turned and ran after the not yet dead bull came for them. Fortunately Wes was able to dodge the big bugger in tall grass long enough for it to finally fall over. Too busy trying to stay out of its way to reload. Wes said that was a safari from hell. No supplies in camp and staff were literally starving. He finally shot an impala for them. They ate everything but the hooves. I have been known to live somewhat on the edge but I think hunting "black death" with a single shot rifle or bow is really asking for trouble ... with a capital "T". Hunting is dangerous and the Grim Reaper may yet get me out there but I prefer it if my daughter doesn't have to identify a sack of hamburger at the morgue. When hunting elk in grizzly country I would not be very comfortable with just one shot in the gun. I can't see me getting another shell in the chamber quickly enough for follow up shot, especially in cold conditions.

 

[Ben Lamb]

#1 in 9.3x74R. It's putting both 250's & 286's into less than an inch at 100 yards. Never felt undergunned even in big grizz country with it.

 

[Don Fischer]

Years ago I had a burning desire to have a #1 in 25-06. Seemed like I would never find one and then one day in a small gun shop in Ft Collins, Colo I found it. Brand new and at the time they were $265 new. Had the money too. But picked it up and fooled with it a bit but didn't buy it for some reason. The want to went away! Never got that same feeling back either, guess it was mostly a dream. Beautiful rifle though! Wouldn't faze me to hunt with a single shot but I do bolt guns. Savage used to make a single shot bolt action gun. I'm stuck on MTY cases never hitting the ground, remove every one by hand. If I need a second shot the animal would have to wait for me to reload! These days I think of the #1 still now and them but the only one I like is the original design.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Consistent accuracy is not hard to achieve, but the rifle was designed as a hunting rifle. Typically after three shots, many find their groups starting to string. There are remedies. The larger bores tend to be much more accurate out of the box then smaller bores. Mine all shoot MOA or better, the 275 took some bedding work.

 

[blacksheep]

I carried a Encore for years. Elk hunting I used a 300 win mag and a 7mm rem mag. For deer I used my 7mm-08 barrel. All of these barrels shoot at least MOA, the magnum calibers had muzzle brakes on them. The heavy barrels of the magnum rounds made the rifles heavy. I have a custom Remington 700 in 7mm for my primary gun. I'll take my encore as a back up.

blacksheep