The elusive "Perfect Rifle"

I've spent many an hour pondering the merits of various rifles, their pros and cons, and the applications at which they might excel.  I jump around quite a bit:  one week I'm keenly interested in a hard-hitting 45-70 Marlin Guide Gun.  The next week I'm enchanted by the golden reputation of the pre-1964 Model 70 Winchester.  At other times I get a hankering for the clean lines and refined simplicity of a Ruger No. 1 single shot, chambered in any of a handful of exotic and interesting calibers (.303 British, 375 H&H, 9.3 x 74R). 

I don't have the budget to own each of the guns or calibers that I become infatuated with.  I don't really want to own them anyway.  If I bought them, I'd cease to daydream about them, and that's at least half the fun.  Anticipation itself is so often more pleasing than the object of anticipation. 

The ever-elusive "Perfect Rifle" must adhere to some rather strict parameters.  In no particular order, they are:

1. It must be chambered for an all-around caliber, versatile enough to hunt game up to moose or elk.
2. The caliber must be widely available.  Ammo that's available only online is a pain.
3. Recoil must be manageable.  The "Perfect Rifle" will be shot a lot.  Excessive recoil is a turn off and kills accuracy.
4. It must be a repeater.  Some repeaters are better than others.  I much prefer lever guns.
5. It must be short and light enough to carry well, but solid enough to help dampen recoil.
6. It must be functionally reliable.
7. It must be reasonably accurate (2 MOA or less).  That's enough for a hunting rifle. 

With these parameters in place, several candidates can be quickly discounted:

The beautiful, classy Ruger No. 1.  This rifle gets high marks for reliability, accuracy, and aesthetics, but it is limited in application.  Hunting dangerous game with a single shot is playing Russian roulette.  Getting charged by a large boar with only one cartridge in the chamber is not an appealing scenario.

Ruger No. 1.  Photo by Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.

All bolt-action rifles.  This will raise some eyebrows, as the bolt action is by far the most common type of hunting rifle used in the United States or anywhere else, and not without reason.  They are generally reliable, accurate firearms that can handle most any type of ammunition, unlike lever actions, which generally only handle flat or rounded bullets.  Bolt actions can handle spitzer-shaped (pointed) bullets, which are vastly more ballistically efficient and therefore have a much longer effective range.  My reason for discounting bolt-action rifles is 80% personal preference and 20% hard fact.  I plain don't like bolt action rifles.  They're common, they're utilitarian, they're....prosaic.  Boring.  Also, they aren't very quick on repeating shots.  Yes, you have several shots available in most bolt action rifles, but no, they do not come out very fast, no matter how much practice you've had. 

Remington 700 BDL.  Photo by Remington Arms Co.

Traditional lever-action rifles.  This breaks my heart.  Excluding the rifles that won the West, that have been America's go-to deer rifles for generations and have defended rural folks from man and beast for over a hundred years proves that I'm nothing if not objective in my criteria.   I've often stated that I hunt almost exclusively with a Marlin 336 carbine in .30-30 Winchester.  Why isn't the lever-action .30-30 not the elusive "Perfect Rifle"?  Let's break it down.  

1. Caliber widely available?  Yes.  .30-30 Winchester ammo is available anywhere ammunition is sold.
2. Recoil is manageable?  Yes.  It kicks much less than most other big game calibers out there.
3. Repeater?  Yes.  The lever action is also much faster on repeat shots than the bolt action.
4. Short and light?  Yes.  The Marlin and Winchester carbines are the best handling hunting rifles in existence.
5. Functionally reliable?  Yes.  The Marlin and Winchester designs are each over 100 years old.
6. Reasonably accurate?  Yes.  It is common for these guns to shoot 1.5-2 MOA.  Plenty good for hunting applications.

      

So, what gives?  In a word, ballistics.  As great as the venerable .30-30 Winchester is, it is limited as an all-around rifle cartridge.  I hunt in brushy areas and never seriously challenge the range of the .30-30, but if I hunted, say, elk in Colorado or mule deer in Montana, I'd choose something else.  A scoped .30-30 has an effective maximum range of around 225 yards.  After that, you're holding over a game animal's back to account for bullet drop, and the bullet is seriously running out of steam when it reaches the target.  The lack of range issue would rule out the .30-30 for a Montana hunt as well, but so would the presence of grizzly bears.   For all its many virtues, the .30-30 is not ideal grizzly defense.

Stainless Marlin 336 .30-30.  Photo by Marlin Firearms Co.

So what is the elusive "Perfect Rifle"?  I've eliminated the vast majority of rifles commonly bought and used by hunters and shooters in this country, and around the world for that matter.  However, there is one rifle out there, made by one company, that fits all my strict requirements better than any other candidate.  Honestly, I was very surprised to come to this conclusion.  Well, what is it?

Drum roll please.....

The Browning BLR in .30-06 Springfield.

Huh?

Browning's lever-action rifle is an instrinsically different design from the traditional Marlins or Winchesters.  The most important departure is in how the cartridges are stored in the magazine.  In traditional lever-action rifles, the extra shells stack up end-to-end in the magazine tube under the barrel.  Because the tip of one cartridge is touching the primer of the next, only flat or rounded bullets can be used.  Spitzer (pointed) bullets might set off the primer of the cartridge it rests upon, resulting in a big bang and a greasy spot on the ground where the rifleman was standing.  In the BLR, the bullets stack up on each others' sides, like in a bolt action's magazine.  This allows the BLR to be chambered for cartridges that shoot pointed bullets, like the .30-06 Springfield.  To be fair, the BLR action is very complex and some would say over-engineered.  However, most BLR owners report that this is a remarkably well made, reliable rifle.

Browning BLR.  Photos by the Browning Arms Co.

The BLR combines the fast follow-up shots of a lever action (the BLR action is actually faster and smoother than the Marlin or Winchester) with the true versatility of the .30-06 Springfield cartridge.  The range and power of the .30-06 far exceeds that of my beloved .30-30, making this a truly all-around rifle.  Your Colorado elk hunt?  The .30-06 has likely taken more elk than any other cartridge.  Your Montana mule deer hunt, and potential grizzly encounter?  Load up the universally available 180 grain Remington Core-Lokt ammunition and you can reach out for that buck at 300 yards, and if needs be, shoot the same bullet through both shoulders of the biggest grizzly out there.  In the BLR, quick repeat shots are available if necessary.  The .30-06 is the unrivalled king of versatility. 

180 grain .30-06 ammo.  Photo by Remington Arms Co.

Well, it's been fun.  I've found the elusive "Perfect Rifle".....or have I?  This has been a decision made on paper.  When it comes to rifles, ladies and gents, decisions just cannot be made on paper.  There are subtleties and intangibles that are hard to quantify.  I think my criteria for choosing a great all-around rifle are sound, but there's no perfect gun out there.  Shoot much, experience much, get to know several different types of firearms.  Intimately know the application you intend for the rifle.  Then you can make a decision for yourself.  A man is denied many choices in life, but I fervently insist that he chooses his own gun.  At the end of the day, this article was just talk.  Fun talk.  Entertainment.  What it leaves out is the subjective element, the human element.  The 'feel' of a particular rifle in your hands.  The way it comes to your shoulder.  The pride it may inspire in you.  Certain guns can impart a bit of childhood magic- don't discount that.  It can be just as important as ballistics tables.  I still remember the day my dad bought me my first BB gun- a Red Ryder, and I remember every dent and scrape that it accumulated over the next few years.  Those memories are sacred.  Maybe that Red Ryder is actually my elusive "Perfect Rifle" after all. 

Just keep huntin.