Hitchcock45 chooses his favorite child.
Among those beauties he had on that buckskin-covered table, I’m not sure I could have made a choice.
And for what it’s worth, I only half-agree with his final choice, despite it being chambered for my favorite cartridge. Out of that particular group, I could have narrowed it down to (maybe) four… and then killed myself.
I have to agree on the choice even seemed had issues trying to cycle…me I probably go the Enfield.
Ooh…tough call.
For me, of the options presented, I’d also come down to Hickok45’s top two. But much as I lust after that pre-war Model 70, I think I’d have to go with the SAKO 85 Bavarian over the pre-war Model 70 strictly because of caliber: .30-06 is about the upper limit of what my buggered shoulder can handle in terms of recoil.
But if I had my druthers, I’d take a Mannlicher-Schoenauer 1903 carbine with double-set triggers in 6.5×54 Mannlicher. Or a CZ-550FS (same Mannlicher-style stock as Hickok’s SAKO) in 6.5×55. But if I could get that pre-war Model 70 in 6.5×55, I’d drop the other two in a heartbeat.
Dad had a K31 straight-pull, bolt-action rifle in 7.5×55mm Swiss. It had about the same ballistics as a 30-06. I tried many times to convince my dad to sell it to me. I don’t know what happened to it as it was not in his gun safe when he passed. A number of his guns were missing.
Is the 6.5×55 really that much more mild than the 30/06 for recoil?