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I propose next fall, after I get some practice in of course... that we institute the First Annual Free Republic hunting competition. Beginners get a handicap though ;)

There are a bunch of us that get together sort of informally every once in a while have a pot luck lunch of sorts, pop a few and share the stories of the "one that got away."

Yup...the boys have covered it for you. You can get by with 2 barrels and a good 12ga. pump or auto...you'll be keeping a good .30-30 and using it often, for all sorts of things...and a 98K Mauser in any of its offered rounds...or an Enfield...or perhaps best a GI Springfield in its .30'06...the most punch at longer range..although the 7mm (tore up Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and gave the Boers good service against far superior numbers) and 6.5 Swede, still very popular in Alaska...just go for it...all good things, which you'll want to keep...because they work. The Nagant, even in very rough condition, did some truly amazing work against us in Vietnam. The 98K is shortest...which is what I think you really want.

The Enfield .303 is touchy about ammunition, because of barrel harmonics...I think it favors 2400fps....but you may not even get a shot over 75 yards anyway...but if you do...it's a proven mechanism, accessories readily available, and still the most popular round in Canada, where they put down moose all the time...although it's basically in the .30-30 class I think, foot-pounds wise. All very good, CHEAP, and reliable setups..as is, now.

J.F.K. and Connely were purportedly shot with a $35 mail-order almost junk Carcano...the quality of which we used to laugh about...but it has a LONG bullet...which keeps on going, straight and deep. I think it was Karamojo Bell who culled numerous African elephants with a 7x57mm Mauser, relying on the thin, long bullet penetrating straight, and his keen experience with elephant anatomy...and of course...his personal contribution of walking right up to them, shooting for the brain through 3 ft. of honeycombed bone...then rolling out of the way to not be crushed as they fell...and few people today would suggest the 7x57 as an elephant gun choice...but a real hunter gets it done.