Layne says the action type is unimportant as long as the cartridge it is chambered for is capable of getting the job done.

The very first book on guns and hunting I bought during my callow youth was Shots At Whitetails. Its author, Larry Koller, was of the opinion that those who choose rifles of the same type for hunting both small and large game are on the right track. Heeding his advice, I eventually got around to buying a Marlin 39A rimfire lever-action for small-game hunting and a centerfire rifle that was nearly its clone: the Marlin 336 in .35 Remington. That proved to be a good move. Since I did not reload ammunition in those days, I seldom shot more than a box of cartridges in the Model 336 each year, and that's nowhere near enough shooting to gain total familiarity with a deer rifle. But since .22 Long Rifle ammunition was much less expensive and small-game seasons were quite long, I managed to shoot the Model 39A a lot. When deer season came around, I was able to transition to the Model 336 without a hitch.

As time passed, I outgrew the need to stick with a single type of rifle. I had become as interested in the rifles as I had been in hunting. Whereas some of my friends bought rifles in order to hunt deer, I hunted deer not only because I loved it but also because it gave me a reason to accumulate rifles. In addition to those early lever-actions, I eventually owned bolt-actions, pumps, autoloaders, and single-shots. Just as important, I began to reload ammunition, and that allowed me to shoot all of those rifles to my heart's content.

Before long, I could hunt with any type of rifle without giving it a second thought. It's like using a typewriter, riding a bicycle, or driving a car with a manual transmission, once you get the hang of it, it is with you for the rest of your life. You just do it without thinking about it.

Anyone who decides to put together a hunting battery today should first decide which category of hunter they fit into. A hunter who might be wise to stick with one action type for his rifle needs is the fellow who spends most of his time target shooting, plinking, and small-game hunting with no more than an occasional hunt for larger game. This holds especially true for the hunter who does not practice with his deer rifle during the off-season. On the other hand, the hunter who shoots both rimfire and centerfire rifles enough to become familiar with more than one type of action can live happily ever after with one type for small-game hunting and another type for big-game hunting.

When it comes to big-game rifles, picking the right caliber is far more important than which type of rifle is chosen. Regardless of whether you choose a Weatherby bolt gun, a Ruger single-shot, a Remington pump gun, a Browning lever-action, or a Benelli autoloader, old standbys such as the .270 Winchester, .280 Remington, and .30-06 Springfield will never be the wrong choices for most hunting. I would not choose either for hunting costal grizzly, but for everything else in North America, they are all most of us need. In fact, if I had to do it all with just one rifle, I could get by quite nicely with the venerable .30-06. But since I don't have to--along with the fact that I enjoy owning a variety of rifles as much as I enjoy hunting big game--here is what I would work toward if I were starting out today rather than back in the 1950s.