Favorite Hunting Rifles

[Odin]

Jun 29, 2024 22:10:22 GMT -5 earl54 said:

I guess my favorite (fun) gun that I hunt with is a pawn shop find - a completely useless Ruger number 1 in 8mm magnum with an 18 inch barrel. Bought it for 200 bucks because no one else wanted it. Do use it sometimes in a tree stand for whitetails, with 8mm Mauser level loads. it is a hoot to pull out of the safe. One day I will rebarrel it to a usefully round, Shure is funny to drop one of those big ole rounds in that little stubby fella. Has a 2.5x weaver on it and will shoot 1 inch at 50 yards (I don't think it is a long range gun,and I don't shoot factory loads- don't need a flame thrower)

If you ever tire of that thing, drop me a line. I know a guy for whom that would be a dream gun. It does sound like a ton of fun! Post pics of you can. We'd love to see it.

[leftysixgun]

I can’t pin just one down for a favorite. But, amongst them, they consist of lever actions, Ruger No.1s, and my Grandfathers pre-64 M70 and M94

[x101airborne]

Just for vermin I like my 375 H&H. Puts a smile on my face every time. Cast bullets in the 280 HP to 300 grain solid at just under 2100 fps works great on turtles, armadillos, coyotes and hogs. I have 5 cases drilled out for 209 shotgun primers and use round ball loads for squirrels. Ought to see the looks on peoples faces when I pull that one out!

For a serious white tail hunt there is only one and everyone in the family argues over it. My 1980's Rem 700 in 308 with a period Leupold 3-9x40 using 125 Sierra Pro hunter bullets over H4895 powder. Battle scars? This rifle has them all! Sighted 3 inches high at 100 puts me near dead center at 225 and 6 inches low at 300. Trigger is set at a crisp 3 pounds. All four in my family took their first deer with this rifle and my wife wont hunt with anything else including another 308. And if you dont want to find yourself in a knife fight before coffee, just say "yes dear" and hand er over. Aint worth the stitches.

For me to use when my wife has my other rifle is a Mauser action I built into a 30-06. Full length 26" Adams and Bennett barrel, Timney 2 1/2 pound trigger, Hogue overmoulded stock and Leupold 3.5-14x40 30mm tube. Shoots my 180 grain handload, Remington 180 Core-Lokt and Federal 180 Fusion to the same point out to 350 yards and I know it like the back of my hand. Always good to know if I am hunting away from home if I forget my handloads I can go to most Wal-Mart locations and get a box of ammo. This rifle has taken everything from turtles to Mule deer and Aoudad. Nothing needs shot twice. Even used this rifle on a coyote at 1,000 yards. Got him on my third shot (bracketing).

The 308 above is named "Meat". That is because every time you fired it, you brought back meat. The 30-06 is called "Potatoes" because it is homely, but is dependable as time and nothing goes better with Meat than Potatoes. When I hunted over the great nation of Texas these were the two rifles I took with me and I never felt the need to take anything else.

[dougader]

My favorite over the years has been a Remington 700 BDL in 30-06. What a sweet rifle. I saw it in the used rack at a gun shop in Tigard, Oregon, at a very fair price and couldn't leave without picking it up.

[pacecars]

I have gone through an awful lot of different rifles in different calibers over the years but I have always seemed to come back to one make and model consistently even if it was in several different calibers and although I tried to stay away from the .30-06 because everyone I knew used one after many years it finally sunk in as to why. So after saying all that it appears my favorite hunting rifle is a Steyr Mannlicher Model M Professional in .30-06 wearing a Kahles 6x42 scope with a #4 reticle. The 6x scope with a #4 reticle has long been my favorite and for me works from feet to further than I should be shooting.

[brant]

Too 3. Ol’ ugly is my cva scout 44 magnum. I bought it used with a 2-7 Burris scope to use during the Louisiana primitive weapons season. It has killed a pile of pigs and a number of deer as well. Most of my hunting spots give me a shot of less than 100 yards, so it just really works.

If not varying that one then my Pop’s old ruger M77 280rem also marked 7mm express normally gets tapped in. It wears a leupold 3-9 of the same age. He always shot the silver tip Winchester 140gr bullets and with 3 boxes on the shelf I will shoot those up before I change. He dsaid “boy if you only shoot those at deer, they will last you a long time”. True statement.

A kimber classic 308 win with a sweet little 4x Burris scope is a fine rifle as well and may top the 280 as a favorite if not for sentimental reasons. I have read mixed reviews on the kimber rifles but this one and a 223 I have both shoot better than I can. I had a 7mm-08 kimber Montana years ago. It could have used some creative loading to get better groups but this was before I loaded. I traded it off and got this rifle later to utilize easier to obtain off the shelf ammo. I also prefer the drop bottom magazine dump over a blind mag or a removable mag. Remington Core-Lokt 150s still work on deer and pigs. I bought 2 cases dirt cheap. It could still use a barrel trim somewhere around 20”.

[blackmamba]

I'm late to this thread, but my favorite is another 35 Whelen AI, built by David Gentry from Montana around 1997. 24", 14" twist stainless match barrel and 2½-10x scope. My hunting load is the 250 Partition over PP2000-MR powder for 2620 fps at 12 feet; shoots about an inch at 100 yards. Most accurate load is the Hornady 250 IL spitzer over Varget at about 2450 fps; puts 3 shots into a half inch pretty regularly.



The heavy Partition load in this rifle doesn't seem to recoil any more than a 180 gr 30-06 does to me, and hits a lot harder. My last hunting trip was to the Big Island of Hawaii, where I connected on a hybrid sheep, a very large goat and a wild bovine cow (excellent meat!). The sheep and the cow were both taken running while still hunting through the slopes of Mauna Loa at about 8500 feet elevation. The goat was taken down on the flats at about 1000 feet elevation. For me, this rifle points like a fine shotgun and just bowls over what it hits.

[bigbrowndog]

Ronnie I am currently building loads for the same rifle in 6.5x55, the rifle has been in the UK for several years waiting to be imported and i finally got it earlier this year. They are great rifles, shoot good and carry well.

Trapr

[parallaxbill]

My favorite for many years has been my 24" Encore rifle in 6.5x55.
My setup is super simple. It rest in a black T/C RH thumb hole stock and I use an old Simmons 44 Mag 3-10X scope. Of the nearly one hundred SC whitetail deer I have taken in the last 38 years, probably 1/3rd were with this rifle, but I hunt with a lot of other rifles and handguns.

[cas]

My favorite hunting rifle is the new one.

[lassiter]

 Winchester model 70 Classic in 30-06 with a McMillen WinLite stock and a Leupold 3.5x10. It does everything that I ask of it

[richard]

I have two “favorites”, a Ruger 77 International in .308W that with a Leupold 1-4X scope, and a Santa Barbara Mauser wearing a 24” 9.3x62mm barrel from Douglas, Boyd’s stock and the same model Leupold 1-4X scope. Lots of other hunting rifles but those two would be the last to leave if I decided to down size.

[x101airborne]

The "dead" 30-06 does seem to keep popping up. Interesting.

[bamagreg]

Jul 4, 2024 7:27:46 GMT -5 x101airborne said:

The "dead" 30-06 does seem to keep popping up. Interesting.

120 years old and still one of the best ever 

[lassiter]

Jul 4, 2024 7:27:46 GMT -5 x101airborne said:

The "dead" 30-06 does seem to keep popping up. Interesting.

It's not exciting or flashy but it does the job in workman like fashion   
I've got a .338 Win mag that I have used on elk and bear in Colorado and a .350 Rem mag for a lighter carrying option
but neither makes 'em any deader than the '06.

But I think I'm gonna just go with my 45 Colt Redhawk this fall...