Your best hunting rifle? Here's mine.

Status
Not open for further replies.
The one I reach for the most. Winchester 70 EW in a McMillan Edge stock. Scope is Cabelas Euro-Instinct 3-9X40. This is the same scope as the Zeiss Conquest sold with Cabelas badges. Both are actually made by Meopta. I really don't have that much in the package. I bought the rifle used, found the McMillan stock used a year later and when Cabelas discontinued this scope sold them for $250. I bought 2 and wish I'd bought 2 more at that price. It weighs 7 1/4 lbs scoped and will put almost any ammo I've tried under 1" at 100

elk3 026.JPG
 
My fave was my old Ruger#1B in .243. Shot it for about two decades before throat went. Was a half incher w handloads so when it opened up it broke my heart. Didnt have the $ to rebarrel it back then

How bad is the throat. You could always load them long. I used to have to load mine at 2.700" to get it to shoot.
 
upload_2019-4-25_20-43-53.png
This one. The steel gray November day doesn't do the wood justice, but this is it's natural habitat. THE DEATH RAY. A Mauser K98 action wearing a very vintage Shilen barrel in .280 Rem. I really like the thumbhole stock. This rifle is a tad weighty, but that helps for shooting from offhand as do the ergos of the thumbhole. It just kills everything I shoot it at.
 
The one I reach for the most. Winchester 70 EW in a McMillan Edge stock. Scope is Cabelas Euro-Instinct 3-9X40. This is the same scope as the Zeiss Conquest sold with Cabelas badges. Both are actually made by Meopta. I really don't have that much in the package. I bought the rifle used, found the McMillan stock used a year later and when Cabelas discontinued this scope sold them for $250. I bought 2 and wish I'd bought 2 more at that price. It weighs 7 1/4 lbs scoped and will put almost any ammo I've tried under 1" at 100

View attachment 838416
Caliber?
 
I was 19 when it dawned on me that I spent far too much of my hard earned on women and beer, not nearly enough on firearms. If however I spent money on rifles I could not enjoy the company of the other two. What to do? This stupid kid sold his 77/22 for a tidy $375 and bought a sub-$90 Marlin as a replacement, tossed a Bushnell scope on top, and spent the remainder chasing those other pastimes!

I miss that Ruger at times, still have that Marlin, and while it is still one of my least expensive rifles it’s also my favorite. Been painted twice, stripped, stained, and varnished a couple more. At present a DIP rail anchors the TPS rings and a Nikon P-22.


Not sleek or exotic, just a squirrel harvesting machine.
9D471CEF-AC8E-4ADA-B510-1CE9967DD73A.jpeg


AFF3BE49-E391-4E7B-A5D4-0D4DE42CB746.jpeg
 
View attachment 838421
This one. The steel gray November day doesn't do the wood justice, but this is it's natural habitat. THE DEATH RAY. A Mauser K98 action wearing a very vintage Shilen barrel in .280 Rem. I really like the thumbhole stock. This rifle is a tad weighty, but that helps for shooting from offhand as do the ergos of the thumbhole. It just kills everything I shoot it at.
The Death Ray... I do not doubt this!
 
View attachment 838381

I know this isnt the typical hunting rifle, but it is the one I use most for deer. Most already know that Illinois is not a centerfire rifle state.
T/C Hawken .54 that I built from a kit in 1983.
I estimate around 20 deer have fallen to this gun including my largest ever.
View attachment 838382
He hangs over, the rifle under, the mantle in my study.
Wow, thats a great buck!
 
My favorite rifle would have to be my 35 Whelen that I built on a stripped large ring action I picked up at a gun show. I finish reamed an A&B barrel , soldered on some sights , drilled and tapped the receiver, painted it with an od green epoxy paint. Added a Timney trigger and threw it in a Boyds synthetic stock. It's my favorite because it's my creation. IMG_20190311_130006_hdr.jpg
 
Last edited:
View attachment 838381

I know this isnt the typical hunting rifle, but it is the one I use most for deer. Most already know that Illinois is not a centerfire rifle state.
T/C Hawken .54 that I built from a kit in 1983.
I estimate around 20 deer have fallen to this gun including my largest ever.
View attachment 838382
He hangs over, the rifle under, the mantle in my study.
That is a dandy buck.
 
No pictures, but my Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 30-.06 always seems to be with me when a deer walks out during the season. I've carried other rifles in the field but for whatever reason all deer kills happen with the M70. It was my first rifle purchase that I bought to go to Wyoming with my dads friends. It wears a Redfield Scope in matte and gloss rings so it really does not look that good. I like it though and even though the 06 seems harder hitting than ever to my body these days for some reason it always get the call :)

-Jeff
 
This 25-06 Tikka would have to be my pick. Its just a boring, reliable workhorse of a gun. Zero never changes and its stupid accurate. Doesn't care about the weather either.

IMG-2720.jpg

My AR15 is in contention to take its crown however. It is currently a 7.62x39 but before next season it will have an identical 358 yeti upper on it. Everything I said about the Tikka equally applies and I just really like to carry and shoot it for some reason.

E9432-A39-4687-45-E3-9972-1310317-B90-E7.jpg
 
I’m currently in transition. Moving from a Sako AV 338 win mag to model 70 stainless classic in the same chambering. Love the Sako but needed stainless for hunting the coast. The Winchester’s 1st season with me will come in the fall.
 

Attachments

  • 152F8AA0-C8DD-4C3D-B2C6-F8AE9AC43970.jpeg
    152F8AA0-C8DD-4C3D-B2C6-F8AE9AC43970.jpeg
    248.4 KB · Views: 12
  • DC10E1D0-51B7-4200-A102-9FE16424F263.jpeg
    DC10E1D0-51B7-4200-A102-9FE16424F263.jpeg
    255.8 KB · Views: 12
I am in transition, too. My "best" or "go to" hunting rifle for nigh on 20 years was a Remington Model 7 in .308 that I put in an H.S. Precision sporter stock and topped with a Leupold Vari-X 2-7x33 Compact. I sold it last year when I moved out of .30 caliber altogether--no more .300 Win Mag, no more .30-06, and no more .308.

I have lots of other hunting rifles. The three top contenders would be:

Cooper 54 Excalibur in .260 Remington.
Remington 700 Ti originally in .260 Remington bored out to .260 Ackley Improved, bedded in a McMillan Hunter's Edge.
And the clone: a Remington Model 7 in 7mm-08 that I also dropped in an H.S. Precision sporter and topped with a Leupold VX-3 2.5-8x36. It looks and feels very much like the original .308, but in my now preferred .284 caliber.
 
The one I reach for the most. Winchester 70 EW in a McMillan Edge stock. Scope is Cabelas Euro-Instinct 3-9X40. This is the same scope as the Zeiss Conquest sold with Cabelas badges. Both are actually made by Meopta. I really don't have that much in the package. I bought the rifle used, found the McMillan stock used a year later and when Cabelas discontinued this scope sold them for $250. I bought 2 and wish I'd bought 2 more at that price. It weighs 7 1/4 lbs scoped and will put almost any ammo I've tried under 1" at 100

View attachment 838416

What's the big idea, huh? You post this picture of a nice rifle with a very nice scope. You tell a nice story about how the scope came to be on it. Let us in on the secret caliber it is chambered in!! :cuss:
 
Here is my go to. I got it when I was 17 and it has taken more game than any other weapon I have...except for my .22 Mag.

I grew up in a shotgun zone so this is what I am used to. I know even most of those old shotgun zones allow straight wall cartridges now so this is getting pretty obsolete but it does the job. Plus, there is an area I hunt down here that has shotgun only zones.

I know this is Rifle Country and this is a 12 gauge rifle. Ithaca Model 87 (37) fused barrel Featherweight Deerslayer. Basically the late eighties equivalent to the present day Deerslayer II. Kings Ferry production (hence the 87 model designation that happened in 1987) Leupold Vari-X III 1.5-5x20 which is my favorite scope for anything.

Shoots Winchester Partition Golds pretty well and they work great on hogs.

I just got a rifled barrel for my 20 ga BPS so that should be fun too and may give this some competition. I am using my LR-308 more as well and am dabbling with the .45 Raptor and .450 Bushmaster so who knows.

E2C8A4CE-7A58-4D08-926B-917D5192A367.jpeg
 
Last edited:
This 25-06 Tikka would have to be my pick. Its just a boring, reliable workhorse of a gun. Zero never changes and its stupid accurate. Doesn't care about the weather either.

View attachment 838508

My AR15 is in contention to take its crown however. It is currently a 7.62x39 but before next season it will have an identical 358 yeti upper on it. Everything I said about the Tikka equally applies and I just really like to carry and shoot it for some reason.

View attachment 838509
That 25-06 looks real tough and accurate
 
I bought this FN Browning Grade 1 30-06 from my Brother. Redfield German #1 reticle.View attachment 838262 View attachment 838263He got a heart shot on a buck at 315 yards with it when he was 15. He hunted two years that I can remember and got whitetail both times. Made all jerky both times :D.View attachment 838266I hunted with it last season but didnt get one shot.

I've never been a fan of autoloading deer rifles, always preferred bolt actions in blued and walnut. But this rifle is quickly becoming my favorite for hunting.
That rifle/ optic combo is sweet!
 
No pictures, but my old stand by started life as a Remington 700 BDL. It was later rebarrelled with a short light Douglas barrel, restocked with an HS precision stock, fitted with a Jewell trigger and it wears a 3-9X West German Ziess. Oh yeah, its chambered in 308 Winchester. I've killed probably 100 deer with it, including big bodied Whitetails in Canada, Mulies and Antelope in Wyoming and Whitetails in several Southern States. It doesn't shoot particularly well because its so light, 3 shots in an inch, maybe an inch and an eighth. I built it for walking and stalking, back when I could walk and stalk. Probably this year I'm going to rebarrell it again. I'm thinking about a Kreiger Varmint weight finished about 20 inches, maybe fluted. Yeah, as my life has changed, so has my hunting methods.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top