"Your favorite"-long, involved question

[critter]

I am fortunate to own (and to have owned) many firearms. My current favorite hunting arm is a Model 70 Win in .300 Win Mag.

Never mind the caliber wars or the wars over the action type or any of a hundred other specific characteristics over which we brood.

Well, I have several bolt guns-several brands.
It is very accurate but so are some of my others.
And I have several calibers, most of which would do the job I need of it so well that the game could not tell the difference at all.
Also, the stock is composite and I have other similar ones as well as wood ones.
Again, the scope is a good Leupold variable, better than most but certainly others are quite adequate.

Why is it my favorite-my 'go to' gun when times get serious?

It seems to be a combination of the overall package. The gun just seems to fit so well and to do just what I want just when I want and just how I want.

I'd be interested to know if any others of you have a 'favorite go-to gun' that you like and use well just because of the melding of its many characteristics into the 'perfect hand-in-glove' type of feeling you get with it.

Thanks for reading my 'ruminations' and any input you have.

 

[~z]

I have an old 700 chambered in 7-08 that has served me well, stock shows the scars of holding down a wire fence or two, its been dropped, it has layed in the mud with me when the weather turned bad, used in several states on several critters, it has seen evertyhing the sky can throw at it from dust storms and tornadoes to sideways hail. It doesnt go to the range as much as the others because it knows how to do its job better than the rest. It carrys fine in a sling or in hand, light weight, recoil, and report. It just fits and points better than I do, it aint pretty, but it is always ready to go grocery shopping.

Something like that?
~z

 

[Terrierman]

Yes and mine happens to be a .270 Ruger 77 RL, with the tang safety. It now wears a Bushnell Elite 3200 3x9. It just works and fits and hits and I trust it do it over and over again. I think a big part of the equation is FITS and faith in one's ability with the rifle, which only comes from using the same rifle successfully in different settings over several years.

 

[Limeyfellow]

It would probrobly by my main Lee Enfield No4. I never have to worry about reliability with it, its more than accurate for my needs, not likely to mind even being thrown off a cliff and has a great feel behind it. It's speed is also rather nice, so I tend to use it alot as my go to rifle such as out camping in the woods, the desert, dealing with troublesome pests and just for making a little noise on an afternoon. Only real disadvantage is its weight compared to modern day abominations.

 

[FunGunner]

My NEF .223 HB. It may be a single shot, but in all cases it's all I need for that one shot.

 

[Dr.Rob]

It took a few years... after I graduated to centerfire I started off with Marlin 30-30 like many a young man (it had been my older brother's first rifle too) After 3-4 years of toting the levergun my brother decided to join the navy and he sold me a Savage 110B rifle (that he had bought 2nd hand) and a Leupold 4x Gold Ring scope for $150 (or a $100 I forget).

That rifle in .30-06 was a lot easier to carry in the woods, had longer range and significantly more whallop. I started taking game at longer ranges. I started shooting more. I hand loaded. I swapped from 150 for antelope to 180 for elk and re-zeroed for 165's for mule deer. I shot it a lot. And that practice paid off. I was FAR better shooting the bolt gun than I had been with the levergun. Of course I'd grown up a bit and toughened up a lot.

Only one thing bothered me about the rifle.

The wooden stock was getting beaten up over the years and it wasn't as pretty as it once was. It would still shoot 3/4 inch groups at 100 yards if I could hold her steady, so an ugly stock was no big deal. I hunted a lot in 3rd season and I envied those folks with stainless rifles.

Well one day my brother called (some 12 years later and countless hunts) and told me he was getting out of the navy.

So I gave him his rifle back. (I 'kept' the scope but somehow it ended up on one of my dad's rifles.) And I went shooping for a new one.

And I bought a Savage 116 "weather warrior" in .30-06 witha 22 inch compact stainless fluted barrel (almost a bull barrel) and a plastic stock. I bought it to hunt, not to look pretty. I bought it to take out in the woods when the weather was bad and shoot and shoot and shoot. It shoots 1/2 inch 100 yard groups if I have a good day.

Yeah. It's my favorite.

Maybe if my brother had sold me a Winchester I'd feel differently. Maybe if my dad had laoned me his Remington 760 pump carbine I'd feel differently. But I'm sold on Savage. I've killed more game than I can easily count with Savage rifles.

I still like the nostalgia of the Marlin and someday I'll buy another for fun. But the old venerable bolt gun put a lot of meat on my table.

 

[Brian Williams]

I have Marlin 1894C that just works so well and with 165gr LSWCGCs and a bnch or Lil' Gun. I would like to take it with me everywhere, if I could.

 

[KINGMAX]

Favorite Rifle ?????

I guess my first Mosin-Nagant M38 carbine type. It was a M38 NIB for $64.00 @ a gun show = happy. (note: the vendor's name is withheld, he will not admit to selling one that cheap ever)

I removed the red varnish, got it down to the blond wood. I then rubbed about 12 coats of 'The Natchez Solution' on it for that perfect hand rubbed finish. Polished the bolt w/ some metal cleaner. Cleaned up ever so nicely.

It shoots like a dream. It is right on for the cold shot as well as any shot that follows. It doesn't vary that much, even w/ a change in ammo. Although the high dollar ('Lellier & Bellot' = CZECH Republic), ammo hits a little high & right at 100 yards. Two inches up, two inches to the right consistently. I normally use the WOLF, BEAR or loose dark brass stuff picked up at gun shows. QUESTION: What is the YELLOW tip stuff in the light blue/green box of 20 ??? Where does it come from ?? Does anybody know. I will be buying a case of 880 rounds at the next gun show.

I have a total of four Mosins-Nagants. 1-Finnish Capture, 1 Laminated 91/30 1 - w/ Hex receiver, & the M38. Love them all - just like my kids

My REMINGTON 700 ADL .270 Laminated Stock w/ Bushnell v 4-12 x 40 scope is another story. I have only had it two weeks and it's been at the range three times already. At 100 yds I can cover a three shot group w/ a penny. Very accurate rifle, consistently. I have always wanted a 700 ADL.

 

[Balddragn]

I'm almost ashamed to admit, It was a hand-me-down, a Bolt 22mag Stevens with a tasco 4 pwr scope. I never thought much of the rifle till I went out one afternoon to bring back dinner for our hunting party. That little rifle hit everything I put in the crosshairs, including a 100 yrd standing shot on a little cotton tail hiding behind the crotch of a tree. Probably the best shot I've ever made in the field.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

M1 Garand. Everything about it "works" for me.

I just need to work on improving that dang nut behind the sights.

 

[LoadedDrum]

My norinco sks paratrooper. It needs little maintence. I leave the stripper clips loaded without worry. It shoots a decent caliber round. I feel no need to upgrade it. The only thing that could make it better IMHO is if it were in 223 because that is so much easier to find for someone living in the wrong county.

 

[Art Eatman]

I started handloading for the '06 in 1950. I got back into shooting and hunting around 1963, after the Army and college. In 1970 I decided I wanted a long-barrel '06. I wound up with a Weatherby Mark V with a 26" "#2 profile" barrel in '06.

I added a Canjar trigger and tweaked the forearm and put in a wax paper shim.

Back in my younger years I could take my time and get ten-shot groups of about 1-1/8" at 100 yards. It has always shot within one MOA for five-shot groups.

I've carried that heavy SOB over many a mile of walking hunting, and killed a bunch of deer with it. "Ol' Pet", I guess.

I've messed with other rifles, and very much like some five others, but if there's any one "go to" critter, it's Ol' Pet.

, Art

 

[Dionysusigma]

A Mosin-Nagant, specifically an M38. The folding bayonet on the M44 never really sat well with me. But the way the things feel perfectly balanced to me, their weight, their recoil, the cartridge's power, the simplicity of the design, the low cost of ammo, the way the sights just fall into place, the LOP (after a slip-on recoil pad ), and the style are all dang appealing to me.

I need to get one.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Pre 64 Mod 94 winchester 30-30. Shoots great. Light to carry. Light recoil and damn dependable. Built in 1958. I can shoot a half dollar at 50 yards with no problem (lyman sights). Beautiful.

 

[browningguy]

My .275 Rigby (7x57 for you low brow types) goes on every hunting trip,even if I plan to use a different rifle for the hunting this one will be my backup. VZ24 Mauser action, 24" Douglas barrel, B&C stock, Seeadler 6x45 scope. It's not the most accurate rifle I own, not the most powerful, not the flatest shooting, but it never misses.

 

[espanola]

Remington mdl 788 in .243 Had if for more years than I like to think. Love it. Comfortable, it fits, I know where it's going to hit, incredibly reliable and strong action.
I think it all comes down to this...it's what I've shot the most, it just feels right, I'm used to it, it's second nature to me.
Now, for game bigger than deer...I have something else! But the reasons are the same.