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I'm hard pressed to pick a favorite hunting rifle. At onetime, I would have said my 340 Weatherby, but it was used only for Elk hunting and too large for an all round hunting rifle. Guess I would have to pick my Weatherby Ultra Lite in 30-06, it's great to hunt with, but not so great when it comes to shooting. The recoil isn't pleasant, but the rifle weighs only around 5 pounds. I have three 99 Savages, two are in 30-30 caliber, and one is a 300 Savage. Haven't used any of them for anything except fondling. Have a Win 95 also in 30-06, and several bolt action rifles in 7MM Mag and 308 Winchester. I spend more time shooting at targets than I do hunting. When I think of a favorite hunting rifle, I guess it depends on what kind of hunting I will be doing, I have everything from 17 HMR to 45-70. I'm in my 70's and I've collected guns all my adult life.
Keep collecting Nite Ryder and glad to see a fan of Jossie Wales.
For me the gun would be a Darcy Echols "Legend" in .338WM, but since I can't afford that one I am perfectly happy with my Ruger M77 MKII .338WM (stainless over a synthetic stock) with a Leupold Vary-X III 2.5-8x,and loaded with Barnes 225-grain TSX. This is my hunting rifle.
When picking berries I carry a Marlin .45-70, stainless, loaded with 335-grain (or so) hard cast ammo from Corborn.
Quite. With more than 50 various firearms in my safe, I don't have an overall favorite.
For big game, probably a 1948 Model 70 in 06, a Model 71 Deluxe in .348, or an 1886 from around 1905, takedown lightweight rifle in 45-70 would be my choice so long as the conditions are not rough. For rough conditions I would break down and buy a synthetic stocked Savage bolt gun, probably in 06, but if I found a good used one in anything from 270 to 338, I would grab that and go with it.
For shooting steel shot, the old 870 Express, if lead shot was re-introduced for ducks and geese next season, I would still use it, waterfowl hunting is rough on your gun. For upland, either the Belgian Browning 20 gauge that my dear departed Dad gave me as a kid, or my LC Smith 12, Ideal Grade.
For small game, if not a shotgun, all sorts of vintage .22s. I might break out the Belgian Browning autoloader in .22 Short just to be different. Assuming the game and ranges meant the Short would be enough. Don't knock the Short if you have never shot it in a rifle chambered specifically for it, with the correct slower rifling twist. If more power rather than less would do better, I'd grab the M92 in 25-20.
But the gun that gets the most use around the house is a somewhat dog-eared Savage combo gun, .22 LR over 20 gauge. An extremely versatile little gun really.
One of the compensations for being a guy "of a certain age" is I have had plenty of time to stock the gun safe with good stuff...
For me the gun would be a Darcy Echols "Legend" in .338WM, but since I can't afford that one I am perfectly happy with my Ruger M77 MKII .338WM (stainless over a synthetic stock) with a Leupold Vary-X III 2.5-8x,and loaded with Barnes 225-grain TSX. This is my hunting rifle.
When picking berries I carry a Marlin .45-70, stainless, loaded with 335-grain (or so) hard cast ammo from Corborn.
Very good choices for AK, IMHO, I'm just a guy who reads about hunting there, have not made it up there, but it's possible to learn from other people's experience.
Very good choices in bullet, the bullet is what does what needs doing, going with a Barnes, Noseler, or a hard-cast .45-70 bullet means more clean kills and less wounding.
Both the .338 and .45-70 would get "Big Bang Theorist" Elmer Keith's nod of approval, and that's a damn good nod of approval to get.
Very good choices for AK, IMHO, I'm just a guy who reads about hunting there, have not made it up there, but it's possible to learn from other people's experience.
Very good choices in bullet, the bullet is what does what needs doing, going with a Barnes, Noseler, or a hard-cast .45-70 bullet means more clean kills and less wounding.
Both the .338 and .45-70 would get "Big Bang Theorist" Elmer Keith's nod of approval, and that's a damn good nod of approval to get.
Thanks.
Other calibers that are popular up here are the .30-06, and .300MM, but I like heavier bullets than the ones for the .30-caliber. The TSX is a real good bullet for moose and other big game up here.
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