Rifle Types...

[Guy Miner]

I like to keep things simple, and to not have an overabundance of "things" in my life. One of this one of that, maybe two of these...

HOWEVER - this hasn't applied to rifles! Oh heck, every few years I end up selling rifles, because I get overwhelmed with how many have crept into the gun safe... I swear, they follow me home!

Have often told myself that all I really need is three, maybe four, bolt action rifles in a variety of cartridges from small to large... And I have that. But then, I have more. Sigh.

Lever Action - I started shooting with a little .22 Marlin 39m, the "Mountie" version of the Marlin 39A. Great little rifle, and Dad still has it & uses it from time to time. I managed to get my own Marlin 39A some years ago and it's still my all time favorite rifle. Then there were a series of lever actions, mostly Marlins, but had a cool 30-30 Winchester 94 for a while. Although it would be real easy for me to splurge on more lever actions, I've successfully limited myself to three Marlins: the .22, the 30-30 Glenfield, and the 45-70 1895. That seems to be "enough." for me. I think.

Single Shot - I've always been intrigued by single shot rifles! Don't have a lot of them, I truly wish I'd never sold or traded several different Ruger Number One rifles over the years. For a while, they were inexpensive on the used market here, and I guess I thought they always would be readily available at a lowish price. Nope. So now I have two, the 375 and the 7mm Rem Mag. Both look good, handle great, and shoot well. Yes, I hunt with them! Well, I have with the 375, the 7 will start hunting this year. And there's an old 11.7mm Danish rolling block that I enjoy too - though it's a bit of a chore to handload it. I'd like some more single shots, but... don't "need" any more, and don't use the ones I have enough as it is. I wouldn't mind a T/C rifle or two, those break-open types.

Bolt Action - this is where I've gone kinda nuts. There's examples of both Winchester & Remington. Ruger too. Quite a few have come and gone over the years, chambered for various cartridges. Oh, there's a CZ here as well... Mine range from .22 rimfire & .204 Ruger up to the 375 H&H, surely enough to cover all hunting I could ever contemplate! And there are a couple that I consider more target rifles rather than hunting rifles.

Semi-Auto - I don't have many semi-auto rifles, just the AR-15. Probably because I carried AR-15 & M-16 type critters for work, for most of the last 40 years.

Slide/Pump Action - don't have any. Like 'em, particularly the 30-06 & 35 Whelen Remington pumps... Have successfully resisted buying one.

I am once again feeling kind of overwhelmed by the number of rifles in my safe. I mean - how many rifles do I need to hunt deer for a few days every year?

I dunno… What's your favorite action type and why?

Guy

 

[SJB358]

Have another cuppa coffee Guy... :mrgreen:

Like you I have most everything you mentioned but none of those ultra cool Ruger single shots... I cannot pick a favorite. Mostly depends on the day and what I get a hankering for that Same day!

 

[JD338]

Well I guess I am a bolt action fan as that is what I have for the most part. I do have a couple of Marlin lever actions that I thoroughly enjoy. Had a Remington 742 Carbine 30-06 for a few years but sold it off. I do have a couple of AR-15's and a semi auto 22 rimfire. Pump actions are Remington 870's but no rifles. Single shot shot shotgun too but again not in a rifle.
Guess I will need to get a couple more rifles.

JD338

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Bolt action 700. Keep it simple. They're reliable and accurate.

 

[gbflyer]

All the above.

 

[Elkman]

Pretty much what you have Guy except maybe not so many. For hunting my favorite has always been the bolt action. I started with a Remington bolt, and while I still have it, I don't hunt it. Targets are the same with a Remington Tactical, plinking is typically of the .223 variety. There is a few more oddities in there, but not many. After my dad passed I had way to many, and started selling and giving them away including one safe. I have a manageable amount now, some already with someone else's name on them, but there are a still a few I wonder about in the back.

 

[noslerpartition]

I reduced to just 2 bolt actions and a Drilling (though that one might go, too).
We are allowed to hunt boar all year and have a limit of 6,5mm for them. So it didn't make sense to keep the 223. I am not at the range often enough to keep it for targets.
The Drilling was for all-purpose. But we are flooded with mice, so I do not shoot foxes anymore.
I would like a semi or lever for driven hunts, but I am not that slow with a bolt action and couldn't bring myself to buy one for the few occasions.
So yes, there is a gene telling me to get more, but currently I am able to resist.

Small game is mostly gone, but I keep my shotguns for crow, duck, pigeon and an occasional goose.
And for the range.

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[6mm Remington]

I like my Ruger single shot rifles in 6mm and 30-06. Both are fantastic shooters and I sure enjoy hunting with them.

I have that darn Model 70 280AI I built and I sure like that thing. I've always wanted a controlled round feed Winchester Model 70. Now I have one. I would not mind finding another donor (please tell me to just stop now) rifle like I did with my 280AI in a short action caliber and have a custom barrel put on it in 6mm Remington. That would be sweet.

My son has a Ruger MKII 6mm Remington and a Winchester EW SS in 300 WSM. He's set pretty darn good.

I have a one 22 now and have given my son the other two. Ones a bolt action Remington single shot and the other is a Remington pump .22 LR.

I've never really wanted an AR15 or something along those lines. Fun to shoot but just not my thing. Pump rifles I don't really care for much. Now a nice lever action like a Marlin 45-70 I could get excited about. I've shot a friends a bit and it sure is fun.

We are a sick lot here.

 

[cloverleaf]

Cant give you any real advice. I do know this, I have inherited three rifles in the last few years, that means I have 2 22's, if you don't count my .22Mag. The Mag is my favorite rifle to shoot, and way more accurate than me and some 17HMR's. Love showing off w/ that one... Some how I ended up w/ four other bolt actions. Moms is a cool 6.5 Jap, custom circa 1950's too neat to let go, Dads 7 Mag, shot it some but how could I let it go...? The 243 project gun I wanted to screw a 250 Savage barrel on as a project w/ Dad before he died. I should let that one go...shot it maybe 10 times, the last three into a 3/4 inch cluster with cheap Winchester factory 95 grnrs, seems dumb to give up a good rifle like that, I know I would regret it. Keep thinking some day I'm gonna loan it to a kid who will shoot a first deer or goat w/ it.
Then there's my 250 Savage. That's not going anywhere...that's a 30 year project w/ good memories, and when the operator is on..."Aggie" will still shoot. I hope there's another antelope in there some day.
Pump Guns- My 16 ga ithica slug gun is just one of those cool vintage ones, should let that one go..but when will I EVER find another one like that?
The 12ga Mossberg slug gun is my defiant statement that an old "flatlander" can get anything to shoot, if he works at it for 30 years and hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of expensive slugs.
A 25-06 would have been easier and cheaper....As you can tell I have a hard time letting go.... I am in trouble!
A single shot would be nice....though :lol: CL

 

[djauofd]

For myself this started about 15 years ago. As a kid I joined rifle clubs and shot when I could . My parents were guns bad. I never had rifles at home as a kid so when my kids got old enough three boys between 9 and I bought a Rem 597 22 Lr. Used it to show the the boys proper respect for fire arms and to inspire their interest if it was there. Well when my youngest got to about 12 yrs old I got a Rem 700 SPS Stainless, and you should have seen the boys faces when we took it to the range. This is about when the sickness started. I got an AR15 in 5.56 16” light barrel. That was fun, but then I started reloading. Then the what if’s started to flow. So being a tinkerer I said why not build some rifles. It started with AR-15’s two bull barrel 18” and 20” with Black Hole Weaponry barrels. They shoot sick. So next I built a AR15 in 6.5 Grendel 20” BHW barrel. Great shooter. But you know you need something with a little more thump something that can reach out and touch you. Having a 270 win standard , off into building bolt guns. Bought a Rem 700 receiver and built a 270 win with a 26” 1x8 twist Remage McGowen precision barrel to fire the Berger 170 gr EOL Elite hunter. Sick rifle it shoots 170, at 2930 fps. That work out so great I decided to build a 338 win mag. Really underwater cartridge 26” Remage 1x10 McGowen precision, shoots 250 gr Berger Elite hunters at 2,850 fps. That was impressive so I was reading about 284 win and my next build same thing. But with a custom long throated 28” 1-8 twist shoots 197 SMK’s 2,750. I hand load for all of these all sub MOA. In the meantime I started to build some DPMS LR 308’s. First one in 308 win 20” BHW . Then a 80% build with another 20” barrels on one day of function testing on one of these 308’s using m80 ball it put 5 shots threw on hole. So accurate is and understatement. Then it was well then the 308 can get you to 1,000 how about 1,500. So two more 80% builds in 260 Rem just finished these. 22” BHW 1-8 twist barrels on these. I load for all this stuff all of them shoot moa or less on some of my loads. I am running out of space in three safes. But I have a fix for this I am building a house down at the beach and I can move some rifles to the beach in another safe I have there. I have three 9mm pistols I shoot regularly. Smart there and I don’t load 9 mm thank god. But I was thinking I have all these guns but you know no lever action American legends. So I had been researching this for around a month. Well last Friday I weekend from lack of sleep and a glass of wine from date night with my wife. And poof I tracked down and bought a Henry Big Boy X model in 44 mag. Have not even gotten the rifle, it will not get here till Monday and I am already loaded up with 200 pcs of brass, and bullets, 100, 240 gr XTP AND 100, 300 gr XTP.. and I decided to ditch my well used entry level Lee Precision press and got a Frankford Arsenal Coax M Press. So it’s is a sickness, but dam it’s fun and for me building and selecting components selecting components that are not the most expensive but get the job done is it. I have one son who shoots with me. The others just are not into it. So I tell him all the time, look what I just bought for you. Sick sick sick


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[filmjunkie4ever]

Guy, I think you came to the right place! Like my taste in music, I like a little bit of everything with guns.

Bolt actions are far and away my favorite, as I mostly hunt and shoot targets. My favorite rifles are my .30-06 and .25-06, though I use my .22-250 a lot! Have owned (and sold/traded) more bolt actions in various calibers than any other kind. I have a gorgeous Bliss Titus custom 1903 Springfield in a wildcat .25 Magnum. My favorite .22 is a Marlin XT-22.

Lever actions are the runner up, my favorite being a family heirloom .25-35 in a Winchester Model 1894, made in 1902 according to the Serial number. I’m also quite fond of my Savage 99s but they don’t see much action these days. Had a Henry .22 that I traded off years ago.

My first rifle was a Rossi 62A (Winchester 62 replica) in .22 LR, I simply love shooting it and my Remington 870 20 gauge. Never have owned a big bore pump gun, came close to buying a Remington 760 in .300 Savage once though...

Of the single shot variety I’ve only got a Remington Model 33 .22 hand-me-down that belonged to my great grandfather and a Savage 20 gauge break action. I did own several T/C Contenders years ago but got bored with them and sold out. Would love to have a Ruger No.1 or Sharps replica. Had a muzzleloader but sent it down the road as I couldn’t get it to shoot decent enough. Would’ve been happy with a clay pigeon size group at 75 yards, but no dice.

My favorite semi-autos have all been handguns. Had a High Standard Sport King with 6” barrel I sold years ago like a fool. Replaced it with a Ruger Mark III that I can’t take apart and put back together. Love how it shoots, hate that I can’t field strip it like I could the Sport King.

I do own an AR-15 but it’s more of a shtf gun. Never wanted one or had any use for one until people (read Communist/Socialist/Liberals at Large) told me I didn’t need one. It’s a lot of fun but doesn’t see much use.

Would love to add a Pre-64 in .30-06, a 1911 in .45 ACP, and a .22 WMR or Hornet to the stable but I’m pretty much full up these days. Ugh.


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[Blkram]

Have had 22's in bolt actions, lever actions and semis over the years and still have and use them all; so much fun!
Started out hunting big game with lever actions in Marlin and Winchester so will always have a soft spot for these, and still have about a dozen rifles of this type. Again, such a joy to handle, carry, hunt with and shoot! Really love the medium bore cartridges! Being a lefty, this was a great option for me.
Have had one semi chambered to a big game round, and while I have used pumps chambered to big game rounds, I have never owned one. Nothing wrong with these types, just never got into them.
Single shots are extremely classy and a joy to carry, hunt with, and shoot. Still want a Low Wall in 221 Fireball!
Bolt actions, I have bought and sold many over the years in the right hand configuration. Left handed, I have pretty much kept every one I have ever owned, with just the one exception, many years ago. Still have a couple of right handed bolt actions, but these are limited production rifles chambered to specific cartridges that I have been unable to find in left hand configurations, nor have I had time or funds to build a custom rifle in as yet.
Have 28 rifles right now, with 3 that I could part with, and at least 2 left handed bolt action rifles that I still have on the bucket list; a Cooper Classic LH in 338 Federal, and if they ever build it, a Christensen Arms LH Ridgeline in 6.5 PRC.
As for shotguns, am looking forward to acquiring a Benelli Ultralight or Ethos in 28 ga and an Ithaca Model 37 straight grip with XX wood and 26" barrel in 28 ga.

Do I need more...well no...but what does need have to do with it?
I want it, will be able to afford it at the appropriate times, so will get it (or them)!
I will enjoy them all while I own and use/hunt with them. After that I will enjoy watching my daughter, and hopefully one day, my grandchildren use and hunt with them.
If not, I will sell them and hope that the new owners enjoy them as much as I have!

 

[Brinky72]

Fortunately for my dear wife I have limited my stable. What I have are mostly bolts. Ones I’ve inherited so far are my dad’s Browning Abolt 280 Remington and my Uncle’s 1980 vintage M700 BDL 270 Winchester. Both shoot lights out. I have witnessed my Uncle dump deer corner to corner on a 40 acre potato field with ridiculous regularity. My dad did the same with his 280 and his previous 280 Mountain Rifle. No magnums needed. Currently “my” rifles are in the works. I’m building a 35 Whelen on a SS M77 Hawkeye. And soon enough I’ll have a New SS Remington 700 Mountain Rifle in 280 Remington. I should have my bases covered between the 7mm and 358 variants of the ‘06. A 10/22 SS target is in the mix as well as a few 12 gauges. A 1960 vintage Browning A5, a CZ O/U, Bennelli Super Black Eagle II and a work horse Ithaca 12 gauge pump for the house. Pistols. High Standard sport king, Ruger semi automatic so I don’t use the high standard, Sig P229 40 and Taurus 357 7 shot. Throw in a Lyman side lock nipple hugger 50 cal a Ten Point crossbow and my fav...... a hand built 58#@28” recurve built out of bird’s eye maple, walnut and ash by Steve Turay at Northern Mist Longbows in Neguanee Michigan. Can’t forget that one. To all the ones I’ve loved before... I hate to even think about them and ask myself why I let them go. My biggest regret was a beautiful Ruger No 1 Medium Sporter in 45-70 Govt. I won the wood lottery on both the stock and forearm and it shot lights out. I had the trigger tuned by a smith who adored Rugers and even more so the No1’s. It wore a NECG peep and with that set up loaded with Beartooth 350 grain hard cast bullets running 2400 FPS ish It was an absolute hammer and great still hunting rifle. One well placed shot was all you needed on anything.

 

[1100 Remington Man]

Rifle types
.22LR one Lever action Marlin , one Auto Remington
.17HMR Bolt Ruger
.223Rem, 6mm Rem, .264 Win Mag, 300 H&H. Two Remington's and Two Winchester's all Bolt
30-30 Win Lever action

I have always wanted a Ruger 1 single shot just never picked one up. I guess I see more practical use in a bolt action that has driven my buying habitats and being a reloader seems to make sense.
If I would see a Remington R15 in a Predator model with 22 inch barrel it would most likely come home with Me.
I really have more than I need, I just need to Retire so I can do more hunting trips.

 

[djauofd]

Rifle types
.22LR one Lever action Marlin , one Auto Remington
.17HMR Bolt Ruger
.223Rem, 6mm Rem, .264 Win Mag, 300 H&H. Two Remington's and Two Winchester's all Bolt
30-30 Win Lever action

I have always wanted a Ruger 1 single shot just never picked one up. I guess I see more practical use in a bolt action that has driven my buying habitats and being a reloader seems to make sense.
If I would see a Remington R15 in a Predator model with 22 inch barrel it would most likely come home with Me.
I really have more than I need, I just need to Retire so I can do more hunting trips.

You along with all of us as well.


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[Bruce Mc]

It will be easier to say what I don't have. I don't have a pump centerfire rifle, and I don't have a single shot .22 rimfire. I have multiples of everything else.

 

[djauofd]

I’ve got AR15’s , AR10’s , bolt guns, rim fires, pistols all in 9mm, and now a lever gun in 44 mag. Two of the AR10’s in 308 win. They like the heavier bullets but action won’t allow for loading them long. The 308 win is such a great efficient cartridge. Giving some consideration to building a 308 on a long action bolt gun with a longer throat and 1-9 twist. That would let me load them out long and preserve space in the boiler room. But then again, it is just an exercise in “what if”. The “what if”. Never ends. Which is good thing. It just demands more gun safe space.


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[BK]

Bolt action 700. Keep it simple. They're reliable and accurate.

While I love my 700s, I would hate to be limited to just 700s. I really like M70s, and I don't seem to be able to turn down a deal on a Howa (or Vanguard). I've not really been bitten by the lever gun bug, yet, but I wouldn't bet against it happening at some point. I definitely need to play with a big Marlin (.45-70, .444, or .450 Marlin, doesn't really matter). And I like the Idea of the other end of the lever gun spectrum... .25-20, .32-20, .38-40, .44-40, .357 Mag, .44 Mag.

Not from lack of trying, but I've missed the Number 1 boat thus far. But a #1B in .300 H&H is a grail rifle for me, and I think 1B or 1V in .22 Hornet, .218 Bee, .22-250 and .22 Swift would be a mighty classy way to go about low volume varminting.

Basically, minimalism is an admirable trait, best appreciated in others. LOL

SEAL adage, two is one: one is none.

 

[TNBillyEarl]

I was a one-rifle guy until I met all of you. Now I'm a one-rifle guy with three rifles (all bolt).

B

 

[Vince2]

Favorite?
9mm full automatic sub gun.
Non NFA favorite? Marlin 45-70 SBL. Also like pump action shotguns and bolt action rifles too. Handiest? The AR platform but it happens to be my least favorite and I own four of them.

Vince