choosing which rifle to hunt with

This is the thread Rodger wanted me to post and so here it is my friend.

It was said that "obviously the girls are still hunting with whatever rifle was stuck in their hands as a child, as there are much better calibers on the market, if they were smart enough to do a little research"-------Maybe, but the calibers Jamila and Cheyenne use are not chopped liver ( 6.5 x 55, 275 H & H, 7 x 57, 300 H & H, 348, 9.3 x 64, 450/400 )

But forgetting all that for a moment, how do you choose the rifle that you take on a hunt.? Superstition, most accurate, depending on animal being hunted, depending on terrain ( woods or plains ) --whatever that is in your safe that is synthetic since no-one here hunts with walnut LOL----Seriously, what makes you say, o.k., this rifle with go on this hunt?

I'm not stuck to just one gun for my hunting, I think it's a disease. I will look at the species and terrain I'll be in but sometimes it's just because I've never taken an animal with a particular gun so I decide to use one. Or, I haven't hunted with a particular gun in a long time so I feel like it's been neglected....weird, I know. This year I took out the Kimber 7mm-08 on my Montana hunt for its maiden voyage. I still have my 6.5x55 Ruger No 1 RSI that's never been hunted, along with my second No 1 in 7x57. My old Remington .30-06 hasn't hunted in about 12 years. And I would dearly love to hunt some river bottoms again with a couple of lever actions I have.

And the only synthetic rifles I have are my daughters Rem models 7's in .243 and 7mm-08, and my Knight muzzleloaders.

I use my push feed 300 WM for all of my big game hunting for one reason, it works. If the opportunity arose I would not hesitate do use it for just about any animal in North America. I do not hunt a wide variety of animals primarily elk, but I have taken a fair number of Mule Deer with the same rifle. I used an 06 prior to the purchase of the 300 but wanted something with more thump at longer range. My other most hunted rifle is my 308 tactical, which I use while hunting coyotes. I have other rifles of other calibers and do hunt them, but not frequently, there is no reason. I am a true believer in the idea that if it works, don't touch it, or alter it, or mess with it, in any way.

On that first part...I think there has actually been very little progress in terms of cartridge effectiveness. Sure, the brass powder bottle might be a better shape...more efficient and perhaps able to be housed in a shorter action, but the downrange delivery is much the same. The bullets are much better, but they can go into any cartridge, new or old. Same for the powder.

For instance, the 6.5 Swede goes way back to dawn of smokeless powder and the 6.5 Creedmoor is a just an infant at just over a decade old. I don't know that there's 25fps difference in most loads using modern powder and bullets in both. Heck...ditto the .300H&H and .300WSM, the 7x57 and the 7-08REM, the .375H&H and .375RUG. For that matter the 7x64 Brenneke and the much newer .280REM are so similar you can use the same load data. There's not a critter alive that could tell the difference between any of them.

Oddly, the oldies housed in a modern rifle often get a performance boost using present day powders and pressures since they generally have more case capacity than their modern counterpart and often outperform them when loaded to full potential. The overwhelming bulk of cartridge development in the 20th century was in marketing not performance. Just read some of the data from the pre-Depression Newton cartridges...they'd hang with almost anything made today that doesn't run into the patently silly. We've have had a lot of variation, but progress has been incremental.

But I'll digress...

The two primary factors on how I choose a rifle for a hunt boils down to superstition and novelty. Despite aerospace industry credentials and a solid engineering background, I generally lean to one rifle- my pet Nosler M48 in .300WSM for everything. I'll take it before I take anything else, no matter how much more suitable something else is simply because it works and works and works. When something really needs to die- that's what I really want in my hands. The vaguely superstitious side of me considers it lucky, in reality it's more likely familiarity, practice, and just plain well made performance. It's kept me in plenty of venison and quite likely saved my hide once and could have twice more had things worked out differently. I also only hunt with a single load for that rifle for much the same reason...a 180AB at 2900fps. I could get a lot flashier numbers out of it...but that seems entirely sufficient.

That's not to say I use it exclusively, sometimes I take a new rifle out simply because it's new. In the dozen years I've hunted with the M48, I've also taken out 4 or 5 other rifles on occasion simply because they were new to me. I might shoot a critter and then send them down the road on loan or sentence them to safe patrol once my curiosity is satisfied. Heck, my .270 Browning has killed 10 animals...none of them by me! It has 3 "first big game animals" to it's credit for various friends and acquaintances. It's a great gun that I simply don't personally use despite solid performance.

Yeah, as much as I'd like to say I pick rifles and cartridges thoughtfully with a lot of study on terrain, animals, etc...I don't.

Thanks for bringing it back April!!!!
For a long time I was a 2 center rifle owner and each had it's purpose. One for varmint hunting and one for deer hunting . Granted I could have used either one for all things but wanted a little more power for deer hunting since I might run into something that could eat me.
Then I came here and heard the great praise for the do it all 35Whelen. Though I had craved one for a long time I couldn't see the need since I already had a do it all caliber rifle (aka 30-06).
So when a chance came up at buying a 35Whelen at a good price I got one. Then Fotis sold me a Chronograph and I ran some loads out of the 35Whelen over it and the 22" barrel didn't produce the velocities I thought it was capable of so I took a donor and had a 35Whelen/AI built with a 24" barrel and was happy again and just couldn't get enough of shooting it.
The 30-06 was now a safe queen.
I wanted to go out west to hunt so I needed a long range back up rifle and picked up a 7mm Remington. First hunt didn't materialize do to not drawing a tag.
While cleaning and shooting the 35W/AI I found a flaw in the barrel and had booked another western hunt that I did draw a tag for. So my confidence was shaken in the 35W/AI and looked for something else to take and accidentally acquired the 338Wm which set me in a fit trying to get it to shoot consistent groups. Got it figured out but didn't trust it.
So I ended up take 3 rifles with me and carried 2 of them at different times, the 35W/AI and the 338Wm. I found I could hit a steel gong at 400yds with all 3 rifles when I got on a range in MT at 6200ft elevation so I was very happy with all of them but preferred the larger 2 calibers for heavier bullets and stopping power. The 35W/AI was carried while scouting the first couple of days and the 338Wm the rest of the time because I was hunting more open areas and could get longer shots which it could handle.
So basically type of game and the range you might encounter game at is what was my deciding factor( along with opinions I read here on the forum :shock: :roll: :lol: )
Other wise I would still be hunting with my 30-06 and wouldn't have had the adventures with the other rifles and calibers.
I do think a good .308 caliber rifle is all you need for NA.

Europe":2sxah56t said:

This is the thread Rodger wanted me to post and so here it is my friend.

It was said that "obviously the girls are still hunting with whatever rifle was stuck in their hands as a child, as there are much better calibers on the market, if they were smart enough to do a little research"-------Maybe, but the calibers Jamila and Cheyenne use are not chopped liver ( 6.5 x 55, 257 H & H, 7 x 57, 300 H & H, 348, 9.3 x 64, 450/400 )

But forgetting all that for a moment, how do you choose the rifle that you take on a hunt.? Superstition, most accurate, depending on animal being hunted, depending on terrain ( woods or plains ) --whatever that is in your safe that is synthetic since no-one here hunts with walnut LOL----Seriously, what makes you say, o.k., this rifle with go on this hunt?

Click to expand...

I think Jamila & Cheyenne are using terrific cartridges in very good rifles.

For me it's both a practical decision, and just selecting a rifle that pleases me.

On the practical side, I often hunt mule deer in relatively open country, so an accurate rifle that reaches out is good. Also I often hunt difficult, mountainous terrain, so I want it to be rugged and relatively light. It doesn't need to be a cannon either, I'm hunting deer, many different cartridges will do just fine. My normal choice is the 25-06 Rem 700 CDL, with a 6x Leupold and 115 gr bullets at 3100+ fps. With that combo I've taken game at 20 yards and out beyond 400 yards. Also, I really like the slim lines of the 700 CDL's walnut stock! Looks good and feels good. It is my most used hunting rifle for the past 12 years.




Since I liked the 25-06 700 CDL so much, I found a 30-06 to match it, and it's likely my best all-around hunting rifle. It has all the qualities I like about the 25-06 700 CDL, with the advantage of using heavier bullets. Last year I had an incredible year with it, four animals in the fall, and two more, including the grizzly, last spring. That's a lot for me! Just updated the optics last week, removing this old 2-7x Redfield, replacing that with a 6x Leupold, along with stronger rings & bases:


Then there's the 375 H&H Ruger Number One. I don't need it at all, but I sure do like hunting with it! It's turned out to be an excellent black bear rifle. Accurate, easy to carry, and of course it has the 375 power level which is quite nice.


Now and again, just because I like carrying it, I'll choose the 30-30 Glenfield (Marlin).


For varmint shooting, an accurate, flat shooting cartridge is important, and I'm quite fond of the .204 Ruger, in a CZ varmint rifle, pushing over 4,000 fps & topped by a 12x Leupold. It's pretty specialized for that job.

Oh, none of those rifles have a synthetic stock! :grin:

Regards, Guy

o.k. guys you made your point, I will quit kidding you about synthetic stocks LOL

Your welcome Rodger

Hodgeman, as I mentioned in our private conversation, very informative post as well as very well written, thank you

Guy, pretty country, pretty rifles---and I agree with you Guy. I could have hunted the world, happily, with only the calibers they use

Bill, lefty, thank you

I wish I had the rifles/calibers the girls have.

My wife and I choose "the hunt" to go with "the rifle" so to speak, but to be honest we dont have as many rifles as some of you so it is not all that hard for us

April I like to mix things up with what I take for a hunt. I've only had my .280 Ackley Improved for a couple years now and with surgery last year I did not get to hunt until this fall. Decision was simple this year, I wanted to use my new 280 AI some more so I did. I sure like that rifle. I had it built on a Winchester Model 70 Classic Sporter. It has a beautiful (not fancy) walnut stock that I have had pillar and glass bedded so I feel completely comfortable in it holding zero.

As of yet I do not own a single rifle with a synthetic stock. Not that there is anything wrong with synthetics, but I've always prefered wood. I'm going to continue to use my .280 AI for a while as my cow elk tag is still good until the end of the month. After that I'll switch over to my Ruger 1B in 6mm Remington to hunt coyotes and wolves with. Maybe this year I'll finally get a wolf!!

For me it depends on the hunt but I like to switch my rifles around so they all get some love and none are left sitting in the safe and become jealous of one another!!

David

Several reasons come to mind when choosing a particular rifle for any particular hunt:

The species hunted,
the terrain hunted, the hunting method and/or means of transportation (truck, atv, horseback, hiking, etc.), what else could be encountered and harvested along the way,
is a back up rifle or shotgun needed or taken for follow up in thick woods, camp gun or small game or grouse,
is there a new rifle that needs to harvest game,
is there a rifle that has not been hunted with in quite a while,
do I have a new load worked up for a rifle that I want prove performance on game with, or
I just want to hunt that rifle today.

I have a synthetic Remington XCR stock for my 280 for the case of bad weather hunts, but it normally wears its pepper laminated LSS stock (both pillar and glass bedded so that there is no shift in poi when changing fron one stock to the other, and my Benelli M2 12 gauge shotgun is synthetic, but all of my other rifles wear wood or laminated stocks.

These days it's pretty simple. For the majority of my deer hunting I go with my old .54 Flintlock. Of course it's not walnut or synthetic, it's curly maple. Does maple count?
For hunting where a iron sighted flintlock doesn't work well I go into the safe. Anything under 150 yards and in the thick woods I go with my .308 Stainless synthetic Tikka T3. For the longer ranges and the elk hunts out west I choose my Browning Stainless synthetic .300 Win. Mag. Because it just plain works.
I could hunt with those 3 weapons only and always have the right gun, but occasionally I get the desire to hunt with my old M700 BDL in 7mm mag.
Or my Ruger .44 auto carbine.
Things weren't always so simple as we used to have a lot more hunting rifles around the house. But the wife quit hunting and sold her Ruger M77 7X57, and the kids took all theirs with them. So I'm down to just my personal lefthanded rifles. A browning shotgun and some pistols.
I guess terrain and distance are the main factors in my choice of weapons these days.

Europe Asked:

how do you choose the rifle that you take on a hunt.? Superstition, most accurate, depending on animal being hunted, depending on terrain ( woods or plains ) --whatever that is in your safe that is synthetic since no-one here hunts with walnut LOL----Seriously, what makes you say, o.k., this rifle with go on this hunt?

Click to expand...

I've sporterized, customized and built many rifles for a specific hunting purpose.
This way I can pick the "best" suited rifle for many different kinds of hunts.

Blkram's post kinda describes my thinking for choosing my main rifle "best" for the hunt.
However, when hunting away from home I take a second rifle.

This second rifle will be suitable as a back-up,
But may also be better as a "follow-up",
or an old favorite,
or a newer one that I want to test.


PS: Most of my rifles have wood stocks

I essentially have one primary hunting rifle. It's an M98 in a versatile caliber, 280 rem (that's 7x63 or something for you Europeans). I handload, and have a couple of different bullets worked up for it, so it's capable for anything I might hunt in North America, and was built with this purpose in mind. It's built on a walnut thumbhole stock shaped to fit me perfectly. It's a bit heavy, but well balanced, and I'm a pretty big guy. I suppose if I were climbing mountains I might go rifle shopping. I trust the reliability and field accuracy of this rifle from all shooting positions to all practical ranges absolutely. My decision is easy when it comes to selecting a hunting rifle. If I were to hunt heavier game where the .280 might not suffice, I would select another M98 or M17 action in a heavier caliber and fit a stock of the same maker and profile with the same optics.

I do have other rifles. One I use in tight cover and really bad weather. Also my do-all backup and camp and travel rifle when we camp in big bear country. It's a bit beaten up, but still accurate and reliable with 180 Norma Alaskas. Also a military action, M17 in .30-06. Beyond that, I have a few rifles with nostalgic value that I may occasionally carry on a day's hunting, but usually only after we've filled a tag or 2 in our hunting party already. The .280 M98 (dubbed 'The Death Ray' by my hunting friends) is my go to, take care of business rifle.

35s post reminded me of varmints. I do have a different rifle that I use for fox and coyote. It is not built as a hunting rifle, rather is a target rifle used for a different purpose. It's a plastic gun. AR-15 A4 heavy barreled national match rifle in 5.56x45. Fires a heavy bullet for match shooting, this time of year it get's a different scope and load for coyote duty. Most of my hunts are very near truck or snow-machine trails, so the fact this rifle is a heavy beast is of little concern. If I ever get to the point where I take my coyote hunting more seriously, rather than just an occasional hobby, an M98 in 220 Swift (I just love the caliber) or .22-250 would likely replace it.

April,
I guess I need to know what we are going to hunt as I always pick the gun that shoots the bullet weight I feel
Is appropriate for the weight of the animal ?
I dont want to use a 35 Whelen with 250gr Speers on a South Texas Whitetail, ( for that matter on ANY game under 300 lbs)
Nor do I wish to use a 30/06 with 180gr bullets on wolves or especially coyotes, garanteed "pass thru" with little energy transfer to the animal.
And even though I have shot a half dozen Moose with my .243 I certainly dont consider it a "Moose Rifle"
Nor is it as effective on coyotes at 400 yds as my 25/06.
My 6.5x55 loaded with 123gr SSTs ( designed for the 6.5 Grindell) with its thin jacket would be an awesome loading for 125lb wolves, but a poor choice on a 600lb cow moose or elk. Where the 142gr ABLR would be an excellent projectile for either of the 600lbers.
My 30/06 will do just sbout anything from 100lbs on up
But I would much prefer the Whelen with the 250s; if I need to back you up, on a charging Brownie.
There are just tooo many variables.......to pick one gun,
But I am thinking its going to be tough to leave this one behind!

All my rifles are accurate and if they are not when I purchase them I tweak them. So which one do I pick? The one that has not been bled yet.

I have a hard time choosing between my 98 mauser in 9.3x62 and my Howa in 6.5 CM. Think I’m going to just use the 9.3 the rest of season and hunt where I can be well armed with iron sights. I love my heavy barrel Howa 6.5 but it’s just so dang heavy. I’ve already killed two deer with it this year so I think she is done unless I’m watching cutover or Big field. The mauser is a joy to carry though. I’ve decided next year I’m gonna get a light weight rifle in 7mm08 and a 2.5x8 scope for the majority of my open country hunting, and leave the Howa for targets most of the time. And the Big mauser for a timber Gun.


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Cleveland48":38yet6is said:

I have a hard time choosing between my 98 mauser in 9.3x62 and my Howa in 6.5 CM. Think I’m going to just use the 9.3 the rest of season and hunt where I can be well armed with iron sights. I love my heavy barrel Howa 6.5 but it’s just so dang heavy. I’ve already killed two deer with it this year so I think she is done unless I’m watching cutover or Big field. The mauser is a joy to carry though. I’ve decided next year I’m gonna get a light weight rifle in 7mm08 and a 2.5x8 scope for the majority of my open country hunting, and leave the Howa for targets most of the time. And the Big mauser for a timber Gun.


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Click to expand...

I have a couple rifles to pick from but when I head west it’s usually been my 338 and a Mashburn. Both are stocked identical and both are set up with the same scope. They carry well for me and both work well for me on western animals. Deer hunting, I usually pick up a lever rifle or a smaller bolt gun. Not picky about deer cartridges.

Cleveland, how’d the Barnes work for you? Congrats on the deer with the CM!

Cleveland, you'd be hard pressed to find a better combination than the 9.3 and 7mm-08. My Kimber 7mm-08 wears a Leupold 2.5-8x36 and I think it's a great setup.

lefty315":3jxeaafu said:

Cleveland, you'd be hard pressed to find a better combination than the 9.3 and 7mm-08. My Kimber 7mm-08 wears a Leupold 2.5-8x36 and I think it's a great setup.

Click to expand...

That’s what I was thinking ! I was eying the Bergara b14 hunter and that scope.


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SJB358":3nzt1ndy said:

Cleveland48":3nzt1ndy said:

I have a hard time choosing between my 98 mauser in 9.3x62 and my Howa in 6.5 CM. Think I’m going to just use the 9.3 the rest of season and hunt where I can be well armed with iron sights. I love my heavy barrel Howa 6.5 but it’s just so dang heavy. I’ve already killed two deer with it this year so I think she is done unless I’m watching cutover or Big field. The mauser is a joy to carry though. I’ve decided next year I’m gonna get a light weight rifle in 7mm08 and a 2.5x8 scope for the majority of my open country hunting, and leave the Howa for targets most of the time. And the Big mauser for a timber Gun.


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Click to expand...

I have a couple rifles to pick from but when I head west it’s usually been my 338 and a Mashburn. Both are stocked identical and both are set up with the same scope. They carry well for me and both work well for me on western animals. Deer hunting, I usually pick up a lever rifle or a smaller bolt gun. Not picky about deer cartridges.

Cleveland, how’d the Barnes work for you? Congrats on the deer with the CM!

Click to expand...

The Barnes worked very well. Although both Deer were roughly 40-60 yards. One was shot through the neck and DRT. The other was a huge doe roughly 150 lbs. she was in some thick stuff so I put it behind her shoulder in the lungs, and she was quartered to me. So exit was actually toward the front of the guts. She jumped up at the shot, and after a 25-30 yard sprint I watched her fall. I went to see the blood trail anyways. Blood trail was very good which was what I was most worried about with that bullet. Also showed considerable expansion judging by the exit hole. Which as close as she was it was practically muzzle velocity. Overall I’m satisfied with the performance. Still was not as impressive as the doe I took with the 9.3 at 25 yards lol. That just has me hooked on that gun, and really all I want to carry the rest of the season.


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