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Post by 10ga on Aug 21, 2014 20:49:04 GMT -5
In light of ohioguy post on the "tug - O - war" on who has what, I thought a thread on the lighter side would be nice. SOooo tell about your most inexpensive SML that does the deed on deer, yotes, skirrels, groundhogs or whatever! Specs, well if you kill deer with it and it shoots to your satisfaction, like "minute of deer" way I hunt. Then what ya shootin and how does it do?
I'll go 1st with one of my current favorites. Bought a black/blue MLII with a "bad barrel" (bulged) for $250 tmd, traded with barrycuda for one of his MLII SS 50 cal take off barrels and he kindly took the bad barrel off and installed the like new SS for me. Lets give that a $50 trade value. Then I did a JB weld bedding job. The gun came with a base so I dug out a set of Warne rings and a steel tubed weaver 4X that I have and installed. That gives me a total out of pocket $ of about $305. The gun got a JB bore polish job and then load development. Shoots lights out, moa or better off the bench, with BCR/300 gr. Speer 458 FP/over 41 gr of 4759 and lit off by a Federal or CCI 209. Last year wanted something lighter recoiling and closer range killin. Developed a load of 35 gr of 4759 pushing a subbase under a dark blue 40X50 sabot holding a knurled 200 gr SST. 1.5 moa at my sight in of 100 yd. With the 300 grain 458 load killed 4 deer with this gun and in 2013 season killed 5 with the 200 gr SST and 40X50 sabot. Longest of all the shots was 65 yds. So it don't take a 1.5K to 3K rifle to have fun hunting and kill deer. Certainly if you're out on the prairie shooting it'll take a bit more load development but the 3C rifle would still do the deed.
Best to all, safety first and good hunting this season! 10 ga
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2014 20:52:30 GMT -5
That will be a hard one to beat there. That's pretty cheap for a shooter like that. Congrats on the find.
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Post by southarkrob on Aug 21, 2014 20:59:35 GMT -5
I have a H&R Handi that I had Slufoot convert for me that shoots pretty good and I have less than $300 in it!! I am going to give it to my 13 yr old niece this year and let her shoot some deer with it. We have 4 SML's in my family and not a one of them cost $1000!! One of them is one of Rick Bibby's personal guns.. that gun will shoot with what ever you stick in it!!! Kinda boring!! Rick had added the second stock bolt and did a trigger job on it. Hopefully my dad will get to kill a deer with it this year.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2014 21:07:57 GMT -5
My cheapest gun is what I was shooting at the challenge last weekend, actually its my boys gun. it has his name on the stock. its a blued 700ML tefloned brown with a 22" pacnor in a factory youth stock with a ram rod tube installed, pillared and bedded. it also has a Murphy base. its a deer thumper and while its not what I would call inexpensive its no high dollar rig either. it sure is handy in the woods and kills the poo out of deer with a 275 MH or a 200 sst..
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Aug 21, 2014 21:09:03 GMT -5
Bought a SS plastic stock gun for, I think, $325. Bedded it myself (1st gun I ever bedded) and developed several loads using .458 bullets and Harv CR sabots that shoot 1 1/2" or better 100 yd groups at really high speed or very modest speeds. Steel mounts and rings and a good VXI Leupold and this gun will shoot.
I would never compete well at the "challenge" event that was recently held. Yet, I have never missed or wounded a deer in the range limit I have imposed on myself. Yes, the 1/10th inch groups are crazy good but a group 15 times as bad/good is bad news for deer if shots are at the national average.
The stock savage loaded well will not disappoint a hunter most of the time. We see the target guys take these things to the edge of the earth and do amazing things. But the average guy with the average gun will kill everything he shoots at with a decent factory gun, a good load and practical shot selection.
Deer Whomper my savage is. Won't break eggs every shot at 300 yds but will kill any deer I choose inside 200 yds off a shooting stick perched 25 ft up a tree. AND...if the normal 50-75 yd shot presents itself, there is no chance for survival.
What a great gun we have.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2014 21:30:15 GMT -5
Great thread full of great guns/storys already. I hope I can luck into a cheap one someday that performs as well as the ones mentioned.
I'd like to find one that I could try my hand at bedding and not feel bad when I screw it up.
My savage/pacnor will be my cheapest to date, thanks to the members here helping me out on it, I'm confident it will shoot better than I can, just like my hillbill mcrem does.
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Post by GMB54-120 on Aug 21, 2014 23:00:14 GMT -5
I paid $550 for a mint condition Ultra Light Arms model 20 50cal with a custom order 26" slightly heavier contour barrel and i love it.
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Post by hammer on Aug 21, 2014 23:30:31 GMT -5
Just bought a H&R 45-70 at the local pawn shop for $160.00 OTD. It has a plastic camo stock, ss action, blue barrel and sports a cheap 3-9x40 Bushnell scope. I plan on using 200 gr sst's saboted. This is going to be a woods gun 100yards and under. The breech plug is going to be a press fit similar to the one edge posted about, ( that is where I got the idea) however the priming system will be different. The total cost for gun,plug and priming modules is probably less than $170.00. I just finished making the breech plug this evening and plan on shooting it tomorrow. I don't want to go into details about the breach plug and priming system until I determine that it works and is safe. So $170.00 + being able to tinker and apply some of the ideas and advise from the people on this board = PRICELESS.
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Post by ratsnakeboogy on Aug 22, 2014 8:18:28 GMT -5
I paid $550 for a mint condition Ultra Light Arms model 20 50cal with a custom order 26" slightly heavier contour barrel and i love it. $550? Mint ULA SML? Somebody needs to just smack you.  |
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Post by rangeball on Aug 22, 2014 8:42:33 GMT -5
Paid $100 for an NEF rifle action with black composite stock and forend. Bought a closeout.458 Montana Rifle barrel for $50, the contoured and rifled it to 1:20 for another $20. Paid $20 for an H&R de-milled stub barrel that fit my action perfect. Good buddy mated the barrel to the stub and installed a breech plug. Shoots the 250gr xtp sabotless MOA to 200 yds. See a deer, kill a deer. My newphew uses it and loves it. Light, easy to handle, great deer killing rig. $190 |
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Post by GMB54-120 on Aug 22, 2014 12:31:14 GMT -5
I paid $550 for a mint condition Ultra Light Arms model 20 50cal with a custom order 26" slightly heavier contour barrel and i love it. $550? Mint ULA SML? Somebody needs to just smack you. Yep, the original owner had two. The first was a standard build. He bought another with the intention of making a longer range shooter with N120. It performed that task well with the exception of added recoil. Ive shot that load with a 275gr BE at 2400fps and it does thump. It also shoots that load very well. Im really impressed with my ULA. Mine has ULA on the action and not NULA but im not sure if that is common in newer models. Its one of the first 50 Melvin built. |
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Post by rickyb on Aug 22, 2014 13:44:03 GMT -5
You guys can sure hurt a man's feeling with pictures of your deer killed in you avatar. I have hunted in Arkansas for 30 years and never got anything over 110 inch deer. Some of you guys have nailed some monsters or at least they look like it. Rick
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Post by wirtbowhunter on Aug 22, 2014 16:50:45 GMT -5
Some of you guys have gotten some steals. Maybe I'll run into a deal like that one of these days.
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Aug 22, 2014 19:42:14 GMT -5
Wirtbowhunter,
I'll take the big buck in your avitar over any custom thing-a-ma-jig 1/4" MOA rifle any day. That's what it's all about for most of us. A deer killer at average ranges.
Nice deer!
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Post by Slufoot on Aug 23, 2014 19:17:28 GMT -5
The cheapest SML I ever built was the one I made for my dad a few years ago.
I bought a used 45-70 H&R barrel off of a member on Graybeard Outdoors, I believe I gave $120 for the barrel.
I bought a used H&R Versa-Pack locally from an add in a trade paper, I gave $90 for the gun with a 22LR barrel and a 20 gauge barrel.
I fitted the 45-70 barrel to the frame I bought and then bought a Savage BP for $30.
I had a total of $240 in all the parts I bought but then I sold the 22LR barrel for $120, I sold the 20 gauge barrel for $60 and sold the youth stock set for $30.
Now I've only got $30 in this gun.
I did take the wood stock set off of my H&R 30-06 to use on my dad's gun but my wife got me a new Handi-Grip stock set for Christmas to replace it.
GOOD SHOOTING!
Slufoot
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2014 19:25:49 GMT -5
The cheapest SML I ever built was the one I made for my dad a few years ago. I bought a used 45-70 H&R barrel off of a member on Graybeard Outdoors, I believe I gave $120 for the barrel. I bought a used H&R Versa-Pack locally from an add in a trade paper, I gave $90 for the gun with a 22LR barrel and a 20 gauge barrel. I fitted the 45-70 barrel to the frame I bought and then bought a Savage BP for $30. I had a total of $240 in all the parts I bought but then I sold the 22LR barrel for $120, I sold the 20 gauge barrel for $60 and sold the youth stock set for $30. Now I've only got $30 in this gun. I did take the wood stock set off of my H&R 30-06 to use on my dad's gun but my wife got me a new Handi-Grip stock set for Christmas to replace it. GOOD SHOOTING! Slufoot WE HAVE A WINNER!!  That's awesome! |
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Post by jims on Aug 23, 2014 19:53:17 GMT -5
I think slufoot will be hard to beat unless someone found one that fell off a truck.
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Post by southarkrob on Aug 23, 2014 20:42:44 GMT -5
The best deal I ever got was one of Rick Bibby's personal .40 cal Savages with a thumbhole stock and SS barrel for $300... wish I would have kept it..
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Post by Slufoot on Aug 23, 2014 21:52:39 GMT -5
I got to thinking about how much I gave for the 45-70 barrel and how much I sold the 22LR and 20 gauge barrels for because it was a few years ago.
It was bugging me, so I went to Graybeard Outdoors and went WAY BACK through my PM's and found were I bought and sold the three barrels.
The 45-70 barrel I gave $110.
The 22LR barrel I sold for $140.
The 20 gauge barrel I sold for $60.
I remember well going to the man's house when I bought the H&R Versa Pack. He was a very friendly person that had bought the gun for one of his kids. Said he was going to sell it and use the money to put toward his kid a deer rifle. He told me if I wanted it that he would take $90 for it.
I sold the youth stock set that came on the gun for $30 and I gave $30 for a Savage BP.
So now when I do the math on how much I've actually got in my dads gun I come up with a grand total of $0.
I don't think I'll be able to do that again.
GOOD SHOOTING!
Slufoot
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2014 22:05:05 GMT -5
Don't forget you had to pay for the conversion!
Oh wait.... Darn you!
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