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Post by youp50 on Jan 15, 2009 8:34:05 GMT -5
What's yours?
Mine is a Remington Model 7 CDL blue/wood in a 7mm-08. The rifle itself is good looking. The 7mm-08 caliber is capable of any deer that walks. It is short and light. That does not make it easy to shoot, but it is very handy in a pop up blind or tree stand and carries like a dream.
The only trouble is my wife saw it and she decided to trade me 'my' Winchester Mod 70 25-06 for 'my' Model 7 CDL. She does let me use it, when she is not. I wonder if H&R makes a pink stocked 243? ;D
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Post by whyohe on Jan 15, 2009 11:15:45 GMT -5
mine is my reminton 700BDL in 30-06 with my savage 10ML II a very close second.
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Post by dans on Jan 15, 2009 14:05:15 GMT -5
In states where allowed I like my 740 Remington 30-06. I bought this gun to hunt in Wisconsin with and tweaked it up with a new recoil pad, custom stock, oversized safety and trigger job. It shoots rem factory 165 and 180 corelocts into 1 inch at 100 yards. I have a 2x7 Burris BP on it. My other favorite is my 45 pac nor barreled Savage muzzle loader. It has a 3.5x10 Leupold VXlll in gun metal gray on it with the B&C crosshairs. It is bedded and shoots into 1 inch at 200 yards with 60 grains of H-4198, CCI 209m primer, Blue Harvestor sabot and either a 200 gr. SST or 195 Barnes EXpander MZ.
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Post by Dave W on Jan 15, 2009 14:18:30 GMT -5
Ruger #1 in 7mm Mag, now that it is a .45 smokeless ml, the caliber has changed but the gun remains the same.
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Post by ozark on Jan 15, 2009 14:37:26 GMT -5
Over the years I have had a dozen or more rifles that I called my favorite deer rifle. It started with the .256 Newton and then went to the Mod. 94 Winchester in 30-30. this was followed by the 30-06, .270, 25-06, 250-3000 Savage, and now it is the Savage Mod. 10 in a .243. But I am aware that a couple dozen more could be slid into the group and do the job. It is what melts your butter and it is fine to favor one for awhile and then switch. I don't keep rifles that I don't use. When I choose a new favorite I sell the one I used before it. With the rifles I have listed I had no deer that were crippled and lost. Most were down right there and hit well. My theory is that many rifles could and would be a favorite if you sight them in well and then place the bullet in a sure kill zone on the deer. Not meaning to step on toes but I have to look the hunter over well that needs a semi-automatic. More good shots would be made if hunters were limited to a single shot. How many different calibers and makes are available that will take deer adaquately? I say an wagon load of them.Ozark
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Post by Buckrub on Jan 15, 2009 14:46:31 GMT -5
Remington sucks. Just kidding. Ozark makes the best point. But still, the .270 is the absolute best. Several make a good one. I have a Tikka that I wouldn't take ten million dollars for. There isn't anything I hunt, anywhere I hunt it, that this gun won't perform perfectly. I don't hunt bear or moose hunt, of course........so that's no concern. Before that it was a Winchester Mod 70 in .30-06. Before that it was a Marlin 336C .30-30. But that was when I hunted for years in the DEEP WOODS and never needed a shot past 70 yards. Before that.........well, Hector was a Small Pup before that!
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Post by dans on Jan 15, 2009 15:02:04 GMT -5
Now if we are talking caliber thats a different story. I would pick a .358 win caliber and I would like it in a Browning semi auto with the accurizer on the barrel. Maybe one of the Short Trac designs in stainless/synthetic.
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Post by ozark on Jan 15, 2009 15:34:45 GMT -5
Since elk and moose are members of the deer family the .358 win caliber would fit. Buckrub the largest deer I have ever taken and the largest taken from these parts was killed with a .270. At the shot made at 40 yards it crashed through Christmas tree sized cedar and vines for about twenty yards. It looked like it had a rocking chair on its head but crashed stone dead within sight. Weighed 193 Lbs at the butcher shop after being field dressed. I know up north this would be nothing. But here it got a lot of attention. Ozark
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Post by deadeye on Jan 15, 2009 16:35:18 GMT -5
rem 700/300RUM/BRAKED- a true 1200yd gun,will take anything on the planet equipped w 180gn barnes triple-shock@3250FPS & shoots decent .4moa groups
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Jan 15, 2009 16:58:45 GMT -5
Savage 10ML .50 cal. No centerfire rifles out here are allowed.
If I were to have one centerfire for all my hunting in NYS it would be a .243. Very flat and very easy to hit your spots with it. Since I own one already I kinda have a dream to whack deer with it....sniper style.
Like others have said, it's a personal choice because you can say the above with MANY cartridges.
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Post by petev on Jan 15, 2009 17:25:29 GMT -5
Since no-one has mentioned it- the .308, it's big and accurate, and kicks a little less than a 30-06. .243 is another favorite, and it is good for chucks, etc. For short range and walking it's a carbine in .35 Rem only.
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Post by DHinMN on Jan 15, 2009 17:44:33 GMT -5
It's a 270. When I was about 20 I got a FN Mauser barreled action and fitted it with a Maple stock with a high roll over cheek piece. It fit me like a glove. Used it on all my hunting trips. We hunted the western states for years. I really couldn't tell how many deer and antelope I got with it. I always filled my tags. It accounted for one bear and one moose. The scope was a weaver 1.5 to 4.5 variable. I think my western hunting trips are probably over. I put the scope on the Savage ML and it promptly ate it. I guess the Savage is my deer rifle now. DH
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larry
8 Pointer
Posts: 172
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Post by larry on Jan 15, 2009 21:21:52 GMT -5
Rem 700 in 7-08 is also my favorite using 140BT or sierra 140 game king.
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Post by raf on Jan 15, 2009 22:04:49 GMT -5
I own a number of deer rifles and it's hard to chose which is the favorite. Actually I can't choose. What deer I'm targeting on a given day will influence what rifle I take out. Some days I'm trying for a doe, others a buck and sometimes it's big mule deer. I have a Savage 243, a Reminton model 4 in 30-06 and a Tikka in 300 WSM. The 243 will work on any deer around here, and has but for bigger deer like a big mulie buck I like the extra umpf of the 300 WSM. The 30-06 is an extra that I've owned the longest and I have an attachment to it and keep it but haven't used it for some time. Just can't bear to part with it .
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Post by minst7877 on Jan 15, 2009 23:20:00 GMT -5
Where I hunt most of the time it's shotgun or Muzzy only. If I go to my buddies place in the UP I take my Browning Lever Rifle in 308win. and my ML II as my back up. Here at home it's my ML II
DC
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Post by rbinar on Jan 18, 2009 4:04:06 GMT -5
8-)My Winchester model 70 pre 64 action chambered for 300 Winchester Magnum.
I shoot light weigh bullets for deer to control recoil. I don't feel under gunned if it has to fill in as an elk or moose rifle either. I had the old girl re-done in 2007 by Hill country rifles. With the new barrel it will drive tacks.
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Post by dannoboone on Jan 18, 2009 10:45:35 GMT -5
Because of legal necessity, it must be a slug shooter or a muzzle loader. The Lyman Trade Rifle was OK, the Encore was a lot better, but the .45 10MLII is miles ahead. It has really tamed down the recoil and is a pleasure to shoot.
Prior to my life in Iowa, my favorite was the .25-06 700Rem BDL. Loaded with 75gr Hornady HP's, it took more than its share of prairie dogs and 100gr SP's were lethal on deer. I had loads for each bullet that gave the same trajectory (within an inch) out to 400yds. After a summer's worth of pdogs, a mulie was like shooting the side of a barn. ;D
P.S. I just acquired a Savage .25-06 VLD (NIB, even!) for coyotes. The stock is beautiful and makes the rifle a very pretty lady! But it does not fit the action well, so one of the winter projects is a good bedding job prior to ever shooting it.
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Post by billc on Jan 18, 2009 13:02:01 GMT -5
Like many others my favorite centerfire has changed over the years. 1898 Winchester 30-40 Krag (borrowed from my cousin and not mine -- darn it), Enfield Mk4 No1 303 British, Remington 742 308Win, Marlin 336C 30-30, Remington 700 308 Win, Stery Model 96 Pro Hunter 300 Win Mag. In my present life it's a Steyr Model 96 Pro Hunter stainless 308 Win, 41 gr IMR 4895, Sierra 165 gr SBT, Federal large rifle primer, LC brass with a 2 -8X 30mm tube Leupold. I think by June a 358 Win on a CZ550 action, Pac-Nor #3 barrel in a McMillen stock may start to inch into the favorite column. Unlike others I never get rid of my weapons, except an original flat backstrap 1911 Colt. If I only had a nickel for everytime I've kicked myself for letting that one get gone .
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Post by ewc on Jan 18, 2009 15:37:11 GMT -5
I love them all, but my favorite would be my first gun - a Browning A-Bolt stalker in .270 I bought new in 1990.
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Post by KerryB on Jan 18, 2009 17:14:08 GMT -5
Well, here in Illinois a deer rifle must be a muzzleloader or a shotgun. With that in mind, my favorites over the last few years have been a couple White's........a Super 91 and a Thunderbolt. Another favorite has been my Knight Master Hunter Disc Extreme with a .45 Green Mountain barrel that is fluted and cryogenically accurized. Another favorite is a Remington custom shop 700ML with a laminated thumbhole stock and the 209 conversion. Since i switched to smokeless, it was my factory original 10MLII, then my HB #007, finally my custom SMI Ruger #1/Shilen .45, or my Savage 10MLII with the new PacNor .45! So many rifles.........so many deer...........so little time! ;D
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Post by deadeye on Jan 19, 2009 0:53:37 GMT -5
8-)My Winchester model 70 pre 64 action chambered for 300 Winchester Magnum. I shoot light weigh bullets for deer to control recoil. I don't feel under gunned if it has to fill in as an elk or moose rifle either. I had the old girl re-done in 2007 by Hill country rifles. With the new barrel it will drive tacks. boy those mod 70 pre 64's are sweethearts,i own one in 30-06
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Post by joe21a on Jan 19, 2009 10:25:59 GMT -5
My 5.5 LB. 308. Ruger w/ kevlar stock and with much weight reduction and shooting 125 or 165 bullets depending what I am hunting.
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Post by dougedwards on Jan 20, 2009 15:17:11 GMT -5
Love them all but I enjoy shooting my Remington 700 VLS in .243 the best.....very flat shooting with little recoil using 100 gr core locts. Had to do some trigger work to it. Secondly would be the rifle that I choose to stalk deer in the mountains of Va. Winchester Mod70 Lightweight in 30-06 sporting a Nikon Monarch 1.5-4.5x20 scope. She isn't pretty because she has been dropped several times and dragged through the thorns but is light and accurate.
Doug
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Post by jkruger on Jan 22, 2009 11:41:26 GMT -5
i live in wny, and hunt often in catt. county where we can use rifles during regular season for deer. i use a howa in .243 win. it's my death ray w/ 100gr.sierra spbt. there 's a tupperware stock on her now , but hope to put a boyds thumhole on someday. Lord willing. had to put a timney trigger on it also because the lawyer trigger that came with it s---ed. jk
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Post by ozark on Jan 22, 2009 21:00:51 GMT -5
The .243 just keeps popping up. Looks like it may become the most popular deer cartridge of all shortly. Ozark
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Post by youp50 on Jan 23, 2009 5:30:04 GMT -5
For the hunter with the deer herd and the time to wait for a broadside shot, the 243 is all the cartridge needed. If I was headed to Manitoba or Saskatchewan for a high dollar whitetail hunt, I would prefer RB's rifle with full power loads and a premium bullet.
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Post by raf on Jan 23, 2009 12:35:38 GMT -5
I hunt in Saskatchewan all the time , and have used a number of different calibers from 300WSM down to a 243. The 243 works great but bullet placement is a little more crucial.
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Post by ozark on Jan 23, 2009 13:06:26 GMT -5
Bullet placement is crucial regardless of caliber. A moose hit in the leg with a cannon is going to be crippled. The experience of raf is great assurance for huners who wants to use something less than an elephant gun. Thanks, I love the .243 even more now. Ben
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Post by petev on Jan 23, 2009 13:35:57 GMT -5
Bullet placement is crucial regardless of caliber. Yes, the .243 is the most accurate deer cartridge that I know of (let's say of the most known cartridges), and that gives some comfort. What I find surprising on this thread are: The relatively few using 30-06, which although i do not use it, so many people you run into around here do. The continuing slippage of .308, which is a caliber that I love. The complete lack of response for close range "brush" guns such as 30-30 and .35 Rem. I am not challenging any responses, as that would be absurd, just trying to make sense of them. So many calibers, so few deer seasons! Pete
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Post by craigf on Jan 23, 2009 21:38:58 GMT -5
Mine is my MLII. I have hunted with a .308 and 7mm mag. I have never gotten as much satisfaction from these, or my old traditions, as from my MLII.
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