Guns, Bows, Shooting Sports, and Hunting Looking for Deer Rifle Advise

[WadePatton]

Good rifle and round and SS/plastic is what all my guns _should_ be.



The Savage "accu-trigger" or whatever they call it is good too. Decent pull with all the lawyer safety crap built in. Otherwise factory triggers are awful. I have the Savage trigger in my 17WMR. It's not like a target grade trigger, but it is better than most anything out there in non-target rifles.



06, cool. Loaded ammo available for coyotes to elk and moose and if you load 'em youself, a billion combinations of powders, primers, bullets. And most of those combos are winners. I dumb lucked into a 3/4 inch three-shot hunting load for my A-bolt years ago. That's all I feed it.



Buy earplugs in quantity. :-laf

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Stainless/synthetic is a must for me. If I'm out in the brush with snow/rain and get a deer - the last thing I want to think about is wiping the gun down for fear of the dreaded aftermath.



I must admit that I didn't know much about triggers at all and knew even less about Savage's fancy trigger... but after firing it a about 100 times with snap caps in the chamber and then firing a live round recently... I gotta say that it is REALLY sweet.



As of right now, I think that nice trigger and the fact that it doesn't really hit as hard as I thought - she's going to be a pretty accurate gun. I figured the recoil and the loud crack would cause me to flinch and so forth. We'll see soon enough - gotta get the scope sighted in before deer season!



Beers,



Matt

 

[WadePatton]

Ammunition saving scope zeroing procedure:

Use sandbags or sandbags with rests on sturdy bench. Set target at 25 yards. Remove bolt and bore-sight as usual. Then squeeze off one round aimed dead center. It won't hit dead center. NOW the trick is to return the rifle to position with crosshairs dead center again--bag it solidly in place. Then, while peering through scope, adjust the crosshairs to where the bullet landed-without moving the rifle.

Done properly, no more shooting required. But most folks move the target out to 100 or so for a group and final tweaks.

Anybody interested in loading their own, I recommend Midway and a starter kit, lots of common sense, and NO assumptions-read all the safety stuff. It's about tailoring the loads, not maximizing power.

 

[GHarman]

The cartridge you choose should be pretty much as subjective as the type of terrain and game you will hunt. I prefer an accurate rifle, capable of 3 shots in 1/2" at 100 yards, bolt action configuration with a fiberglass, kevlar, graphite stock. No plastic stocks. Wood stocks, while very attractive, warp in inclement weather. This will change your zero, sometimes quite dramatically. Laminated wood is definitely better than a stock made from one piece of wood, however, most laminated stocks are very heavy compared to the original wood stock.



A Fiberglass/kevlar/graphite stock like the H-S Precision offering (also used on some Remington and other factory rifles) has a Aluminum Chassis inside that actually holds the receiver and recoil lug engagement. This is one of the best arrangements. However it is not perfect. Receivers are not always perfectly round or perfectly flat and may require a little scraping and final fitting that is not done on a production rifle. Another stock that works really great is the McMillan. These are not cheap! A McMillan stock is advertised as a "drop in". For the same reason as I mentioned above they work better properly "pillar bedded" in an epoxy bedding compound. That is a little more technical but there is a wealth of information available for the do-it-yourselfer. Stay away from the plastic stocks. If you buy a rifle stocked in plastic, replace it. These basics are the foundation for your search for that hunting rifle. Hope this is helpful. GregH

 

[WadePatton]

rambling

Oh yeah, I agree with all that. Love really accurate arms and paper punching, but I think this thread is more about -newbie- rifle advice, practical direction w/o putting dude/dudette into a "David Miller" machine with $$$$ optics.



My woods are tight. Sometime I get to play on the edge of a big field, but I've not shot a whitetail or coyote over 100yds yet. So a lever gun with factory and gasp-iron sights would have been adequate. Tennessee has finally dropped the caliber requirements-it's now any centerfire, but I do believe that most folks should stick with the previous 6mm/. 243 minimum caliber. Personally I think that real hunting calibers start at 6. 5mm/. 264 and go just as big as you care to handle and feed. I've killed big game with . 243, . 25-06, . 280, . 308, 30-06, . 375, and . 44 and wouldn't hesitate to hunt with a high-power/small caliber with proper bullets and suitable shots. That's where I'm afraid the small cal guys could go wrong. Most won't, but don't you know somebody is going to put a gopher busting round on the shoulder or rump of a whitetail, get lots of blood-no penetration, and never find the animal? I've killed a few with superficial wounds inflicted by others and healed over--in the cal restricted days.



Lots of great new cartridges out there. An explosion really in that dimension. Most of them are really good, but which ones are going to be around ten or twenty years from now? I'd buy a lot of ammo or brass for an new cartridge no matter who makes it. There may come a time when you have to load 'em yourself, re-chamber, or sell the sucker. While the PPC and some newer 1000 yd stuff are quite impressive in their specialized worlds--for hunting, the new stuff won't kill any better than the ancient rounds. It's just a way for them to sell us a new rifle--which is cool if you want a new rifle or coveted a wildcat, but wouldn't take the leap into wildcatting.



There is nothing more important than an accurately delivered bullet with substantial energy and design for its purpose. A crisp trigger in a stiff action with proper bedding and good optics and adequate range time/practice is the recipe I use.



Be careful and shoot straight!

 

[GHarman]

WadePatton, Thats the point! Buy one, Buy once! Lever action rifles have their place. Its all about where and what you hunt. Lots of private property here, with long distances as well as forest. Straight up and down mountains to 12,000+feet. Elk, Deer, Moose, Bear! I am an Elk hunter, primarily, built my own rifle. . 30/338, Animals go down in their tracks, if I do my part. No need to track wounded game onto another property, land owner may not be very friendly. Just aim at the critters on/off switch and there it lays. Now the real WORK begins.

Another point, Paper punching is an absolute necessity, with small groups the goal if you shoot game at long distances. Your field ability will decrease the rifles capability by multiples after you have humped a couple of miles up a mountain, carrying your pack. If I could walk out to the barn and sit in the hayloft and wait for the deer to come in to the hay meadow like I did when I was a kid, that is one type of hunting. I am talking about the more extreme possibilities here. You see, every type of hunting is not the same and requirements are really dependent on the person, quarry, terrain. Shooting the animal and not tracking it for several miles up one mountain and down another is the real reason to practice and shoot within your capability and the capability of your rifle.

Its also interesting that those on a website dedicated to Diesel trucks and ways to improve them have not considered that a rifle is also a machine and can be rebuilt, rebarreled and modified in many ways to suit the needs of the owner. GregH



PS, tried to upload a picture but am having no success.

 

[WadePatton]

We're agreeing. I was just trying to avoid turning folks away by implying near-target level accuracy or the newest optics or cartridges are necessary.



Precision shooting/loading and long-range hunting grow out of the basic group of shooters and hunters out there, but like us diesel enthusiasts, it ain't for everybody--even diesel enthusiasts.



Thassall. burn powder and blow smoke!



Oh, and I'll be slumming with a #1 in . 375H&H if I ever get to hunt elk. I tested it on deer. Works great--heck I may just hunt with it this fall. My arms need a workout. :-laf

 

[GHarman]

We're agreeing. I was just trying to avoid turning folks away by implying near-target level accuracy or the newest optics or cartridges are necessary.



Precision shooting/loading and long-range hunting grow out of the basic group of shooters and hunters out there, but like us diesel enthusiasts, it ain't for everybody--even diesel enthusiasts.



Thassall. burn powder and blow smoke!



Oh, and I'll be slumming with a #1 in . 375H&H if I ever get to hunt elk. I tested it on deer. Works great--heck I may just hunt with it this fall. My arms need a workout. :-laf

Wade, Ruger #1's ARE #1. I like the H models also, was thinking about the . 405 Winchester. Got a few Single Shot Actions I picked up over the years. I may have to get a barrel and reamer and put one together:-laf After I get all the other projects done. GregH

 

[AABEN]

You will have more bullets weight to pick from if you use a 270 90GR up to 150Gr . All so you can use your gun to hunt small game or large the 270 has a little less kick. I like the 25-06 you can drope down to a 75Gr up to 120Gr both of them will do you a good job. The 30-06 is a very good round also it goes from 110Gr to 240Gr. IF you are going to hunt larger game then the 30-06 will be the way to go. The 150Gr will kill all TX. deer So will the 120Gr. You must learn your gun. Need to shoot it till it is part of you. This will make for a good hunt. Also talk to your hunting frends see what tipe of bullet they use to kill deer with. ---BEN---GOOD LUCK

 

[Mr.Goat]

After 40 yrs of hanging around hunt camps there are two topics that will start an arguement faster than greased lightning.



1. what caliber is best



2. the method of cleaning an animal



Lots of good advice, and a wealth of experience on this thread.



Personally I use a Winchester Model 70 in 30-06 handloaded with 165gr. Nosler partions. Topped with a 2. 5 - 7 Weaver scope, which will be replaced this year with a 2. 5 -8 Leupold Vari X III. The old Weaver has just seen it's better days. This is the moose rifle, and I never get any arguements from moose.



The deer rifle is a Winchester model 100 in 308 topped with a Leupold 1. 5-5 Vari X III. Handloaded with 165gr. Speer Rd nose. And if I'am dogging and in denser bush I carry a Ruger semi auto 44 mag (older model) topped with a Bushnell Hollo gram light sight. This works very well on the close in stuff.



This works well for me but might not for you.

As far as cleaning animals, I have my method that has served me well and drew many compliments from the butcher. And thats as far as I'll go on that subject.