Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

...what is your preferred weapon? I'm looking for a good hunting rifle to use for deer hunting and I would appreciate any recommendations. Thanks

A Remington 700 Sendero in your pick of caliber (300 WM, 300 Rem. Ultra Mag, 7mm RM, 7mm Rem. Ultra Mag, .264 RM). It will have a heavier fluted barrel than the sporter rifles, longer and has an HS Precision stock that has an aluminum bedding block. Pretty good out of the box.

I personally have a Ruger model 77 in .270 caliber, bought it in 1979 it's a jewel. There are so many good out of the box rifles out there, it really is just a matter of choice. I would suggest you visit a store and try fit and finish, most will be accurate enough to perform better than most shooters.

What kind of terrain do you hunt in?
Brush and woods is usually a different ballgame than flat prairie.
I used a 6.5x55 Swede the last time I went deer hunting.
I got a doe at about 100 yards, it was an easy shot.

What kind of terrain do you hunt in?
Brush and woods is usually a different ballgame than flat prairie.
I used a 6.5x55 Swede the last time I went deer hunting.
I got a doe at about 100 yards, it was an easy shot.

Wow, was that in brush and woods, kels?

What kind of terrain do you hunt in?
Brush and woods is usually a different ballgame than flat prairie.
I used a 6.5x55 Swede the last time I went deer hunting.
I got a doe at about 100 yards, it was an easy shot.

Wow, was that in brush and woods, kels?

If you're relatively new to deer hunting, and your shooting distances will be less than 200 yds, you can't beat this combination:

http://www.tacshooting.com/image_rifle/winchester_01l.jpg

Winchester model 1894 in .30-30 WCF.

Some hunters claim this rifle/caliber has taken more deer in North America than all other rifles/calibers combined. That's debatable, but I do know hunters have been using it for over one hundred years and have taken literally millions of deer.

It's inexpensive, incredibly reliable, comfortable to carry and point, easy to shoot, low recoil, and ammunition costs are the lowest there is. I've been in popular rural hunting areas where you can buy a box of 30-30 in some taverns.

Some hunters like the Marlin 336 in the same caliber, because it ejects spent shells to the side, where the Winchester ejects straight up. A matter of personal taste. Either rifle would be an excellent choice.

If you plan to hunt in areas where you'll see longer than 200 yd shots, I'd go with a bolt action rifle in .308.

Some hunters like the Marlin 336 in the same caliber, because it ejects spent shells to the side, where the Winchester ejects straight up. A matter of personal taste. Either rifle would be an excellent choice.



That's what I use(d). Good gun. I don't get to hunt much anymore though...

Thank you all for your help. I'll keep your suggestions in mind.


If you're relatively new to deer hunting, and your shooting distances will be less than 200 yds, you can't beat this combination:

http://www.tacshooting.com/image_rifle/winchester_01l.jpg

Winchester model 1894 in .30-30 WCF.


That is actually the gun I used the last two times I went out. Nice gun and I can't beat the price since I already have it right? lol

I'm still a novice when it comes to hunting...my dad took me shooting, but he wasn't much into hunting. A guy that goes to my church invited me to join his hunting club, so hopefully I can get some experience this season.

Hey Trip

NE Kansas tends to be more wooded and rolling
than out here in God's country.
I was hunting in the east part of Marshall County.
It is a one mile wide by two mile long patch of ground.
My uncle and a cousin own the the middle 640 acres
and I was hunting a T intersection in the fence line.
There is quite a bit of trees and brush at the intersection and it
is a good place to sit and watch the deer, turkey and squirrels.

The rifle is a Swedish Mauser Model 96 that I found at a local gunshop.
Someone did a good job of bending the bolt and mounting a scope.
Other than that, the gun is stock military mauser.
I hate to see a Swede sporterized, but my eyes arnt what they were
30 years ago and I need the scope.

Picture of a Swede Mauser to give you an idea of what I am talking about. This is not mine.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Swedish_Mauser_65_left.jpg

Hey Kels

Thanks for your detailed response. I have to admit that I'm better with a handgun than I am with a rifle or the M-16 my colleagues used to throw in my hands in Iraq (even though they weren't supposed to cause I was a contractor....shhh, don't tell anyone..it was usually the Colonel having to referee a fight between the Iraqi Ministry of Interior folks and the American contractors doing a ****ty job of building their academies and forts and he'd be so mad at the contractors that he'd say "somebody better take this gun out of my hands")....anyway, I digress. As I was saying I seem to have really good hand-eye coordination with handguns but not with rifles, but it is my intention to start going to a nearby shooting range on a regular basis.... so I'm interested in your info.

By the way, your moniker says warpig.....were you Army?

Hey Kels

As I was saying I seem to have really good hand-eye coordination with handguns but not with rifles, but it is my intention to start going to a nearby shooting range on a regular basis.... so I'm interested in your info.

By the way, your moniker says warpig.....were you Army?

Nope, I did a short visit with the Air Force though.

Warpig was something a customer hung on me after he had a meeting with a can of pepper spray.

http://www.realpolice.net/forums/off-topic-70/88923-i-got-promoted-sorta.html

http://www.realpolice.net/forums/off-topic-70/89198-followup-warpig-story.html

There are guys hunting locally with handguns.
The wifes nephew used a Ruger Super Redhawk in 44 mag or a bow now that the neighbor
corrupted him. He normally hunts timber along one of the rivers in Kansas.

http://www.ruger.com/products/superRedhawkStandard/models.html

...I have to admit that I'm better with a handgun than I am with a rifle or the M-16 my colleagues used to throw in my hands in Iraq...As I was saying I seem to have really good hand-eye coordination with handguns but not with rifles, but it is my intention to start going to a nearby shooting range on a regular basis.... so I'm interested in your info.

It's all the same, fundamentally. Shooting mechanics are shooting mechanics. All anyone needs is a little instruction to show them. :)

Who was it that said, in essence, "The only thing your handgun is good for is to fight your way back to your rifle."

Who was it that said, in essence, "The only thing your handgun is good for is to fight your way back to your rifle."

I believe that was member greg72982 from realpolice.net...

You know, here I am trying to get to bed to get some beauty sleep....but here you guys keep cracking me up......like take kels and his pepper spray.....what a bunch of NUTS, lol. Ok, ok, I will try to get to the shooting range. But I'm wanna skip the rifle and go right for some big automatic thing. Good night gents.

First I would like to apologize to Reconciler for hijacking his thread.

Second, for those of you with prior military time and training on the M16.
IF your state allows it, the new 6.8 caliber for the AR15 is getting good reviews
from hunters. If they can kill wild pigs in Texas with it, your average whitetail should be
no problem.

My earlier question about what kind of terrain you hunt in is valid.
I have a friend who hunts in the Upper Penn of Michigan.
His idea of a perfect deer gun is either a 30.30 or a 35 Remington.
And he likes Marlins over Winchesters.
Big soft nose bullets at close range work very well.

The western states where long range is the norm,
bolt action magnums rule the day.

As I have aged, I have got to the point, that recoil
is something I just dont feel like dealing with.
For me the 6.5 Swede is great. Minimum Recoil
and a good rifle that will handle the critters where I hunt.

Me, my next deer rifle will look like this in the 6.5 round.
I just gotta convice the missus I need another GUN. LOL

CZ-USA -> CZ 550 FS (http://cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-550-fs/)

First I would like to apologize to Reconciler for hijacking his thread.

No problem :)


My earlier question about what kind of terrain you hunt in is valid.
I have a friend who hunts in the Upper Penn of Michigan.
His idea of a perfect deer gun is either a 30.30 or a 35 Remington.
And he likes Marlins over Winchesters.
Big soft nose bullets at close range work very well.

Right now its mostly wooded areas and small fields. It isn't too difficult to see the deer using the iron sights.

Me, my next deer rifle will look like this in the 6.5 round.
I just gotta convice the missus I need another GUN. LOL

CZ-USA -> CZ 550 FS (http://cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-550-fs/)

The CZ's got beautiful lines, kels. Nice piece of wood. So I'm not the only one that doesn't like recoil.

I use an older Winchester model 70, .243 cal rifle for deer. I've had the gun since I was a kid and it will easily shoot a 1 inch group at a 100 yards. I've taken several deer between 300-350 yards with it and have had as equally good as luck in the timber. If you need something that will shoot farther than 350 your going to need a different round. Thats about it's maximum effective range from what I've experienced.

But I'm wanna skip the rifle and go right for some big automatic thing. When I said this earlier in the thread, I saw what I wanted to skip to tonight - the AR-15 Chief is holding in the Mexican thread....

LOL

Yeah, I prefer something along these lines, being a little smaller. If only I could convince them to let me carry it in 6.8 or 7.62 and it could do decent duty as a hunting rifle (well, for hunting something other than humans, that is). :)
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj83/Switchback_2008/Gun.jpg

The CZ is a sexy rifle, but I am a black-rifle type of guy.

Nice, Switch, very nice.

There is not an animal in North America that cannot be taken with the Winchester 30-30.

There is not an animal in North America that cannot be taken with the Winchester 30-30.

I agree, Norm. That is not to say that the round is optimal for all terrain and situations. :)

LOL

Yeah, I prefer something along these lines, being a little smaller. If only I could convince them to let me carry it in 6.8 or 7.62 and it could do decent duty as a hunting rifle (well, for hunting something other than humans, that is). :)
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj83/Switchback_2008/Gun.jpg


The CZ is a sexy rifle, but I am a black-rifle type of guy.

I have to tell ya, Switch, just LOOKING at that weapon elicits terror. If you walked up to me with that thing, you would immediately stop getting lip, snarls, or anything other than complete submission. I don't know what it is about the design, but that is a scarey looking thing.

...and it's a tiny little thing, too. :) It has a 6.5" barrel (makes it easier to drive with it slung), but tends to get a lot of attention whenever I have it on. :D

Yep, I'm sure it has a HUGE deterrent effect. I would be like "yes sir, yes sir, can I get you some coffee sir, how about some slippers...here, here, here's my wallet too......"

I have to tell ya, Switch, just LOOKING at that weapon elicits terror. If you walked up to me with that thing, you would immediately stop getting lip, snarls, or anything other than complete submission. I don't know what it is about the design, but that is a scarey looking thing.

Looks like a squirtgun to me.

There is not an animal in North America that cannot be taken with the Winchester 30-30.

MAYBE, but having seen a few Grizzley at Yellowstone Natl Park
the only way I am shooting at one of them with a 30-30 is from INSIDE
an Armored Personal Carrier.....

MAYBE, but having seen a few Grizzley at Yellowstone Natl Park
the only way I am shooting at one of them with a 30-30 is from INSIDE
an Armored Personal Carrier.....

Geeze, kels, where's your sense of being an outdoorsman. I drove to Yellowstone from DC two years ago, and on my way driving out got to see the last animal on my list I wanted to see - a Grizzley about 30 yards from the road. He didn't look that mean but I'll take your word for it. (A ranger was there protecting the poor thing from US.)

Looks like a squirtgun to me.

Greg, I don't think anything scares you. Except for women.

You need to man up and get a 2 Bore.

2 BORE RIFLE (http://www.vincelewis.net/2bore.html)

You need to man up and get a 2 Bore.

2 BORE RIFLE (http://www.vincelewis.net/2bore.html)

Insayn, who are you advising to man up? All of us? Switch? Greg? Probably Norm, right?

Check out the link

Check out the link

Oh man, check out that bullet. I'd love to fire that thing at least once, Insayn.

Somehow I think the recoil will knock me right over though.

MAYBE, but having seen a few Grizzley at Yellowstone Natl Park
the only way I am shooting at one of them with a 30-30 is from INSIDE
an Armored Personal Carrier.....

Read some of the books from the old African big game hunters. They used very small calibers in realtion to the animals they were hunting.

Check out the link

Insayn, are you sure that's a real bullet? I'm thinkin' it's been photoshopped. Looks more like a dildo. I mean, how's it going to pick up any velocity?

A 2 bore is not a rifle, its a cannon in need of a gun carriage. LOL

The reason a lot of the big name african hunters used to shoot things like
the 6.5 Mannlicher Schoenaur and 275 Ribgy (7mm Mauser) was once commented
on by one the Professional Hunters. He said, thats what he had in his
hands when it came to shooting something. (The big elephant guns were being hauled
around by the help because they were too heavy to carry all the time in the field)

As for the outdoorsman comment, I cant see who posted it because of the POPUP
blocking their name. Elk is about as big as I would like to shoot. Bears arnt my thing.
Although, I hear Bear is good to eat if cooked properly.

A 2 bore is not a rifle, its a cannon in need of a gun carriage. LOL

As for the outdoorsman comment, I cant see who posted it because of the POPUP
blocking their name. Elk is about as big as I would like to shoot. Bears arnt my thing.
Although, I hear Bear is good to eat if cooked properly.

Hey kels, it's me, Trip. Yep, it was a thrill seeing a grizzly! I'd like to talk to someone who's actually killed one. Norm maybe? He's my answer for everything. Poor guy doesn't even know me but he's even more fun to pick on than Greg.

Laughed about your "cannon in need of a carriage" comment, LOL.

Nope. I have never bear hunted. I mostly hog hunt these days. Those are hard enough to kill.

Oops, are we going to get going on the "hog" hunting, again? :smilielol5:

Oops, are we going to get going on the "hog" hunting, again? :smilielol5:

God I hope so.

God I hope so.

What was that, three years ago when this subject went off the charts? LOL

Great great thread!

Trip,
I would never pick on Norm,
just check my old posts.
LOL

Greg, I don't think anything scares you. Except for women.

LOL there is more truth to that than you'll ever know...

Oops, are we going to get going on the "hog" hunting, again? :smilielol5:

Hog hunting?

Btw, Chief, your boss is speaking on my tube as we speak....he's on my tube a lot. Tell 'em I said he's a hunk. The bad guys are going to have to deal with me if they touch a hair on his head. Well, ok, he's bald so I guess that doesn't work, but they better leave him alone.

LOL there is more truth to that than you'll ever know...

Greg, I know stuff. Not specifically but generally :)

Reconciler, If your shots are less than 200 yards then I think you are already well armed to hunt deer. Learn to shoot it well and you'll never need another rifle. Not that "need" has anything to do with buying a new rifle, never met a bad excuse for that. A 243/308/270 will work just as well. The key is YOU. If you are up to it, it will do just fine. Find the 150gr or 170gr load it likes, shoot it a lot to get to know it and you'll bring home venison.

I've been using 38-55 in a 100+ year old Marlin for the last 6 years. I've taken deer from 30' to 250 yards with it and it's no 30-30 for ballistics.

Trip,
I would never pick on Norm,
just check my old posts.
LOL

Kels, I'd love to do that. Do you remember the name of any of the threads in particular? I started to look but....hehe

Reconciler, If your shots are less than 200 yards then I think you are already well armed to hunt deer. Learn to shoot it well and you'll never need another rifle. Not that "need" has anything to do with buying a new rifle, never met a bad excuse for that. A 243/308/270 will work just as well. The key is YOU. If you are up to it, it will do just fine. Find the 150gr or 170gr load it likes, shoot it a lot to get to know it and you'll bring home venison.

I've been using 38-55 in a 100+ year old Marlin for the last 6 years. I've taken deer from 30' to 250 yards with it and it's no 30-30 for ballistics.

Hi Buffboy, sir. Haven't seen you in ages. (Used to be TripCanopy until Cat_doc chopped me down to size.)

Since the deer in Texas are small I use a 7mm Rem Mag or a .223. It depends on the distance the blind is set up at. Both work well for hogs too, but with the .223 it is shot placement and ammunition. I plan on using the 7mm Rem Mag for elk as well, just going to bump it up to a 170-180 grain bullet.
For black bear I went with a lever action 45-70 with a 3-9 power scope and 325 grain Hornady Lever-evolution. I knew my longest shot would be under 100 yards because of the brush and thickets.
Personally, I like the Remington 700 Sendero...it'd be in a 300 Win Mag or 300 Ultra Win Mag.

You can't beat either a 7mm mag, or a .30-06, although, if you want pinpoint accuracy, i think the .308 is a little better than the .30-06, but the .30-06 has more knockdown power. A 7mm mag is basically a .270(.284 actually) bullet, with more powder behind it than a .30-06. Those are hot, fast little bullets, and they will cause some pretty nasty exit holes. MY gun is none of those though. MY gun was made in 1942, in Russia. It is a 7.62 x 54r caliber, and it was used it WW2. It is called a Mosin Nagant M91/30. Believe it or not, its sights are adjustable out to 2000 meters(at that range though, it's more like lobbing, than shooting. but I found videos of a guy hitting a target at 1000 yards with a gun like mine, and it is still deadly at 2000 meters) Russian rimmed ammo uses a pretty wide range of bullets. (about 150 grain, to 260 grain, and one manufacturer makes a 60 grain varmint bullet), and it actually shoots better with heavier bullets. It's powder, and power is kinda between that of a .308, and a .30-06. It would have no problem taking out anything in North America, up to, and including grizzly bear. And in close combat situations, the 18 inch bayonet comes in handy.:lol: And to top it all off, it only cost me 99 dollars. Of course, my next gun is going to be a 7mm mag. Or a .44..... Those .44 revolvers will do just about anything you want them to, and they are impossible to break.....Not that expensive either.....ANyway, Im a gun nut. Oh, the only bad thing about my Mosin, is that it is impossible to put a scope on...http://www.frontierfirearms.ca/images/Mosin-Nagan.jpg
The kick isn't as bad as you might imagine....

If you are gonna use a Mosin Nagant,
You really need one of these.

The Model 1939 (http://www.mosinnagant.net/finland/finnish_mosin_nagantm39.asp)

Just dont drill and tap it PLEASE.

Use one of Darrell's scope mounts instead.

Darrell's Scout Mount Forum - Hunting - ParallaxBill's Curio & Relic and Military Surplus Firearms Forums - Message Board (http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums.yuku.com/forum/view/id/116)

scroll down to first photo

Haha, that'd be nice, but I can't afford a Finnish Mosin. I think the next WW2 surplus gun I get will be an M1 Garand, or a Kar98k, and that is a looong ways off.