I liked the 760s. My uncle had one in 270 Win so I decided I wanted a pump like his. My model 6 270 has been good. I need to do a little trigger work on it but other than that I have no complaints.
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Favorite Deer Rifle
- Thread starter sunset
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I have two favorites.
My first and most special favorite is a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in .30-'06. It was my father's rifle, although he wasn't into deer hunting or centerfire rifles that much. He bought it during the Korean War while he was stationed at Kodiak NAS in Alaska and flying patrols out of Japan over North Korea (and parts of China). They would get days off in Kodiak and as he loved to fish he would go for salmon runs on one of the rivers. One evening he was pulling out a 30" salmon with every cast and tossing it on the bank. He heard a noise and turned around to find a brown bear sitting about 10' away on its haunches, waiting for my father to throw another salmon his way. He slowly reeled in his line and walked away... and went to the base commissary the next day and picked up the Model 70. He got some military ammo from his squadron armorers and put 20 rounds through it and then slung it. Two decades later when I was a teenager and enthralled with all things hunting and guns, he pulled it out of the closet (it had been cleaned and put away years ago) and let me shoot it. To be 15 and shooting a by-God thirty-ought-six was the absolute best. Those Frankfort Arsenal National Match FMJ rounds would shoot clean through the trunk of a 24" diameter oak. I went deer hunting with it when I was 16, in the fall of my senior year in high school while we were visiting family in Alabama... my Dad told me to take the rifle and go hunt the Weyerhaeuser land that was adjacent to the property, and although I came across several does I didn't shoot one as it was bucks-only back then. My father passed three months later and I inherited the Model 70 along with his Browning over/under, his Browning .22 auto, his Colt Woodsman, and his S&W 27. A year later I got into hunting, scouted a state WMA, and went solo hunting... and shot my first deer, a fork horn buck that trotted past me within 25 yards on a game trail through the woods as I sat at the base of a tree. I had to take a quick shot as the buck trotted past an open space in the brush, and I hit it halfway up the body in the middle of the chest, destroying its lungs. A couple of years later I took the time to refinish the factory lacquered stock with a Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil kit... it looks good to this day. Of course I will never sell this rifle.
My second, and my default, is my 1990s era Winchester Model 70 Classic Stainless in .243... one of two I bought, the other I had converted to a custom high-power over the course rifle by Jim Coward. My gunsmiths tuned the action on my hunting .243 and it is very smooth and accurate. I've also swapped out the flimsy factory injection-molded stock for a Hogue Overmolded stock. It is quick handling and quick pointing and my favorite carrying rifle.
My first and most special favorite is a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in .30-'06. It was my father's rifle, although he wasn't into deer hunting or centerfire rifles that much. He bought it during the Korean War while he was stationed at Kodiak NAS in Alaska and flying patrols out of Japan over North Korea (and parts of China). They would get days off in Kodiak and as he loved to fish he would go for salmon runs on one of the rivers. One evening he was pulling out a 30" salmon with every cast and tossing it on the bank. He heard a noise and turned around to find a brown bear sitting about 10' away on its haunches, waiting for my father to throw another salmon his way. He slowly reeled in his line and walked away... and went to the base commissary the next day and picked up the Model 70. He got some military ammo from his squadron armorers and put 20 rounds through it and then slung it. Two decades later when I was a teenager and enthralled with all things hunting and guns, he pulled it out of the closet (it had been cleaned and put away years ago) and let me shoot it. To be 15 and shooting a by-God thirty-ought-six was the absolute best. Those Frankfort Arsenal National Match FMJ rounds would shoot clean through the trunk of a 24" diameter oak. I went deer hunting with it when I was 16, in the fall of my senior year in high school while we were visiting family in Alabama... my Dad told me to take the rifle and go hunt the Weyerhaeuser land that was adjacent to the property, and although I came across several does I didn't shoot one as it was bucks-only back then. My father passed three months later and I inherited the Model 70 along with his Browning over/under, his Browning .22 auto, his Colt Woodsman, and his S&W 27. A year later I got into hunting, scouted a state WMA, and went solo hunting... and shot my first deer, a fork horn buck that trotted past me within 25 yards on a game trail through the woods as I sat at the base of a tree. I had to take a quick shot as the buck trotted past an open space in the brush, and I hit it halfway up the body in the middle of the chest, destroying its lungs. A couple of years later I took the time to refinish the factory lacquered stock with a Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil kit... it looks good to this day. Of course I will never sell this rifle.
My second, and my default, is my 1990s era Winchester Model 70 Classic Stainless in .243... one of two I bought, the other I had converted to a custom high-power over the course rifle by Jim Coward. My gunsmiths tuned the action on my hunting .243 and it is very smooth and accurate. I've also swapped out the flimsy factory injection-molded stock for a Hogue Overmolded stock. It is quick handling and quick pointing and my favorite carrying rifle.
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FrozenMinnesotan
Member
I like my late grandfather's 1966 marlin 444. I'm hoping to get a deer with it this year. He passed in 92 hunting with it so it would mean alot.
I have two of the older Marlin 444 and 444S rifles, they shoot great and do a "smoken" good job on Deer or Elk within their range. My 444 is mint and I still have the original box and sling, I love it. Good luck. Cheers
FrozenMinnesotan
Member
Yep, the early Marlin 444... I've always thought one of the best models of that lever rifle Marlin ever made. Cheers
wilkup
Well-Known Member
Depends on the terrain…
I've got a stunning custom Marlin 30-30 for the timber and horseback hunts.
I also built my ultimate lightweight mountain rifle a couple years back that is getting fine tuned this winter. (1-7.5" 25 cal 18" barrel will be replacing the current 23" pictured)
I love them both for anything I might encounter in the PNW.
Attachments
Whoooo! I do like that lever. Cheers
wilkup
Well-Known Member
CaneBrake
Well-Known Member
My 40s Model 94 in 32 WS. Kicks harder than my .300WM in my opinion, but it's so much fun to shoot. I rarely shoot it due to ammo only being available about once every two years.
wilkup
Well-Known Member
What's the weight difference between the two rifles? That 300 must weigh a **** ton or have an extremely efficient muzzle brake
CaneBrake
Well-Known Member
About 6lbs difference between them. My .300WM weighed 12.5lbs last year. It however is getting rebarreled soon as I couldn't get the factory Remington sporter barrel to shoot well enough. Scope, rings, and base is 3+ lbs of that weight. The stock is around 4lbs because it's has full length aluminum bedding block. No muzzle brake.What's the weight difference between the two rifles? That 300 must weigh a **** ton or have an extremely efficient muzzle brake
CptnBlues63
Member
Sorry about your brother!
I have a 99C (removable 4 round magazine) in my gun cabinet. It's an old favorite and one I'll never get rid of. Got my first bull moose, my first cow elk with it and more deer than you can shake a stick at to boot. I have a 6x6 whitetail rack on my wall I got with that Savage. At the time it had my Swarovski Z5 3,5-18X44 BT scope mounted on it. It was a 495 yard shot. One round, both lungs. He didn't go far. I never scored that rack because it had several points broken off. These days my Savage 99 lever has Bushnell Banner scope on it and is a backup to my primary hunting rifle.
A couple years go my older brother bought a Weatherby Vanguard in .308 (we all shoot .308's) and I mounted his scope for him. Our younger brother is a trained sniper and lives about 2 hours from me so he came up and we took it to the range to break it in and sight it. Those rifles are marketed as sub MOA from the factory. They are! The groups little brother was shooting with it at 100 yards were amazing. The holes all touched. So yeah, I bought one. It's my new favorite and primary shooter. It has the Swarovski on it...of course...lol
But the 99C was my first favorite and will always be dear to me. Such a well made, straight shooting gun!
Dirtybird552
Member
I've had so many deer rifles over the years that I can't remember them all. But every season I keep coming back to my old rem 7600 in .243.
