What happened to the good old hunting rifle?

Just a different time, and a different hobby. Maybe as simple as more disposable time and income, and decreased opportunities to hunt. How many can hunt the neighboring farm or ranch as we did 40 years ago? It's leased to outfitters now. So we fiddle more with rifles and scopes because we can do that anytime.

And not sure we are driven by actual need (and I have custom rifles too) as Mosin Nagants in the hands of the right folks have turned the tide of many battles, at pretty long ranges, too. Just gave a buddy of mine one I bought back when they were a dime a dozen; he's getting some pretty nice groups with cheap Russkie ammo and is going to drop a Timney trigger in it.

If you mosey over to the Africa hunting site lots of folks are shooting the same rifles they did 100 years ago, if they can afford them; Rigbys, Griffin & Howe Springfields, Mausers, double rifles, and yeah some upstart Blasers. Otherwise lots of Model 70s and CZ 550s.
 
Good dialogue!

I recognize as a few have mentioned this is a long range hunting forum, but a lot of these old rifles were long range guns in the right hands and with practice. My dad was a better shooter than I, and his 300 WM was and is a great shooting rifle, and considered a good long range cartridge at that. I have fired it some since I inherited it, but it beats the snot out of my shoulder so I stick to my '06 and 280 much more due to the fact they are more enjoyable to shoot.

some of the new items are certainly making the modern rifles easier to hold steady and reduce recoil, but I still argue that these time tested rifles can still shoot long ranges as well.
 
I still like me some "old wood rifles" as well!;). But I always liked the lighter colored wood.
 

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Because I don't want to lose touch with an era I dearly love I'm resurrecting a M-54 Winchester that was originally chambered in .30-30, re-chambered in .30-40 K, "improved" to Ackeley, and is now back to the good old .30 USG. Started this 20 years ago when I was in my fifties. It will be finished this year. It has already been to the range with it's new Brux tube, and it has amazing potential. The longest shot I have ever shot at a target is a hair over 1100 yards (with my .260 LRH) and it likely will stay that way. Anything with hair will be a LOT closer when I squeeze the trigger. The 7 Rem. Mag will cover any and all of what's left of my big game hunting. I frequent this site because I enjoy it, and I'm pretty much in alignment with the way Len runs it, but not because I view it as the Be All and End All of the shooting sports. I value the experience and knowledge I have gained from being here, hope to be here a while longer, have no truck with anyone about their views, opinions, or anything else. Carry on, my brothers of the gun!
 
I killed a whitetail doe at 550y with a Winchester model 70 in .270 win in about 1997, shooting walmart factory ammo and what I now know to be a really inadequate Simmons scope. At that moment, and with 2 of my friends watching as I rested my rifle on a stump of near perfect height, I believed I had unlocked the secrets to long range hunting. At that time I knew nobody who could claim a kill beyond about 150y. About a year later I made an accidental head shot on a small buck at about 400y, again, witnessed by two people. I was a long range legend among my teenage friends. I can tell you now that those ranges were a guess, I had no idea what I was doing, and I probably wounded a dozen or more unrecovered deer in the next 5 years because I thought my long range shooting skills were infallible. I had no idea what I was doing. I would read the trajectory posted on the side of the ammo box, and get to shooting. Years later when I began to really understand, (and will always be learning), what knowledge one really needs to make shots like that with any consistency, I was amazed that I ever hit anything. The internet put the knowledge that was formerly only available in the minds of wizards into the hands of everyone with enough time and patience to study it. That has accounted for most of the evolution that we've witnessed.
 
Chadp82 said:
I know this will open Pandora's box......

but what happened to the good 'ol dad or grandpas hunting rifle?

I realize machining "may" be better (subjective here), things are lighter, and some "new" cartridges have great ballistics.

My teaching was practice, trigger time, and reloading adjustments got us dialed in. I don't think that has changed, just new age rifles. I am under 40, barely, but under 40.

I have 2 rifles that run neck and neck, one is a 80's model REM 700 30-06 that I got for Christmas the first yet I could hunt. Did a lot of load development and can stack shots (on a good range day) at 200 yds. Also have a browning a bolt that is a great shooter also. I hunt more with the A Bolt due to weight, but I shoot the Remington a few times a year and am confident it will get the job done as it has many times while hunting.

I have looked at swapping to a newer rifle, but don't see the need. I recognize, personal opinion.

I also have a couple of inherited rifles that are older that just plain shoot. Mostly as a result of load development, for which I have the recipes also. They are heavy wood stocks, but how do they differ from a heavy barrel modern gun?

let the popcorn come out :)
Click to expand...
I'm doing some new cartridge designs based on classic style rifles with sporter weight barrels. One with a higher end barrel and 2 others with middle of the pack after market barrels. My honest opinion is that right now people can micro specialize a rifle to their hunting application or whatever it is they like. I still like classic rifles also. Many people think that they absolutely need a special something to perform a task, and while that special something may in actuality be great & better.... It is still just a want and not always a need. There's no end to how far you can take it. If a fellow has reached contentment with what they have and what they are doing with it, then there's really nothing better than that.
 
Chadp82 said:
I know this will open Pandora's box......

but what happened to the good 'ol dad or grandpas hunting rifle?

I realize machining "may" be better (subjective here), things are lighter, and some "new" cartridges have great ballistics.

My teaching was practice, trigger time, and reloading adjustments got us dialed in. I don't think that has changed, just new age rifles. I am under 40, barely, but under 40.

I have 2 rifles that run neck and neck, one is a 80's model REM 700 30-06 that I got for Christmas the first yet I could hunt. Did a lot of load development and can stack shots (on a good range day) at 200 yds. Also have a browning a bolt that is a great shooter also. I hunt more with the A Bolt due to weight, but I shoot the Remington a few times a year and am confident it will get the job done as it has many times while hunting.

I have looked at swapping to a newer rifle, but don't see the need. I recognize, personal opinion.

I also have a couple of inherited rifles that are older that just plain shoot. Mostly as a result of load development, for which I have the recipes also. They are heavy wood stocks, but how do they differ from a heavy barrel modern gun?

let the popcorn come out :)
Click to expand...
Well hell I'm old enough to have my grandpa and my dads rifles shot lot of critters with grandpas 30-06 out to 500 yds here in Colorado my oldest son has even shot deer with great grandpas rifle. I have some of the new stuff Creedmoors,WSM and a full custom 300 Lapua mag wildcat. So how dead is dead
 
Hunting is whatever you make it. Whether it's hunting with a $10,000 long range special, dad's 30-06, granddads 30-30 or an old smoke pole you bought at an antique store. You set the parameters and decide what turns your crank. As long as you aren't breaking any rules, risking the safety of others, or treating animals inhumanely, it's your game and you play it as you like. I happen to like traditional rifles and trying to get close. I'm not desperate for meat to feed the family or another head to hang on the wall. My thrill is getting into sure shot range and deciding if this is the time and place to fill my tag, and more often than not it depends as much on how the day feels or how I feel than on the size of the animal. As you get older atmosphere means as much as results on the ground. If you are young and hungry that may sound weird to you but I am meeting more and more old guys floating in the same boat as me.
 
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Great designs are easy to improve on but hard to create. Many old rifles are not only great designs but have features that new manufacturers have to cut out for cost in many cases, such as machined vs stamped components as well as having longer barrels like my Rem 722 that came stock with 24" barrel.
 
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