Your favorite hunting rifle

I see that some of the questions can't be answered on this poll. If you can, just give a dissertation about your favoriet one, and how much you use it, kind of like what I posted above. This is going somewhere, and we'll get a concensus about our habits......Kingpin

I honestly don't know where I could find the time to shoot 120 rounds per week anymore. I have so much on the go that I only get to shoot about 50 rounds a week lately. I would LIKE to shoot more, and at one time I did shoot a lot more, but other serious obligations have eaten into my shooting time. Once in a while I take my rimfire to the range, then I will usually shoot 2-300 rounds through it before leaving. Practice is so important if one wishes to keep sharp. All my hunting and target/Varmint rifles wear Leupold Optics. My favorite hunter has a 6x42 on it. Regards, Eagleye

Edited by Eagleye

Oh gosh.... they're all favorites.  But if I had to choose one, I'd go with my Howa 30-06.  I've shot deer, hogs, turkeys (in Texas), coyote, and fox (not much of the fox was left).  It is EXTREMELY accurate.  It's free floated.  It has a Nikon 3x9x40.  The scope was before Nikon started coming out with Monarchs, and Buchmasters, and Pro-whatevers.  It was back when the only Nikon scope available was the best one they could make.  Now they're comming out with all kinds of cheaper crap, but I digress.  Anyway, it's a great rig. 

I have a target from that rifle I've wanted to post on here.  It's a 3-shot 1/2" group I shot at 200 yards.  The center of the group is only 1/2" low and 1/2" left.  The load was 58.5 gr H414, 150 gr Nos BT, Fed 215M.  It chronys 2920 fps.

I'm sure y'all will understand, but this rifle just fits.  I pick it up and everything lines up.  I have some other rifles that I have to adjust a little, but that 30-06 fits me.  Dang, now I'm ready to go shoot.

My current favorite hunting rifle is my Sav. 99 in .308. That rifle gets shot once a month 20 rds worth, whether it needs it or not.  Same with my 30/30 Marlin. Do most of my rifle shooting with a .22lr. About 300rds a month. I shoot my Benjimin air rifle almost daily about 30 to 50 shots.  Keeps the edge up.

Currently changing diapers; averaging nine or ten a day.  Shooting has suffered since the twins were born.  On the plus side a friend of the family now owns a rifle range so I hope to get at least a weekly session in after moving to Florida.

Oh, as for favorite rifle for shooting, that has to be the M1A.  For hunting, that would be Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .30-'06.

my favorite hunting rifle is my herters model j9 in .308, manufactured in the mid 1960s by zastava of yugoslavia and imported by herters of waseca, minnesota. in essence, it is a commercial 98 mauser.

the stock is french walnut in the classic style/design with with no checkering and custom finishing by smith's of helena, montana! the "sling" is really a leather carrying strap by herters. the recoil pad is a 1-inch pachmeyer (sp?) of the solid rubber "basketweave" type. the barrel is supposed to be by douglas (23.5-24 inches) and the trigger is fully adjustable (and needs to be, if anyone wants to volunteer!)

the scope is a 3-9x44mm tasco world class plus. i can already hear the groans, but the optics are great and the scope is durable enough for the hunting i do and the recoil of a .308.

accuracy in this rifle seems to be pretty dang good, i have seen groups from .6 inches to 2 inches, depending on the ammunition which is put into it. naturally, the handloaded ammo does better than the factory ammo, although i find any factory ammo used so far to be acceptable for hunting. i shoot about a hundred round a year through it as i can, with no set schedule. it is shot both at game and at paper, and rocks and can and anything else i happen to be shooting at.

here is the rifle before the stockwork (notice the red finish)>>>

and here is the rifle after stockwork (notice the nice, natural finish)>>>

tas- time for some fresh pics of that beast! those ones have made the rounds a time or two!  what would make a great pic would be the rifle leaning up against your monster buck right before you dress him out this fall!

on to the question... i don't know is the short answer.

if i am doing load development, i shoot a given rifle a lot - easily in excess of 50 rounds per week until a load has been found and proven accurate.

assuming all development has been done, and we are just talking range time, i try to exercise each rifle enough so that i can remain proficient w/ it. but, i might go 2 weeks in between firing a certain rifle because other rifles need exercise too.

of course, going to a dog town raises the amount of shots fired dramatically. and, yeah, all my rifles (except the 338 - but that will change next spring) have been on a dog town.

for scopes...most of my rifles wear a leupold of one flavor or another. i do swap scopes out from time to time, for reasons i am unsure of myself (seems to happen right after i get everything set up 'perfect'  - don't know why i do it... guess it gives me a reason to go shoot some more).

i don't have a particular favorite. they are all favorites. some are just more favored for a particular task than others.

Sluggo, you ought to try the diapers that hold 25#or more, you don't have to change them near as much......LOL...........Kingpin

KP

 This rifle is Colt's latest flop. I've heard the story several ways but I believe about five years ago Colt purchased Ultra Light Arms and hired on the previous owner. The regular ULA rifles were to be a custom shop rifle and they introduced the Colt Light Rifle based on one of the ULA actions, but one length only for all chamberings which were the popular ones from .270-300win. made by Saco. What happened next seems to be a secret but Colt quit producing the rifle and Mel Forbes now has started New Ultra Light Arms. It weighs in a little over seven pounds scoped according to my antique grocery scale. It functions well and likes about everything I feed it. I found my hunting load first time out with H4831 and 130gr partitions which seems to work in all the .270's I've tried it in. I hate the skinny oval shaped forearm but I think I'm going to restock it anyway. I'm still wondering how Colt stays in business. You probably know the answer to this but I understand they've lost a lot of military contracts?

 

They still make the majority of parts for the M-16, but Bushmaster and FN USA is gaining on them. A lot of the Colt M-4 carbines are arriving with loose barrels. It's a simple fix, but I don't find out about it until a guy has been shooting it for about 4 months, then tightening the barrel just isn't enough. Brain surgeons we don't have. The last I heard, Connecticut owned 1/6th of them and as soon as they bought their shares, they made a law that Connecticut residents couldn't own "assault rifles." Kind of like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Their customer relations personel ALL have the disposition of a bent shitcan lid. They are still in business, but I don't know how they remain as such....................Kingpin