Your first deer rifle?

[Ringbill27]

Ruger Hawkeye MKII in 257 Roberts with a bushnell 3-9x40. Loved the gun and killed lots of animals with it despite it being less accurate than I truly wanted. Put a new barrel on it and now it’s a 257 Roberts AI with a leupold Vx5HD. Still a sweet gun

257 Roberts has always been a cartridge that has intrigued me. How much velocity did you gain going to AI?

 

[Ferrulewax]

Which bullets are you using?

I haven’t shot it much in probably 5 or 6 years. Probably whatever 243 load was cheapest and in stock at Walmart.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Remmington 700 in 270wsm. Killed mt first bull elk with it and sold it… wish I still had it, but I’d probably rechamber it

 

[JeffP_Or]

Very first deer, I borrowed a Remington Model 700 in .243.
Second deer, borrowed a Remington Model 7 [I think] in 6mm.
I finally got to a point I knew I would be consistently able to hunt and every deer and pronghorn since then has been a Remington 700 Classic in .25-06.

 

[spur60]

My first rifle was a .243, Poppa gave to Daddy and Daddy gave to me.


Ok, maybe not quite how Whiskey Myers sang it, but it was a Remington 788 in .243 that my grandpa took on trade in the early 80's at his small gunshop/gunsmithing venture and my dad bought & used it on a bazillion fox and coyote in the 80's & 90's.

 

[DangerRanger]

First deer gun - 20 gauge single shot

First deer rifle - Browning BAR 30-06

 

[fishsqueezer28]

JC Higgins Model 50 30-06. Still have it and usually use it for opening day.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Model 98 Mauser in 8mm. Was my grandfather's, my dad's and then mine. Couldn't ever part with that one.

 

[sierracharlie338]

257 Roberts has always been a cartridge that has intrigued me. How much velocity did you gain going to AI?

Depending on bullet about 150-200fps

 

[KenLee]

Maybe for you,

I still flinch with 30-06. Uncle tried to talk my dad into having me shoot a 30-30 and it was 3006 or nothing. Missed a lot of deer with it and still do. If I can focus on the squeeze, it shoots an inch at 250 yards. Focus on a deer and jerk away. Why i shoot a 350 Legend now.

Used to hunt with a 20 ga at 5 yrs old, 30-06 at 8 and bought first 12 ga at about 10 then they started that BS stuff about needing to be 12 to get youth license - I already had an "adult license" for couple of years before that stupid law. Was hunting solo at 8 with 30-06 - sunup to sundown.

One of the most sensible things South Carolina does is not requiring any paid license until age 16. They need tags except on youth only days, but tags are cheap or free.

 

[SCHUNTER73]

My first was a Ruger .44 carbine I got when I was 11, I think. Still have it 40 years later. A few years later my dad gave me a pre 64 model 70 in .243 for Christmas. Around 17-18 yrs old I thought I needed a “bigger” gun and traded him that for an old tang safety Ruger M77 in .270. A cool gun in its own right, but I regret trading him that .243. Still have the .270 also.

 

[MT_Fin]

My first couple years hunting I had to borrow a rifle from family as my parents didn’t hunt, mostly a REM 788 .243. When I saved up enough as a teenager I got a win m70 30-06 that was well worn. That and a Savage MKII .22lr that’s I got for my 12th birthday were my only rifles until I was an adult and I used it for everything.

 

[Wolfshead]

I was 53? When I killed my first deer. A Doe.
My first deer rifle is a REM 700 chambered in 30-06.

 

[PurpleDriver]

Dad left me a Belgian Browning BAR in .243 topped with a 4x Weaver scope. I took my first deer with it at 40 years old. It's since been packed away in the safe. It'll probably come out again when my oldest son is ready to shoot his first.

That is awesome. My grandfather left me a ‘68 Belgian BAR in .243 as well. My mom and uncles had saved up and bought it for his retirement gift as teenagers. He had shot it exactly twice. I killed my 2nd through 2nd dozen deer with it until I realized a 243 wasn’t enough deer gun and started using all kinds of chamberings that typically said magnum in them. My daughter shot her first deer with that BAR. And now I use a custom 243 for 90% of my hunting…guess that 243 is just fine!

 

[WJS23]

My first deer rifle was a marlin 336 in 30-30 that my parents got me for my 10th birthday in 2002 and shot my first deer with it the day after thanksgiving 3 years later. I still have that rifle today and hopefully my son with shoot his first deer with it.

 

[DKennedy951]

My first deer rifle was a Remington 742 in 30.06 with a Tasco World Class scope. My uncle gifted it to me after I completed my Hunter Safety class in 1994.

 

[Watrdawg]

Mine was a Ted Williams 30-06 that I bought from Sears in 1979. It was a Winchester Mod 70 branded as Ted Williams.

 

[Boarmaster]

Wow those are really great prices on both those rifles! Mentors are getting hard to find these days.

The Marlin I bought at a Service Merchandise store. It was a return item and was being marked down $10 a week. I watched it go down from $160. The Ruger I bought from my brother who got it as boot in a car deal. He didn't really hunt and needed $100 bucks to take some chick out.

 

[SC HUNTER]

When I was 13 I decided I wanted a 270 because my dad had an A-bolt 270. I found a Remington model 710 at Walmart and told Mama and Daddy I wanted it. Well we were not well off at all back then and my parents were struggling with 2 kids both playing baseball and active, typical having kids trying to do the most for your kids type deal. I worked all summer cutting grass, working in a restaurant busing tables and helping do whatever to save some money. We put that rifle on layaway and I was $60 short and my daddy surprised me and went and bought it and brought it home. $60 doesn't sound like much and at this point isn't but it meant the world to me.

I shot a yearling with a 130 grain federal pointed soft point opening day of the 2004 season and was on cloud nine! I sold that gun later on when I realized it was trash hahaha that gun was not accurate at all but I was proud of it when I had it. That rifle kicked like a mad mule and I don't regret selling it at all.

 

[Thompson_josh]

Remington 788 chambered in 243