Your first deer rifle?

Deli

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
162
Rem 7600 pump in 30-06 with a super cheap scope. "Upgraded" the scope to a Vortex Diamondback and put a rubber recoil pad on. Not sure I'd ever use it again over my 7-08 and 300 WM bolt guns. I'd like to sell it to put towards a small caliber rifle I know I would use more, but don't have the heart to sell it since it was given to me by my dad when he upgraded his rifle.
 
Joined
Mar 23, 2022
Messages
7
270 Weatherby Mag bought in 1965. Saved up my money from working on my parents gun range for two years. Cost me a whopping 265 dollars from Williams Gunsight. Shot an antelope with it when I was 14. Many animals have succumbed to it including a 10pt whitetail last night. I am 72 now. Have had it for 50 years. Has a few battle scars on it.
 

KenLee

WKR
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
2,562
Location
South Carolina
Rem 7600 pump in 30-06 with a super cheap scope. "Upgraded" the scope to a Vortex Diamondback and put a rubber recoil pad on. Not sure I'd ever use it again over my 7-08 and 300 WM bolt guns. I'd like to sell it to put towards a small caliber rifle I know I would use more, but don't have the heart to sell it since it was given to me by my dad when he upgraded his rifle.
Lemme know if you change your mind on parting.
 

KenLee

WKR
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
2,562
Location
South Carolina
New England Arms Handi-Rifle in 243. Single shot break action for the win!

I learned that I needed to be pretty confident in that first shot, cause I didn't get another one.
My son kept a follow up round between his left index and middle finger. When he was grown, I bought the NEF back from him cause I didn't want it getting sold off. Little rascal is a shooter!
 

Speaks

FNG
Classified Approved
Joined
Jul 27, 2024
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55
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MN
Killed my first with a CVA wolf muzzle loader with iron sights. 2nd with an Optima. After that I was hunting in WI and used both a M94 30-30 and a M70 270. 270 has taken deer, never taken a shot with the 30-30, used to be a running joke that whichever gun I chose would be the wrong one for whatever shot presented its self that day. Lots of deer pop out at 10-15 yards and it took me too long to find them in the scope, and they would always show up 200 yards across a cut when carrying the 30-30.
 
Joined
Nov 12, 2024
Messages
75
Sporterized M1917, let it get away from me when I was in gunsmithing school. I needed the money to buy more project guns and the local pawn shops were full of Mausers. One day I did get a bargain though, there was another sporterized M1917 chambered for "300 W." in the shop with a really low price. When I asked about it I was told the chamber was bad. It had been sold with a box of 300 WM and returned when the cases were all "blown out". When they showed me the fired casings I quickly negotiated a lower price and took it home. Next day I remarked the barrel for 300 Weatherby, the round shoulder on the casings was am immediate clue. I sold it within a week and the buyer was more than pleased.
 

S-3 ranch

WKR
Joined
Jan 18, 2022
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1,177
Location
Texas / Hillcounrty
New England Arms Handi-Rifle in 243. Single shot break action for the win!

I learned that I needed to be pretty confident in that first shot, cause I didn't get another one.
This was the 2nd rifle that I bought by myself, a NEA handi in .223
It’s a shooter with 55gr or less bullets, can’t bring myself to sell it for a modern ammunition gun
 
Joined
Dec 6, 2024
Messages
9
270 Weatherby Mag bought in 1965. Saved up my money from working on my parents gun range for two years. Cost me a whopping 265 dollars from Williams Gunsight. Shot an antelope with it when I was 14. Many animals have succumbed to it including a 10pt whitetail last night. I am 72 now. Have had it for 50 years. Has a few battle scars on it.
Awesome story and caliber! I have had great success with my 270 Weatherby Mag since I started big game hunting last year. It shoots great and has had no problems at all dropping elk, mule deer and axis deer.
 
Joined
Mar 23, 2022
Messages
7
Awesome story and caliber! I have had great success with my 270 Weatherby Mag since I started big game hunting last year. It shoots great and has had no problems at all dropping elk, mule deer and axis deer.
Do you reload. Curious what twist your barrel is and what grain bullet it likes. Mine is a west German made with 1/12 twist. Likes 130 grain pills but have a hard time with accuracy with anything heavier probably because of my twist rate.
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2020
Messages
31
My first wasy dads old 17 Enfield semi sporterized ,he rechamberd to 300 ackly #2 basically a 308 norma mag. Had to learn to reload to shoot it. I was 12 years old and still remember the load 74 grains 4831 h and150 Sierra spritzer no idea of velocity just recoil, at 12 it was a lot
 
OP
Ringbill27
Joined
May 22, 2023
Messages
350
Savage Magpul 6.50 creedmore... Love the gun, but finding it a bit heavy/cumbersome for tree climber use.. so looking for something else now
Recommend something more like a standard hunting rifle… so tikka or Ruger or something. Don’t need a sniper to shot a whitetail at 100yds.
Killed my first with a CVA wolf muzzle loader with iron sights. 2nd with an Optima. After that I was hunting in WI and used both a M94 30-30 and a M70 270. 270 has taken deer, never taken a shot with the 30-30, used to be a running joke that whichever gun I chose would be the wrong one for whatever shot presented its self that day. Lots of deer pop out at 10-15 yards and it took me too long to find them in the scope, and they would always show up 200 yards across a cut when carrying the 30-30.
Curious as to why you started out with muzzleloaders?
My first wasy dad’s old 17 Enfield semi sporterized ,he rechamberd to 300 ackly #2 basically a 308 norma mag. Had to learn to reload to shoot it. I was 12 years old and still remember the load 74 grains 4831 h and150 Sierra spritzer no idea of velocity just recoil, at 12 it was a lot
300 ackely? That’s a different cartridge. Interesting.
 

Speaks

FNG
Classified Approved
Joined
Jul 27, 2024
Messages
55
Location
MN
Curious as to why you started out with muzzleloaders?

I was living in Iowa at the time and they have an October early ML season with a small number of tags that not many people would apply for. I had a 3k acre section of public crawling with deer that I would often be the only one hunting. There was no rifle season back then so the other option was slugs and that same piece of ground might have 200 guys on it for shotgun opener. It was great hunting, I might pass on 20 deer the first day and by mid day on day 2 if I hadnt found a shooter buck I would just pick a doe and fill the freezer so I could keep chasing bucks with my bow without worry about getting meat. It was a pretty much guaranteed fill your freezer tag.

I owned my 270 at the time and once I started hunting WI that is what I carried.

I actually use a ML again now to some extent, MN ML season starts right after WI rifle season ends and there is again a big piece of WMA that gets just pounded during normal gun season that is pretty quiet during ML season. I will do the main hunt at my cabin in WI but then hunt after work in MN the next 2 weeks.
 
OP
Ringbill27
Joined
May 22, 2023
Messages
350
I was living in Iowa at the time and they have an October early ML season with a small number of tags that not many people would apply for. I had a 3k acre section of public crawling with deer that I would often be the only one hunting. There was no rifle season back then so the other option was slugs and that same piece of ground might have 200 guys on it for shotgun opener. It was great hunting, I might pass on 20 deer the first day and by mid day on day 2 if I hadnt found a shooter buck I would just pick a doe and fill the freezer so I could keep chasing bucks with my bow without worry about getting meat. It was a pretty much guaranteed fill your freezer tag.

I owned my 270 at the time and once I started hunting WI that is what I carried.

I actually use a ML again now to some extent, MN ML season starts right after WI rifle season ends and there is again a big piece of WMA that gets just pounded during normal gun season that is pretty quiet during ML season. I will do the main hunt at my cabin in WI but then hunt after work in MN the next 2 weeks.
I understand. The woods really quiet during ML season here in MN. It’s the only way I’ve got a deer the last three years. Really enjoy my wolf.
 

Speaks

FNG
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Jul 27, 2024
Messages
55
Location
MN
I understand. The woods really quiet during ML season here in MN. It’s the only way I’ve got a deer the last three years. Really enjoy my wolf.

Oh cool, didnt realize you were from MN.

Im largely an obsessive grouse hunter these days and thats what I am doing pretty much every day from the start of October until late Nov, but could always count on deer camp at my cabin in WI with my buddies to get some venison for the freezer, recently our deer population is way down where I hunt though. I still tend to get one but we generally split up the meat between the guys there and my share has been a little light lately so adding in MN ML season is helping out. Im usually done with grouse on WI rifle opener so it all works out well. Im close enough to the cities that anything near here is more crowded than I like regardless of when I go but its not too bad in early Dec, the nice weather this year didnt help though.
 

adamm88

WKR
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
470
Location
Pennsylvania
Rem 7600 pump in 30-06 with a super cheap scope. "Upgraded" the scope to a Vortex Diamondback and put a rubber recoil pad on. Not sure I'd ever use it again over my 7-08 and 300 WM bolt guns. I'd like to sell it to put towards a small caliber rifle I know I would use more, but don't have the heart to sell it since it was given to me by my dad when he upgraded his rifle.
Second dibs if youd decided to part, I could possibly trade somthing as well.


First gun i "bought" was a Winchester Model 70 in a sporter lt in .270 caliber. I chopped the barrel down to 22 inches a few years back but still dont get accuracy out of this gun i want, this is my off season project to get it sub moa consistently this offseason.
 
Joined
Dec 9, 2024
Messages
8
When I was 12 years old I saved up and bought a Savage .270 that beat me up pretty good and caused me to develop a consistent flinch. I sold that gun and bought a Browning lever action 7mm-08.... then I started bringing home deer.
 

2Stamp

WKR
Joined
Oct 7, 2014
Messages
319
Location
Wyoming
Mine was a Rem 700 youth in 243 I inherited from my grandfather. I also inherited a M70 in 30-06 from him but I was a little small to use it until older.
 
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