re: What is your hunting rifle

I use three different rifles here. Just depends on my mood and the weather. My scoped .06 is wonderful early in the morning and late in the evening during low light conditions, but mountain hunting here doesn't require a scope nearly as much as some folks would like to believe. My other choice sometimes is, believe it or not, a 1943 British SMLE .303. That thing is a tack driver with those peep sites, but... in low light in the woods, it's a handicap. My favorite hunting rifle, weather permitting (no heavy snow falling or rain), is my .50 Hawken. I love them smokepoles...

Win 1894 30-30, I hunt mostly dense brush and prefer to spot and stalk. Best I've found for quick shots, normally I'm shooting inside of 50 yards and for that it can't be beat.

Remington 700 SPS (black synthetic) in .270 Winchester with a Leupold VXIII 3.5x10x50

My hunting rifle is a well used Winchester Model 70 in 270 Win w/ a Leupold Compact 2-7X scope. Has been a very good gun through the years. Was the first rifle I bought on my own. Action is smooth as glass.

Having said that, it's been close to 15 years since I've killed a deer w/ it. I've been hunting deer w/ handguns for quite a while. The last deer I killed w/ this rifle was while running dogs, but I don't do that anymore. Nowdays I hunt deer w/ a variety of Thompson Center Contender barrels (usually a 30 caliber wildcat similar to 308 Win, 250 Savage or 6.5 JDJ) or Savage Striker in 308 Win. Plan to try a Remington XP100 in 7 mm Bench Rest this year, as well.

Bowning BAR 30-06 Lightweight Stalker

quote:

---

.257 Roberts Improved, Mauser action

---

NICE gun!! I've always wanted a 257 Roberts Improved....... The 257 is a very underestimated hunting gun. I bet you and that gun have had some memorable hunts.

Ruger M77 .308 with an Old Redfield Illuminator scope on it.

Just got a Tikka T3 lite .223 for some neck shots!

Steyer .308 Mountain

quote:

---

Problem is, I am out of handloads, and you can't buy the improved bullets in the store. You can, however, fire the regular .257 Robts cartridges out of it, which fire-forms the brass if you reload.

---

Sounds like a very nice and very special gun. Yeah, you can always use factory 257 Roberts loads, but they'll have a muzzle velocity 100 fps or more less than shooting the same round in a non-improved gun. Bummer that you don't have any Improved ammo for it. Maybe you can find some on the 'net somewhere or, better yet, find someone who'll load some up. Would be even better if you loaded it yourself, but not very practical for such limited use.