your "workhorse" rifle

Well, I never worried about look-pretty rifles. I've always tried to avoid scratches and dings, but I have made the occasionally whoopsie descent off a mountain. Wby Mk V in '06, Sako Forester carbine in .243, mostly. Now messing with a Rem 700 Ti in 7mm08, but I don't do as much cross-country mileage as I once did...

I bought a Remington 700 ADL in 1971 for $119 brand new at Parkers in New Rochelle New York. Shot my first deer with it the following year. It has many dings, barrel is almost worn silver in places, jeweling on the bolt is gone and the stock has been refinishd several times. It has collected more game to feed my family than any other gun I own. It is an absolute beauty in my eyes and while I have contemplated an overhaul many times I can't bring myself to give up all the memories than come with all those dings. I suspect it will be the rifle I shoot my last deer with, and that will be just fine with me.

I have a Remington 600 in .243 that saw a lot of use on deer and groundhogs. I got it when I was 12; it's not beat up, but it shows use. My Savage Model 99 was used and showed some carry wear when I bought it. I've taken loving care of it and tried not to add any avoidable nicks or dings, but one tends carry the rifle right at its balance point on the action, so short of always wearing gloves there's no practical way to avoid continued wear to the bluing in that area.

Remmington 700 VS in .223. Not abused but definatley shows use. Between me, my brother, my dad and friends who have borrowed it, it has taken over 100 Hill Country whitetails in the past six years. Plus numerous hogs, a beaver, many armadillos, and other animals. Finally had to replace the cheap $30 because it got caught in a downpour and now it gets really blurry inside.

Marlin 336 30/30. Killed my first deer with it around 1980, and have taken my latest two deer (a 9 point and a doe) this year with the same gun. It has been dropped, scratched and knicked. I even use it as a cane on steep terrain! But it shoots darn good, and has taken a lot of deer. I've even shot a grouse in the neck with it at 40 or 50 yards. It has given me much enjoyment, and I reckon I'll have it until I die.

I posted these pictures earlier this year under the rifle section, so some of you may have seen them before. I always end up customizing everything I own in some way just to make it unique, and you can see the buck picture I burned into my stock. I have a fancy initial of my last name on the other side, but don't have a photo of it.

Remington Model Seven in .308. I installed it in an H.S. Precision stock and mounted a Leupold 2-7X compact scope on it. It shoots 1.5 MOA consistently with Remington 150 grain Core-Lokt factory loads. It's short, light, and handy. I have a couple of more accurate guns, but it's my "go to" hunting rifle.

Old model 94 winchester in 30/30 kinda rusty in patches was that way when I got it 15 years ago.

All though I can't hunt deer with a rifle where I live now, the rifle I used where it is legal to use a rifle is a new england firearms 45-70 handi-rifle with a cheap simmons scope when I bought it , it was all I could afford now that I can afford more I've decided it is all I need . I have one peice of brass that has killed 4 deer Bang -flop-take brass home reload it next day bang-flop and repeat

well, lets see now. . . . .

most of my rifles are getting a bit on the ugly side by now but here are my favorites: (1) Remington 788 in 308 Win. with a Simmons 3x9 up top. (2) A Winchester 94 A/E in 7x30 Waters (3) SMLE No.4 in the obligatory .303 Brit.

My go to rifle is my M1. I have taken it for the past 5 years and have taken 11 deer with it in that time period.

Hmm, deja vu.........

Rimfire, I have a stainless Ruger 10-22 with a Hogue overmolded stock that's pretty all weather, all condition and is my choice for a knock round .22. My stainless M7 Remington with polymer stock is one tough hunting rifle. The Weaver 2x10x40 is rugged and it has Butler and Creek flip open scope covers for those rainy days. I also have a Norinco SKS, actually two of 'em, one's scoped, one's not. They both have polymer, but frankly, the wood wasn't anything I'd have worried about, LOL. Those are tough, have to be in the jungles for warfare. But, my M7 gets hunted with for 99 percent of my big game hunting. You can't beat stainless for tough all weather use.

I don't own anything really fancy, either, but I like to protect my blued, wood stock guns from anything really nasty. I have a camo/plastic Mossberg 12 gauge pump for salt marsh duck hunting duty, for instance. It's still in decent shape after 20 years of tough use. Doves, I'll use either my side by sides or usually my Wood and blued Winchester automatic. Dove hunting isn't tough on a shotgun like ducks in the salt marsh or bay is.

Browning A-Bolt II Stainless Stalker in .270 with Nikon Monarch 2-7X33.

My second hunt this season it accidentally got dropped from a height of about 8 feet (due to a dry-rotted pull cord that I use to pull the rifle up to my stand and lower it when I'm done), landed on the ground butt pad first. Didn't even lose zero.

A Remington Model 700 in 243 with a Leupold Rifleman 3x9x40 on top of it. It's not all that old, but it quickly became my go-to rifle. It's cheap enough that if something happened to it, I wouldn't lose any sleep and super accurate.

hunting gun, driving gun

i hunt in norhtern wisconsin and i have my stand baby and a drivie gun... my stand gun is a rem 270 pump wiht a simmions aetec.

my drive gun is a springfield sar8 with a simmions scope...

i use the sar8 for pounding brush. cuz it is parkerized and synthetic...

and it has a heavy trigger so if hte safety gets tripped its not going off... but i keer a finger over the tigger guard anyway...

I have a Weatherby Vanguard in .270WSM. With the synth stock and blued steel. I bought it for the field and that's what it's for. If i need a string of barbed wire pushed down so I can get over it, well that rifle gets the job done (safely of course). My only regret is that I didn't spend the extra $$ for stainless. No benchrest work for this rifle. It is my preferred hunting tool.

I actually have acquired a new "workhorse" rifle this year, and it is a Sauer 202 Outback in 270 WCF scoped with a Swarovski A series 3-9x36mm. It has already proven itself with 5 deer kills this season (the most recent was this morning). It is at home in the seat of my pickup or gun rack on my 4 wheeler.

My New workhorse rifle is a TC Pro Hunter SS with Real Tree Camo 270.

Remington 700 BDL LH, 30-06.
When I bought it I think the only lefty's available were Remington and Savage, I choose the 700 and topped it with a Leupold VariXII 3X9 and have never been sorry, glass or gun.

When I go after big game it is my nearly always go to rifle.

I am kicking around the idea of a mag for elk after some medical stuff this year. I have never had a elk run far but have seen deer do amazing feats after a vicious fatal shot and am of the opinion that in the future I want to plant elk. Perhaps building a 358 Norma Mag or a Ruger 375 on a LH 700 action, but will probably end up with a factory gun in 338 Winchester. I may lose some meat but want the ability to trash both front shoulders so the animal cannot run.
Have to live a long time to out do what that ol '06 has done for me.

I use an old Remington woods-master.
Used to be my dads but it quit working for him so he told me if I can fix it I can have it. So I took it all apart and found that the action spring was weak. I found a new one at the local sport shop. 75 cents later I had a nice working 30-06. I took the Bushnell scope off and replaced it with a Swift for 100 bucks but that is all I have done with it still has the tip of weaver mounts. The gun itself is in pretty good shape. The stock could use refinishing but I that will probably not happen anytime soon.

Mine is my old Remington 725 in .280 Remington. I bought it new in 1961, and have killed elk, Mule deer, Blacktail deer, Black bear, and antelope with it (along with assorted varmints). I have others but that's the one that'll do for me for the rest of my hunting career.

L.W.

I use multiple guns, but the one I go to when the weather is bad is a dead stock .308 Saiga with plastic stock. Has never failed me and will shoot 1" groups with handloads. However, used a Mosin 91/30 for 2 deer this year.

Mossberg ATR-100 in .270 with a fixed 4x Nikon Monarch scope mounted with Warne rings.

It was inexpensive, but it's accurate enough, and it has killed several deer with one shot each.