Getting the Rifles Ready…

[marksman13]

Hoping to give five rifles their first taste of Mississippi venison this season. All of them are zeroed, clean and ready. I’ve got some other rifles I’ll probably hunt with this season, but I’ve but a priority on blooding these five first. A long season and generous bag limits should give me an opportunity to get it done. Who else is hoping to put first blood on a new rifle/shotgun/bow this season?

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Springfield Armory 2020 Waypoint in 308 Win
Fierce Carbon Rival in 300 Win Mag
Remington 700 LSS in 257 Weatherby Mag
CZ 550 FS in 30-06
Ruger No. 1V in 300 Win Mag.

 

[Chuck R.]

3 I'm focusing on this year:

Nosler M48 in .270Win with Leupold VX6HD 2-12x42. It will be the primary for a guided MT mule deer hunt next month. It may also get dragged out once I do some more scouting for one of my neighbor's been fields:



Rem M7 in .260Rem with 20" PacNor Super Match 3 groove barrel in a Manners stock with Leupold VX3HD CDS 2.5-8x36. This will be my "all around" and what I'll use in my backyard elevated box blind. IF I'm not sure what the shot's going to be like, this is what I'll carry. 400yd capable, but not out of place for the short stuff:



Last but not least, Rem M7 in .350RM from the custom shop. Used to have a full length laminated mannlicher stock on it, now wears a Manners and has been cerakoted. The new stock shaved over a 1lb from the laminated one. It wears either a Swarovski 1.25-4x30 or a Leupold VX3i 2.5-8x36 in Warne QD mounts. This year we're going to do some WIHA drives during the regular and late doe seasons. 7lbs 7.2 ounces "all up" with 4rds makes for a sweet carrying rig while busting brush. 225 grain partitions at 2730FPS put large holes in things, and I've yet to recover one:

 

[earlthegoat2]

I’m using these two.

Ruger 77 Hawkeye FTW 300 Win Mag



Savage 220 20 ga slug gun



Im in the blind with the Ruger right now trying to find this very snorty doe that scares off the rest of the deer.

 

[FL-NC]

The usual suspects- 700 in 243, and RAR in 6.5 CM if I get a chance to hunt somewhere with shots over 50 yards. Possibly a 12 gauge Rem mod 11 with a slug and a Traditions inline during our very short BP season.

 

[lightman]

I completed a 308 build last spring that I have been working up a load for that I plan to hunt with this year.

Its built on a new 40X (because I always wanted one) stainless action, Krieger barrel, HS stock, Jewell trigger, Badger rings and base and a 2.5-10 Nightforce scope. The barrel is a 1-10 twist in a varmint contour thats fluted and finished at 20 inches. It shoots my favorite Deer bullet, a 150 grain Sierra Pro Hunter, really well. Just for kicks I tried another favorite, a Berger 168 grain VLD hunter. It likes them too! Been playing with it about every weekend.

 

[Condor]

For deer season in the southern zone in New York

I assembled this .260 Remington from
Savage 16 action
24” light varmint barrel (both from Northland Shooters Supply)
Bell & Carlson stock
Leupold VX-3i
The sling is handmade from webbing from another project

It prefers 120g bullets…
Barnes TTSX over Varget
Sierra Prohunter over IMR 4064

 

[marksman13]

View attachment 1110460

For deer season in the southern zone in New York

I assembled this .260 Remington from
Savage 16 action
24” light varmint barrel (both from Northland Shooters Supply)
Bell & Carlson stock
Leupold VX-3i
The sling is handmade from webbing from another project

It prefers 120g bullets…
Barnes TTSX over Varget
Sierra Prohunter over IMR 4064

Good looking rig and it should be an absolute deer slaying machine.

 

[JDeere]

I keep mine shooting year round so they are ready as well as myself. I usually carry the Model 700 MR in 7-08 topped with a VX3 and CDS. 140 SGKs over Varget. Back up is the Henry 44Mag topped with the 2x7 Rifleman. 240gr SPs under H110. Going to be a slow opening weekend for us. To hot and way to many acorns falling. They won't have to move far...

 

[Chuck R.]

View attachment 1110460

For deer season in the southern zone in New York

I assembled this .260 Remington from
Savage 16 action
24” light varmint barrel (both from Northland Shooters Supply)
Bell & Carlson stock
Leupold VX-3i
The sling is handmade from webbing from another project

It prefers 120g bullets…
Barnes TTSX over Varget
Sierra Prohunter over IMR 4064

I load either 120 Nosler BTs (2930FPS) or 130 NABs for hunting in my 20" M7. I went with a Bartlein 2B profile and had it fluted to shave some weight. The 3groove PacNor has proven to be a little faster than the OTM barrel that came on it. I've got a a lot of Varget, but I've stuck with H4350 for the .260.

Another good bullet I've found for practice, that shoots very well in my M7 is the PPU 120 OTM from Graf's. I pulled the lower right shot, but you get the idea:



Much cheaper than playing with the Noslers and although they start slower at about 300+ the drop is c lose due to the higher BC.

 

[marksman13]

I keep mine shooting year round so they are ready as well as myself. I usually carry the Model 700 MR in 7-08 topped with a VX3 and CDS. 140 SGKs over Varget. Back up is the Henry 44Mag topped with the 2x7 Rifleman. 240gr SPs under H110. Going to be a slow opening weekend for us. To hot and way to many acorns falling. They won't have to move far...

I shoot year round, but rarely shoot “deer rifles”. Normally I shoot ARs of some variety or 22 LR.

3 I'm focusing on this year:

Nosler M48 in .270Win with Leupold VX6HD 2-12x42. It will be the primary for a guided MT mule deer hunt next month. It may also get dragged out once I do some more scouting for one of my neighbor's been fields:

View attachment 1110238

Rem M7 in .260Rem with 20" PacNor Super Match 3 groove barrel in a Manners stock with Leupold VX3HD CDS 2.5-8x36. This will be my "all around" and what I'll use in my backyard elevated box blind. IF I'm not sure what the shot's going to be like, this is what I'll carry. 400yd capable, but not out of place for the short stuff:

View attachment 1110239

Last but not least, Rem M7 in .350RM from the custom shop. Used to have a full length laminated mannlicher stock on it, now wears a Manners and has been cerakoted. The new stock shaved over a 1lb from the laminated one. It wears either a Swarovski 1.25-4x30 or a Leupold VX3i 2.5-8x36 in Warne QD mounts. This year we're going to do some WIHA drives during the regular and late doe seasons. 7lbs 7.2 ounces "all up" with 4rds makes for a sweet carrying rig while busting brush. 225 grain partitions at 2730FPS put large holes in things, and I've yet to recover one:

View attachment 1110240

Very nice sticks and I am particularly envious of that Model Seven.

 

[Chuck R.]

I shoot year round, but rarely shoot “deer rifles”. Normally I shoot ARs of some variety or 22 LR.
Very nice sticks and I am particularly envious of that Model Seven.

I pretty much do the same. I stick with the tgt rifles, then transition to practicing with the game rifles around SEP. I even go so far as to set up my hunting "course of fire" 225-547yds for practice and will leave those steel tgts out until the season starts. That way I can head out for short sessions whenever the mood hits.

I had the .260 M7 built up because it really is a fun little rifle just to plink with. Unfortunately the factory barrel fouled badly and accuracy degraded rapidly. Not an issue for strictly hunting, but when shooting it frequently the constant cleaning sucked. The 3 groove barrel shoots very well and cleans up very, very easily.

About 90% of the time my rifle shooting is either AR15s (4) or bolt guns (2) in .223. I put together another Rem M7 in .223 with an HS Prec Stock, Timney trigger and Leupold VX3I 3.5-10x40 that I use as a "trainer". the .223 is just cheaper, even when using 77 or 69 grain match bullets, and it's better practice for watching the wind.

 

[stillquietvoice]

I've got 4 that need first blood a 93 small ring 7x57 msuser that I bought from Troy's dad AL, 2 large ring 98 mauser builds,1( 6.5x55 sweede) 2 (280ai build that isn't quite finished yet do it may not get to go out hunting and my AR 15 5.56. The AR I took out last year but didn't get a shot with it.

I also picked up a cva hunter bolt inline 50 cal for muzzle loader season shown in the fourth pic.