I've never understod why any one would take a .375 on a driven hunt. Scandinavia are the lands of driven hunting. If you want to practice your shooting with a bolt gun why not get down to your local running moose range a few times? I do all my driven shooting with a Mauser M03 in .308, fitted with a Aimpoint 9000l sight. 180 grn core locked bullet will kill anything that runs in front of me. I've taken Moose, boar and red deer with the mauser.
Rifle choice for driven hunts?
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Maybe because of lack of options? I think I explained the situation quite clearly in my first post. While moose range is great practise - not to mention it (minimum score 2 x 21/30, which I've passed even with a handgun, just for fun and challenge) used to be a part of big game hunting license in Finland - it has little to do with fast reloads I'm after. I usually hunt with semiautos, sometimes with lever guns and the only bolt guns I have are either big game rifles, inherited family heirlooms or rimfires.
As readers may have noticed, I'm no fan of bolt action rifles in most hunting situations. I've killed my fair share of game with them, from upland birds to various antelopes and even a giraffe, but given the choice... no.
buck460XVR
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I've never understood the reluctance of some to pump-action rifles. Pump shotguns are the most popular platform out there for scatterguns for obvious reasons. Used to be every manufacturer had a pump action .22. 10 years ago when looking for a pump action .22 for my youngest son, it was like looking for paper hulled shotguns shells. We were told nobody made a quality pump .22 anymore...they were wrong. Modern pump-actions are just as strong, just as reliable as a bolt gun and much quicker and simpler for many to operate without bringing the firearm off the shoulder. At the distances that most shooters take their shots at game, the accuracy between them and a bolt gun is a relatively moot point. The Remington 7600(formerly the 760) has been around and proven itself for a long time. They are not a poor choice compared to a Lever, Bolt or Auto-loader in the most common big-game calibers. If the OP does not prefer Bolt action firearms, I cannot understand the insistence by others he should stick with it. There's no justifiable reason. I hunted with a sporterized M1917 for 35 years. Folks would hear me rip off a magazine at a runnin' 'yote and claim they thought it was an auto-loader even with the long throw of the ought-six cartridge. It works for me.....but I won't claim it works for everyone.
With a semiauto, so do I. Recoil shouldn't be much of an issue in pump or lever, because operating the action is more of a distraction than recoil itself. While I don't like recoil (who does?
), I've found my comfort zone around 13-14fps of recoil velocity, which means that hot .30-06 loads or average 9.2x62 loads in an 8lb (with scope) rifle are still fine.My .375 is fitted with an 8oz mercury recoil reducer and 1" Decelerator pad, which tame it quite a bit. Performing a similar mod to a pump/lever rifle isn't difficult and if recoil still is a problem, a suppressor is a great way to reduce it significantly. I just don't like how suppressors affect the balance and handling of a rifle.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
I think the difference between a pump and a lever is more a matter of practice than anything else.
wyohome
Member
I do too. I have practiced operating an 870 for thousands of rounds, many of them follow up shots on ducks and geese. It transfers to my 760 without a second thought.
T.R.
Member
Couple weekends ago, I went flintlock hunting with 10 friends in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Poor rifle choice for the task but we had fun despite missing many deer.
TR
TR
T.R.
Member
I find a flintlock to be the wrong choice for post-and-drive hunting. But that's the way we hunt during the late season deer hunt which by law is restricted to flintlocks only. We always observe several dozen deer but it is rare that one is downed.
Drive hunts are generally far more interesting than sitting in a tree stand all day. If I could hunt with a different rifle than flintlock for the late season, it would be my lever action carbine in 30-30.
TR
Drive hunts are generally far more interesting than sitting in a tree stand all day. If I could hunt with a different rifle than flintlock for the late season, it would be my lever action carbine in 30-30.
TR
Otherwise, why not, but it's been out of production for over 40 years now and they're very, very rare around here. Finding a good one will be difficult. Sako Finnwolf lever actions are slightly more common but it's been literally years since I've seen a decent one for sale, not counting very expensive ($3k and up) LNIB collector rifles.
I took one of my pump shotguns to the range for some slug/plate practise last weekend and aimed shots with a pump felt surprisingly natural, even with shooting sticks. That'll transfer nicely to Remington 7600, or maybe, if I change my financial priorities a bit, even a Krieghoff Semprio...
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