What is the Ultimate Deer Rifle?

[For Freedom]

Say you might make shots from 10 yards all the way up to 300 yards. What's the ultimate deer rifle? And please don't say just the name of the rifle without saying what sights you would use and why you think it's a good set up. Thanks.

 

[Deer Hunter]

The one you can use best.

 

[anymanusa]

if I could bed down well, I'd love my 308 DPMS rifle with the Nikon 3-9x scope on it. It's my most comfortable shooter.

But I've never been deer hunting.

 

[W.E.G.]

Hard to argue with a stainless 30-06 Browning with Leupold glass.

 

[Loomis]

99 savage in 308 winchester.

 

[publiuss]

There's not one. Anything bigger than a .22 Hornet that you use within it's intended range and can consistently put the bullet in the right place will do just fine.

 

[MikeWSC]

Great rigs...... I use see-thru mounts and iron sights with a 3 x 12 scope. If its raining or snowing the iron sights come in handy. On a Rem 700 BDL .30-06

Range the irons out to 100 yrds and set the scope at 200 yards.

The Marlin .30-30 or .35 Levereloution with a 3 x 9 or 3 x 12 would also be a good choice.

 

[Nolo]

The Flak 88.
Honestly, it may not be the ultimate cartridge, but I think it's pretty close:
The .35 Remington.
Mate that to a good semi- or pump-gun and you've got what I would consider the best deer gun.
(Of course, I come from MD, so hunting with a pumpgun just seems natural)

 

[cliffy]

Best Deer Rifle

The biggest caliber you can shoot TOTALLY FLINCH FREE. For 99% of people, I'd guess a .243 Winchester is perfect. Rump-shooting with a .308 Winchester is worse than connecting into a vital organ with a .243 Winchester. Bullet design is the most crucial part of this senario. A 100 grain Speer Grand Slam .243 bullet @ 3000 fps muzzle velocity will drop-in-its-tracks any whitetail out to 300 yards. The main thing is to provide your part: PRACTICING regularily. Or depend on a luck-shot with a scope not-perfectly zeroed, and allotting one trip to the rifle range, firing up to 20 rounds haphazardly. Be a hunter, not a wounder, so spend some of your valuable time at the range prior to hitting the field. I expend 150 rounds a week at the range. I think I'll get my deer, will you? I don't mean to demean any weekend warrior entering the field unprepared. Hunting has all sorts of aspects: commoradory, drinking, and story-telling, all of which is great. cliffy

 

[For Freedom]

I totally agree that the shooter is more important than the rifle. I do try to practice quite a bit. I'll shoot at 12 gauge shotgun hulls at 25 yards standing, or at paper targets at 100 yards standing, as practice for deer hunting. I also practice sitting, and prone. Jeff Cooper said it well: If you can get closer, get closer, if you can get steadier, get steadier. So I try not to take shots standing when I'm hunting but sometimes it's necessary (tall grass in the way for example).

What action type do you prefer?
What sights do you prefer?
What sling?
What caliber?
What bullet type?

 

[cliffy]

Ideal Rifle Acrutiments

A cobra-style sling, a scope priced about the same as as one's rifle cost or more, premium-quality ammunition, since getting there now costs more than any accessory. cliffy

 

[SwampWolf]

I have more than a few "deer" rifles but if I had to pick one set-up, it would be my Savage 99, chambered in .358 Win., with a Redfield "WideField" 1X5 scope mounted on a Weaver "Pivot" mount. Whitetails hit anywhere near a vital area with 200 grain SilverTips don't travel far.

This rifle is also an optimum rig for black bear or cougar (though I've never shot one) in my opinion.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

I won't give any names or brands...

But the perfect deer rifle is this IMO...

Camo dipped, 20 inch barrel, 308 Winchester, any good 3-9x40mm scope, any quality stock that fits you good...none of those noisy plastic pieces of crap...

Thats setup is concealable, easy to carry, quick handling, superbly accurate, and plenty powerful enough for shots at deer at twice the distance you mentioned (just in case).

 

[pgeleven]

apples and oranges. whatever you can stand to hold still for a period of time to get the perfect shot is the 'ultimate' rifle. don't forget that when it comes to hunting, its the hunter, not the rifle. patience, practice and principle.

 

[dirty habit]

Ruger M77 MKII SS Synthetic in 7/08 shooting 150g Corelokts @2700fps.
Absolute cruise missiles and perfect for putting deer on their ass

 

[Bob R]

12 pound mountain howitzer.

http://www.buckstix.com/howitzer.htm

bob

 

[Byron Quick]

I haven't had good experience with Remington CoreLokt ammunition. Oh, it's accurate and it kills the deer. The specific problem I've had is with the jacket separating from the core and doing an imitation of a blender blade through the thoracic and abdominal cavities on occasion.

I've killed forty or so deer with CoreLokt's. Most of these were through and through so I can't give a report on the bullet function. But, in every single case where the bullet was recovered, the jacket had separated from the core.

I kept using CoreLokt because it seems the round is hugely popular around here and often I had difficulty finding anything else. No longer. I plan ahead now.

That sure is an ironic name for the round.

As far as platform goes, there are many that suit your outlined needs. You might want to check ballistic tables as some calibers don't have very flat trajectories at 300 yds. If you do go with .243 practice until you are certain of proper shot placement. The advice about the scope costing as much or more than the rifle is heading in the right direction. The rifle is only as good as its sights.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

Remington M700, Leupold glass in the 3.5-10 to 4.5-14 range. I'll take mine in .270 Win, with 150 gr Speer SPBTs. The .308 is arguably a better round, esp in a light rifle, and any of the rounds based on the case, and pretty much any centerfire from .24 to .35 caliber for that matter, would be fine. I just have a soft spot for the .270 because it was my first hunting rifle.

Right now I use a M700BDL in 7mm Rem Mag with 160 gr Noslers and a Leupold 4.5-14x40, but this is largely because I hunt elk with the same rig and I appreciate the advantages of those long high sectional density 160 and 175 gr .284 caliber pills at the velocities the 7mm is capable of driving them.

 

[Shawnee]

It's the first shot that counts so rate of fire and cartridge capacity are largely imaginary issues. Thus the choice of rifle action type comes down to inherent accuracy and the top two are bolt-actions and single-shots, usually in that order. Levers will be third but sometimes have scope-mounting issues.
None should weigh more than 7.5 lbs. (without the scope).

There are at least a ten calibers between .24 and .26 that will flatten any deer you ever find at 300yds. so caliber choice comes down to how much recoil you want to put up with.

Scope quality is more important than scope magnification. A 2x7 variable is perfectly fine but a 4x12 variable will make shooting beyond about 250yds. a little more certain. An adjustable objective is a better feature than an oversized objective. Stick with lighter, scopes. Simple duplex reticules are excellent in use.

 

[res45]

For me Savage 99 in 300 Sav. 150 Gr. Hornady SST or Nosler Combined Tech BT. I use a Bushnell 3 x 9 x 40 most shots are 200 yds. or less.

 

[mathecb]

My Favorite: Remington .280 Mountain rifle with nice 10x glass. Lightweight, accurate (if you put time in) and a workhorse of a rifle.
IMO The Best: Ruger 6.5x55 Sweedish.

 

[Colt46]

Whitetail or mulies?

Thick forest cover or wide open desert plateau? Stand hunting or spot and stalk? Too many variables to give one answer.

My opinion is most people are overgunned. A .30/06 is too much for an animal of that size. Most people could shoot better and carry a lighter rifle if they opted for something more suited to deer sized game.
The ultimate deer caliber might be something like the 6.5 Swede.

 

[NCsmitty]

I would say that any action that your comfortable with, chambered in a cartridge that the average person can handle confidently. This ranges from the 6mm calibers up through the 7mm's. Most are easy recoiling, flat shooting with more than enough energy and penetration, with a good bullet selection, to dispatch any of the deer family, including moose.
My personal favorites are the 6.5x55 Swede and the 270 Winchester in a bolt action with a good 3x9 variable.

NCsmitty

 

[eclarsen]

Same at MTMilitiaman, my first rifle was a .270 Win and that's what I'd call my "ultimate" caliber. It is a Ruger Model 77 with fixed 4x power scope.

If I ever replace the scope, I'll go with a 3-9X variable.

The things I like about the .270 over the 30-06--I can shoot a box of 20 and not feel it the next day, not so with the 30-06's I've shot; slightly faster round, hence flatter shooting. You have the opportunity for heavier bullets in the 30-06, but that would only matter to me if we talking "all round cartridge for NA". For deer, .270 Win is my cartridge and it'll do the job very well on antelope.

Which reminds me, I've read articles where the 25-06 has been called the perfect pronghorn cartridge, and I imagine it would be a dandy deer cartridge too. Even flatter shooting than the .270 with plenty of punch to reach out and do the job at the longer ranges.

 

[jkingrph]

my little 7x57 Ruger 1-a, short, light and handy with very mild recoil and flat shooting for that range