Who hunts with a single-shot rifle?

Over time it has not been my favorite rifle, but I'm getting more and more comfortable carrying my Ruger No. 1 .30-06 but I don't know anybody else who hunts with a single-shot rifle. Looking at prices these days, somebody out there sure likes these rifles. Why do you (or do not) use one of these or another single-shot (centerfire) rifle?

 

I've been a SS hunter for a few years now. I like how they can be made short & handy. Great for blind hunting. Easy to maneuver.

 

The single shots I hunt with most are pistols XP-100/Contender.

Sometimes prices don’t reflect popularity, rather rareness. These things only cost $2k new, this one will only sell to someone who wants one of the ones that didn’t escape the crusher, to be recycled into something useful.

https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1972/ford/pinto/101784793

The price isn’t that high because it’s highly desired by many.

 

Learned to shoot with Dad's "Premiere" singleshot .22 rifle and did most of my bird hunting with a Stevens/Springfield 94B. Learned to make the only shot count. Last fall I shot a deer with this little .25-20 that I built from scratch. Only parts I din't make were the barrel and four wood screws.

 

Like jmorris I occasionally hunt with a ss pistol, usually an XP-100 in .250 Savage. I also use a Contender in 7-30 Waters.

 

Love a #1 .30-06

 

Not a rifle but I hunt with a NEF single shot 20ga pretty frequently, it’s light and handy, easy to carry.

 

I have done it plenty in the past. I think my favorites were NEF/H&Rs. The accuracy was spotty but they were affordable, fit me well, intuitive and pretty fast to reload, and just the right weight.

44 magnum was my cartridge is choice for them as well as 444.

There are many options for 44 Mag single shots now. CVA, Traditions, and Henry all make pretty affordable guns.

I have an Encore PH receiver waiting for the right barrel to come along.

I would also like to try a Contender rifle in 44 or 45 Colt. Those would be really light.

My dad has used an H&R 20ga Ultra Slug hunter for about 20 years now.

 

I bought a H&R Handi-Rifle with two barrels a few years ago for deer hunting back in Upstate New York. It came with a 243 barrel and a 308 barrel.
I put 3x9 Leopold scopes on them and have them sighted in at a hundred yards.
I have been useing the 243 exclusively for the last three years. I generally get five New York deer tags a year and fill them all with the 243 Handi-Rifle.
I leave all my hunting rifles with my son or brother, I have several bolt action rifles to choose from and pick the single-shot rifle.
Every deer I shot was one shot - one kill.
A friend and his other half will be going back to Upstate New York with me this November for two weeks to go deer hunting.
My friend Ed is left handed so he will use either my Marlin 30/30 model 336 or the H&R 243 Handi-Rifle. So I bought another single-shot rifle.
It is a Traditions single-shot rifle in 350 Legend.
I was going to buy a Henry single-shot, but they are unavailable right now.
So I bought the Traditions single-shot.
I planned on buying a Vortex illuminated scope for it, then my brother in-law gave me two scopes last weekend.
A Leopold 4x14 VX2 and a Nikon Prostaff 2.5x10.
So I will put the Nikon prostaff 2.5x10 scope on it.
Between my Brother, Ed, Mel and myself we will have twenty-eight deer tags so we will be donating some deer to the butcher shop for food programs.
We only harvest two deer from an area. After two deer we hunt elsewhere leaving the rest for others and to have their fawns to keep the population up there.
Me & my brother bought non-resident Pennsylvania hunting licenses this year. We each have a buck tag and two doe tags and we have private property to hunt on right below the New York border so we should do good there as well.

The price of them Ruger Number 1 single-shot rifles took a hell of a jump.
last year I bought a H&FOR Handi-Rifle in 223 and was going to have it rebored to 350 Legend but decided against having it done.
the rifle cost me $250.
It cost $225 to have it rebored plus shipping both ways then the cost of transporting it back to New York.
it would be over $500, The Traditions 350 Legend cost me $475 and I have another single-shot rifle.

I will be useing the single-shot 350 Legend this year.

 

I'm pretty sure it's not what you meant, but my Shiloh-Sharps .45-110 is a "single-shot centerfire rifle" that I intended (at one time) to hunt with. I don't because I love venison, and the odds of getting a deer around these parts are bad enough without limiting myself to a single-shot rifle that's chambered for a cartridge with a rainbow-like trajectory - regardless of what Quigley did.
I used to hunt deer with a muzzle loader - which sounds contradictory to what I say about the odds of getting a deer around these parts being bad enough. But back when I hunted deer with a muzzle loader, Idaho had a lot more deer, fewer hunters, and a separate "primitive weapons" deer season. So, back then I was actually increasing my odds of getting a deer because if I didn't get one during "muzzle loader season," I could still hunt during regular rifle season - which opened up right afterwards.

 

Just my muzzle loader. I would like to have a #1 in 243, but $ made me get a 700 from wally world years ago.

 

A Ruger No. 1 was a step on the path to handicapping myself while hunting. Revolvers, flintlocks, and now longbows followed. I love single shots and think they are wonderful for most hunting, and whenever I see one in the field I just automatically assume the fellow is a gentleman.

 

It’s kind of funny to me. Some people work to handicap themselves and more with more and more “primitive “ weapons to hunt. I’m going the opposite direction lol. My first deer with with archery equipment, second is the photo of the doe with the single shot. This year I’m using one of those new fangle repeating rifles, my axis in 243 is first up this year.
I started with archery because I was hunting in Washington and there is a much longer archery season and you get first crack at them and figured I could use all the help I could get while teaching myself to hunt by reading the internet and watching videos. Got it done tho. Little velvet spike. I was/am damn proud and it was some good eating.

back on track of single shots I’d love to get a contender and a arm full of barrels for it.

 

The only reason I didn't get a #1 is I'm not willing to spend a lot more $ to shoot at deer usually at 100 yards and closer. I'm pretty good about "1 and done", but it is easier to carry a couple extra rounds IN the rifle than in my pocket or wherever, even if I only need 1 to get a deer. I'm sure not going to pay a whole bunch more for a "less convenient" rifle if a cheaper one works just as well for what it is being used for. Maybe this year I'll just load the 1 in honor of single shot rifles.

 

I'm not sure why I got bitten by the SS bug.
Mostly the fault of the NEF/H&R single barrels.
I had an opportunity to moose hunt in Ontario, but needed a moose appropriate caliber. I ordered a NEF Handi-Rifle in .30-06.
I like it so well that I started buying them in other Calibers. .204. .223x2, .45-70, 7mm-08, 12ga slug .
Then there's a couple of shotguns too.

 

Still have my Ruger No.1B in 30-06. It's taken a cow elk and a few mule deer out here. I no longer hunt, but, that Ruger isn't going anywhere except to the desert to shoot at something

 

IMG_2017.jpg

 

I've been hunting "mostly" with a single shots since the early 80'S...



They have worked out just fine for me.

DM

 

I occasionally hunt with a Ruger #1 in 45-70. Of course my muzzle loader is a single shot but I suspect thats not what you're talking about. I also use a Contender.

 

Here's another,



DM

 

My Dad bought a #1 in .30-06, meticulously worked up a couple good accurate hunting loads, hunted with it for 3 years, didn't see any deer, and got bored with it. Took a big loss (as usual) when he sold it.
I have hunted with my muzzleloader, and got one deer with it, but I always carried a slug gun across my back, or a .44 on my hip when I did. I've never needed more than one shot, but it was nice to have them just in case, and for coup de gras shots.

I did hunt one year with a .223 Handi-Rifle, just didn't get a shot that year.

Nice double shovel! Get that with the Krieghoff?

 

All my rifles are single shot. For suppository guns I have a Ruger #1 in 45-70, a Contender rifle in .222, .256 win Mag, .22 Wmr and .445 SM. In a T/C Encore I have a .270, a .338-06, and 12 gauge. I started hunting with a muzzle loader as a kid, and still hunt with them. In fact, for the last 12 years I have hunted exclusively with muzzle loaders, mostly flint locks.

 

It's a Valmet, and it's VERY accurate,



Over the years, it's puit a lot of meat in my freezer.

DM

 

Nice. Always wanted a Valmet. Ah well.

The last 3 years I have hunted with a muzzleloader and will do so again soon. Only use percussion and round ball, but a 54 or 58 ball inside 100 yards generally does not require a second hit.