Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Old time rifles still get it done

With all the rage about cheap, plastic rifles, I get a kick out of seeing some of the old classics still getting it done. Here's a short list of some rifles that men I know still use successfully every year:

1) Winchester 88 in .308 Win. Jim bought this rifle new in the early 60s and still uses in every year.
2) Savage 99 in .300 Savage. A neighbor has used this one for a lot of years and took a nice buck with it again this year.
3) Remington 742 in .30-06 a good friend bought this one new, and even though I wouldn't use one of these, he gets venison most years with it.
4) a 98 Mauser (VZ-24 action in .30-06) with Bishop stock and Weaver K4. Nothing fancy: looks kind of ugly but kills deer.
5) Model 94 in .30-30, bought in the 50s by another neighbor. Has killed a bunch of bucks and is still killing working well every year.


All wood stocks, no plastic. Still working well for their owners after lots of years.

I'll bet you know folks using stuff like this as well.

Don't see any flies on any of those.

I agree...nothing like old walnut and blued steel. Vintage optics makes it een sweeter...

I know many dont take to old optics...but I do.

dave

It's the hunter, not the firearm.




P

I like to look at walnut and blued CM, but I prefer the low maintenance of plastic and stainless for work in the field. This year it was a mixed rifle, plastic and blue CM, an RAR-P.

One of the rules in my camp, "NO PLASTIC STOCKS".

I own at least one of every rifle on the OP's list. Minus the 742. But, my uncle uses a 7400 and kills a dear most every year.

T4

I use my old M1917, I guarantee it's pretty old...

This thread is useless without pics.

Browning Safari in 338 WM. Poor choice for a wet climate, but that's another thread.



I dropped a Roosevelt's bull the day with it the day after this pic was taken.


Okie John

Savage 99 in .303 Savage have killed deer and caribou with it.

I try and take a deer each year with my Grandpa's old .30-30. It is a Marlin 336RC, made in 1951. My daughter will be hunting with it for the first time tomorrow. She practiced with it all summer, and she shoots it about as well as I do.

I was a kid during WWII. The family 12 ga cratered and we survived with a single shot .22 that Dad had bought as a kid. I guess that stark upbringing warped me as I have a dozen .22s and even more center fire rifles, including four .30-30s. Dad had an early Marlin 336 RCand Uncle had an even older 36 SC, as their only deer rifles. I can recall only four deer that I ever took that a .30-30 would not have sufficed?

For several years my primary hunting rifle was a Savage 99F in .300. It worked just fine. When I go to the kid's ranch, I usually grab a .30-30 to shoot whatever needs shooting. Old school is not bad.

Best,

Jack

When I used to hunt with Bearrr264 on his farms, he wouldn't allow anyone to hunt with rifles that had exposed hammers, 'cause he felt that they were unsafe. One time I went to his farm near St. Joseph, MO, to hunt coyotes and brought along a Savage 24 in 223/20. When he asked me what I was shooting, I told him and he said that I'd need to use some other rifle, 'cause the "no hammer gun" rule was in force 24/7/365 on his ground.

Ridiculous. I prefer hammers.

All I own is old wore out stuff, that when new, had nice wood stocks and blued steel.

Your wife said the same thing about you...

Well you can't trust here! She had promised she'd keep her mouth shut about that!

I really liked being able to run to the gunsafe real quick to pick out something to murder a hog with in the back yard!!!! I miss those days. Too many people around now and even the hogs have gone elsewhere.

I suspect someday, they will return. The hogs I mean.

For this years deer season...

I bring a SS browning Xbolt plastic stocked for rainy days, but the Sav 99 in 308 stayed on watch the whole time. Got 3 with it.

The cool thing about the 99... is one of our old hunters, Mervin, could absolutely roll driven deer with his 300 and I swear Merv's "force" was channeled into that rifle when I rolled a fat doe with it. His spirit whispered to me.

On a side note...
The kid that pushed it out to me and saw the deer roll decided to buy a bolt action 22 just like his rifle to practice speed shooting. The spirit is spreading...

One of my evil semi autos, works just like it did when it left the factory in 1921.



.32 Rem

His land, his rules. He also sent a "guide" with each invited hunter to tell them which deer they could, or could not, shoot. I only heard of one person getting in a huff about it and he was never invited to hunt that land again. I never go anywhere with just one firearm, so the "no hammers" rule didn't impact me in a negative manner. Heck, I wish that he was still around, as his kids sold all of his farms within months of his passing.

I'd add Marlin 336's to the list. Lots of them still out there getting the job done.

Been using Savage 99's the last 10 years, but took my dad's 1954 Marlin 336 out this year. Right at sunrise I got the best buck I've ever shot, with the gun that has a lot of history.

Wood and blued steel.. just classy.

It really needs to be "walnut and blued steel" to be classy, right? Somehow "birch and blued steel" just doesn't seem to cut it!

I'm still getting it done with a 1940 Winchester 70 in 30gov't'06, with a pacmayer low swing scope mount, and weaver k2.5 scope. It has a nice patina from all the years and hunts with it. Harvested my first mule deer and black bear this season in California with this weapon. I was given the rifle by my grandfather before he passed. I still remember how excited he was for me when he saw me harvest my first whitetail with it back in the early 90's.

I did decide this year to purchase a few synthetic and stainless rifle to compliment my collection. A Savage lightweight hunter in 6.5 creed and a Tikka t3x superlight in 300wm for my future western hunting. That way I can keep the ol 30/06 for the occasional hunt, without fear of beating it up too much more.

02-----I use to think the same way, save the it because it was GrandDad's. But he gave it to you to use, use it for everything----he'll be you on every hunt. That 30/06 will kill anything in North America.

The older Husqvarna 46s and 640s had arctic beech stocks and they were pretty classy rifle.

My Grandfather won this rifle in a big buck contest in 1937 - He gave it to me along with the contest winning horns before he died in the early 1980's. I have used it nearly every fall since. The horns reside in my office.

If it wasn't for my vision it would be my go to. The k2.5 weaver scope barely fits with the bolt handle rubbing it occasionally. The pacmayer mount required four holes to be drilled into the side of the receiver. I didn't want to add any more holes to the top of the receiver in order to put on a more modern scope ring setup. Figure I can enjoy the newer rifles and not worry about them as much. Plus they are 2-3 lbs lighter.

I have a Winchester 1873 made in 1884. I try to sit in my bow stand a few times each season to kill a doe. 38-40 pretty good killer at 20 yds.

Dads been carrying the same "byf" code M98 since he was 14...that's 51 years. It's on it's 2nd barrel now(VZ-24 take off in 8mm Gibbs) and has had a Redfield Revolution scope installed, but it's still in the same cut down military stock it was in when he got it.

Youngest brother popped a buck on opening morning with my Great Grandpa's old model 94...that rifle has seen a little use in it's day too.

First or second year Model 70 ?

Not sure - How do you tell? It says 30 Gov't 06 on the side with a flag type safety. Serial Number under 20,000. It's an early one but I don't know just how early.

They do work, but I am better off with the modern optics or none at at all. Top is a 1920 in 300 Savage and the bottom is a 99F in 300.

This should help out
http://www.winchesterguns.com/support/faq/what-year-was-my-model-70-manufactured.html

My hunting partners only rifle. A number of elk and deer to its credit via factory Remington 180 gr Core-Lokts. This shot from last falls elk hunt.

I too like them all and they do work just fine. I have 1, 2 and 5 and have had 3 & 4. Right now I am using a fairly old Interarms Mark X in one of the oldest calibers - 7MM Mauser. No kick or blood on my end. I am particularly fond of the old Remington 600 series rifles and also the 788's. It is probably because they all were popular and in the stores to look at when I was a kid and had no money.

cas6969,

Your picture brings back good memories,

Killed my first buck with a Rem. Model 8 in 30 Rem. My uncle gave it to me, I gave it back to him 25 years later and his son used it for deer.

I would hunt with our neighbor's family... He used a Model 8 in 35 Rem. that had a tang sight. He shot several deer, all at the juncture of the head and the neck... so as to not ruin any meat!

Jerry

If you can't get it done here in NA with a 7x57, .30-30, .30-06 or .375H&H, the chances are it doesn't need doing.

Don't know exactly why, but there are currently four .30-06 rifles in my safe. Don't know why I have a .30-30, either, except for the fun factor.

It's in the 1937-1938 range according to chart. Metal Tag on the Horns says 1937. Not sure when he actually got the rifle, probably November of 1937. Thanks for the link.

Does this qualify? BRNO 22f in 8x57. This is the first time I've used it on game, though. Sweet rifle, handles much like a M94 Winchester. Thought about pulling Dad's 742 BDL out of mothballs, but the ancient Weaver K4 was coated in too much crud. Probably wouldn't have made much of a difference on the 53 yard shot this doe gave me.

Kaiser Norton

That is just neater than sh*t. I love seeing classics like this, still getting used. I almost bought one of those Remingtons, but it was chambered in .300 Savage, as I recall. Still kicking myself for that one. Must be an absolute hoot to cart that thing through the woods...

Kaiser Norton

A couple of mine.



Model 20 Savage in 250-3000



First Model Newton in 30 Newton



Whitney Rolling Block in 40-65



30 Newton again.



First Model Newton in 256 Newton



Another one for the 256 Newton

Bought a Winchester M70 in 30-06 from a pawn shop 5 years ago. It is from 1969. The Weaver V7 is from the same year. It's not pre-64, the glass is old, and the scope only goes up to 7 power. I'll be damned if it hasn't killed everything I have shot it at hunting the rugged mountains of Nevada, including a mule deer this year at 326 yards. And most years I am using Cor-Lokt factory ammo. Sure, I would love the Kimber 84 classic select grade in 30-06 the local Cabelas has in the gun library, which I am trying very hard not to buy, but the old simple way still gets it done.

I've seen those Newton's before!!

My favorite rifle for the last 50 yrs is my Remington Springfield 30-06 and it is 100 plus years old now. The sporter stock on it was bedded using some kind of wood putty long before I took possession of it, and still works just fine. The old two groove barrel seems to work well with all wts of bullets from 110 to 220 gr. Its going to stay with me till I no longer can carry it.

Another old rifle I like to play with is a Winchester low wall that started life as a 25-20, but got rebored to 357 mag. Its killed a few deer and probably elk (previous owner didn't think much of hunting seasons) along the way. This rifle also has a double set trigger that would make any benchrest shooter proud. You can hardly use it if you are excited though.

I like old quality guns.

Some friends of mine have been holding an annual "Old Gun Hunt" here in Montana for around 25 years. My wife and I have only attended a few, mostly because we live in a different part of the state, but partly for other reasons, which I'll mention later. At first one rule was "no scopes," but that changed as the group got even older, and of course synthetic stocks were verboten.

Eileen has always used an old "no name" German combination gun, with a 9.3x72R rifle barrel over 16-gauge, with a 1.5-5x Leupold. The rifles I've used have been a Mannlicher-Schoenauer carbine 6.5x54 with an aperture sight, a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington with the open factory sights, and a Sauer drilling in 6.5x57R/16x16 with a 4x Hensoldt with a German #1 reticle.

We liked the hunt when it was held for a couple years on a couple of riverbottom ranches in eastern Montana, where we could take more than one whitetail doe. But eventually EHD hit the ranches and the deer almost disappeared, and the buy started holding it in a valley near Missoula, where most of them live. There used to be a lot of whitetails there too, enough to buy OTC doe tags, but there have been very few deer for at least the past decade, in part due to wolves. But the other guys don't seem to care much, and eventually it became apparent they're not really in it for the hunting anymore. We haven't attended for at least 5 years, preferring to use whatever "old guns" we have closer to home, where we have a good chance of seeing game!

A late 50's Featherweight 270

I bet they look familiar. I think the cow with the 256 was the first elk to "ride" your little Morgan horse.

nothing wrong with it just because it's old. I still hunt with a sterlingworth side by side 12 gauge it's over a hundred years old.

(No.... I did not buy it new)

Cool Newton rifles there. I almost bought one of those a few years ago. It was a 256 and seemed like a hell of a good deal. Looked damned near new too. I had no idea on how old it was until I looked it up. Back to the thread: I used my old m1917 this year on both my buck and bull. I used a good load using the 200gr. nosler partition. Worked great on both these critters. I just got through replacing the recoil pad on the old girl a few minutes ago:





This rifle is damn near 100 years old, so I guess it would be considered "old time". One of my best handling rifles and fits me like a glove after some modifications to the left hand stock.

I've taken a lot of turkey with an old sterlingworth made in 1910... Excellent old shotguns..

Aw heck why not - cull buck with a 1907 Winchester, from the first year of production.

Can we get a pic of your Grandfathers winning rack?

Hell of a Elk by the way and good looking rifle.

Very little, if any, obsolescence in rifles.

"...if any"?

I wouldn't go that far. Take a look in Cartridges of the World and look at all the ones that you've never even heard of - many of which were developed right here in the USA.

In general, though, I agree. Cartridges don't become less effective with age.

Obsolescence from the standpoint of function, not popularity.

That's funny!

I could live with that. Have a Brno 21 7x57 that could be used in such a situation.

Here it is - big old boy. Was going to put a yard stick on there but it fell through.

Stephen Hunter books are good

here's an old design (disregard the modern optics)

Thanks centershot! That is mighty impressive.

I've been going a bit more 'old school' the last few years. This year's buck was with a FN Mauser.




Two years ago I used this Ballard 45-70 with black powder and a 540 grain 30:1 cast bullet. Though the rifle was made 15-20 years ago, the design is from 1875.

1899 Savage, cal 303 Savage.

They must have seen the rifle and died laughing. Talk about horrible BC and hamstrung on retained energy and drift. Did the scope fall off too?


Just yanking yer chain. That's pretty dang neat.

In my first response here, I did not address my bolt guns. 1903 Spr., 1938 M70, FN, late 50s, two Browning Safaris from 1962-3.

Sort of a shame that this thread even exists.

What else would old guys talk about? Well, we could get into a pizzing match over which scope is the best or have a good discussion about which bullet works best for deer hunting...

My mid 50's M70 .270 fwt, it gets carried some every year.

Get it done with style there Greg! is that checkering factory?

Remington 721 30-06 from 1959. Fantastic gun.

No sir. My father restocked that rifle and later gave it to me.

It's a beautiful 99.

Thank you. I agree. The crescent buttplate isn't real handy for standing in corners or shooting from a bench, but I think it looks cool.

Oh heck, that's FAR better than any factory checkering then. Great gun, deer and picture.

Savage 99 is a keeper!

Sherwood

I really don't have many new rifles,all of mine are old and still get the job done.these are what I still use and reload for.

1.1917 enfield 30/06
2.1896 30/40 krag
3.1908 Winchester 30/30
4.1951 Remington 721 30/06
5. 1909 Mauser LR 7x57
6. 1918 6.5x55 96 Mauser

And they all do a great job as long as I do mine.

Just a nice meat doe. Marlin 336 in 35 Remington did the job.

I'm surprised you don't have a mauser 98. Good list there though..

The 1909 is a 98 action,shoots like a dream

Cool pic handwerk. That's a nice old buck and really nice old rifle...

.303 Sav made in 1911


.30-40 Krag-Not sure on the year made


Ithaca Model 37 in 16 gauge-from the 30s I think



Great Grandfather's 2nd year production model 70 in .270

Love old M37's!

Ya gotta love friends...

Until 2007, I hadn't gone big game hunting since 1980, when I was 15 and heading away to school. I loved bird hunting and continued doing that until a few years ago when birddogs died, kids arrived and time evaporated.

Then, a few years ago I watched an elk hunt on TV and decided I needed to do that. A gunsmith told me my Dad's rusted old Winchester Model 100 in .308 would be too expensive to get in order so I bought myself a slick Hawkeye in .30-06 and started to handload. Every year since I've headed out with the same nucleus of pals and we've largely been unsuccessful on both deer and elk. On great wine, gourmet meals and extremely raunchy discussions, we've excelled...it's just that the quarry hasn't been joining us in all the fun.

I'd been looking forward to this year's true spike hunt in central Washington so was going to pass on mule deer this year. My pals suggested that was a poor decision, reminding me that as a shutdown federal worker I had time on my hands...those reminders contained lots of compound words with the sound of "ucker" in them. Naturally, I caved.

But as I packed up for the Okanogan, I didn't bring the .30-06. Last winter, my buddy up the street, a completely insane rifle nut, started grinding on me about fixing the old Model 100. So, I did. A complete over-haul...recalled firing pin and spring, new slide springs, and even a tidy little bedding job. I plopped a 60's-era Leupold 4x on top and, wouldn't you know it, the damned thing turned out to be a shooter, throwing 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips into cute and perfectly serviceable little 1.5-2" groups. Big fun!

Naturally, I decided to take the 49 year old M100 on the hunt. At 7:30 on the morning of the third day, as my pals squeezed an aspen-lined draw, I dropped the very hefty 3x4 below in its tracks with a lung shot as it was hauling ass, quartering away from me at a handy 60 yards.

Knowing what they do about my Dad and the significance of using his old gun, I don't know who was happier, my friends or me!




Attachments
Deer body pic - compressed.jpg (392 downloads)
Deer pic 1 posed.jpg (432 downloads)

Nice work Blueneck!

to all who have shared their fine old rifles in this post, thank you much. I've really enjoyed your tales, pictures, and experience with the old time rifles. I never mentioned my favorite ones: the rifle I've used most in the past 10 years or so is a 1952 vintage model 70 in .270 with a refinished stock. Not fancy, but very functional. My wife's only rifle is a little .257 Roberts built on a 09' Argentine 98' Mauser action stocked with a pretty piece of curly maple. Both have Leupold scopes: mine a 2x7 bought new many years ago and her's a fixed 4x that my father bought new. Probably my greatest hunting thrills in the past 5 years or so has been to be with her while she took her first doe, and then her first buck with that rifle, both one shot kills. I was waaay more excited than she was !!

Hopefully, some more folks will share a story, or pic, or both from an old time rifle still getting it done. Another big thanks to all !

ruffed grouse

Nice!

I don't think I own any rifles.

If the interest was old shotguns, i have a few. But the only rifles I own are the new AR-15 in .450Bushmaster, the muzzleloader i haven't yet used, and the Glenfield model 60 .22lr from my father.
Very well done on the deer, congrats.

Holy crap, that was one hell of a buck!

Very nice.