Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters It;'s 1958: what's the all-around Western Rifle?

I often hear the term FN and Mauser used in the same light, and that is incorrect...One is an FN action and the other is a Mauser action, the FN is not a Mauser, as seems to be common belief, although it has become an almost acceptable term over the years perhaps, but it's an incorrect term. For what its worth.

In 58 I was 15. the 06 ruled and was widly used by the common man. Up to that point, my Dad shot a Savage Mod. 20 in 250-3000, and had modified the stock with a higher comb so he could mount a weaver 2 1/2 power scope, post and crosshair. I still have all. In fact when he bought the 06, a Husky, I got the 250 as a hand-down. I never had much luck with deer with that gun, but man did I ever get the woodchucks, love of varmint hunting that still persists, also started handloading then, actually befor 58.

Western hunting tho, was not for us. Just too darn expensive. Dad was a welder, made $3.10 an hour, and with 5 kids to feed, we stayed close to home.

Oregon - I was one year old in 1958, so didn't get out much for hunting. My earliest memories where sitting with my dad and brother in the back of an old pickup and shooting foxes with his Model 12 Winchester that he got in 1946 when he was discharged from the Army. At the same time, he bought a Savage Model 99 in .300 Savage that he did all his deer hunting with. The Model 99 was quite popular as was the 300 Savage in those days. He had a Winchester Model 95 in .30-40 Krag that he used before the War. I still have all 3 guns. I try to get the Savage out at least once a year for pig hunting here in CA.

PS - This all occurred in West Texas.

Model 70 Westener in 264 WIN MAG.

I was 16 years old in Oct. 1968 and I was the proud owner of a Rem.Mod.721 in 30.06. It was a used rifle and I paid $60 for it that summer. For another $35 I was able to add a Weaver 4X scope. That fall I killed five deer with it, two in Ca. the others in Co. I spent my 16th birthday in a Colorado deer camp. Happy days.

Make that 1958.

It's 1958: what's the all-around Western Rifle?

.30-06
.270 Win.
.30-30
.32 Spl.
And then the upstart .308 Win.

I was around 11 in 1958. Nobody had any money. For those that did maybe those winchesters were carried. In my case I remember my dad with a krag 30.40 military, a winchester model of 1917 that had the stock cut down, an for me, a cut down asaki landing rifle. I was being made fun of at the hunter safety class, first one held in state of arizona as I remember, so my mom made dad go down to sam hill hardware on whiskey row in prescott and buy me a rifle. It was a winchester 30.30, which I still have.
I think it was a little different perhaps then, I don't remember sport hunting per se. It was serious to put meat on the table.
I do remember running the hills at ten and eleven around down with a shotgun or .22. I would be given a certain amount of ammo and would have to account for the use of it. But nobody thought it odd for a kid to be packing. I bought my first pistol and a 16 guage shotgun in a store in prescott around then and nobody blinked. I am sure however in hindsight, the owner of the store had called my dad. I still have the pistol and shotgun. A few years later, we would strap rifles or shotguns on honda 110's in saddle scabbards and run all over the county.
I just don't remember a lot of fancy rifles or scopes for that matter around. I do know when the proper use of that winchester 94 was being demonstrated to me, the guy doing it was routinely plugging beer cans at 100yards offhand with it. Again, ammo was expensive, and i had to justify the use of it.

I might add that winchester 94 30.30 cost about 69bucks, that really ticked my dad off.

I was born in '58, but what I remember from my earliest years was that my dad and uncles and nearly everyone else shot semi-sporterized SMLE .303's. If "Western" can be interpreted as Western Canada, the No. 1 or No. 4 Lee Enfield with the full length front stock wood cut down were by far the most common, and Savage 99's in .250 or .300 were chosen by the more affluent hunters.

In 1958 my dad hunted SW Oregon with the same rifle he'd hunt with today, a Rem 721 Deluxe in .270 Win. In 1958 my uncle was also using the same rifle he'd be using today, a pre war M-70 in 30-06.

I was -2 in 1958, but if it were 1958 today and I could only have one rifle, it would be a M-70 in 300 H&H. Of course, I wouldn't have only one rifle. I'd have a M-70 FWT in 30-06, a M-70 std in the wildcat 30-338 Win Mag, an M-70 std in 338 Win Mag, and an M-70 in the wildcat 416-375 Ack.

Which is REALLY close to what I have now: 1957 M-70 FWT 30-06, M-70 SS Classic/Edge 30-06, M-70 SS Classic 300 Win/Pacific Research, M-70 SS Classic 338 Win, M-70 SS Classic 416 Rem/McMillan.

The .264 Win Mag in a M-70

I wasn't born until 1959, but I have, and use a 1958 model 70, .264 WinMag, and an early 1960's Colt Sako in .264 as well.

That really simple it's the .264 Winchester Mag.

Oregon45,What a great tread.
I was born and raised and currently live just south of you between Corvallis and Eugene. In 1958 I was 9 years old and just starting to tag after dad deer hunting. Around this time dad bought a used Marlin 336A 30-30 and put a Weaver K3 on it. Although he owned many rifles since then, the Marlin was his favorite deer rifle 'till he pasted away 3 years ago. I have that rifle now and use it often. Another of his favorite rifles was a Winchester 95 carbine in 30-40 Krag. He used it for elk hunting. A great uncle had a Savage 99 in 22 HiPower which he swore by.
The only center fire rifle my Grandfather owned was another Winchester 95 rifle in 30-40 Krag also.
In this area at that time most people were loggers, mill workers, farmers/ranchers and the guns they owned were what they could afford. One friend of mine, his dad only had a Remington model 25 in 32-20 so that's what he hunted with. usually when that little gun popped there was a deer down. Others had mil surplus Mausers and and what not but Krags and Springfields were probably the most popular, usually with the stocks whittled down some.
One of dads beat friends bought a Remington 760 in 30-06 when they first came out in the early 50's and put a K4 on it. Dad always gave him a bad time saying that that was too much gun for deer but again it was the only rifle he had. A side note on that Remington is in the mid 60's the old K4 went bad so he bought a Leopold 3X9 which I help him mount and we sighted it in. Using factory 180 gr. corelocks that old gun would would consistently shoot under an inch at 100 yards. I was so impressed I bought one and it shoots just as well and I still have it.
Factory bolt guns weren't real popular here mostly because of their weight and length. shorter lighter lever action carbines was the fad because they were handy and we rarely shot over 50 yards.I remember in the mid sixty's just before deer season BiMart would have Winchester 94's on sale for around $75.
Too the people in this area opening day of deer season was as important as the Super Bowl is today. We all got together and made drives and although the rifles we had weren't the latest hi tech they all worked.
Doc

Are you saying that the design is different, or is your remark in regards to the attribution?

If I could have afforded it, I'd buy the same rifle that I did about a month ago. A 1958 M70 high comb fwt in 270. The difference? I've spent the past 20 years looking for one and I could have bought it off the rack in '58! I expect it will be my nice weather hunting rifle for the remainder of my hunting days.

It was a neat experience, I bought it from the original owner. He used the 130 grainers for moose, thought they were too explosive for deer. For deer he liked the 160 grainers.

It may not mean much, but for me it's great to know the history of the rifle. Conversely he was very relieved to know the rifle was going to a good home, so we both won!

Cast

I'm several years younger than you but that mirrors my experience in SW Sask. There were 2 M70 in 270 caliber in the general area and they were spoken of in a different tone, something like a top custom would be today.

A few that weren't necessarily affluent but possibly early loonies, chose the M99, even though they could not afford it

Mr. RickF;
Thanks for the cool story. Nice rifle find too, by the way.

As for me, the history of a rifle has significant meaning. A buddy has an ancient .300 Savage 99 that was used by a Kootenay rancher that just oozes character. On a personal level, our eldest daughter hunts with a 105 or so year old 6.5 Swede that I remodeled for my late father back in the mid '80's. He passed it to her before he died and it means lots to both of us that she uses Granddad's rifle.

May you have many fair weather hunts with that .270 Rick and may you also put up some photos for us to enjoy it with you!

Dwayne

This one might qualify for the 1958 rifle. Custom Enfield .300 H&H with a Weaver 3-9 scope.

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