Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The PERFECT woods loafer's rifle from rabbits to deer?

A modern Western woodsbumming rifle: Lightweight AR with turned down White Oak Armamnet barrel, carbon fiber fore end, skeleton stock and light 4x ACOG sight. Coupled with a 20 round mag, it is a joy to carry and shoot.

It is good enough to ring steel at extended ranges with ease. Not really a requirement for a woodsbumming gun, but a nice feature anyways. I built this rifle to be an "all around" gun anyways, so woodsbummng falls into one of the "all around" categories.

Usually if I am just bumming around and exploring, a .44 in a Milt Sparks rig is all I need.

I have a Remington 5mm rimfire magnum that would make a great loafer's rifle. Although it's not legal for deer I know it would drop one quickly with a head shot. And it's accurate enough to easily but a bullet below a deer's ear at 100 yards.

I was thinking about a couple more rifle/cartridge combinations that might be fun:

Anschutz 1733 in 22 Hornet.
Marlin 62 in 256 Win Mag or 30 U.S. Carbine.
Marlin 90 combination gun in 218 Bee over 410.
Sako 78 in 22 Hornet.
Savage 23 in 22 Hornet, 25-20, & 32-20.
Winchester 43 in 22 Hornet, 218 Bee, 25-20, & 32-20.

Jeff

Here in the southeast, the .22 magnum cartridge has been the classic woodsloafer's round for fifty years. For the man who actually lives in the woods, this is the one round that does it all, usually in low cost Savage and Marlin bolt actions. In earlier days Mossbergs filled a similar role, but today the most seen is some version of the Marlin 25.

Each spring, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has an auction of firearms confiscated from various violaters during the past year. While you see all sorts of guns, including some vary high grade rifles and shotguns, the great bulk of those taken from the good ole boy woodsloafers are 12 gauge single barrel shotguns, pump action shotguns and .22 magnum rifles.

My own upscale woodsloafing rifles are a Winchester Model 61 .22 Magnum and a CZ 452 with Mannlicher stock. The former has been retired because of it's collector value but the latter is a constant companion on my four wheeler.

The Older 20 gauge versions are light and handy.

The Model 24F (that also came in 12 gauge) is pretty stout.

BMT

I have a CZ 452 FS in 22 LR that I never use and have thought that the same rifle in 22 MRF would be a fun and useful rifle to own. I guess that if I want 1, I'd better get moving.

Jeff

I've read that the .22 Mag is a favorite of poachers but that doesn't make it a goog woods loafer's rifle for me. Is that caliber legal for deer anywhere? It isn't where I live.

Here is my current wood bum rifle:

223, McMillan, Talleys, Leupold 6x42

The 22 MRF used to be legal for shooting deer in ME, but I don't know if it still is or if it is legal anywhere in the U.S. The 22 MRF is popular with herd control shooters, particularly when used with a suppressor and night vision equipement.

Jeff

That would be perfect, IMO.

It's still legal in Vermont, to the last of my knowledge.

Very nice! I like my 16" Bushy Dissipator loaded with 77s, too. (and my 44 SBH).

About 30-odd years ago, Savage offered a Camper Special 24 that featured a .357 Mag and (later) Max barrel over a 20 ga. with 18.5-in. bbls. The package came with a conventional and a pistol-grip only. The idea being you could switch it to the pistol grip in the evening to swing around all handylike inside your camper for defense.

One of those, particularly with a Max chamber, would come pretty darn close to perfection, too.

If I'd known then what I do now I'd have gone and picked up about four of those rascals.

P.S. I liked those articles on Beartooth, but why haven't they written anything new since late 2005?

Thinking that a Mini 14, stainless synthetic, 9 or faster twist, factory peeps/post, TSX for most things, and a highly reduced load that does not even cycle the action for the rest might work for me.

Otherwise, I find a 12(versatile) or 20(lightweight) gauge pump with a short deer barrel with sights works just fine for everything, so long as I can change loads as needed between slugs, shot, and buckshot.

In reality, most of my weekends in the woods are spent with a 22 of some sort, either a bolt with scope or a 10/22 with sights.

That would be great. .38 SP for small game and 200 gr .357 max loads for medium game. Shotgun for birds. Super combo.

Expat

I've never seen 1 of the Savage 24 Camper Specials in 357 over 20 gauge. IIRC, they had a brushed chrome finish on the metal. If I ever find 1 in nice shape at a fair price, I might be tempted to buy it. I have 2 of the 22 over 20 gauge Savage 24 Camper Specials and find them to be too short and too light to shoot the shotgun barrel comfortably.

Jeff

Lemme know when 1 is for sale.

BMT

Course, I am cash poor. . . . .