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

seeing as anything with a 224" bore is not legal for deer hunting where I live,..I'd have to go with a Sako L461 or AI action with a 20" barrel in 6mm/223, or maybe a 25 on the same case.........a McMillan Sako Hunter pattern stock and a 4X Leupy lightweight scope in Leupold mounts.....

I have the above AI action and McMillan stock with a .17 Rem barrel in it....maybe I should start ordering the rest of the parts.....

The older I get the lighter the rifle needs to be...

My Browning B-92 in .44 Mag was a gift from Dad back in the mid �80�s. With a 240g FP over 24g H110 it will certainly do for deer and elk. Have not tried it on rabbits but I remain convinced it is �enough gun�. (Might be eating stew instead of roasted of fried, though...) Ten in the mag is one reason this rifle often went camping with the family as it was our protection against two and four-legged predators and varmints.

So many good choices. A .30-30 or a compact .308 Win/ 7mm-08/.260 Rem/.243 would work, either with iron sights or a 2-7x.

Nice thing about a .30-30 or .308 Win is that you could shoot Accelerators loaded with the bullet and at the velocity of your choice. Shouldn�t be hard to get them to shoot to the same point of impact as 130-170g bullets, at least out to 150-200 yards or so, giving a lot of flexibility.

My .257 Roberts would fill the bill nicely.

20 years a go I had an old speer manual that had loads for a .430 round ball over some rediculously small amount of powder. ( i think they went maybe 500 fps. I shot up 4 or 5 boxes of these round balls out of a SBH and could shoot 1-2" groups at 20 yds.

I wonder how they would work out of a carbine, if accurate they might be just the ticket for rabbits, grouse and the like. Of course they would need to be single loaded.

Anybody got a old speer manula they could post a couple of the loads?

Good Lord.

That, is perfection.

BMT, you is the Debil! Keep it up son, or pm me your links. A boy can't think about rifles ALL the time!

Heck, hot wimmen aside, a previous post reminded me I got that little Trapper .30/30, that needs some woodsloafing time.

Need to put up some 100 grain plinkers at about 1K fps for some mild fun. First, though, gotta replace the rear sight elevator which has gone MIA.

I think she would be a hoot to loaf around in the woods with. I love a woman with curves.

I'd like to do a bit of woods loafing with a Paradox. That would've been handy in Indiana. I did most of mine there with a 20ga, but during serious deer hunting used a fully rifled bbl'd 12ga.

Here in Utah, I like the 223AI. There's nothing I'm likely to come across that I can legally shoot that I wouldn't shoot with it.

BMT, looks like you got your bunny!

I have owned an 1894 357 and know what it will do on deer, a good one. I also owned a TC Contender carbine in 6 TCU, with an 85 BTHP or 87 Hornady (non vmax), it's a nice round (quiet, mild recoil, nice punch), no premi bullet needed at it's speeds. Ray's knows all about the 6/223s ability, as did Sam Fadala.....well he used a 6/Deuce.

The 223 Kimber Montana would be nice, but the 6x223 would be easier than the TCU, no forming, and a tad more punch.

The CZ 7.62 is a handy carbine as is, lots of modest loads, ball to SP for small game to deer, not a bad option at all.

That said a CZ in 6.5 Grendel would be my choice in that platform but a custom bbl would be needed.

A very practical round would be a 6mm BR. I have shot deer to 400 yds with it using a 105 Amax in 8" twist, but for woods deer I would use a TSX or 95 BT, and SSII in 90gr would be a top 3rd option. Light loads for rabbits.....well.....if you don't want to worry about head shooting them w full loads, or 'field dressing' em on impact, then you can load down a 70 gr or so to 1400-2000 fps w/ loads here:

http://www.accuratereloading.com/6mmbrr.html

Just some options....but for simplicity and factory load variety a Kimber Lil Sky in 223 would be an almost no brainer, w/more reach than the 357, With shot placement. A 6/223 on that platform would be better yet IMO if one wants to roll their own.

Her name is Jamie Eason . . . . . .

She can wear a little black dress, too . . . . .

I've got two favorite woods loafing rifles.
A NavyArms 92 trapper clone in .45 Colt. and an origonal Winchester 92 in 32-20 (mfg. in 1915)

Seems I usually take a handgun along also. Lately it's been my Kahr P9. Ay 23 oz. with 8 rounds on board, it's a joy to pack.

BMT; Thanks for the lovely pictures!!!! Sure perks up this old man!

Virgil B.

I have a Savage 24D, 22 Magnum/20gauge 3' magnum. I have a Williams peep on the back and a Firesite front.

It is sighted in for 22 Mag, 40 grain WW Solids and HP's.

The full choke shotgun barrel patterns on the sights and shoots slugs to poa for elevation but 3 in left at 75 yards.

I carry a 22magnum or 357 magnum with it.