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

M70 in .30-06.

'58 was a bit before my time, but my Dad had a sporterized 03A3 Springfield and his Dad had a sporterized 1917 Enfield during that time period. Both had original military barrels and receiver peep sights. When I started hunting in the early '70s, I carried Dad's Springfield and he carried Grandpa's Enfield.

Escaped the womb 8/28/58.

In 1958 I had a Rem.721 in .06 with a 4x Weaver on it and I was well armed. I was 15 then and hunted Colorado and California, killing five deer four bucks and one doe.

Don't know exactly what the all-around western rifle would have been in 1958 but I was 8 yrs. old and that was about the time I became fascinated by sporterized military stuff, which was pretty common then, IIRC. Most of it was Springfields and Lee-Enfields from what I heard from an older cousin. Back then I thought the .22LR was pretty hot cause I had never seen anything bigger and the boxes carried that warning about being dangerous cause of that one mile range. The first time I saw a 30-06 round it blew my mind. I think those memories of sporters back in the 50's are responsible for me owning a couple today; a Kimber sporterized Mod.96 Swede and a sporterized #4 Mk I Lee-Enfield.

Many opinions here, but the 30-06 has been prominent since it's introduction over 100 years ago.

Certainly the Model 70 is the rifle I'd pick to be in the lead, but with the great availability of rifles through the DCM program, I'd guess that mil-surps were very prevalent!

That would do the job!

I have my Dad's, set up the same way.

Sycamore

p/s 150g for deer, 180g for elk, 'cause they're bigger, dummy!

This is a great thread. It brings back many fond memories. I don't remember the first year I hunted but it was probably about 1948 or 49. My memories mirror those of Shrapnel and Mule Deer. The rifle of the Eastern plains of Montana was a little different from the mountain rifle. Not a lot,but for goats and the River Breaks the shots could be long.
Most common were as mentioned, Army surplus Mauser's, Springfields, Enfields (both American and British). The 8m/m was used some but not in favor by most hunters as the arc of the heavy military bullet was not optimum for long range. Only the higher income types had a model 70 Win.
My Dad had a 95 Win. rifle in 30-03 and was in great demand as a loner by those that went "up west" to hunt Elk.
The 30-04 (both bolt and lever guns) were considered great killers with the standard 220 gr. round nose bullet.
The Win 94 (30-30-32 spec - 25-35 etc) and Savage 99's were the standard saddle gun carried by the ranchers and cowboys.
Every town had a gun tinker (gun loonie) that put on sights and did repairs.
The Jap. 7.7's were re chambered to 300 Savage and 6.5's to 6.5x57. Most ranchers did not reload as a box of 20 shells would last 5 to 10 years.
My first hunting rifle was a 722 Rem. in 300 Savage. What else in a .30 cal will do it with a "do it all" mind set. I could have bought a model 70 for more money but went with the Rem. as the difference in cost would buy enough ammo for years to come.

Killed lots of deer, 2 bear, and other stuff until a 95 Win.in a 30-40 showed up in the rack of the gun store. Traded with some "boot" and still have that one. Along about 1957 with a wife and young daughter I upgraded again to a 1917 Rem 30-06. The plan was to hunt with it until I could afford to "bore it out" to a 300 H&H. This was the ultimate long distance gun in my corner of the World. Well, money was tight and I hunted with the issued sites for 5 or 6 years. It worked just fine. I was young and didn't mind carrying it. My wife bought me a Weaver K-6 with a post for Christmas. I got out my hacksaw and files and had a go at it. A gunsmith drilled and tapped it and I mounted the scope. I still have it and the scope. It still shoots 3/4 in. at 100 yds. Lots of deer, goats and some Elk fell to this one. Later a Ruger77 300 Win Mag became my go to hunting rig. A Weaver K-4 worked on that too.

Seems like a M70 264 Win Mag shooting 140gr Partitions, with a Leupy 3-9 or 6x of some sort on top, wood stocked with scars and worn bluing would pretty much sum up "All American Hunting Rifle" for me anyways.

Sorry, young buck..

The 264 WM wasn't introd to the public until 1959.

Close, but no cigar.

Jerry

Oh damn! I thought for sure it was '58! Well... If it was '58 I would've created the 264

You might very well have. Good call and not far off.

My guess would be the Mdl 70 in 270 Win.

I just grabbed an American Rifleman dated December 1948 that has a price tag of .35 per copy on the front cover.

New 1911 Colt .45 was $65.00 postpaid from Klien's, same price as a K-22 Masterpiece.

Special! Enfield 30/06 DEER RIFLE, model 1917 in very good shooting condition for $44.50.

L. C. Smith dbl. bbl. shotgun, all calibers, $96.10.

Ithaca 37 $83.50.

And you could open an "easy payment plan" at Klien's.

In the classifieds, I find a pre-war model 70 in .22 Hornet with a model 440 Weaver scope, all in excellent condition for $135.00.

Couldn't find any model 70s or 721s.

In 1948 I worked tying wires on a Case wire-tie hay baler for .50 per hour. That was my night job and then after the hay got too dry to bale, we hauled bales for three cents per bale.

Things have changed!

After several years of saving and dreaming, I bought my first "high powered" centerfire rifle at the age of 18 in 1961: a Model 70 Fwt. in .30-06. It cost me $102 and change at Fed-Mart in Houston. Even then, I was thinking about hunting as many North American species as I could, and I never imagined that I would own more than one big game rifle. Grancel Fitz's writings had convinced me that the '06 was all that I would ever need (BTW, he was right).

The "old-timers" that I had hunted with since I was 14 used a variety of rifles: a 721 in .270 (bought around 1954), a 722 in .257 Roberts (bought about the same time), a Model 70 Fwt in .243 and a Savage 99 in .300 Savage. My best friend's dad had a stock Krag in .30-40 which I had shot periodically since I was about 12. Lots of folks still shot .30-30s, mostly Model 94 Winchesters, but I can remember a fair number of Marlin 336s (one of which I used to shoot my first deer).

Another friend's family had a ranch down on the coastal plain and everyone shot .300 Savages. Another friend was one of several offspring of a well-to-do attorney. They all shot Weatherbys of one variety or another. My friend, however, preferred a Mannlicher-Schoenauer carbine in 7x57 that he found in a gun shop in Beeville, TX.

Most of these folks hunted every year in Texas, but most went to Colorado and Wyoming to hunt, as well.

300 Roy

I was tromping the hills in '58 and saw rifles like the 30-40/.303/.300 Savage/.270 and 30-06 and alot of 30-30's/35 Rems and 32 Specials.The all around rifle was as it is today, the 30-06 and .270 Winchester.If you owned one of those,you were a real hunter in those days.And the '06/.270 debate was as strong then as it is today!

Jayco

1894 .30-30 sounds right. It is my understanding that even today, the 1894 is the all time sales leader for high powered rifles. I guess the AR15 coming late to the party has a long way to go to catch it.

But did you know that #2 on the all-time sales list is the Marlin 336.

Between the Winchester 94 and the Marlin 336, I would say the lever gun easily wins the contest. So I would agree with you and say the 1894 is the all-around Western rifle of 1958. Ah, the year of my birth... Such a fine year.

I would die a very happy man if we could just turn America back to that time.

Me two!

Jayco

I'd certainly turn the clock back to get the great hunting to be had then. I don't think younger hunters really know how great it could be. In some areas of the West deer numbers were unbelievable. In the early 60's I hunted the Salmon, Idaho area a lot, and my family and I killed many great mule deer each year.