Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What was your 1st deer rifle?

My first was given to me by my uncle. Pre-64 Mod 70 Featherweight in 243 Win.
I believe it was born in 1955. First year it came out.

Win 94 30-30

I started hunting deer in my mid 30s and all I had in the closet were shotguns. So I picked up a SKS for $125 thinking it ideal for timber hunting with a semi auto option in a .308 caliber. I took a guest, a dedicated deer hunter, on a hunt and he rolled his eyes and loaned me a Ruger #1 in a .270 with which I took my first whitetail. He told me to get a real rifle, and so I wound up settling on a Winchester Ranger synthetic in 30-06 with a blind mag, scoped it with a Leupold vari-x-II. That turned out to be a very solid deer rifle. Trigger was a tad heavy by today's standard but quite crisp.

Savage 340 bolt action carbine in 30-30, open sights. Each of my two sons killed his first big game animal with the same rifle.

Most dedicated hunters kinda look down at the sks for a hunting tool.

First Deer Gun was a New England Firearms .410 when I was 11, it doubled as my squirrel gun as well. First deer rifle was a marlin 30-30 2 years later.

Remington 742 30-06 with a see thru scope mount, Tasco 3x9x40 . This was the set up running dogs in the magnolia state.

My first was a Winchester 30-30. Second was an Interarms 243 Win.

HVA .243 lightweight, factory full stocked w/Lyman 57 receiver sight and a 1/16 gold bead on the factory ramp. Burned the barrel out shooting ground squirrels on the ranch w/50 cent a# surp 4831 and $2/100 Speer 80 gr sp's. Deer load was a FULL case of the 4831 and 100 gr. Nosler old style Pt's, all some 45 years ago, still have it.-Muddy

Marlin 336 in .30-30. Love it and still hunt with it most of the time.

First was a pre-64 Winchester Model 94. 30-30 Winchester. A five year old rifle I bought from a guy I worked with in 1965. Sure wish I still had that one.

I miss those days in the beginning. The prep of your equipment and finding some to borrow.....didnt have it all in the beginning.

Hoping to see a buck, any buck. I could care less about how many points in those days.

Cold and sunny with that deer season smell. The first sight of a deer got your heart pounding. Lunches in the truck, huntin food rules.

Choosing the lucky bullet, rubbing it shiney. Being proud of your rifle, regardless of what brand it was.

When you got one it meant hauling all over the country to show it off. It meant you were a hunter and could now participate in hunting stories.

Id give anything to be there again for a day or two.

Regards,

OB that brought back some great memories and almost a tear to my eye, recalling those days.

My first was my Marlin 336 .30.30. I still like to use it, but can't focus on the stock sites anymore in low light and haven't yet modified that situation.

Get a good peep. I like the vintage Redfield, Lymans, and some of the higher end Williams. Btw Skinner make a dandy too, well worth the money. What ever it takes to bring your old rfle back to life and be more viable.

Regards,

Great thread. Read it through. Thanks for sharing your stories!

My first few deer and antelope, I used a tang safety Ruger 77 in 243 Win with a Leupold 2.5-8. Beautiful dark, shiny bluing. It was a Christmas gift or some such from my dad to my mom around the time I was born. All I knew about the gun back then was that the thing shot right where I put the crosshairs, and that my step-dad considered it borderline powerwise for big game. I never had any problems, and I never missed with that rifle: bang, flop! We only shot 100gr factory ammo. I recall a preference for the Winchester PP. Mom still has that gun. Keep trying to talk her into parting with it, but she has a weird attachment to it, though it hasn't been shot or cleaned in decades. The last hunt I took it on, I noticed the firing pin spring would light strike the 1st round. Never could convince my stepdad not to keep guns stored loaded. It is easy enough to release the spring tension too.

At 15 I moved on to my dad's goto big game gun the last few years he hunted: another M77 with a 2.5-8 in 257 Roberts, shooting his handloaded 100grn Partitions at about 2850. He killed elk with that gun and load. I killed a few deer, but didn't get a shot at any elk, though I drew a few permits. My dad sold or traded it at some point to get another gun. He was always wheeling and dealing in those days.

My first 'Mine' rifle was another tang safety M77 in 270 Win. with a Leupold 3-9, which I got at 16. It shot unbelievably poorly with all ammo I tried. I was happy to get under 5" groups at 100. I took it hunting a few times, but never did get any shots at big game with it. Never had any confidence in it either, since it shot so poorly compared to what I'd previously used. It went toward car repairs when I was 20. I don't miss it.

A military surplus 6.5 Swede out of a cardboard barrel purchased at Warshall's in Seattle.
IIRC when pop payed for it, it was less than $20 out the door........ That was a long time ago and it killed quite a few Blacktail in the years after that.

My first deer rifle was an SKS. I was 12 years old and our local hardware store got a shipment of brand new old war stock rifles in for $99. I worked my entire summer for my parents to buy this gun from me. I never even saw a deer to shoot at but I hiked up several miles of mountainside season after season looking for one. I wish I still had that rifle. I don't think its a very good rifle but I would love to have it just for the memories. I sold it to a family friend about 17 years ago when I joined the military.

Remington 770 in .308 that came w/ a 3x9 Bushnell. Not the finest rifle but it did the trick.

Sears JC Higgins 270. About what I finished with 50 years later...

Wow, lots o memories with this thread. My first deer rifle was a Glenfield 30A 30-30 that my dad got used for me on my 15th birthday. I shot my first two mule deer with that rifle. One at 50 yards and one at 150 yards. Don't use it much anymore, but I still have it and will never sell it.