Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Rifles that give you confidence

Easy choices:

Sako L579 Forester 308 WCF w/ Swarovski 3-9x36

And it's larger brother:

Sako AV w/ 24" Shilen tube 338 Win. Mag w/ Leupold 2-7x

StarchedCover

Depends on what I'm doing, but I have a few confidence rifles.

A matched pair of Browning Safaris from the 60s built on the small ring Mauser, pencil barrels, and in .243 and .308. I load for the .243 and can not improve on Federal 150s in the blue box for the .308. Both are extremely accurate.

A custom stocked 24" FN from the late 50s in .30-06. It drops 180 Superformance into about 1 1/8" groups. I have more accurate rifles and hand loading might yield better, but this one has the things that make it shootable, including a slightly cast off stock. I have killed mulies and coyote in the desert with this one off my two feet and aided only by a hasty sling, and farther than it should have happened.

Several Marlin 336 rifles to choose from. They work for ranch chores as well as the high priced stuff, and the ones I have kept are plenty accurate for their jobs.

I have a box stand overlooking a feed plot, a spring, and a game trail. When I go sit there, I generally take a high grade Browning BAR from 1970, in .30-06. It is another barely over an inch gun with factory ammo that gives me lots of pleasure. I like to go to this blind because I always see deer. I have let several ten pointers walk there. I like to watch the deer interact with one another. Someday the monster will come by.......
Jack

A rifle that really fits well gives me confidence. There are more than one that fit me well.

I probably could have stayed with just the first big-game rifle that I lucked into, and would have been just fine, as it has truly earned its nickname "Ol' Reliable." Even my wife calls it that, and if she really wants some meat for the table, she tells me to take the "real gun" and get it done.

Winchester 70 pushfeed 30-06 Featherweight in a very light factory synthetic made by the very early H&S Precision.

I, with it, have never not finished a killing job that we started.

These are my three "go to" rifles that I feel very confident with. I have worded up loads for each and don't really NEED much more in this country.

I like lightweights and they are;

-NULA in 7-08 that shoots 120 gr Barnes TTSX very well.

-CLR/NULA hybrid in 7x57 that shoots 160 gr Accubonds.

-Kimber Montana in 300 WSM that shoots 180 gr TTSX.

donsm70

There are two that fit the bill right now....

First is a Remington Model 722 in .300 Savage bedded into a mountain rifle stock, then topped with a 1.5-5 Leupold with heavy duplex. The original stock had too much drop for me, thus the MR stock. As far as I am concerned, this is the perfect rig for hunting whitetails here in the heavy brush.

The second is a mid-1980's Remington 700 SA with a Brux Remington sporter contour 1-8 twist barrel in .22-250 bedded into a Hunters Edge. This is the most accurate rifle I have ever owned and works well on the prairie for deer, antelope, coyotes and the occasional prairie dog. It is topped with a 3x9x40 Leupold.

Confidence is subjective. Young fellers tend to have through the roof confidence with a sometimes low success rate. Its called (Over Confident)

Old fellers tend to be confident more in relation to life experience.

As Montana Marine said: Nothing is better for building confidence than spent primers. It is confidence that is applied in direct relation to life experience.

Shod

My Jarrett 280AI is my go-to rifle for deer. I had one for > 25 years before it got stolen and that rifle was as close to magic as any rifle I ever shot. In that time frame it only missed one deer and that was my fault. It was divinely accurate. It's replacement is quickly earning its stripes as well.

For elk it's my Carolina Precision Rifles 300 Ultra Mag.....It's pure wickedness. I've never had to track a single elk I've shot with it...bang flop from 48 yards (its first elk) to out at 300 yards.

Also had a confidence buster of the first order. It was a hum dinger 1949 model 70 in 270Win that was infected with some serious voodoo or something. No matter what I hit with that rifle, I was in for a serious tracking job (or serious disappointment). Heart/lung hits had no effect....go find the tracking dog. I sold her and only have one 270 now, a Colt Sauer that is infection-free and does the job whenever asked.

For me, it's my 30 YO Weatherby MkV Fibermark, .257 Weatherby. The very first hunt I took her on was to Alaska, for barren-ground caribou. A 200 yard shot at a big bull flattened him so fast he was momentarily out of sight as the rest of the herd ran off. There was blood and bits of lung sprayed across the snow on the exit side. Hmmm- maybe I've got something here.
Since that hunt, the .257 has become my most-used rifle, accounting for more big game than any of the other rifles I own combined. Everything, from coyotes to elk, just fall down when she's pointed their way. That kind of record builds confidence with every shot.
Nowadays, the preferred load for my .257 is a Barnes 100 gr. TTSX, pushed fast.
Hoping I will draw another Mule Deer tag this year, and give the Wby. another chance to shine.

I've got a McMillan Edge stock on order for my Wby, to dress it up a bit and shave a few ounces off the weight.

Ruger 77 Hawkeye SS/Syn 358 Win with a Leupold VX2 3-9x40mm, German #4 reticle.

Toying around with the idea of a new (Mickey) stock. Otherwise it's been a great rifle to me and quite fun to shoot at the range and use in the field for 2 seasons.

I don't play favorites, having a rifle in my hands makes me a lucky fellow!

Every rifle I do not have confidence in is either sold or traded away.

Please don't shoot Mule Deer this year!

Anything that fits me reasonably well that has performed well on the range. Carrying it in the field for a time ups the "feel" for it. Killing well with it the first time cranks it up another few notches.

He better not grow 180" plus antlers between now and this fall.......

Pre 64 model 70 in 270 Winchester. In process of total restoration, including trigger work, bedding, and enhanced point pattern checkering. Love this rifle!