The oldest I use regularly is a circa 1930 99 Savage with a tang aperture sight in .303 Savage. I’ve killed deer and caribou with it and, with the.410 barrel, spruce grouse. My brother used it to kill the biggest caribou either of us have ever killed.
I used to hunt sometimes with a 1920’s vintage’92 SRC in .44-40, but a friend was looking for a small easy to handle rifle for his daughter to kill her first deer with. I let him take the ‘92 and enough loads to learn the rifle. She killed a deer with it. When he called about bringing it back I said she could keep it. A kid shouldn’t have to give up their first deer rifle.
