Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Pump Rifles and deer

Wow.....this thread is almost 5 weeks old and going strong.......cool!!!

My dad (left) and two of his brothers with that seasons antlers, circa 1942 I believe. His older brother Burr's 141 in .30 Rem on the right equipped with a "Climbing Lyman" peep. My fathers Win M64 carbine on the left. Dad told me Burr could outshoot him with that Remington, but he said it was due to it having longer barrel.

Marc -
How do you like the ergos of the fore pump handle & the pistol grip of the M Six ?

I especially like the smaller circum. of the pistol grip. I don't have small hands but I can get a more positive hold with the Six's design.

Jerry

I have to agree with Jerry. The grip on the ones I've handled is perfect. I do have squat,thick hands,and a slim grip works well for me. It's a bitch. Makes choosing a handgun a real treat as well. It has its perks though. Once met a feller that I knew was sparking my best friends wife. He didn't have a clue who I was. Let's just say that when we shook hands,he knew something was up. He didn't yelp,but that was one farmer pump he didn't soon forget. Let's just say it lingered a little. Far be it for me to medal in another couple's afairs (pun intended). I figure he signed his check that week left handed.

I would really like to try a M6. Can't find one that suits me though. I can tell you they are holding their value in this part of the country. And not in pristine condition either. The search is kinda fun though.

Jerry,
The slim grip feels great to me and the fore end feels great. I really like the cheek piece. Its a much better feeling rifle in the hands than my 760 or the 7600s I've had.

There was a shop in central Maine that used to have racks of pump rifles. You name it, they had it. 760, 141s, 76s, 6, 7600, and Savages. Just about every caliber made. Not sure what happened, but the last few years that dried up and now all they seem to have are a few plain jane 7600s in 270 or 30-06. I remember seeing a line of 35 Remingtons in the $300-$400 range. When I finally decided to buy one, nada. Oh well.

I reloaded 60 rounds of .270 for a friends Rem 760 and I could not reach the throat it was so long. The throat was so long a loaded round using the Hornady .270 140 gr BT would not come out of the ejection port.

Any one else experience longer than usual throats in the 760//7600?

Doc

A few things come to mind:
1. A detachable box mag (clip) automatically limits COAL

2. Factory ammo has acceptable accuracy with said COAL

3. In several 6s and 7600s (friends), handloads are very accurate.

4. Normal or standard velocity is achieved

SO

I've never 'needed' to check/measure length to lands.

When you are limited by the magazine regardless of the rifle what can you do about it? You can't change it


Jerry

Exactly.

In my 270, the two bullets that shoot the best are the 150gr Speer and the 140gr Nosler AB. Both rather long bullets. I just seat them so they clear the ejection port when I remove a loaded round out of the chamber.

Ive always got very good accuracy with handloads that simply fit the magazine.

Wouldn't you love to hop in a time machine and go back and spend a day in deer camp with those guys? Call me weird but I fantasize about stuff like that.

I would love to hop a time machine back to an old time deer camp.

Count me in. Woolrich,longjohns,the rifle and "cartridges". From what I've gathered from old timers,if you were lucky,you had a deer rifle in the household. "Cartridges" too. Not a lot of time standing in front of the gun safe. My grandad had a general store back in the day. If you didn't want the whole box of cartridges,you could buy them by the piece. I used to have an old shotgun shell box from the store that had the price each marked on the lid. Hard times. Simple times.

My grandfather was a old time deer hunter in Pa. At first they used to take the train to Center Co. and hunt out of a man's home.. He came across the river in a boat to pick them up because the train tracks were on the opposite side of the river from the house. It was all walking, no ATV's, no good boots..The country was straight up and straight down.. They used to go for two weeks.. A week for bear and then a week for deer.

I remember when I started, felt boots and over boots were the best thing for stand hunting for deer.. Don't know what happened to mine..

Later, grandfather and some of his cronies, built a bear wagon.. It was an old converted Studabaker hearse .. They made bunks in this and had a cook tent.. One trip, they broke an axle and had to walk out 10 miles to get to town, then find and axle..

There was a camp limit of 6 deer in those days.. Party hunting was common, but not legal.. My Grandfather shot a .30-06 model 54 Win. In those days, a .30-30 was considered a big rifle.

I only wish I would have written the stories he told me down when I was a kid.. I remember many, but there were lots of others.. He passed when I was 12, but his partner lived another 20 years.. He often told me stories about the past hunts, but I failed to write them down also.. I moved from that country 45 years ago, and lost contact with all the old timers.. Lots of history has been lost...

WCH

Those old boys wanted to hunt Deer. My Step Dad was one of them. Leave for camp in Clinton County which was a tent and stay for 2-3 weeks. Took the railroad from Wilkinsburg that dropped them of along the track in Sinnamohoning. A guy with a mule wagon would pick them up and take them over and down the mountain about 10miles. And it was on a road they cut themselves. Fortunately most of the big wood had been previously clear cut and the timber at that time was just coming back. Who owned it? Nobody cared, they just did it.

Later on paved roads opened up and they took their Model T's and A's. Band brakes which needed changed frequently and gravity fed gas tanks that required them to backup the steep hills to keep the gas flowing. Cars broke down; they handled it themselves. Essential parts was part of their gear.

Later on they bought one camp, eventually sold it and bought a couple hundred acres and built their own. That land eventually became surrounded by State Forest and the State wanted it bad. They told the State to kiss off. The State hassled them for the longest time, but a couple of them eventually became extremely successful in construction and they pulled their IOUs in and the State left them alone.

Dug out a big lake. Permit? Don't need no stinking permit. Today it would be a big problem.

The old camps have been tore down and rebuilt a couple times. Today there are two camps on that property and both would make a fairly nice home. Some of the original bloodlines still flows in them.

Addition: Built a really well done foot bridge across Cooks Run from their side onto State land. Some lady forester came in and told them to tear it down. They didn't and she had it done. They rebuilt it. Eventually it reached a head and she was transferred and it is still there.

This is good stuff.

I well remember the stories my dad told me from when he was a kid in the 1930's. Deer camp was a leased spot up in North East Pa. near Lake Erie, I believe. They took a train in as close as they could get and then hired a horse drawn cart to take them several more miles back into the camp. Most of the guys carried shotguns, or old black powder guns. There were no "modern" rifles among the group-none of these guys could afford them. Deer were scarce, and the hunting was very hard. Dad said if his father cut a track, they'd stay on that track until dark, and come back to it the next day if need be. Dad's first rifle, a hand me down from his father, was a 30-40 Craig. He never saw a rifel scope until he entered the military in 1941. Deer camp was a two week affair. Wood needed to be cut, water brought in, and food gathered for the men. They ate lots of small game-rabbits, squirrels, grouse and the occasional turkey when one could be found. Camp was only broken when provisions ran low. IF they got a deer, they could stay longer. If they didn't, and many times that was the case, they'd have to get word out to the teamsters to come pick them up so they could catch the train on it's once a week run. More than once they waited at the station on the end of the line for several days because they missed the train. There was a house in the little town there that allowed them to sleep in the barn and would cook meals for them in exchange for some chores being done while they waited on the trains return.

I'm loving the PA deer camp stories!

Brings A LOT of memories back that don't seem all that long ago! Grew up in Forest County, PA....so no deer camp but had guys come up from Pittsburgh, PA for the week. Always brought an old Willys Jeep with them that was used to transport hunters in and deer out. I was just coming of hunting age then and most of these guys used 760s, a few bolts, but mostly 760s in .270 and .30-06. My stepdad graduated from a 141 in .35 Remington to a 760 in .30-06. I now have those rifles and have taken a few whitetails with them to refresh those memories. No one to give them to so the stories that belong to them will be lost when I go.....seems a shame but someone else will hopefully make some new memories .

Love the 760s have had a bunch in my life in .222, .223, 6mm, 270, 30-06, 300 savage, 35 Remington and 358 Winchester. All of them seem to shoot but my stepdad's in 30-06 shot the best and still amazes me with sub 1/2" groups with ammo it likes(all factory ammo never had a reload in it )

Great thread!!
PennDog

I'm enjoying the OLD hunting camp stories too.

My Dad got a 760 in 30-06 in the early 60s but I didn't know where or from whom. It basically looked new to me but it certainly didn't have much wear.

In Ark. during the 50s-60s deer were 'scarce'. I remember Dad and Grandpa saying that the mere sight of a deer track would draw a crowd just to see one.

That 760 of Dad's plus my using 870s was why I got into pump rifles. I had one 760 in 270 but later moved to the Model Sixes. I had 760 rechambered for the 35 Whelen but other than those 2 all my pumps have been Sixes.

Keep em comin

Jerry