Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Extreme -Hard use factory rifle

Probably need to build one like I did. Early 60's M700 7mm RM, stainless barrel turned down to a 24" #1 taper, blueprinted hard chrome bead blasted action, reworked trigger, nickle plated internal parts, Kevlar Brown Precision Pounder stock, stainless sling swivels, Conetrol rings and contoured bases, Swaroviski 2.5-10x42 30mm PH scope, full camo painted. 7 pounds. The rifle was very hard on the deer and elk before I got too old to chase the big stuff up in the mountains. A retired safe queen now with a lot of memories associated with it.

This.
Stainless don't mean schidt.
It will rust. It sometimes pits faster than blued steel.
Many "stainless" guns have carbon components, because
they will will smoother and /or machine better.

For extreme use, I would rather tend to my rifle a bit, and maybe
have a bit of light brown.
Than have a stainless gun with a stuck safety, trigger, firing pin.
Not to disregard the ability to deal with foreign objects.

Add CR feed, and two stand out.
Discard the pre-64 for is less than great gas handeling...

Controlled round M70 classic, with the bolt handle welded.
M-98. Always the same answer. Perfect for (different) open
sights just as designed.

121 years, and still the standard.
1911, 108 years, still in production, still relevant, and as more than a toy.
Amazing.

Hi DakotaDeer,
What I failed to mention in my post was that my requirement is also the stainless steel model of the Ruger Mk II and the Hawkeye stainless finish was what I was referring to as “poor”. I owned a couple and the finish seemed to want to rub off with use. The “brushed” finish of the SS Mk II was easy enough to repair if scuffed. I don’t think that the bued and wood models would qualify as a “hard use” rifle. But I am glad that Ruger saw fit to go back to the polished blue on those models.

My Christiansen Arms Mesa is a Mod 700 clone, has a Trigger Tech primary ( very good, will work with debris & crud IN the trigger!) stainless steel, Cerakoted, Synthetic stock. This one is in 300WM, sporter weight. I don't use the brake. Has double ejectors and an M16 type extractor.

I would think it wouldn't be that hard to find an original Mod 98 Mauser and trick it out the way I wanted it. The 1917 enfield is a tank, but very heavy. Hard to find M1903-A3s anymore. I am OCD about cold and plastic/polymers whether they be trigger guards or magazines. Just me. I have hunted in -16 here in Utah with a moly coated Mod 700 Classic set in a BP High country with no problems. I will drag this Mesa out in it again for late season cow elk and feel even better about it. Just me...

While a stainless barrel is nice, it's not mandatory; the rest doesn't matter. If the bottom metal gets a bit rusty, who cares. If the scope rings are speckled, the scope will still be on the rifle.
My choice would be a 98 Mauser action with the original trigger and a Buehler-style safety.The barrel could be stainless. The stock would be a Mcmillan or Bansner or a straight grained, quarter sawn, walnut. The rifle would have a 1/8 inch white or gold bead front sight with the rear sight optional. A flip-up peep on the rear scope base (steel Weaver bases) would be a great choice. Otherwise, if the stock fits, a rear sight is unnecessary at 75 yards or less.
The Mauser action has some real advantages over most of the newer developements. In the event of a firing pin failure, the pin can be replaced in a minute; without tools. The same goes for the extractor. Add to this the fact that failures are so rare as to be almost unheard of and you can see the benefit of the design. The trigger consists of five parts; this includes pins and springs. These triggers simply do not fail.
Scope bases should be steel Weaver or Leupold. Rings should be Leupold QRW's holding a rugged, fixed power, scope. (I'm actually fine with Weaver rings but the QRW's are real good.
To clarify, in my opinion, "extreme hard use" means a rifle which is out in all sorts of weather, in rough terrain, for extended periods of time. Dragging the rifle through a hal mile of slide alder should have no effect at all. Two weeks in the rain should result in nothing more than a little surface rust. At any time, pulling the trigger should result in a "bang".
Well, once again, this site seems bent on disabling my typing feature so I'll have to quit for now. GD

Don't have to bother with ice/snow for the most part these days, but survived a doozy rain to ice storm while hunting with a 94 .30-30 without issue. I'm not inclined to take wood and blue afield to hunt during foul weather but do have one for that purpose, a Ruger 77/44 SS and it has been wet/frosted several times. It kills stuff wet, dry or slightly frozen.

While a lot of these suggestions are good. The title from OP reads "Hard use factory rifle"

My Montana Rifle Company has worked well. All stainless, gas handling like the 98, and an open trigger like the pre64. I believe some have had good experiences and some different. The Alasken comes with open sights.

I also think readily available ammo is a necessary consideration. 30/06 and 308 is available almost any where.

the answer is not hard - Buy a Sears model 50 or 51 they are a FN Mauser action, they can be found in great conditon in the $400-$450 range. Factory calibers were 270 or 30/06, both great all-around calibers.
They have a chrome-lined barrel, use a little oil on the metal from time to time, or rattle can the action and barrel with some Krylon paint - if it gets chipped then rattle can some more over the it. The Krylon may not be as "cool" as having a Cerekote job but it works just as well.
The model 50's have open sights so that requirement is taken care of. The only downside to them is the trigger is a strange design but it could be easily replaced with a Mauser military trigger so it would be an open-trigger design and one that has been proven for decades.

If you want to spend more money then put it into a synthetic stock, there are all sorts of options from around $100 up to McMillans at considerably more money. I built one with a Butler Creek stock and it was the best handling rifle I have ever owned.

If you want to see what a hard use rifle really is go back and find some pictures of the Mauser belonging to 458Win - a perfect example of a rifle that is used hard and still works just great.

drover

Years ago when I made the decision to get a practical, general purpose rifle for harsh environments, I chose the LH Ruger M77 MKII Stainless .30-06 with a gray laminate stock. I think a stainless classic M70 would be great as well, but they're not easy to find in LH. A true Mauser could be hard chromed or cerakoted if polished blue doesn't satisfy one's preferred requirements. I may restock my MKII with a synthetic someday and add iron sights.

I’ll look at Mausers but what models do I look at in a 30/06? Sears- FN- browning - surplus- model numbers?

Did you read my message about three above this one? The Sears model 50 is an FN, as is Browning - avoid a surplus unless you want to spend a lot more money.

30/06 IMO but there is a lot to be said about the 270 - whichever caliber you like, if you think you may encounter big bears then the 30/06 may be a better choice.

drover

The only thing I would change on either the Sears or the Browning is that I would retro-fit a military trigger, bolt sleeve, and Buehler safety. Given the OP's factory rifle qualification, I would lean toward Ruger. Not a Mauser and not my ideal but pretty decent. I am also impressed with the Kimber Montana. Not as rugged as my ideal but very nice to carry. GD

The problem I have with Ruger 77's is the stock is too low for use with a scope, at least for me. I restocked my 77 7mm RM and now it is no-longer painful to shoot. I shoot a 416 and several 375's and 300 magnums, Weatherby and Winchester and a have had three 338 WM's. None have inflicted pain like that factory Ruger 77 did.

My tough rifle isn't a factory rifle. I started with an very nice Mauser action, and did all the work my self except mounting the rear sight - I didn't have a jig for that. It didn't cost a lot of money like some have stated.

I have mainly Remington 700 rifles now and none have failed due to the conditions you've mentioned. I only had one failure with a Springfield, after replacing the firing pin spring it worked flawlessly for a couple of decades, still would I suspect, but my cousin wanted it more than I.

I have no idea why Ruger quit making the 77 all weather. Perfect for a beater, "hard use" rifle IMO.

Mod 70 EW is my choice when use a bolt rifle here in Alaska, 30-06.

How would a push feed Winchester 70 hold up?

X1000

I can tell you a Kimber Montana firing pin freezes when it spends a day in snow and then a single digit night. Took one min to fix with my stove, but still..