Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Characteristics of a hunting rifle

The long thread in the elk hunting forum concerning the guy with the Moisin-Nagant "elk rifle" suggested this topic. (https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1530105/page/1/fpart/1.)

What, in your opinion, are the three most important characteristics of a hunting rifle?

lil enough recoil you can shoot it well(this varys from person to person and even rifle to rifle with same person)

doesnt handle like a 2x6 with a pipe strapped on

and has a good trigger

so long as it meets those criteria ill hunt with it........

without reading the post & just answering the question with the privilage of not being influenced by reading other answers...

off the cuff...

reliability

high confidence (enough boom for the job & accuracy to put it where it needs to go without question)

and, as odd as it may sound, for lack of better words (don't flame me boys)

a certain .... no, I just can't get myself to say "romance" it's just not the right word.... there must be a word for what I'm thinking, nastalgia or possibly sentiment?

what ever grabs you by the boo-boo, what ever makes you feel like you are carrying THE rifle to carry... be you a McSwirly guy, a classic oil finished walnut guy, a tactical guy... what ever floats your boat.

It's gotta fit your individual interests in a rifle.

Dave

Field accuracy (sum of benchrest capability combined with a good stock and trigger)

Appropriate power for the game and area hunted.

Absolute reliability.

Not too heavy to carry all day, not too pretty to scratch up, and not too hard to shoot well - which mostly means decent sights and trigger.

Here's my criteria. If it meets these five, I'll hunt with it.

1. Reliable - It goes bang everytime the trigger is pulled, but doesn't when the saftey is on. When you work the bolt, it extracts the fired case and feeds another one in the chamber smoothly, everytime under all conditions.

2. Honest - It shoots the same today as it did last year and the year before that. Point of impact doesn't change with the weather conditions or the seasons.

3. Handy - Light enough to carry all day, short enough not to get in the way, neutral or slightly muzzle forward balance, and it fits you well enough to point where you look.

4. Tough - You shouldn't have to baby it to keep it running or to keep it from being eaten up with rust. Synthetic/stainless rules.

5. Accurate - Bugholes are nice, but it only needs to be accruate enough to never be the reason you muff a shot. A good trigger is a must so you can actually get the accuracy out of the rifel under field conditions.

accurate- self explanitory

reliable- Shoots the same spot and funtions regardless

Enjoyable- If you enjoy the rifle you will carry it more, shoot it more, and overall know the gun alot better than other guns. This one shows its value when the seconds count and its an instict shot.

+ one ( But I still love good wood and blue steel! ) BT

scratched and work polished wood stocks mixed with a blued barrel that has the blueing worn down on most of it and wore off of it in a few places is a beautifull thing. It will tell stories by its self. Somethin a synthetic stailess gun never will.

Dead on 'Bogger. Some guys look at an old beat up gun and just see an old beat up gun. I see a lifetime of great stories. Every scratch was earned. Every ding on the stock tells a story. "Pretty" guns are just pretty-dinged up guns are game getters. When the day comes that I have to be more concerned about getting a scratch, or a mark on the stock, it's time to quit hunting.

That,s right. I have some pretty walnut/blue rifles. They all fill the accuracy/reliability/ease-of-carry (to me, anyway) rules. And they make me happy. Any marks or boogering up, whether accidental or stupid, just adds to the history and stories.

gunner

Last year I had a chance to look at my grandpa's m70 .270 Its topped by an older equally beat Nikon.

He bought it when he was in the 8th grade IRC. Heck the checkering is even wore off I didnt know you could do that! There is probly 5% of the finish left on it. It was a work gun but still cared for.

In my eyes it was and is the most beautifull and awesome rifle I have ever seen

1) flawless feeding and function

2) consistent, unchanging point-of-impact

3) balance and handling characteristics

Notice I didn't list "benchrest-accuracy"? That belongs in the #4 or #5 spot............

AD

After luggin around a 11 pound (with the big ass scope) varmint barreled 280 for years, I like the less is more concept. A trim 7 to 8 pounder without a mile long tube and a low mounted 2-7x sub 40mm objective, in a light recoiling round like the 7-08 or 7x57 fits my bill if all of the points other posters mentioned about reliablity and consistent POI make the cut. I'll take 1.5 MOA (for a shot good to MPBR), but obviously I'd like better.

A hunting rifle will be in the hands of a HUNTER..no matter how ugly, old ,pretty, expensive...or even "innacurate" by today's standards.

He will know the rifle, the cartridge, and his loads and abilities and he will know the country & the GAME hunted well.
Might be a .22 in the hands of a nine year old boy or girl from Kentucky or West Virginia after squirrels....might be a ...

fill in the blanks..
but the measure of the hunter's and hunting rifle is the hunter and his or her time with it a hunting..:)..Jim

now that is some profound wisdom. It manages to cover what's really important, as we all have our own opinions regarding what works for us.