Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters A Close-in Deer Rifle

I've been re-reading Francis Sell's Book, ]The Deer Hunter's Guide. It got me to thinking about his ideas on picking a good deer stalking gun. I thought I'd ask y'all what you think.

Here is Sell and his stalking gun.



He describes it as "A light handy combination for brush shooting-- short 20 inch barreled, Mannlicher-stocked , 6.5X55 Rifle with a 2X scope."

I've got two rifles that vaguely fit this.

The first is a bobbed MAS 36 shooting 7.5X54 (it's nearly identical to a 308 WIN). It has the full stock, but no scope.



I have not had this one out all that much. However, I have to say the Frogs had a winner of an idea. If the Germans had just attacked the Maginot Line and we'd seen a second world war in the trenches, this was the tool to use. I use 150 Grain Hornady Interlock SPs.

The second is my TC Compass in 7mm-08 with 139 grain Hornady IL SPs. It sports a 3-9X40 Bushnell.



I have not taken all that much with it, but it's has DRT'd everything I've shot.

It was unclear to me why Sell picked what he did, except to say I dig the idea of a fast-mounting, fast-swinging rifle. However, I don't know how a Mannlicher stock figures into that. I also wonder the choice of 6.5X55 over something a bit beefier like 308 WIN. When building up a short-range deer getter is y'all's preference for small and fast or big and slow.

Truthfully, my days of schlepping through the forest in pursuit of Cervids are probably on the wane. I haven't had a decent schlep in over a decade. I much prefer static setups. In our part of the world deer hunter density exceeds deer density and wandering around during season is not such a good idea. I've got 200 acres to hunt, but I can pussyfoot from the house to the back in less than a half-hour. It's much better to set up somewhere and wait for the neighbors to scare something onto the property.

Hear me out. I think his choice was likely because its what he had and he liked it. I can think of no reasons a Mannlicher stock or a fixed 2x would be choice with today's options. On the flip side, I can see why a 6.5mm bullet my be choice for areas with brush. The bullet is narrower and thus has less frontal surface area which reduces the chances of coming into contact with vegetation. Threading with a smaller needle, per se. It is also lower recoil, so it is easier to follow-up shots on moving game.

A modern ideation may be something more like a Remington Model 7 chambered in .260 Rem or 6.5 Creedmoor with a Trijicon Accupoint 1-4x.

A Remington Model 7 in 308 or 7mm-08 with a Leupold 1.75-6 would be the modern version :-)

Where is the scope on that rifle? I can't see it.

Jim

I'd go with something with a bayonet lug. Never get closer than that.
Get an actual Mannlicher Schonaur or however you spell it.
Very fine rifles. Peep sight it.

Hard to beet a short light and most importantly well fitted 308 or simular with a nice low power or fixed scope.

This is strictly coincidence.
I shot my first deer with an old Ruger Deerstalker. One of the tube fed ones. It's what my Dad had, and it fit my small frame. It flattened a running whitetail like a bus.

I've carried Marlin 336's and Win 94's. I think the 94 carries easier, and is faster to shoulder and aim. IMO it sets the bar for any other repeater. The fastest long gun I've ever handled was a single shot break action 20ga. I can't recall the brand. Loaded with slugs, I doubt anything could beat it.

I have the described rifle in the classifieds.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...rch/true/re-sisk-rifles-308#Post18249323

I bought this Ruger Hawkeye RSI .308 this year. It has a fixed 3x with a heavy duplex. My load is 150gr RN bullets over Varget. It's light, handy, and points naturally.

Did a lot of still hunting in days gone by and due to the nature of woods and scrub density never took a shot over 30 yards. Whacked a truck load of deer and hogs doing that. My favorite was a Win 94 Trapper, .30-30. Second in line as time went by was a T/C Contender Carbine w/2.5X glass and also in .30-30. Last was a Ruger 77/44 with a red dot. There were no survivors.

Also did a bit of the craft with an Ithaca 37 20 ga. and #3 buckshot. Same conclusion.

The old 1920 Savage was a pretty cool one as well. Slim and easily handled. Today, anything Kimber feels pretty close to right!

Sell lived in Oregon and hunted blacktails in the dripping jungles of the Pacific Northwest. I've spent much of the last 30 years hunting the same deer under the same conditions. Our deer are small and shots are usually within 100 yards, so almost anything will work. At the end of his hunting career, Sell was using a wildcat based on the 25-35 that was about like a 257 Roberts.


Most shots in Pacific Northwest blacktail hunting are offhand. Your answer is just below the front sight in that picture: the steel nose cap. Bolt-action carbines float like crazy on fast offhand shots. The Mannlicher stock and steel nose cap put some weight at the muzzle where it helps settle things down.

I've used revolvers, lever guns, shotguns, and bolt actions. For me, a 22" 308 bolt gun with a 4x scope and cheap 150-grain factory ammo works about as well as anything. 4-5 MOA will put meat on the table IF your rifle balances well and fits you.


Okie John

I hunt this way mostly and my go to is a Winchester 94 30-30

Close in deer rifle?
The best rifle invented for that is well over 100 years old and is a lever action 30-30.

Your French MAS 36 is 7.5 French not 7.62x54R. And it's not a good choice for hunting because it has no safety

He had a rear bridge peep on there in that picture didn’t he?
Either one works for me. Good point about that muzzle weight being an asset. Yup.

Z. H. Sell 3 by Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
IMG_20190918_192827625 by Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
2018 #1 Ant. Buck by Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
IMG_20151228_081801 by Steve Zihn, on [bleep]

Savage 99 - full length custom cherry stock, peep sight in .25-35 tomcat (a brainchild of Sell - although someone along the way reamed it out to .250-3000AI which isn’t all bad). It’s a sweet handling rifle just like he might have invisioned?!

PennDog

I've thought for a long time about replacing the scope on my Model 70 Featherweight 308win with a receiver sight. Then a couple threads with all the pertinent info showed up in the Win section. What's saved me from having to leave the couch, is it would still be a long action with a mag plug.

From here I can maybe see the Swede's, and Rem 7's and 600's easier than from the work bench.

One shot is most likely all your going to get. IF you can see the iron sights well enough a lever action has been getting deer and other game to the freezer for a long time. I can't see irons so a single shot in 38/55, 405 a, 35 Whelan, 375 H&H and a low power scope would be my choice