Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Your favorite lightweight short barreled deer rifle???

Thinking about a new light rifle for next year deer season Conditions 200 yards max on the range I’ve got a model 7 action and a 700 action (short) available Ideas on caliber and barrel length Leaning towards a 358 win build Barrel length 18.5 to 20” I’ve got a Leupy ultra light 3-9 with long range reticle for it or a 2.5-8x36 as well Throw me some ideas out there on stocks as well Always interested in views and opinions

I used to have a Remington 788 in 308 with an 18” barrel that was handy in a deer stand. But to be honest, I have a Winchester M70 Featherweight 30-06 that has spent plenty of time being used in the same setting, and it was never what I would consider too long or too heavy. I have a friend who uses his Ruger M77 Ultralight 270 Win for the same thing. It has a 20” barrel and is a very handy deer rifle. So, anything 18-22” barrel, and any cartridge 6MM ARC all the way up to 30-06 is suitable….if you try to land on the middle of those numbers, you end up with a 20” barrel chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08! Not a bad place to be.

I think a T3x compact in 7mm-08 is on my soon to acquire list for treestand hunting.

I cut the barrel to 19" on a Tikka T3 chambered in 308. It weights exactly 7 lbs with a Burris FF-II 3-9X40 on it. I'm thinking about going to a 1-4X20 on it for next year. Would be closer to 6.5 lbs.

I'd use the model 7 action. The action is a little shorter and lighter than the SA 700, but it actually has a larger loading/ejection port making it easier to load/unload.

IMO 308 is better than 358. The 308 will shoot handloaded 200 gr bullets that will do anything you can do with 225 gr 358 bullets plus you have the versatility to shoot 150-180 gr bullets that make it more versatile. A 358 bullet is less than the thickness of a dime larger in diameter than a 308 bullet. It doesn't make a hole enough bigger to matter and in similar bullet weights the 308 will penetrate deeper.

From a 20" barrel you still have enough MV from a 308 to use it out to 300-400 yards. It's not just a close range gun.

Ruger 77/44

Browning Abolt micro-hunter, 7mm08.

I have this rifle in both 308 and 7mm-08. The 308 wears a Bell and Carlson stock. The 7-08 I put a factory black/grey laminate stock on. They handle very well and are very accurate. There is a $75 rebate on them right now so it would be hard to beat the price.
Good Luck to you!
Rick

i bought a used T3 compact in 6-5-creed for my grandson, has 20 in barrel, I am amazed at how well it shoots federal 140 grain bullets, its pretty light with an old zeiss conquest 2.5 x 8 in talley LW rings on it. Thinking about swapping out the scope to something with a bit more power, the Athlon scopes look pretty good. I am reloading for it but have not developed a load that shoots 5 bullets into a big hole at 100 yards off the bags yet, the federal factory load at about $2 a shot will do that. The guy I bought it from had two of them, and he told me up front he "changed" a trigger spring and it was the worst one he had. It shoots as good as a 6.5 CTR I have.

Marlin 336C, iron sights, 30-30 caliber, 170g CoreLokt

Hopefully Mainer comes along to share his experiences with short barreled .308 and .358 rifles with heavy bullets. The man has done some experimenting on critters with them in pursuit of perfection.

I like 250s in my 20.5" .358 and 200s in my 18" .308. If forced to only have one, for me it would be the .358 since I have to deal with brown bears.

I really like the M7 stainless in 308 for what you are after.

My favorites are both pre64 M70's, one a 7MM carbine the other a FWT 358. I mostly hunt with single shot rifles these days and they are short and handy in a box blind.
You might consider a 35 Whelan but if your looking for a one gun battery you won't be dissapointed in the 308.

243 18” or 20” suppressed very easy to shoot.

I have a Remington 660 in 308 with an Ashley peep mounted that’s kinda fun. I slimmed down the stock and put a nice pad on it. It needs to be redrilled and tapped as it has one of the three holes partially stripped. I have considered reboring it to 358 or 338 federal. Leaning towards the 338 since I have a good supply of bullets already.
Another consideration is to mount a scout scope forward on the medium heavy barrel and see how that works out. I have always been interested in a scout rifle and I do have a Leupold scout scope to try out.
Decisions Decisions.

I have a T3x lite SS in 7-08 but being thick in the upper body and short on neck it gets tight in a tree stand in late season. I should probably just get a compact stock and bed my action for it but then I wouldn’t get to buy another rifle.


A local shop had a used t3x compact in .308 on the 21st by the 22nd it was gone, I should have snagged it.

But then, I do have a new in the box Ruger 77 International in 7x57 to play with. Can’t decide if I can live with the walnut/stainless combination though. I guess I should mount up a scope and try it out.

SS Model Seven 308w 18 1/2'' barrel and a Ruger Ranch 16 1/2" 450 bushmaster both are great in the thick stuff.
I've grown to really like the compact small rifles.

Model 600 chambered in 35 REM, Lone Wolf stock.

Deer are easy to kill, shoot 'em in the heart, lungs, or CNS and you'll be punching tags regardless of the caliber or cartridge headstamp IF you use a bullet that is proper for the intended purpose.

Build it is whatever caliber and cartridge configuration that moves you. You don't need a cartridge with a large case capacity like a SAUM or WSM, and therefore more velocity potential, if you're limited to 200 yards.

Or so it seems to me.

Marlin 336 SS LTD in .35 Remington