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What is your ideal stalking woods, etc., free hand shooting rifle?

I don’t consider it necessary to have any particular rifle for stalking, since I normally carry a 10.8 pound, 26” barrel .25-06 for hunting. The long heavy barrel makes it easy to hold steady for offhand shots. I’ve used it to take deer from 25 to 250 yards. However, I recently picked up a Sako .243 from the mid-60’s and fitted it with a 6x Leupold scope. It’s wonderfully accurate and a joy to carry. I consider it the ideal stalking rifle.

My older brother has a CZ 527 in 7.62x39 that also works really well as a stalking rifle.

If I was going to walk and hunt. Drive deer or hunt with dogs it would be my 700 classic 35 Whelen.

.35 Rem

Love my Tikka SL 308 for just about any walking/stalking hunts.

Browning BLR Stanless/Mossy Oak in .308.

Leupold 2½-8x36

Hornady 150gr SST factory ammo

I had a Browning 1885 Low wall in .260Rem that was topped with a Leupold 6x scope.
I traded it for a Winchester LH M70 in 300WinMag. That Low Wall is the only rifle that I sent down the road that I still miss.
It was light and damned accurate. 125gr Partitions bang-flopped many piggies and deer. Yeah, I miss that rifle.

My favorite is a Sako AII but I also like a 7600 carbine.

#1 .45-70 w/1.5-5x20 Leupy.
#1 7x57 w/2-7 Monarch is a close second.

Also have a Henry .45 Colt that would likely do well, but haven’t had it out much.

Love this rifle. Currently waiting a 760 308 from Hillbily custom.

Idk if this one is the ideal stalking rifle. Certainly not as fast as a lever or pump. But it has served me extremely well.

700 .308
Douglas 1/10
McMillan edge
3-9 Zeiss
Talleys

Still figuring that out, but I have a feeling Itll be the 7x57r Lee I'm working on

Currently my ideal setup is a BLR in 308.

From the current stable, the 700 MR in 7mm-08 with a 2.5-8x36 is hard to beat.

Rem 722 in 300 Savage with barrel shortened to 20 inches. Scope is a VX-2 Ultralight 2-7x28.

Same ole rifle that I’ve used since 1990…..my only “hunting” rifle! 9.0 pounds…..scoped, loaded, and slung.

Effective from zero to over 600 yards (my self imposed limit) ……from small game (head shots) to Elephant (well under 600 yrds 😉 . memtb

Kimber Montana in 7-08
VXII 2-7x33 Lewey bases and rings.
6lbs .75oz with 3 rounds.

Ruger M77 RSI .308Win.
PJ

My 760 30-06. Nothing else mounts and swings like it.

Steyr/Mannilcher Model M Professional .30-06 with a Kahles 6x scope with #4 reticle. It is the best feeling gun for off hand shooting I have ever used. I have used it for running dogs, still hunting and stand hunting. It fits like a glove and just works. I have used the exact same rifle in .270 and .25-06 and feel the same about them

Drives, still hunting wooded terrain:



Rem 7600 re-bored to .358Win with 19" barrel (now wears a VX6HD 1.5-5X Twighlight Hunter).

For classic "stalking" rifle:



Rem M7, Manners EH8, PacNor 3 groove 20" barrel in .260 Rem

Or for large game, Rem M7, Manner EH8 in 350RM:

It is hard to beat a lever action with iron sights…

Straight grip BLR IN 308 with 2.5-8x36 Loopy 165gr load normally GameKings. Points/swings like a lightweight shotgun.

Second to that a Marlin in 30-30 or 45/70 1.5-5 loopy.

Also found the Forbes rifle in 270 with a Vortex 1.5-8x32 to be a joy to carry on my woods walks where I might cross a power line or two. I didn’t shoot it as well offhand as the BLR.

Bolt 18" Suppressed 6.5 CM 3X9 Burris Very handy Jeep and carry at 7.8# fast handling and accurate,works for me. Rio7

If Winchester made a low wall in 257 Roberts, I would truly be complete.

Leaver 336c Marlin 30-30 light and quick

RIO7

What are the build details on that orange creamsicle?

No AR15's? Interesting.

Functionality wise those would work great for the smaller eastern whitetail and hogs we have in Alabama but I much more enjoy steel that has some soul to it.

Rem 660, 308. In a Brown Precision stock.
Elite 3200 3x9 in Talley Lightweights.

My 700 mountain rifle in 260AI

Kimber Montana 308, NF SHV 3-10x42. This has been my gen purpose rifle for about 10 years now. It doesn't do anything exceptional. Except maybe carry well, kill stuff dead, and doesn't recoil much

My favorite stalking rifle for hunting in the southeastern woods at moderate ranges is a single-shot falling-block. The design of a Ruger No. 1 or an 1885 makes for a compact rifle. Below is a 303 British & a 275 Rigby. Either one would work fine but I have seven different calibers to choose from so I have options.

I have to admit that I have not done much stalking lately. Chemo brought on neuropathy in my feet, so I have a hard time feeling the ground.

However, I used to do quite a bit of ground-pounding in Ohio back in the day. I have yet to see a firearm produce as much terminal effect on a deer as one of these at close range:



REM 1100 12 Gauge with smooth bore and rifle sights.

A few years ago, my buddy died and left me "Luigi." It's a Stoeger 12 Gauge coach gun with Kar 98 sights welded on. It reminded him of the scenes from The Godfather shot in Sicily.

95 percent of my “stalking” and offhand shooting is done with an 18” AR. Say what you will about its looks, it is an intuitive and effective tool for quick offhand shots. I have killed literal train car loads of pigs I’ve snuck up on with 16” and 18” ARs topped with low powered scopes.

Local gunsmith John Meyer built a true heartbreaking .257 Low Wall some years back. Octagon to round barrel with wedding ring, stock that took my breath away. There were some pics of it here at one time.

Those Browning .260s seem to bring the most money of all the LWs. I’d be very content with one of them, or a .243 or 6.5 Swede, but that’s just a pipedream as I’m well rifled-up, including a couple of the little Brownings. It’s enough…

I want a Courteney stalking rifle in 275 rigby. Great looking gun.

Kimber Montana .308 with Leupold VX3 3.5-10.

I call 'em "Walk-About" rifles. I've owned many that would qualify over a long life span. Today there are two: Mid-bores that could take anything from groundhogs to Cape Buff. The one that gets most action as a "Walk-About" these days is my single-shot .35 Whelen. It carries two loads: the 225 Nosler AB at 2845 fps and the 300gr Barnes Original at 2355 fps that shoots to the same poa at 100 yds without scope adjustment. Depending on where I am and what my primary purpose is, either one or the other goes into the chamber with another of the same load in the stock cartridge holder, and two others of the different load also in the stock cartridge holder. In "stalking" about in rather tight quarters, the 300gr is in the chamber. If it's more open where a longer shot might be called for, it's the 225 AB in the chamber. The rifle is a Traditions Outfitter G3, cerakoted, fluted barrel with muzzle brake. It's a break action with a special trigger and safety. Accuracy is stellar, and all-up with a 3-9 x 40 Vortex comes in at just under 8 lbs. It's handy at 39" OL. Those two loads is all I'll ever need or shoot in it. The other is about the same weight ready to hunt: A TIKKA T3 Lite in 9.3 x 62. My "walk-about load is the 250gr AB at 2700 fps that shoots into sub- 1/2 moa. It carries a 3 - 9 x 40 Bushnell or Burris scope. Ready to hunt with 3 in the magazine and 4 in a stock cartridge holder, it weighs an even 8 lbs. 3 bears have been taken with the 9.3 - one shot each, and the .35 Whelen is waiting to be bloodied.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

+ 1.

Savage 99 in 375 Win Leupold 1-4x20 and a Sauer drilling 16ga/16ga/7x57R Weaver K-1.5 are my current selections and hiding back in the safe is a Rem 722 in 35 Whelen with a Nikon 1.5-4.5x20. I killed quite a number of deer back when tracking and still hunting with a 16" barreled Sav 99 in 308 Weaver K-2.5, custom 1917 Enfield carbine with a Herter's 1-4x20 and a Mark X Mannlicher stocked 270 Win with a Weaver V-4.5

I would make room, somehow.

Any rifle I carry

My Kimber Adirondack in 6.5 CM. With a Leupold 2.5X8 it’s still light as a feather.

Ruger Hawkeye Compact .308 win. So easy to tote all day long thru the brush on the hillside.





Just picked up a second one for my boy to use. Much darker stock on this one and I kind of like it that way…

I carry my Ruger Hawkeye 358 everywhere hunting. Whether still hunting, rattling horns or stalking, its my go too. I have some 200 gr Accubonds I will load for it this year. I finally broke down and ordered a HS Precision stock, from Stockys, last week. Can’t wait to get it on and try it out. Thinking of buying some TAC powder to try out. My other rifle is a TC Venture in 7-08 that I picked real cheap. It’s easy to carry and shoot. Everyone that shoots it loves it.

Any of my Mannlicher/Schoenauers or German or Austrian stalking rifles. There's a Merkel and Vierordt double rifles that would easily qualify.

Instructions must have been " Just make me the ugliest damn rifle you possibly can"

As for my favorite still hunting/tracking rifle, lets just say there's a reason there's no bluing left on the trigger or inside the lever and the woodwork is generously scarred on my Marlin 336.

Model 1894 30-30 with a Burris FFIII red dot. Stupid fast and accurate. Every time I get out of the truck for more than 100 yards, it's with me. 30% bluing left on this 1941 model.

Got pics?

I have really been jonesing after one of these Courteney Stalking Rifles or a Merkel SxS in 303 or 7x57. I just don’t know if I’ll ever pay to play in that realm.

My primary walking deer rig is my Hawken in 58. Nothing like walking milo or corn on a windy day on the plains.

Model 1895. .35 WCF

K3 stutzen 7-08 with norma vulkans

To this day the only 1895 I have fired was a .35 WCF that belonged to a neighbor. It was awesome!

Good to see somebody else using one.

My 1955 featherweight 243 for sure. I use it on javelina down here and it is perfect for moving through brush, getting set up in less than ideal shooting situations etc. This year I shot my javelina from my hunting partners tripod head, 210 yards. It was shaky at best but the rifle came through and it was a perfect shot.

Remington 760 in 30-06 cut to 20" topped with a William's receiver sight or Leupold 1.5-5.

Remington has never figured out how to mount a recoil pad to a walnut 760 or sling swivels, so those are added too.

Remington 7600 carbine
Marlin 1895 Guide Gun
Remington Model 8
Browning BAR

I'm using a 722 in 300 Savage as well. Mine's topped with a Leupold Vari-X IIc 2-7×33. And using Hornady 150gr IL Spitzers.