Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ideas for a Still Hunting Rifle??

Take a look at the Kimber M84m. It has a full 22" barrel, nice wood or if you prefer the there is a plastic version. The safety is a copy of the M70 but is a two position and on my rifle anyway, quiet. The rifle goes 5lb 10oz dry and shoots ~1" for 5 rds. They are availible in 243, 260,708 and your 308 plus there is a short mag version.

I must say that I do savvy the Kimber response, but perhaps you may want to consider having one built? Your retiring and going hunting ... why not give yourself a really nice retirment gift?

Great ideas and lots of food for thought.

I hadn't even considered the lever or single shot options but they make sense now that I think about their advantages.

I gravitate to the bolt because that's what I was brought up with and I limit myself to the 308 because in a light gun, it's about all the recoil I want to have fun with.

Having said that, a custom wood stock looks inviting regardless of what type of action. I never thought of that either. There's more to the decision than I anticipated. It will be a challenge to get things right. On the other hand, if I don't for some reason... well I guess it's easier to beg forgiveness than get permission to have another try.

I have a Savage 99A in .308 that I use for my stalking rifle. IMO it is just about perfect.

I'd say it depends on what your still hunting, where and when.
When I still hunt/track desert Mulies in daylight, I use my 7.5 lb. Win M70 .308 with a 4X Leupold. The safety isn't loud enough to notice by a deer. I've tested this against the real thing, BTW. I'd see a gunsmith about your's. Lots of ways to quiet one down.
The above rifle is easier to carry all day than my other still hunter and quick for those "I blew it" shots. I won't consider a single shot. I may ned a second shot fast.
My other still hunter is a tang safety Ruger .280 with a 6X42 Leupold. It has a custom 4a reticle. This rifle is used in dark forrests, early and late on big deer that I must see first. The 6X excells for that. I can see through cover and find holes to shoot through better than he 4X. The rifle weighs 8.5 lbs. More weight and muzzle heavy balance for off hand shooting. This is a new experience for me. Those who say a 6X is a hinderence in heavy cover, haven't used one that was properly mounted. At 20 yds., it's field of view is about 4 feet. That's the lenth of an average Mule Deer. The large eye box of the 6X42 makes this scope really quick.
I prefer a bolt gun because, on the deer I hunt, your first shot is far and away the best, and may be the only one you will get. I need a first class trigger and good accuracy even in heavy cover. Try shooting through a hole in cover from a less than great shooting position w/o one. E

Boreas,

My preference is a bolt rifle in the trees where follow up shots must be fast. That rules out the beautifull single shots for me, except for the open prairies of southern Alberta.

My requirement is a fine trigger, specially on a relative light stalking rifle. Too many lever/pump/auto loaders have triggers I find tough to handle for offhand shots. If you want a Savage in .308, go visit KS Arms and ask Karl Schmidt or Rod Hendrikson

( yes they do work now together in the same shop) what they can do with the trigger. A Savage 99 would make a great still hunting rifle from deer to moose in Northern Alberta.

My stalking rifles are a 20 inch barreled Reminton 7MS in .308 with Leupold 1.5x5, a Sako full stock 20 inch barrel in .308 with a small Zeiss diavari 4x, and a Sako .338 with 21 inch barrel and Leupold 1.75x6.

All my scopes carry coarse duplex hairs. I can carry those well balanced rifles all day in the two handed or indian carry position, ready for instant action.

A trip to wholesale sports and checking out their models on the rack, would go a long way alleviating your dilemma.

If you have done that already, you may want to wait till Eastern and visit the huge gunshow in Calgary.

The Reminton classic and mountain rifle you like so much, shows up quite regularly in a variety of calibers. One poster suggested since you already have a .308, may be some other caliber if offered in the right rifle configuration would not be a bad idea. Personally I do like the looks and feel of the new 700 LSS stainless laminate mountain rifle in short or long action. However beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The nice thing too is that now almost every gun maker like Sako, Wheatherby, Ruger, Remington etc brings out a light weight rifle, when loaded up with bases, rings, scope and ammo just weighs right for a stalking rifle.

The Browning A-bolt is in Alberta the most often returned brand due to breakdowns. Check this out for yourself, do not only take my word for it.

Only you can determine which rifle is right for you, by checking all those different models out.

My advice, take your time. Big game season is a long way off yet. Part of the fun is what you are doing now, narrowing down to exactly what you need and want.

You perfect rifle is just a cheque away!!!

In my opinion:

The point of still hunting is to see the game before it sees you. As such, a man like you isn't going to need a quick second shot. You can flatten a deer with most any centerfire caliber at still-hunting ranges.

The best practice for still hunting is still hunting. Squirrel season lasts 8 months around here, so a retired man can get really good at sneaking around in the woods if he wants to.

So: You need a .22 rifle that is also a deer rifle. That's a T/C Contender, with barrels in .22 LR and a short range deer caliber. I favor the .35 Remington, but there is excellent argument for the 7-30 Waters and the .30-30. .44 magnum and handloaded .45 Colt are right in there too, at close ranges.

Put a light scope on the carbine, and you're good to go at about 6 pounds (5.5 lbs. with iron sights).

Bolt rifles are the pure quill for long range shooting and high pressure loads - but that doesn't mean they're the best for a stalking rifle.

Anyway, that's my opinion. There are other good choices, of course. I enjoy my 1889 Marlin .38-40 a lot, but it's really kinda pretty to drag through an Ozarks briar hell.

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best in your retirement.

I am now working on what I believe to be the perfect still hunting rifle. It is a Marlin 1894 in 44magnum. It is at the smiths now having an action job and it's trigger adjusted to 3 lbs. When it comes back I am mounting a Weaver K2.5 scope on it. For still hunting I don't think this can be beat. Last year I had a ball with a pre 64 Winchester 94 in 30-30 with an old Redfield peep sight. Another REALLY nice gun which is well balanced and fast is an old Remington model 14 in 35 Remington, these guns RULE. I think our Granfathers had the right idea on still hunting rifles!

Here you go: Savage 99 .358 winchester 20" barrel and 2.5 scope.
This is my favorite deer rifle for everthing except really large open fields.
Good shooting, Weagle

That's a nice 99, Weagle. I am putting together a 1999 Montana short action stainless in .358 with a 21-inch barrel. I've got a Leupold VX-III compact silver low power variable on its way to me. This will be my all-weather sneak-up-on-'em rifle. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I do not see how you can improve on the model 70 compact, i have one in 250-3000, rebarreled by douglas, and it is a dream to carry. the safety can be as quite as any if you don't flick it with your thumb. I use model 70s almost exclusivly and have never had a problem, not to mention that they are great functionally. good luck.

What is the matter with your 338-06 ?

I would look at the Remington 700 LTR in 308/300 win/300 ultra. It has a 20" heavy barrel and handles nicely. The stock is very good and is very similar to the Remington 700 varmint rifle stocks and the whole gun is matte black.

I very much appreciate all of your comments. Although I hadn't really given any thought to a lever or single shot until a couple of days ago, they both make sense but not as a stalking rifle at this time. Thanks to you guys, I'm going to be on the lookout for a Savage 99 (maybe 250 Savage) as a keeper and to take out on sunny Sundays. It'll be easy to justify one at home. It's a piece of hunting heritage and history is always easy to justify. Also, from Edmonton, anything with the number 99 on it is an easy sell. It may take me a while to get up on the learning curve on 99s where do I find good ones, how do I know if they're good, what's a fair price and so on but with the Savage forum, I should get a lot of good info to educate myself. I know Mule Deer has a couple and I hope to get one that I like as much. It sounds almost as hard as getting a first Parker.

Maybe I'm just too set in my ways but for now, I'll stick with a bolt. This is the same reasoning behind my 2003 "last rifle" which was a pre64 M70 in 338-06, my 2001 last a Classic Compact in 308, 2000 last in 700 ADL 308, 1998 last a stainless and walnut M70 in 30/06, a 1995 last Rem700 rebarreled to 7x57 and my favorite "go to" last in 1992 a pre-64 M70 also in 30/06.

My thoughts are to use the Ruger action for its quiet tang safety which will handle the same way as my grouse gun and from some I've seen and handled, it's very quiet. (I get really excited when I sneak up on a bedded deer).

Chambering 308 win (think of the money I'm gonna save by not having to buy new dies). Really though, for me it's the biggest cartridge I can shoot in comfort from a light rifle. I don't want to go too much smaller because we have moose around the farm. Case capacity should give good velocities with a 165 Partition and should handle any game I'm likely to see. I think a spitzer is warranted because I'll be hunting through clearcuts that may offer a 200+ year shot at various times during any day in the field. I love my 7x57 and 30/06 so the 308 is not a bad midpoint between the two.

Sneaking through heavy bush (which should be most of the time) I think a short barrel is in order. It'll be a 20.25 incher (51.44 cm) so I can put that odd number in our pinko driven obscene gun registry. Suitable contour so it doesn't get muzzle light. We have a local barel maker (Ron Smith) that makes excellent barrels but I hear it takes a while to get one.

The trigger will be replaced with an aftermarket set at 3 to 4 pounds for some degree of safety hunting with a gloved hand.

Express sights -- probably not needed but you never know (Also Jeff Cooper says you should have sights).

Straight grain walnut stock with a Decelerator Sporting Clays for easy mount, plain 18LPI checkering. This should look good and be quite utilitarian at the same time. Wood is probably going to be warmer on the hands on a cold November day.

A Leupold 1.75 to 6 should finish it off and If I can get it close to 7 pounds it'll be perfect. Maybe not too perfect because if it is it could be may really really last.

Thanks for all your comments.