Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Don't know how this happened

Well there is that too!!

I am still three to one of deer taken with a bow verses any firearm. Mostly because of access and length of season. Asking for permission to bow hunt is accepted much quicker than to use any kind of firearm. Silly easterners!!

Well, for me it really hit me that the chance of ever getting out of Alabama to hunt anything larger than a whitetail was slim to none...at least for the next 10 years...I always shot the magnums well, just not as well as the 308 based calibers. Just never thought I wouldn't even have a long action around.. But, the next gun I get will be either a 280AI or 6.5-284..just in case ..

Or go 6.5/06 and have both!!

I started in the late 60's with a 30/06,quickly got a 257 Roberts,then a 270.I used them all,at the same time used the 270;branched off into "all the others"...everything from 7x57,280,7/08,7 RM,various 300 magnums,338,375,etc,etc,still also hunting with the 270.Most carried, most used, were the 270,7 Rem Mag, and one or the other 300 magnum.Owned all the WSM's;never hunted them, but they are all gone.

It didn't seem to matter much what I carried;they all worked.

Today I only use the 270,the 7mm Mashburn Super, and the 375H&H...at least for the time being.

It is hard to beat a 270 for a combination of low to moderate recoil,flat trajectory and good killing effect(the 280 is its' twin,and I like it as well).

I must have been about mid-thirties. After chasing bigger, faster for 10 years I killed a NE Whitetail at 404 YDS with a .300 Weatherby Mag. You could have stuck your fist in the exit hole. Took out the far shoulder joint like it was hit with a 20MM round.

The following year I took a Marlin Guide gun in .45-70 GOVT and shot the best buck I've ever gotten. (Avatar picture.)

This year I will tote a 6.5 Swede.

By the time I'm ready to be worm food I suppose I'll be using a .22 cap.

Never had a WM, or a Whizzer, Whizzum and that ilk. Killed more meat with CB Shorts than all the rest put together, 'cept maybe a couple shotguns. .223AIs over penetrate.

AMEN!!!!!!

Never owned a magnum, though I've shot the 300s my Son and Son-in-Law had. I started with centerfires about 1972 after getting out of school. Had to have the 270 as that was what JOC recommended. Used it as my only centerfire for about 30 years before venturing into a 22-250 for coyote control. That one was something of a revelation, low recoil, no muzzle jump, fun to shoot, maybe there was something to the smaller bullet crowd. I did play around with a light 338-06 for a year or two, but decided at my age there weren't enough elk hunts left to keep fighting a flinching tendency. Now I shoot mostly my various .223s, .243, .250 Savage, .257 Roberts and don't have any trouble putting deer on the ground when the time comes.

It happened to me about 4 years ago when I was 34 and I had some health problems which prevented me from shooting and hunting like normal. As my health has improved I started shooting the rifles which I used to love to shoot. OUCH!!! My 7mm Remington Magnum, 35 Whelen, 270 Winchester, and 308 Winchester all hit me more than I could stand. Even my light weight 20 gauge put a hurting on me. How could this be? I used to shoot these guns without pain, or so I thought. It is amazing what the body will endure with pain and what we think doesn't hurt. I hear people say you have to work up to the rounds with more recoil. My question now is "Why?" Now I have deer rifles in 250 Savage, 257 Roberts, 6.5x55, 7mm-08, 7x57, and the lowly 30-30. I just recently bought a 7.62x39 to try. I wish I had switched to these rounds earlier.

Deer die easy.

I've never had to go through the downsizing as some seem to have to.

I started off that way as a little kid. My dad shot deer with a .30-06 and when I was about 8 he got me a .223. I shot deer with it and they died just as fast as his.

Guess what my father's deer rifle is today?

Oh, deer die easy. There is an echo in here.

Born and raised here in Colorado, and lived (and hunted) here most of my life-
Owned and used a fairly large number of calibers on big game, ranging from small whitetail does to bull moose, with bighorn sheep, mule deer, black bear, and antelope thrown in.

I still have most of those calibers, ranging from .257 Wby. to .375 Ruger, each with a specialty that it does very well.

However- more and more lately, I find that one, in particular, does everything, and does it about as well as any or all of my other arsenal. That would be my .280. Built on a pre-'64 action, with a 22" barrel and Hi-Tech stock, it weighs less than 8 lbs. all up, recoils mildly, and shoots bullet weights from 130 gr. to 160 gr. Super easy to reload, and case life is very good.

I'll still use my .300 Wby. on bull elk only hunts, or my .257 Wby. on antelope only hunts- I just really like shooting that little .280. With a 140 gr. Barnes TSX at 3050 MV, there isn't a lot that can't be handled well with this one rifle and bullet here in Colorado. I'm sure the older I get, the more use this rifle will see every fall.

Excellent caveat.

Since the 280 Rem & the 308 Win are ballistic equals I usually have a very tough time deciding between the two.

I'm not as smart as you fellers; I'm still in my 'more, bigger' phase... Last rifle I bought was a .416 Rigby.

I started out about six years ago with a .30-06. Still keeping it for elk and other heavy game, but in the process of paying for a .260. I read a lot on here and elsewhere about the round and decided to go with it for deer-size game. I know it can do more than that too.

Well now I have the .260, just need to choose a scope to drop some more money for...

Well I can blame a LOT of my down-sizing to the 260.... have 3 a 700 CDL SF, a Model 7 CDL, and a Ruger 77 MK II.. just love that round, but now these 2 Kimbers have my attention(708&308).. as far as the scope the last 4 have been 1 VX3 3.5-10, 2 VX3 2.5-8, and the M8 6x42... just been having good luck with the Leupolds as of late.

The .260 Rem is becoming my favorite deer round, too.

My longest kill on an elk is 420 yards with a 35 Whelen (scope with dots or turrets and a bino/rangefinder is all you need), and my .340 Wby just sits in the safe more and more since I started hunting with the Whelen. I'm thinking about rebarreling the .340 to a .264 Win Mag, but I'll probably just sell it someday. Thinking back now, it's been 9 years since I hunted with the 340 Wby.