Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire What is your most trust worthy rifle

My Winchester Model 70 Featherweight (push feed) chambered for 7x57 with a Leupold VXII 3x9 and Standard Leupold mounts. It will put 5 of my 140 NP handloads into less that one inch at 100 yards and this combination has never failed me.

M70 Classic Stainless 30-06. I bought it new in 1994. Out of the box it would shoot 1 1/4" groups all day long. I have since restocked it and lightened the trigger and it will shoot better than me. I have only shot 150 thru 180 grain Nosler, Sierra, and Hornady bullets. All will shoot MOA or better with a preference for the Hornady SST 150s.

Mine would be 'Old Trusty'.

My old one is a 30-06

But lately it's been my 25-06 death ray machine.

Sako A7, 100 grain TTSX 55.5 grains of H4831SC and deer drop fast

Gotta be my 94/22. Had to earn something like $75 for it and dad payed for the rest. Was maybe 7 years old. So have had it for 16 years. Learned how to shoot with it, Both open sights then scope now back to open sights again. Rolled a broncoII down a ditch for a ways, somehow it managed to go through the side window and ended up under the truck roof when it finally stopped its cartwheel. Rear sight was a lil tweaked, bent it back and its still rockin an rollin.

In 2004 I bought a new M70 Fetherweight in 270 WSM. This rifle has never failed to chamber or eject a round. Not ever a hesitation or hang up in feeding or ejection. Every time I pull the trigger it goes bang. The 270 WSM is fast and flat and has put down everything I have shot with it quickly.
I will admit that I have not been able to shoot a variety of animals with it. I live in a non rifle state for deer, so it has only been used for a trip to Wyoming for antelope and a couple of coyotes and a ground hog around here. I have complete faith in this rifle, so I guess that answers the question.

Ernie

I have 2
One is an old (around 1906) Lithgow single shot .22 I bought a few years ago for the kids to learn to shoot.

The other would be my Rossi '92 .44-40

Neither one has ever failed to go bang and put a piece of lead where I needed it to go as long as I do my bit.

Thanks.

The best part is there were witnesses to both the running antelope and the 503 yard shot. I often wonder what that antelope done to be that unlucky....

Dink

Chambering 300 Win Mag
Age 12 years, bought it in 2000 with my first re-enlistment bonus
Make Ruger
Model M77mkII stainless
Origin new

And why it holds the spot of the most trust worthy rifle you own
Has a Timney trigger a Leupy VX2 and a Mickey stock. Bunch of one shot kills and any target it's aimed at is hit dead center.

Winch. M70, .264 WM.. Circa '72, used.. Never, ever let me down... I paid about $175 for it.. And I wouldn't sell it for five times that price..

Ruger Ultra Lite .270, the very first I saw back in the early 80s has a VX III 2.5-8. The one I can always count on. 54grs IMR 4350 and a Sierra 130SPBT and Wam Bam Thank You Mam.... Meat in the freezer. RustyL

I would have say I have two of them. Rifles I can grab any time and know they will do the job at hand.

My 35 Whelen is a 1941 model 70 that was converted to left handed. I came to own it ten years ago, chambered in 30-06 and immediately sent it off to Cliff LaBounty to be rebored to 35 Whelen. I shoot 250 grain bullets in it, mostly Nosler Partitions, and they all shoot sub 1 inch groups. It wears a 3x Weaver with a post and cross hair reticle. It amazes me how well I shoot that reticle even at extended ranges.

My other go to rifle is my Remington KS Mountain rifle, left handed of course, in 300 H&H. I bought it nearly 20 years ago and have taken many deer, elk and antelope with it. It seems to shoot an incredible range of bullet weights well. Right now it is shooting 220 grain Nosler Partitions and wears a Leupold 4x. I loaned it to a buddy last year to take his caribou. He was duly impressed with it's performance.

There are other trustworthy rifles in my safe but are more specialized in their applications. My Swift can be counted on to anchor coyotes with authority and turn ground squirrel inside out. My Marlin 1895 45-70 is an awesome close quarters rifle and the TC renegade with a Green Mountain 62 caliber barrel will put those big round balls through the same hole time after time.

The 300 and the 35 I can grab and depend on to work in any North American scenario.

Mart

Chambering: 7mm WSM
Age: Later 1990's I would guess
Make: Winchester
Model: 70
Origin (new / used / handed down): Bought used here on the 'fire. It was kind of a train wreck when I bought it. It had some weird yellowish gunk on it (WD 40?), it wouldn't feed off the left side, and the inside of the action had some weird knicks all through it. I was NOT happy. Then I shot it.

And why it holds the spot of the most trustworthy rifle you own: It shoots tiny little groups, even with me driving it. Even though, I don't need that kind of accuracy at the ranges I normally hunt, it just fills me with confidence. Hopefully though, this rifle will soon be replaced by my Kimber .280AI--but, we'll see...

Would have to say a very old, tried and true FN-FAL.

Gunner

Somehow, an old 270 wby mag. from Japan with the lightweight barrel of 24 in. fits me well and has made some amazing shots on moving game (often in thick timber) in split second situations. It wears an old 2x7 VXII. Close behind is a Pre-64 FW .243 Win.

Steyr SBS Tactical LW carbine. 2.5-8x36 matte duplex, Warne Maxima bases and rings LOW.
165 Hornady BTSP over 41.5gr H4895 and CCi primers.

Winchester Model 70 270 featherweight Classic purchased approximately 1990. Bought it after thinking the pre 64's were to expensive. Easy to carry, extremely accurate with factory ammo, attractive and does any job put in its sights. Now if I could just find the same gun in 223.

Love the cal(less recoil) and handling of a recent purchase Savage 99 F in 300 Savage. Will have to bag a few whitetails with it to make the final decision, but the Winchester is going to be hard to knock out of first place. G

My pre 64 model 70 Winchester in 270..1957 model...It will shoot most any bullet or load inside a inch..It likes everything...

What a gun!!!

My Model 98 Mauser chambered for 30-06. It's a military action that my dad bought sporterized at a local department store back in the late 60's. It is set in an inexpensive hardwood stock that I had glass bedded back in the late 80's. The only other work done on it was a Timney trigger that was installed when the stock was bedded. It wears an old Weaver Microtrac 3x-9x, It's heavy, ugly, and has a nasty habit of killing anything it's been pointed at. With Federal Premium loads with the 165 gr. BTSP Sierra Game Kings, it's way more accurate than I can shoot it.

Well, my "Old Reliable" is a Win 70 XTR Featherweight 30-06 with a factory HS stock and a Leupie 4x long tube. It has basically been an on-demand killing machine for me since I bought it one month before I got married in 1994. I always feel treasonous when I don't take it.

My current favorite (my new old reliable?) is a Rem Mod7 XCR in 243 with an old Brown KS stock added. Probably the easiest, lightest but best-pointing, accurate little gun I've ever used. It is just plain easy to shoot, easy to carry, easy to care for, and kills really well. Has half the recoil of my -06, so probably will be what I use most going forward.