Best Choice and Why

N

nobius

New member
Dilemma:

I own three rifles that I can hunt whitetail deer in Upstate SC with.

1) CZ 550 Varmint Kevlar .308 - Would be loaded with 180 Nosler partitions, plenty of stopping power for the local venison. However, rifle is mainly set for bench / tatical shooting matches, and is a tad on the heavy to carry side.

2) Mosin Nagant M91/30 7.62 x 54R - Never shot anything other than surplus FMJ from it, so I don't know how it would perform with modern hunting loads. But that is just an excuse to go to the range and buy more ammo, right?

3) Marlin 1895 .45-70 - The only loads I have for this are some 300gr Semi-jacketed HP. Would definitely put to rest any critter around here, but I would like to have SOME meat left to put into the freezer.

What would you do in this situation? Bear in mind that "purchase another rifle" is not a viable option. Unless you live close and are willing to sell me the rifle you mention plus optics for less than $100, it just ain't an option.
 
Take the 308 or the 45-70. The 45-70 won't ruin as much meat as you might think (slow).

Then again, if you are in a nostalgic mood, take the Mosin-Nagant and give the old warhorse a run. May not be a prime contender for the beauty contest, but it will put down a deer.
 
Where 'bouts are you? I live in Anderson Co. and use a 7mm-08 for woods and fields so my choice would be the .308 as long as it's not too heavy. If you're driving right up to the base of a stand then that's not an issue either.
 
If you're a walking hunter doing ten or fifteen miles a day, anything over nine-ish pounds darned sure gets heavy. If you just walk a mile or so to a stand, weight's no big deal.

Me, I'd figure in the latter case to use the .308, but most likely with some 150-grain load. That's plenty bullet for any deer. Anything inside of two MOA is plenty accurate for any deer inside of a couple of hundred yards...

If you do the sneaky-snake thing in wooded country, the lightest and handiest carbine-type critter is a good choice. And a .45-70 bullet won't hurt any more meat than any other deer-hunting bullet; probably less than any .308 or '06, anyhow, if you mess up and hit a ham.

Art
 
lockedcj

Actually not far from you at all, work in Anderson, live and hunt in Oconee.

Probably going to use the .308 Saturday morning to see how it handles carrying in the woods, and if it is too much of a pain I will switch to the .45-70.

If you have any private land and need someone to help you clear it of those pesky whitetail, let me know. WMA's up where I live tend to sound alot like a range on "full auto" day sometimes. ;)
 
Definitely the .45-70, UNLESS you expect shots over 125 yards or so; then the .308 - that .308 is too heavy and cumbersome to carry (unless you're just going for short walk, then up into a tree stand). The .45-70 will work great for walking-hunting (stalking).
 
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