Deer camp - which rifle?

L

ligonierbill

New member
Can't go wrong with any of these, but which would you carry? Northcentral PA, flattop mountains with a mix of old timber, clearcuts, and new second growth. Shots could be 10 to 150 yards, nothing past 200 is remotely possible.

Choices:
Marlin 336 RC 20" 1948 Weaver K2.5 (post reticle) 32 Spl 170 Speer 2,254
Remington 700 22" 1987(?) Leupold 6X 250 Sav 100 Speer 2,905
Ruger 77 1977 22" 1977 Leupold 2-7X 7x57 140 Sierra 2,829

I have my emotional favorite, but I'm interested in what you folks think.
 
Well, I'm prejudiced so I'll say go with the 7x57. I run a Winchester Featherweight in 7x57 and run the 150 gr. Nosler partition at 2800 FPS using Rl17. I plan on using it on my next elk hunt.

I haven't run that particular Sierra bullet in my 7x57 but I have run the .270 Sierra Game King on deer and antelope with excellent results. One of these days I'm going to duplicate the original loading using the now long gone Sierra 170 gr. round nose at the original speed of 2300 FPS just to see how it works on big game. I have a few to work with. Thinking maybe a cow elk hunt or something similar.
Paul B.
 
Kind of terrain mentioned leads me to think on the ground hunting or as the older fellers call it Still hunting. Spontaneous reaction under such circumstances is required. Lever 336 would be a good common sense choice in your'e type hunting terrain. Bolt rifles mentioned on the other-hand are handicapped because of their assured deflection in the bush. Such high speed rifle cartridges do better when it and its shooter is perched up high with the partridges or the point of aim is steep down.
 
Any would work fine.
I don't want to tell you which YOU should hunt with. I will happily tell you what I would choose for myself.

Frankly,I have not spent that much time with lever actions. It comes down to familiarity. Thats not a comment on the rifle or the cartridge. I'm at home with a bolt gun.

The notion of brush busting cartridges is an old and popular idea. I'm of the school that believes a branch will deflect any bullet. But you do you.

I've done most of my hunting with a .257 AI . I'd be happy to try a 250 Savage. My rifle has a Leupold fixed 6X by 42 mm . The rifle is fit to me so eyes closed,rifle shouldered, open the eyes I have my duplex and full field.
The 6X might not be the first choice for many in the woods,but it works fine for me. You can see the twigs and precisely place the shot.

The 250 is definitely a contender.

But I think I'd carry the 7x57. It does not need explaining.
 
Of the rifles you listed, my choice would be the Marlin, with the scope. Although .32 Special wouldn't be my first choice...

The rifle with the 6x scope is out. Though the .250 Savage is adequate, the fixed 6x is a very poor choice for close range fast shots.

The 7x57 with a 2-7x variable is a good choice.

What I carried when I hunted in the Genessee country was a Remington 600 carbine, .308 Win, with an old JC Higgens (Weaver) 2.5x scope with the post reticle. Same gun I used in the Adirondacks for whitetail there.
 
choices

I'd be leery of the old Weaver scope unless you've had it rebuilt/serviced recently. My luck it'd pop a seal opening morning and the deer of a lifetime would saunter by at 75 yds, .....and I wouldn't be able to see through it. I'll add I have several rifles w/ Leupold German #1 reticles, the big chunky 3 post type, and they work just fine for woods hunting.

That leaves the two bolt rifles. I like the early tang safety, red butt Rugers, so I'd go with it, but either are capable. Regards scopes, again, I have no reservations about 6X in the woods. While not ideal for jump shooting, it works for me for everything else.....picking holes through the brush to slip bullets to the deer, point counts on deer management areas and the extra bit of magnification is useful if on ROWS or other open areas. I've mounted several Leuopld fixed 6X scopes on my deer rifles, either the tidy 6x36 version when trying to keep weight down, or the bigger 6x42 for rifles that don't get carried so far. My rifles with 3x9 variables normally get set at 6x and left.
 
Interesting replies. Thank you all. My "emotion" choice would have been the Marlin, since it's even older than me. But yeah, I don't know when that old Weaver has last seen a snowy 28 degree morning. So I'll take the Ruger. Oldest caliber, older than that Newton upstart (I like it, too), but I also favor the tang safety and the very Mauser-like bolt.

One surprise is the support for the 6x in the woods. I'm a recent convert after crawling around Namibia last year with my variable on 6. I know that is not the common wisdom, but that will likely be my setting this season.
 
Sounds like you have the exact same setup as I do, Ruger 77 7X57, 2-7X scope. It has never failed to bring down an animal I shot with it, and I never felt like I needed more power in scope or cartridge.
 
Dance with the one you love. 1955 Marlin Texan 35 Remington, factory irons, 130 yards. The shots you pass will be more than made up for by the ones you get to take.

20211206_170338-1-1.jpg
 
I'd be leery of the old Weaver scope unless you've had it rebuilt/serviced recently. My luck it'd pop a seal opening morning and the deer of a lifetime would saunter by at 75 yds, .....and I wouldn't be able to see through it.
Click to expand...

Your luck might be worse than mine, I've never had a fogging problem with any of my old scopes, including the ones that I've had apart and are no longer nitrogen filled.

I think the trick is what we used to do in Adirondack deer camp, leave the rifle outside. So it stays cold.

Unless you breath on the lens, its usually a change in temperature condensing moisture inside the scope that fogs it up. Sealed, scope, nitrogent purged, no moisture to speak of, temp changes have no effect.

Old scope, (maybe) bad seals, or one that's been opened to the air at some point, so ambient air moisture inside the scope, leave it cold.

Leaving the (winter lubed or unlubed) rifles outside also meant that they didn't sweat and bead water in them.

Seemed to work well enough back then, will probably still work today, I think.
 
While i haven't shot a 32 Special, i can comment on the other 2 cartridges.

Last years opening day in central PA.
Rifle was my Stevens 200, rebarreled in 250 Savage 24".
Bullet was 100gr Nosler Ballistic Tip over RL17.
Took 2 deer. Neither much over 50 yards.
On the buck, i hit a branch between me & him. Bullet hit high & back. Didn't recover that day. Friends mom found him next morning under her treestand. Bullet hole was oblonged from the bullet tumbling after hitting the branch.

Doe made a couple of 20 yard circles before falling.

In my opinion, and experience, the added velocity afforded the 257 Roberts is much more effective.

I built my daughter a custom Mauser in 7X57 Mauser. ( i'm sure there is a special place in the afterlife for me putting a purple Boyds AT-One stock on a Mauser!) She's shooting the 120gr Ballistic Tip over RL17.
Very effective deer cartridge!
Furthest one has made it so far is 20 yards.
Light recoil. Plus can be loaded with heavier bullets if you like.

So, of the 3 you have, i'd go with the 7X57 Mauser.
 
I'd be leery of the old Weaver scope unless you've had it rebuilt/serviced recently.
Click to expand...
Many of the issues with the old Weavers have to do with the mounts available in the 60s and 70s. Some mounts were designed so that you had to remove the ocular lens to get the scope into the rings. Not knowing any better, people would unscrew the ocular bell, put the scope into the rings, then put the ocular bell back on. Then they blamed the scope when it fogged at deer camp.

I still have a few 1970s and 1980s era Weavers on rifles I own.
 
ligonierbill said:
Can't go wrong with any of these, but which would you carry? Northcentral PA, flattop mountains with a mix of old timber, clearcuts, and new second growth. Shots could be 10 to 150 yards, nothing past 200 is remotely possible.

Choices:
Marlin 336 RC 20" 1948 Weaver K2.5 (post reticle) 32 Spl 170 Speer 2,254
Remington 700 22" 1987(?) Leupold 6X 250 Sav 100 Speer 2,905
Ruger 77 1977 22" 1977 Leupold 2-7X 7x57 140 Sierra 2,829

I have my emotional favorite, but I'm interested in what you folks think.
Click to expand...
My Louisiana woods are similar, and favor a .270/150 gr. at ~ 2800 fps w/ a low-power variable.

... so, the 7x57mm Mauser.




Red
 
I'd take the top 2 on your list. It's always good to have a spare but one is more of a shorter range and the other a longer range rifle...

Tony
 
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