Dilemma

H

hooligan1

New member
Okay so I have a dilema, which rifle to take deer hunting this season.
Mark X .270 win that I have recovered after 20 years.
New M38 mauser build, 6.5 Creedmoor.
Or the 1903a3 .270 win I had built 2 years ago.....
Kind of find myself wondering, all have super capabilities and dang fine results with great hunting bullets. Range from 20 feet to 350 yds possible...
 
Hunt more states and/or states where you can take more than one deer. Then you can use all of them. I have the same problem here in NY, but you get enough tags to use a couple of them every year. Another option is to go mainstream: only own one gun....blasphamey.
 
Take all three to the range and fire on shot out of each from a field position. Whichever one fires the bullet that hits closest to the mark gets the nod.
 
Since they're all reliable deer cartridges being shot from similar platforms, I don't see how it matters at all which one you take as long as they are sighted in at the range you intend to shoot. To me the choice might come down to, ease of carrying and the risk of damage to the firearm from terrain or inclement weather. When it rains and I'm tromping thru nasty brush, I generally take a gun that if it suffers from it, I don't care as much. If I'm still hunting, I prefer a lightweight, shorter, easy to maneuver carbine over a long rifle that works better from a blind/stand. Most of my deer firearms are so different as to platform or caliber/effective range, that generally the type of hunting I'm doing that day, dictates what firearm I take. Since I don't have several similar platforms with the same or very similar cartridges to choose from, I don't have your dilemma.
 
The 03a3 is a bonified killer and super accurate out to whatever distance under 400.
The MarkX does have a BnC synthetic stock and as usuall it shoots lights out even with 150's which is what I wil use.
The Creedmoor is the rifle Ive tested the most since I had it built and I got the stock finally finished where I wanted it.
So the problem isnt which one do I shoot best, its which one do I just have to have in my hands opening morning.
Im leaning towards the Creedmoor, and if I dont score on the opener maybe the MarkX the following morning.....
 
I "start big and work my way down". The last few years, I concentrate on filling my any deer tag with a nice buck first. With that in mind, I carry a rifle with power and reach until Bucky is down. Then I work on filling the freezer with antlerless deer using lighter calibers at shorter ranges.
Before the CWD scourge, I got unlimited doe tags and frequently used 3-4 guns as the season progressed. Quite often I started with a 25/06, then a 257 Roberts, next the 6.8 SPC, and finishing with an AR pistol in the "alternative methods" season.
 
After my range trip today, Id be wrong to not use my Creedmoor this opener.
I shot a dime size group at 100 yds that is 2 inches high and a heartbeat right, or 1/2 right of center.
Load is a 140 grn Accubond over a stout load of rl19.
 
Buzzcook, I do plan a new build next winter if all the pieces fall right, .264 winchester Magnum is the cartridge, and a Rem 700 action will be the donor.
This Creedmoor rifle is one I had built last winter and finally finished this Spring and some loads were tested, and suprisingly this rifle is finicky about certain things, but its coming together now..
 
Last year, I used three different rifles, but we don't have to travel more than 5 miles to deer hunt. Have a fair-weather one, a bad weather one, both .270s.

Ended up shooting a buck with my .243 Tikka, just because I had to carry a pop-up blind up a hill and wanted to keep the carry-weight down.

I was kind of ticked-off, because I'd bought a new rifle/scope to shoot a deer and hadn't shot any game with it (until the recent moose hunt).

JP
 
Borrowed rifle with borrowed ammo.

It has never failed me.

I wouldn't recommend the practice, of course. But it has always paid off for me. :rolleyes:
 
Frankenmauser, do you need to borrow one of the other 2?
Well truthfully in the begining of this rifle build, I told myself if it was ready deer season Id take it hunting, but some of my loads just werent as good as they were touted in other forums, and I usually work up my own stuff no matter what bubba and his kinfolk load.
I was just trying to take an easy route and save components.
Well after testing 8 different bullets and 4 different powders the rl 19 worked the best with 140 grn Accubonds, and I like me some Accubonds....
But the other two may see some action with maybe an antlerless tag, later in the season....
 
Frankenmauser, do you need to borrow one of the other 2?
Click to expand...
I'm good. Thank you.
I have stuff here that I haven't even fired yet. They may as well be borrowed rifles.
Worst case... I slap the Jap type 38 bolt in the barreled action, hose-clamp the assembly to a tree branch, and run it as a single-shot. ;)

You know I like Nosler stuff, as well as RL-19. Seems like they get along well together in several cartridges.
 
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I go along with NoSecondBest, I hunt NH and SC, here in NH I only get one rifle tag so its either muzzleloader or model 7 in 7-08. In SC I can shoot multiple deer so I bring my favorite 3 down there..
 
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