Good farm rifle?

I carried a .243 with a frangible bullet I loaded for safety. No ricochets. But, fact is, my .22lr was used far more often than the center fire.
 
Another vote for the .22. When I was living in the country, the little .22 Marlin 60 was the rifle that lived by the back door. For most varmints, I didn't care if they were DRT or if they left under their own steam, but most often a well-placed shot from the .22 did the job.

Nothing wrong with those other calibers, from .243 to .30-06, but for pure varmint control, it's hard to beat a good .22
 
I vote for a short barrelled bolt rifle in stainless (Rem Model 7 or Ruger Compact or something similar) with a synthetic stock. The synthetic stock isn't really necessary, and neither is stainless (except for ease of maintenance), but you do probably want an easily handled and light rifle. As for the caliber, go for 243 or larger.

And if it's going to be in the truck and bouncing around and getting roughed up a bit, I'll suggest that the Winchester/Ruger style 3 position safety is a bit safer under those use conditions.
 
I think you were on to something when you mentioned the Marlin 30-30. Unloading a lever action rifle is incredibly easy by the way.
 
Over the years on the ranch I have used a 10-22, AR 15, Mini 14 Ranch Rifle, 6mm Rem Bolt .30-30 Lever, and .30-06 Bolt to do what you want. My favorite was a stainless ranch rifle (mine shot well enough in the accuracy department). If centerfire was not needed, a 10-22 won hands down.
 
Onde other you could consider if you will be looking at not much more than 100yds would be a Marlin 1894 SS. 44 magnum, lever action and in stainless, it is a fun rifle that does a great job.
 
I have several lever actions and I have several bolt actions with detachable magazines And I hunt with both.Pushing a button and dropping a loaded mag in your hand is a lot easier than working thru the action of a lever or unloading thru the loading port.
 
You don't need to be a big hard kicking 30 cal bullet to kill a coyote or other varmit. A .223, ,22-250, .243 or 25-05 or similar calibers would be all you need. The .223 or .22-250 loaded with a bullet designed for deer hunting will be very effective on them. If your likely hood of hunting a lot of deer out of state is very high, then the .243 or .25-06 would be a better choice IMO. One thing to consider .243 ammo is easy to find and so is .223 (but not so much now with the current panic buying due to the gun ban scare). I have a Thompson Center Contender in rifle format with a 16-1/4" barrel. It has taken several deer and none required a second shot.
 
I have the Marlin 336 you spoke of but, mine is in .35 Remington, not 30-30. It's like the 30-30's big brother. Awesome rifle for the farm.
 
Remington 700 .308 SPS

Our animal pasture extends about 500 yards from our house, so I purchased a Remington 700 SPS in .308 caliber so I could reach out to the far end of the pasture to thin out the coyote population. I'm 3 for 3 in the past year. The great thing about this gun is I can use it for groundhogs, deer, and the occasional raccoon at any reasonable distance and still have the power to knock anything down. The major drawback is the weight, but the added advantage of the heavy barrel allows me to treat it a bit rougher on the farm. Attached is a picture of my first kill with it at 450 yards.

Lifetime NRA Member
US Army 2/14th 10th Mountain Infantry (peacetime)
FFL Type 1
 

Attachments

  • DSC01587.jpg
    DSC01587.jpg
    269 KB · Views: 36
Last edited:
Remington has the 770 available in Walmart have seen them as low as $299 with a 3-9 Bushnell . In 243,270,7mm mag ,30.06 and .308
In southern Illinois, .308 ammo is not readily available , but all the Walmarts have 30.06 and 270. most have 243 ammo and 7mm mag.
I just bought a .308 before the craziness started , now can't find ammo in this area for reasonable prices
 
I have a couple of hundred acres in wildlife management and run around the place in a Honda Big Red UTV. I have a 12 gauge shot gun or a Win 94 .30/30 at my side depending on the current situation with a two gun rack on the back if I might need to change on the fly. I also have a stainless steel 1911 in the storage area by my seat for close encounters of the poacher or rattlesnake kind.

I have been looking for a pre-Remington 336 in .30/30 or a Browning BLR in .270 (stainless) to take the place of my older Win 94 since the guns live in the open to the weather UTV 24/7.

I choose .270 since my scoped zombie guns are in that caliber and .30/30 for my iron sights since I have been shooting it for the last 60 years.

I also have a 10/22 and Browning BL-22 for light duty and fun.

I prefer lever actions since they give speed and reliability.

My grandsons look after the coyote population with AR's in different calibers. Currently we do not have a pig problem but with our mixture we can choose the gun du jour.

With the above choices, if I had to go to one gun, it would be the .30/30, in either Win 94 or 336...
 
When I was a kid on the farm in Wisconsin the gun of choice was a 30-30, When I was in New Mexico 270 was pretty popular. Pick your likely range and game and match it up. Better to be slightly over gunned then undergunned. Right now I am happy with my 22, my 32 Win spcl and my .308. I cover anything I am likely to find in my back field and any one of them will work for most of my shooting.
 
When I saw the title of the thread I was going to say Ruger American in .308 and I see you are already considering it.
 
Living in Indiana, I shoot a lot of ground hogs. my suggestion would be the 243 in a bolt action. I have permission to shoot hogs on some fields that are over 1000 square archers. Ground hogs over 400 yards are not uncommon.
But I have found it very difficult to get within a 200 yards of a coyotes with the flat land we have.
The 308 is a great round but the 243 will be flatter and with light varmint bullets the chance of rounds bouncing off the hard dirt is reduced.
I use a 6mm Remington which is a slightly higher power round than the 243. It’s so flat shooting that it can follow the curvature of the earth.;)
Although I don’t use it for deer (heavy barrel) I would in a second with heavier bullets. (120GR)
If you’re going to carry it on a tractor or farm truck then get something with a plastic stock and stainless.
The Remington 770’s a nice choice. And they do make it in 243.
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire/model-770/model-770.aspx
 
Thanks for all the replies. I'm liking the looks of the .25-06. It's one round you can still get ahold of despite the current unpleasantness. What is a good low-end rifle in that caliber? My guns stay mainly inside; I just grab one as I go out the door, so stainless isn't a necessity.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I'm liking the looks of the .25-06. It's one round you can still get ahold of despite the current unpleasantness. What is a good low-end rifle in that caliber?
Click to expand...

Check out the Savage combo guns (rifle and scope) or the Stevens 200 if Savage still offers them.
Later on if you want a better trigger in the gun buy a Rifle Basix trigger, they are not hard to put in the rifle and you can get a clean breaking trigger with a decent pull weight.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top