FirstFreedom
Moderator
OK, my brother likes guns quite a bit, but he's only about 1/4 as "nutty" as me - not a real gunny, and not really a big hunter. But, he's going on a hog hunt in south TX in Feb (dang it, I can't go). He needs to pick a rifle from one of his, or I can loan him one of mine. Now I had originally thought my .45-70 Marlin 1895 was the way to go, except that on this "semi-guided" hunt, he'll be hunting from these "tripod condominiums" in fields with some potentially longer ranges, over say 125-150 yards. Then I thought well aha, my Brazilian Mauser in .30-06 would be just right - BUT, it's iron-sighted, and since piggies often come out at dusk and dawn, he's probably going to want a scoped rifle, for the extra light gathering ability during those critical few minutes at dusk and dawn. My Howa in .25-06 fits that bill, but I don't think that's enough gun even with 120 grains of good construction, if he meets up with a 200+ pounder. So, what to do? I suppose put my Leupold on my currently-unscoped 7 remmag and sight that in for him. But I don't like that idea because I don't want him shooting such a big boomer such that he might become gun-shy, since he's not going to have a chance to practice much with it. I don't have any scopeable .30-06. I guess that leaves the also-currently-unscoped .270 with heavy 150-160 grainers? Maybe ideal. OK, after foregoing rambling, here's your choices in guns that are either his or mine that I think are potentially enough gun for big piggies:
Iron-sighted guns (as I said, I don't think ideal for low-light situations):
-Brazilian Mauser .30-'06
-Yugo M48 Mauser - 8mm Mauser (this one's probably in too good shape to hunt with, but I'll throw it out there since it's such a good caliber for this purpose).
-91/30 Mosin nagant - 7.62x54
-Marlin 1895 .45-70
-Smelly No. 4, Mk 1 .303
Scoped (or scope-able) guns:
-Swiss K31 with Darrel's scout mount with Burris fixed IER 2.75x28mm, 7.5x55.
-CZ550, .270 win
-Howa 1500, .25-'06 (doubtful this is a good choice)
-Savage 110, 7mm remmag
Any of the last 3 could be fitted with either of these two scopes and sighted before he leaves: Leupold VX-II 6-18x40mm, or Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5-10x40mm.
Also, after your recommendation, what factory load?
Iron-sighted guns (as I said, I don't think ideal for low-light situations):
-Brazilian Mauser .30-'06
-Yugo M48 Mauser - 8mm Mauser (this one's probably in too good shape to hunt with, but I'll throw it out there since it's such a good caliber for this purpose).
-91/30 Mosin nagant - 7.62x54
-Marlin 1895 .45-70
-Smelly No. 4, Mk 1 .303
Scoped (or scope-able) guns:
-Swiss K31 with Darrel's scout mount with Burris fixed IER 2.75x28mm, 7.5x55.
-CZ550, .270 win
-Howa 1500, .25-'06 (doubtful this is a good choice)
-Savage 110, 7mm remmag
Any of the last 3 could be fitted with either of these two scopes and sighted before he leaves: Leupold VX-II 6-18x40mm, or Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5-10x40mm.
Also, after your recommendation, what factory load?