This Years Favorite Gun/Caliber for deer?

Here's another one for the venerable 6.5x55 Swedish. Have a Ruger M77 that shoots this caliber, and I've knocked a ton of whitetails down with it.
 
Remington model 700 270 for me and a model 7 243 for my son usually. I decided to shake things up a bit this year, and the glock 20 is getting use in the thick stuff also.
 
They say Winchester is coming out with this new deer cartridge soon. It will be .30 cal, rimmed, 30 grs. of powder and chambered in this space age, new fangled lever action rifle called the 1894.

Personally, I don't think it will last very long. Marlin has expressed some interest in chambering it in their 1893 lever action. I think they are wasting their time too.
 
They say Winchester is coming out with this new deer cartridge soon. It will be .30 cal, rimmed, 30 grs. of powder and chambered in this space age, new fangled lever action rifle called the 1894.
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If Winchester waits a few years till the .30-30 is even less popular than it is now and the original, cheaper (non Miroku) 94 has become a distant memory, they could "re-release" the rifle and cartridge in the "budget" price range and have a hit all over again.

They might sell better with a "NEW!!!" sticker on them.
 
The price of these new 94's is crazy! The first deer rifle I ever had was in 1978 and it was a 94 from Woolco. I think it was the cheapest new gun on the rack.
 
Oh, and I guess my one of my favorite deer rifles is a pretty little USRAC Winchester M70 Lightweight in .308 with a 4X Leupold. By the way this "push feed" gun will feed my hand loaded 165gr Speer Hotcore RNSP while the gun is completely upside down.;)
 
I used a suppressed 45-70 marlin SBL. The subsonic 500 grain round did well and was quiet enough that it did not scare away the doe that was hanging around the buck.

The buck jumped when it was hit but looked around for a while and could not decide where to run so it walked forward about 10 steps and then tiped over. The doe just stood there and we had to scare her away moving in on the dead buck.

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They just legalized suppressors for hunting in my state this year. I think they are nice to have but I just can't justify the total investment of buying an expensive permit to own a suppresor, getting my barrel threaded, then buying the suppressor. I would have more invested in the suppressor than the rifle.
 
This year I hunted at my inlaws place in West Virgina. I used a Marlin 45-70 with Oregon train 405 gr lasercast bullets loaded to trapdoor levels 1300-1400 Fps. Came home empty handed but had a good time.
 
2005 7.62x54R Mosin Nagant original barrel...0 deer
2006 308 Sav99 someone else rebarreled....0 deer
2007 270 pre 64 M70 I rebarreled.....0 deer
2008 270 pre 64 M70 I rebarreled....5 deer
2009 270 pre 64 M70 I rebarreled....4 deer
2010 7mmRM Ruger #1 original barrel...3 deer
2011 7mmRM VZ24 I rebarreled... 1 deer 1 antelope
2012 257 Roberts Ackley Improved Rimmed Uberti 1885 I rebarreled.. 4 deer
2013 7mmRM Rem700 I rebarreled... 1 deer
 
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I used Norma 7x57mm Rimmed brass and turned down the necks.

The case heads turned out to be soft, and did not go to 85kpsi, but only to ~ 60kpsi before the primer pockets got loose.

So 115 gr Ballistic Tips only left the 26" barrel at 3050 fps.
 
My all time favorite of all time is ...... 7.62x51/.308Win. tied with 7.62x51R/.30WCR/.30-30. and followed closely by 7.92x57/8mm Mauser:D
 
I hunt mainly in the woods but do have areas where there are 200 yard shots. Therefore I have taken my favorite older 30-30 Marlin and added a low power scope. A 30-30, 150 grain is capable of taking 90% of all the deer harvested if outfitted with a small scope. Gives me a better chance of taking a deer out to 225 yards. So now my "Woods" gun can pretty well get out into a bit of medium range open country.
 
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My favorite is the guy who practices out to 600 yards with his over bore rifle, and then does skid and shoot out the vehicle window at 50 yards.
 
So 115 gr Ballistic Tips only left the 26" barrel at 3050 fps.
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That's nothing to be ashamed of. In fact that's clipping right on the heels of all my .25-06 will do with a 115 gr bullet.

I use my Howa .25-06 for the more open terrain hunts where there are longer shot opportunities. 100-350 yards depending on where I'm hunting.

I have the good old stand-by, a straight-stocked Marlin 336 in .35 rem that I used up until this season as my "brush gun". But it's a family heirloom as I'm the 3rd generation to deer hunt with it, so it will probably be mostly a safe queen for a few years until I have kids old enough to hunt with it.

A sporterized K98 Mauser 8x57 has taken the .35's place as a brush rifle. I don't care near as much if I get a scratch on the old Mauser. It's a beater, but it still shoots MOA at 100 yards with a cheap Bushnell Banner 3-9x40. Can't ask for any better than that from an old military barrel.

I have several other rifles that see a hunt every now and then, but the .25-06 and 8x57 are my workhorses. Truth be known if I could hunt with only one rifle for all terrain, both deer and black bear season, it would be the old Mauser without a doubt.
 
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