What is your favorite knockaround gun?

T

tex45acp

New member
So what is your favorite that you have no problem getting worn from riding in your vehicle heading to the farm, ranch or hunting lease? The one that if it gets scratched in the brush that you don’t go ballistic over?
Mine would be my $125.00 Russian SKS that I bought two decades ago, after that would be my Model 94 Winchester in 30-30.
 
Never thought of the sks as a beater hunting gun but I have one that the PO set up with a short scope for deer hunting. But I would side with the Winchester 94 in 30-30. That was the first rifle that I used and I hunted in a lot of thick brush and it helped to be short and compact.

But if I have longer ranges to cover a beater isn't coming with me. As FrankenMauser said you can take care of them. Some new wood is available cheap. Worn bluing can be redone or cerekoted adding new life.
 
I used to have a Rossi 92 16” in .44 mag. It was the ranch gun of choice and my kids shot it a ridiculous amount with bunny fart cowboy action loads. Unfortunately it got stolen, hoping it’ll come back one day.
 
I bought some older generation marlin bolt guns that are great knock about rifles with plastic stocks. 880SS and 882SS are good knock about guns with the 882 in 22 mag being more versatile.
 
I have quite a few "working guns" and don't really care if they get knocked around or dinged up
They're banged around on horseback, fall off Rokons and quads, etc
Heck most of my regular carry guns get banged around quite a bit
I think back to my duty gun days and they were always beat up just from daily work

Look at walls, door frames and desk edges in any LE building, there will always gouges, marring, missing paint, etc, at hip hight right where a holstered pistol butt sits. It was worse back before polymer took the lead from steel framed guns.
 
working gun

Of late, my hard use long gun is not a rifle, but a Mossberg Maverick 88 w/ 18" barrel. Bought it used for a song back before demand drove HD shotgun prices through the roof. A small pouch holds extra buckshot, slugs and birdshot. A cheap slip on elastic butt cuff is taped in place and holds more of same. Pretty versatile. I don't abuse or neglect it, but I don't fuss over it either.
 
I have a savage 93 .22 magnum that is always in my truck. You never know when a woodchuck or coyote will pop up. With the little redfield 2-7 on it its a joy to carry around.
 
I'd have to say it's my .17 HMR, CZ455 American sporting a Bushnell 3-12X Nitro. I carry/shoot it more than any other rifle these days. It's taken several Eastern Coyotes, woodchucks, and red squirrels around our son's 200+ acre blueberry/timber lands, starting just behind our house. Another rifle that sees a lot of use is a .223 Remington 700 LV Stainless-Fluted Synthetic, though it shares the limelight with a 700 ADL .223 with a new HS Precision stock and 3-9X Leupold.

All my centerfire rifles are epoxy pillar-bedded and have to shoot, at worst 1/2 MOA...All do better than that. The .17 HMR, which is saddled with factory ammo and only shoots 1" MOA.
 
Henry Mares Leg with a Big Boy stock replacing the stubby ML stock. .357 Magnum for walking in the bush.

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Truck gun (leave in truck 24/7) is a short, cheap SxS shotgun.

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We refer to them (working guns) as gate guns. Swap from 45 ACP carry to 45 ACP with snake shot at the gate (easier to swap pistols than unload/reload), lever gun in the cab.
This ain’t no gated community, it’s producing acreage....there does seem to be some steel sticking up! All work, no play, well you know.
 
If my AR were legal for more types of hunting, it would be my go to knock around. Otherwise, I don't really have one. My hunting rifle is 75 year old walnut and steel and hardly a beater, though I'm sure it's seen some rough use in it's lifetime.
 
Marlin 27s Pump, .25-20. Light and fast, barrel has been relined and shortened to 19 inches. In northern WI our shots are not long distances.

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GarandTd said:
If my AR were legal for more types of hunting, it would be my go to knock around. Otherwise, I don't really have one. My hunting rifle is 75 year old walnut and steel and hardly a beater, though I'm sure it's seen some rough use in it's lifetime.
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Just curious, how is your AR not legal? Caliber size? I use my .350 legend AR for big game here in the northeast


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My beater gun is my Mossberg 835 turkey gun. Stays in my vehicle most the time, it’s what I take into the woods with me on the quad. I keep an assortment of shells for various hunting seasons in its case. From 3 1/2” goose and turkey loads, to 3” rifled accuball slugs and 00 buckshot. A shotguns versatility is hard to beat.


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Just curious, how is your AR not legal?
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Until 2017, semi automatic rifles were prohibited for hunting use in PA. After 2017 SA rifles were approved for small game and fur-bearers, but still prohibited for big game.

I prefer a shotgun for small game such as squirrel or rabbit. My Mossberg Maverick 88 is my go-to for that. I think the AR would be perfect for any medium to large ground dweller and a little more oomph than a 22 for stubborn pests. Much like my Maverick, the AR has an Aluminum receiver and polymer stock and forend. They are both simple to take apart and clean, were inexpensive, and parts are plentiful. They will hold up to the elements without much concern.
 
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I have a ar10 I put together for cheap. New frontier billet lower with a bear creek side charger upper. It gets the hell beat out of it on the farm bouncing around in vehicles and on the tractor. It's been dropped in the mud and fallen off of a moving vehicle more than once. Its killed everything from rats to deer and even with the abuse will still put my handloads into a 3/4" group at 100yds. Its saved the chickens from coyotes and foxes and even managed to intimidate a few trespassers. Couldn't imagine not having it by my side all day weve been through a lot together.
 
I have a ar10 I put together for cheap. New frontier billet lower with a bear creek side charger upper. It gets the hell beat out of it on the farm bouncing around in vehicles and on the tractor. It's been dropped in the mud and fallen off of a moving vehicle more than once. Its killed everything from rats to deer and even with the abuse will still put my handloads into a 3/4" group at 100yds. Its saved the chickens from coyotes and foxes and even managed to intimidate a few trespassers. Couldn't imagine not having it by my side all day weve been through a lot together.
 
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