I’m currently considering a new rifle so that I may hunt deer. A shotgun’s range is too short for the hunting I want to do, so I looked up rifles. I happened to also have a box of .300 Weatherby Magnum ammunition, that’s what made me look to Weatherby. I would like to know what you guys think of both my ammunition choice and rifle choice:
http://weatherby.com/products/guns.asp?prd=Rifles&prd_sub_type=3&prod_code=VSP223RR4O
Having a box of ammo is a weak excuse for buying a rifle to fit ! There again I’ve used flimsier reasons to validate the purchase of another.
A 300 Weatherby Mag will certainly put all North American game on it’s arse, but you may prefer something lighter and cheaper.
Take a look at this website for more info on the cal/weapons:
http://jagt.net/Weatherby/300/
Your choice of weapon/cal will depend on both your quarry and the type of terrain that you will be hunting over. For example a great number of whitetail have been taken with .44 Mag in forested areas, (the Ruger Deerfield is a nice choice for this.)
If however you will be hunting in open areas with longer shots you would need a rifle calibre.
If you’ll be humping the gomos the weight of the weapon will be a big factor, a bull barrelled tack-driving monster rifle will rapidly tire you and this will often affect your ability to take the shot.
I have a number of rifles I use for hunting, but most have been superceded my Steyr Scout in .308 - light, accurate and plug-ugly !
http://remtek.com/arms/steyr/scout/scout.htm
http://www.steyrscout.org/project.htm
I would recomend 6.5x55 Swedish over .308, it’s a much flatter shooting way of delivering the same sort of punch on target. It might be trickier to source ammo for though and American rifles that shoot it are rare. Sadly they don’t make a Scout in it (or happily if you have a sense of aestethics (sp?)) but Steyr do do the Prohunter and Tikka and Sako both do 6.5x55 rifles.
Aye Bladensburg’s right, the 6.5 x 55 is an excellent round, I’m awaiting the delivery of one in that cal myself.
I mentioned the .308 as it is such a ubiquitous rd. I assume you live Stateside and will therefore have a wider range of cals from just about any gun store, and while I have seen the 6.5 Swedish on sale there it is by no means as popular as it is in europe.
The 300 Weatherby Mag is also an extremely flat shooting rd, but may well be considered as overkill on most game you will encounter in the continental US. The cost and felt recoil are also of consideration as you will want to practice various positions for accuracy and comfort and I can imagine some shooters developing a flinch after four of five boxes !
I hunt whitetail deer, usual ammunition I use for those suckers is 12-guage! I have an 1893 Winchester pump and another single-shot breech-loader, so a magnum rifle round will probably feel light for me. .300 Weatherby is cheap around this way, everybody has the ammo but nobody I know has a Weatherby rifle in that caliber, so ammo will be cheap and plenty. I also want a flat trajectory shot, but I wanted magnum so I know that deer will be down if I shoot it from 100-150 feet, most of the rifle hunting I would do would be from my back deck.
Ah well, now you’ve lost us. It is illegal to shoot deer with a shotgun in the UK (quite rightly in my opinion) in fact it is illegal to use anything smaller than .240 in England and Wales (.22x centrefire is allowed for small deer in Scotland).
Furthermore random pot-shooting from the house is also frowned upon, you generally have to do a bit of stalking to get a decent shot.
6.5 will shoot flat enough and will ensure a humane kill provided you are a competant shot and can hit the vital zone reliably. If you want to use a magnum to mitigate poor marksmanship then frankly you shoodn’t be shooting at live quarry.
The Swede also produced a lot less recoil.
Mind you I would say that both 6.5x55 and .300 magnum are overkill for 50m/150ft ranges. .243 would be a far better choice I’d have thought (Cuts?) with a much lower chance of overshooting. Both of the larger cartridges are probably 400+m weapons easily (Swedish is a battle rifle round so accuracy rather than power is the limiting factor for hunting).
243 is a rapid little piece and the tissue damage can at times be impressive. Personally I prefer a slower, larger piece of lead so there’s more for me to eat !
Remember Rule Four ! “Be Sure Of Your Target.”
Know what it is, what is in line with it, and what is behind it.
You must know what backstop you have in the event of overpenetration or a miss.
If you’re only shooting at up to fifty yards you’d be fine with the Ruger Deerfield, as for using the .300 Weatherby Mag at that range…
Thought of gettng an AS90 instead ?
If you are only going to be shooting at 50yds, then you might as well stick to using the shotgun with slugs. If you want to invest in a new toy, then maybe treat yourself to a specialised slug shotty, maybe with a rifled barrel?
Other than that, for those kind of ranges a marlin lever action in one of the larger calibres would probably also perform well, fast handling and more accurate than most shotgun slugs. (Although at that sort of range, a slug should be accurate enough anyway.) That said, there’s nothing to stop you getting a Weatherby if you want one, but you might have to accept that it is as much a fun gun as a sensible choice for your kind of hunting.
Bladensburg and Cuts: I am seriously considering a Steyr Pro-hunter in 6.5 x55 for use as a general purpose rifle for club shooting, Stalking, Fox (where the land is suitable, I have a .22WMR for the smaller plots) and maybe some trips to E. Europe too.
Any thoughts on this rifle? I don’t know anyone who owns one…the Tikka T3 lite seems to be the popular option in the circles I shoot in, but it seems a bit tacky to me. I have handled Steyr Scouts and Pro-hunters and they seemed impressive enough, but I am wondering why they are not more popular given their relatively cheap price, and (at first glance) higher quality than the likes of the T3 and the Remington 700. (That is Remmy 700’s at that kind of price point, I’m sure the more expensive models are nicer)
Also, how have you got on with the 6.5 x55? It seems a straightforward enough cartridge to handload, am I right? Any idea how it performs with the lighter bullets, 85-100grains? (I’m thinking fox here.)
ATB
Alex
243 is a rapid little piece and the tissue damage can at times be impressive. Personally I prefer a slower, larger piece of lead so there’s more for me to eat !
Agreed, at close ranges, there is a lot to be said for Slow and Heavy, as you don’t have to pay the trajectory penalties and you reduce the risk of overshooting.
Hence slugs being a sensible choice at times, IMHO.
Ale: The 6.5x55 Prohunter mkII is a very nice rifle indeed - according to the pile of rotting magazines in the cellar it was reviewed in Gun Mart Dec. 2003 and they quite liked it. I’ve shot one myself on the range and found it very good indeed and I’ve used other 6.5s against deer, dogs and foxes and can’t fault them other than to say they make be a bit over powered unless you are certain of your backstop possibly not a lamping rifle unless you know your area very well. That said I have always used someone elses loads or factory ammo so I can’t comment on reloading.
Enzo : I still don’t like shotguns for deer even with slugs (or semi-autos or pistol calibres either, really) but the Ruger might be a sensible option at that range.
I did hear about someone using 7.62x39Russian for short deer but I can’t remember where.
The CZ 527 carbine is chambered in 7.62 x 39, and like most CZs is a very nice rifle.
It will just make the minimum power for hunting deer in the UK, although the Brit levels are frankly ridiculous.
Here’s a short article on the 527:
http://www.gunblast.com/Paco_CZ527.htm
IIRC, the Brit levels were set cos .240 was the smallest calibre that Holland & Holland (IIRC) made a rifle in (might be Weatherby though)
Well, I live in redneck country, it’s the best way to hunt around here. Shotguns are too much of a kick to fire at deer whenever they pop up, I wanted something that would shoot flat and hard, and wouldn’t kill my ahoulder. I also think about bullets the same I do about engine blocks: why increase the power of something small when you could have bigger with the same power.
I still reckon you could do worse than the Deerfield as you’re only using it to fifty metres.
It uses the same lockup as the M1 Garand/M14/Mini 14 and the world famous non-assult [sic] M1 Carbine !
But if you really want a fullbore rifle try the 7.62 x 39 as Bladensburg says.
Anyway, you should have no problem with getting whatever you want Stateside and any excuse is a good excuse for another rifle.
(Depending on when the missus hears about it of course !)
She actually likes venison, too :lol:
6.5 x 55 mm…without a doubt… 8)
At 50 yards stick to cowboy guns 30-30 will do all you need! Mind you, so would a 22mag, if you can shoot! Have you thought of using a pistol?
Or, you could buy a Mauser rifle for $200 (a very nice Mauser rifle for 200, but you can probably find others for a lot cheaper. ), buy a scope mount and a scope, and you’ll have yourself a nice deer rifle. I wouldn’t use regular FMJ though, just soft points. Ammo for a Mauser is very accessible and cheap most of the time. And since you’re used to shooting 12 gauge it shouldn’t be that much of a change.
If you put a scope on a Mauser with anything other than a non-gunsmithing mount, you are a complete philistine and deserve to have said scope inserted where the sun don’t shine.
hunting?
i dont oppose you to do it but i consider that as murder, so i wouldnt do it myself