.Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

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.Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by dnardy » 15 Jul 2021, 3:44 pm

Hi all,
I already have a Rem 7600 30-06 pig/scrub gun, but I'm looking for a bolt action to complement it. It will probably be another 30-06 for deer stalking.

I would like a lightish rifle but not too light as I'm not huge and I do feel recoil. My 7600 though is fine to shoot, must be a stock that fits me well?

Let me know your favourite deer stalking setup!
30.06 Remington 7600 pump
25.06 Tikka T3
12G / .223 Savage combo
12G Browning GTS
Winchester Mod 06 .22 pump
Air rifle
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by deye243 » 15 Jul 2021, 4:06 pm

My favorite is a remington cdl stainless fluted in 7mmremmag with a leupold vx3 2.5-8 and 175g Woodleigh pill .
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by Oldbloke » 15 Jul 2021, 4:29 pm

Yeh, 30.06 is a good choice. Legal for sambar in Vic too.

Don't stress, any sporting BA will do the job. 22" barrel not too heavy and fits ok. With scope 8lb max.
You only need minute of deer, not 1/2" moa.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by No1Mk3 » 15 Jul 2021, 5:33 pm

Ruger M77 MkII paddle stock in 308, 3-9x scope. Light, durable & reliable it has put paid to many deer & other critters but I still prefer my 30-30 Winchester. Only other bolt actions I've tried are sporterized 303, sporterized 8x57 Mauser, a borrowed Sako Forester 308 and a borrowed Parker Hale Safari Super in 30-06, I would still pick the Ruger, Cheers.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by Bugman » 15 Jul 2021, 6:02 pm

I have a Parker Hale in .270. Bought it many years ago, keep it down on the farm. Have not used it for at least 3 years.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by bigpete » 15 Jul 2021, 6:30 pm

Mine is my winchester model 70 featherweight in 358w with a leupold 2-7×33 in QD rings on top
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by bigrich » 15 Jul 2021, 6:31 pm

My 270 sako 85. Now all I need now is some deer !
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by Blr243 » 15 Jul 2021, 6:32 pm

I would probably take my 7600 in 308 , mostly for the ease of carry and low weight, I would also consider my sauer100.....my compact howa and marlin 4570 would b too heavy .....perhaps once I get my Hans on my new browning maral my preference may change
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by ZaineB » 15 Jul 2021, 6:37 pm

Weatherby 300
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by boingk » 15 Jul 2021, 9:22 pm

Any reason why not the Rem 7600 you already have? Good bits of kit.

Go for a Ruger American [insert variant you like the look of here]. Light, reasonably priced, pretty accurate out of the box.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by bigrich » 15 Jul 2021, 9:28 pm

bigpete wrote:Mine is my winchester model 70 featherweight in 358w with a leupold 2-7×33 in QD rings on top


yeh , go the 358 pete :D . i've got a 1.5-5x20 on mine for close work , sort of rules it out unless i do a scope swap . i'd like a vx2 2-7 for mine ...... :roll:
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by bigpete » 15 Jul 2021, 9:38 pm

bigrich wrote:
bigpete wrote:Mine is my winchester model 70 featherweight in 358w with a leupold 2-7×33 in QD rings on top


yeh , go the 358 pete :D . i've got a 1.5-5x20 on mine for close work , sort of rules it out unless i do a scope swap . i'd like a vx2 2-7 for mine ...... :roll:


Bloody brilliant little rifle hey
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by Downunder » 16 Jul 2021, 7:24 am

Current is a Bergara B14 Timber in 300 winmag, NF 2.5-20x50 optic.

Reason 1 left hand bolt and stock
Reason 2 long mag well to accomodate modern long projectiles
Reason 3 incredibly repeatably accurate out of the box shooting any hand load under 220gn’s you throw at it acceptably
Reason 4 economics

Currently looking into straight pull bolts LH in .308 for more close in work.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by Bello » 16 Jul 2021, 9:58 am

Hi Mate

PLEASE NOTE: There are graphic pics attached if you are not used to butchered animals

I have shot deer with 223, 243, 270, 308, 300 win mag.
Apart from the 223 and 243, there was toooo much meat damage.
The deer I have shot were all for food. They were fallow deer. Always within 200 meters.

I found when I shot a deer with my 223 loaded with a 55gr Hornady pill, at no greater than 200 meters away, shot in the heart/lung, the deer expired before I reached it.
Very little meat damage.
The top immage was a deer shot with a 243, using an 87gr V-Max. Broke two rids on the way in, (a bit of meat damage) and droped the deer on the spot.
The bottom shot was with a 223, 55gr V-max. less neat damage on the way in also.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by MontyShooter » 16 Jul 2021, 11:31 am

I've got a tikka t3x superlite in 7mm rem mag. Very easy rifle to walk around with and a laser at any hunting distance really. Recoil is firm without being sharp if that makes sense.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by dnardy » 16 Jul 2021, 11:49 am

Blr243 wrote:I would probably take my 7600 in 308 , mostly for the ease of carry and low weight, I would also consider my sauer100.....my compact howa and marlin 4570 would b too heavy .....perhaps once I get my Hans on my new browning maral my preference may change


The thing I don't like about my 7600 in 30.06 for deer is that it is too noisy to chamber a round and I don't like relying on the safety.
30.06 Remington 7600 pump
25.06 Tikka T3
12G / .223 Savage combo
12G Browning GTS
Winchester Mod 06 .22 pump
Air rifle
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by boingk » 16 Jul 2021, 1:27 pm

Fair call on the quiter round chambering.

Image

You know what the best safety is, though? You.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by disco stu » 16 Jul 2021, 2:17 pm

dnardy wrote:
Blr243 wrote:I would probably take my 7600 in 308 , mostly for the ease of carry and low weight, I would also consider my sauer100.....my compact howa and marlin 4570 would b too heavy .....perhaps once I get my Hans on my new browning maral my preference may change


The thing I don't like about my 7600 in 30.06 for deer is that it is too noisy to chamber a round and I don't like relying on the safety.


Is anything much quieter to chamber a round?
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by Blr243 » 16 Jul 2021, 2:31 pm

U are correct about the cross bolt safety , easy to bump across and not know it’s been bumped across compared to other systems. The three pos safety on the howa I’m not happy with either because of the little safety lever and the settings are so close to each other. The sauer three pos safety has a great big long lever easily operated and easy to see or feel if u are in safe position or not. When shouldered/ slung with one up the spout it’s real easy in the dark to Regularly feel And check it’s still in safe position. I feel very confident with the safety on the sauer and that’s so incredibly important when u choose to hunt with one chambered
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by bigpete » 16 Jul 2021, 3:23 pm

dnardy wrote:
Blr243 wrote:I would probably take my 7600 in 308 , mostly for the ease of carry and low weight, I would also consider my sauer100.....my compact howa and marlin 4570 would b too heavy .....perhaps once I get my Hans on my new browning maral my preference may change


The thing I don't like about my 7600 in 30.06 for deer is that it is too noisy to chamber a round and I don't like relying on the safety.


EXACTLY why I sold mine. And the safety is in a s**t of a spot too.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by bigpete » 16 Jul 2021, 3:23 pm

disco stu wrote:
dnardy wrote:
Blr243 wrote:I would probably take my 7600 in 308 , mostly for the ease of carry and low weight, I would also consider my sauer100.....my compact howa and marlin 4570 would b too heavy .....perhaps once I get my Hans on my new browning maral my preference may change


The thing I don't like about my 7600 in 30.06 for deer is that it is too noisy to chamber a round and I don't like relying on the safety.


Is anything much quieter to chamber a round?


Just about any bolt action...
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by Blr243 » 16 Jul 2021, 3:41 pm

Laying prone I was lining up a boar at night in the middle of an open crop paddock when I touched the trigger and only got a click. Gasp, dud primer ...but I was not the only one aware of this dud primer..the boar immediately stopped feeding ,lifted his head pricked his ears full alert, froze and stood listening for more info on a possible threat .....rather than frantically working the bolt , I , full off worry and anxiety very carefully worked the bolt and chambered another round ..., fortunately the boar did not hear me but it w as a very tense few seconds for me .....this has nothing to do with favourite deer rifles, just me rambling again because I have too much time on my hands
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by disco stu » 16 Jul 2021, 4:22 pm

bigpete wrote:
Just about any bolt action...


Wow-they must be loud then. I just figured they are all about the same, which seems really loud when you're in the bush near an animal being as quiet as possible
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by Bill » 16 Jul 2021, 6:48 pm

6mm ARC, 90gr Nosler BT at 3100fps is what I last used. Plenty of grunt for Fallow.

I dont hunt other deer often enough but If I did I would probably use my BLR358 with 220gr Speers or my 500 A Square to poke a big hole in em. ;) :drinks:
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by bigpete » 16 Jul 2021, 6:50 pm

Put it this way,my mate could hear the action being cycled on mine from over 50m away and I was doing it as quiet as I could.....
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by MontyShooter » 16 Jul 2021, 7:35 pm

Exposed hammer rifles make leaving one in the pipe a more comfortable experience.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by Blr243 » 16 Jul 2021, 8:09 pm

I just saw boings comment about the best safety being the person holding the rifle......excellent comment. A good firm reminder to the individual
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by ZaineB » 16 Jul 2021, 8:17 pm

Blr243 wrote:I just saw boings comment about the best safety being the person holding the rifle......excellent comment. A good firm reminder to the individual



only use safety catches on my shotguns and thats purely down to how they work, otherwise its bolt open, using safety catches is poorly advised when the firearm could otherwise be out of battery.
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by bigrich » 16 Jul 2021, 8:18 pm

all this talk about quiet chambering , on a model 70 or other cock on close rifle , i will chamber a round then as i'm closing the bolt , decock it by keeping my finger on the trigger as the bolt closes. all with the rifle pointed in a safe direction of coarse . when i see game , just lift and close the bolt . it's now cocked and ready to fire .almost a silent move on a push feed model 70. works for me . quieter than cocking a hammer on a lever gun :thumbsup:
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Re: .Your favorite bolt action deer rifle.

Post by bigpete » 16 Jul 2021, 8:50 pm

That sounds incredibly dangerous to me tbh
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