ultimate deer rifle???
- Thread starter 6.5x55swm
- Start date
- Location
- Edmonton Area Ab, Candle Lake Sk
One size does not fit all
I've hunted Blacktail on Vancouver Island, Whitetail and Mule deer in Saskatchewan and Alberta from the southern prairies, farmland and northern forests. Whitetail on Manitoba southern farmland and in the eastern shield.
For open country a flat shooting scoped bolt action or Ruger # 1. For the close quarters a quick handling carbine with or without a scope.
I've hunted Blacktail on Vancouver Island, Whitetail and Mule deer in Saskatchewan and Alberta from the southern prairies, farmland and northern forests. Whitetail on Manitoba southern farmland and in the eastern shield.
For open country a flat shooting scoped bolt action or Ruger # 1. For the close quarters a quick handling carbine with or without a scope.
For what your asking I’d choose a BLR in .308 with either a red dot or 1-4 power scope. Good carry gun, and quick enough to start blazing away when called for, and you can also reach out there for a bit of a stretcher of a shot if you need to. Also nice to have a detach magazine so you can reload when they make another pass or double back. Anyone that’s done any dogging knows what I’m talking about!
Guessing you also like a rifle with a little snort when you squeeze the trigger?
For a light, low recoil deer rifle out to 150 yards (as per OP criteria) I would look at a used Stevens 325 or Savage 340 in .30-30. Super low recoil, short and fast-handling, a joy to carry all day. Such a sweet little shooter.
I got one for my son to start shooting centerfire, cut the stock down 1" and added a grind-to-fit Limbsaver. It replaced the hard butt plate perfectly (which punishes poor form more than it should) and any teen or small adult could send a few boxes of 150's downrange without a problem.
Scope mounting can be a hassle depending on model.
I got one for my son to start shooting centerfire, cut the stock down 1" and added a grind-to-fit Limbsaver. It replaced the hard butt plate perfectly (which punishes poor form more than it should) and any teen or small adult could send a few boxes of 150's downrange without a problem.
Scope mounting can be a hassle depending on model.
pete dobinson
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Courtenay BC.
A rifle worth looking at imo would be a Kimber Hunter in 7-08. Lightweight, manageable recoil and good accuracy. It's capable of reaching out, if the need arises. A versatile deer rifle should be good from close up to 400 yards. There is no ultimate deer rifle.
I am noticing a lot of folks are forgetting the OP specified under 150 yards. You don’t need versatility or dealing much with terrain within these specifications. Generally inside 150yd’s a rifle that shoulders easily, fast cycling and is quick to acquire target is on the menu. I still think model 99’s or 94’s, even if only for nostalgia, fit the bill perfectly… as another said regarding bias which will be your choice of caliber…
Enjoy
SCG
Enjoy
SCG
nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
If there was a ultimate deer rifle, then why do I have 4 safes full downstairs.
Season closed yesterday, I carried a 44mag Rossi, and a Ruger m77 mkii in 7x57.
Season closed yesterday, I carried a 44mag Rossi, and a Ruger m77 mkii in 7x57.
Obviously it's a Browning in 300 win mag.
Lol
I started with a 270win, now I shoot a 7mm08 because it was a good price when I switched to left. Hard to argue with much if any of the options available based on either the 30-06 or 308 cases... and if they're both acceptable, might as well add the 8mm Mauser case to the list.
That gives you dozens of options that would all be pretty much perfect for deer. There's no need for a magnum out to 300, let alone 150 like the OP asked about, but they kill #### dead too.
Lol
I started with a 270win, now I shoot a 7mm08 because it was a good price when I switched to left. Hard to argue with much if any of the options available based on either the 30-06 or 308 cases... and if they're both acceptable, might as well add the 8mm Mauser case to the list.
That gives you dozens of options that would all be pretty much perfect for deer. There's no need for a magnum out to 300, let alone 150 like the OP asked about, but they kill #### dead too.
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lol, any title with 'ultimate deer rifle' is gonna see some action, well played
assuming some 21st century options are allowed??? wink wink nudge nudge
all of you got it wrong, I built the ultimate deer rifle, hear me out
adjusts from about 34" to 36" to fit anyone or any amount of clothing or positions you may shoot from, pretty hard to build the ultimate deer rifle if you don't have that adjustability imo, it's short and handy anytime, good for all situations, bush, blinds, or open country off a bipod or over a pack etc.
next, short and long range capable as deer live in the bush and in the open country, the three...optic, rifle, and cartridge, need to be capable, we need 3-9x on scope, moa or less on the rifle, and a cartridge spitting bullets above .2 SD and landing with about 1700 fps to 500 yards on the far end, most people can't shoot well enough at that distance to stay in the pie plate anyway and extra horsepower is inefficient on recoil and staying in scope
scope, 3-9x40 Trijicon accupoint green dot duplex with a Kenton industries speed dial turret matching the load, lets you do bush, low light, to dial em up to 500, weighs only 13.4 oz, no fat and rides nice in 1" low rings, still clears the barrel, maintains cheek height without any risers required, oh and no batteries, can't express how wonderful that illuminated green dot is for intuitive placement for the kids or myself (myself with aging eyes), my kid can explain how nice it was on a black bear at 10 yards also (lot of black in the scope on that one)
rifle, something known for moa or less accuracy, in my case chose the Ruger American Ranch, 16.1" barrel, maintains 3/4 moa in field conditions with factory ammo to 500 yards, reliable easy to clean bolt action, and just fancy enough to beat the shat out of
cartridge and ammo, 6.5 Grendel with 123gr Hornady Black ELD-M ammo .252 SD and .5 BC, more than enough SD for class 2 game (deer & sheep) and actually gets into class 3 class game SD recommendations of .25 and higher, it launches at 2386 fps but nice BC keeps it humming along and fighting wind and still holds 1700 fps to 500 yards from my short barrel 'deer rifle', I just dumped a fat whitetail doe at 420 yards DRT with it and 1800 fps impact and my kids took a mature buck at 300 and another doe at 355, it was a dial up season across the valley this year, dry, warm and windy, the blind on the bush edge wasn't producing so had to focus on the treed quiet shaded out of the wind side of a valley from a distance which meant dial up sniper action
weight not super important as more of it only eats recoil and keeps more happening inside the scope or help for follow ups or make easier for the whole family to shoot well, my rig currently maxes out all these checkboxes being at 8 1/4 lb bare scoped rifle and only 6.5 ft/lbs recoil energy, so watching the impacts a thing, keeping them in the scope a thing, and follow ups, as well as anyone shooting it well are also things, shoot ability goes up with weight, carry goes down, we're at the upper end of this typical range, I choose shootability now over ultralight sheep rigs as I'd rather pack the extra couple lbs and have even more to pack out at the end of the hunt
bonus on the cartridge is the game doesn't seem to hear it, so keeping things in the scope and follow ups all the more possible, we even had a coyote give a second chance this year, weird
so ya, I believe we have put together the ultimate deer rifle, not sure it could be topped or I would have built it
we've put it to the test over 4 seasons now and 3 shooters, 1 dad, 2 kids, 1 experienced, 2 rookies, and the freezer is full, batting 1000 with 10 head of big game, 5 from the old man, 5 from the kiddos (ages 12-14), from 10 yards (black bear) to 420 yards (deer) and one moose thrown in there for good measure, also one bighorn sheep, but 7 of the 10 are deer, 5 of those bucks
oh, the critical thing we did to make the system work was put that rifle in a chassis and use AR butt stock on a multi-position buffer tube, so it's quick fit to anyone, regular stocks won't do anymore, even for me, being able to quickly adjust to prone, or lots of clothes or whatever is too handy to give up, never mind fit any shooter quickly
assuming some 21st century options are allowed??? wink wink nudge nudge
all of you got it wrong, I built the ultimate deer rifle, hear me out
adjusts from about 34" to 36" to fit anyone or any amount of clothing or positions you may shoot from, pretty hard to build the ultimate deer rifle if you don't have that adjustability imo, it's short and handy anytime, good for all situations, bush, blinds, or open country off a bipod or over a pack etc.
next, short and long range capable as deer live in the bush and in the open country, the three...optic, rifle, and cartridge, need to be capable, we need 3-9x on scope, moa or less on the rifle, and a cartridge spitting bullets above .2 SD and landing with about 1700 fps to 500 yards on the far end, most people can't shoot well enough at that distance to stay in the pie plate anyway and extra horsepower is inefficient on recoil and staying in scope
scope, 3-9x40 Trijicon accupoint green dot duplex with a Kenton industries speed dial turret matching the load, lets you do bush, low light, to dial em up to 500, weighs only 13.4 oz, no fat and rides nice in 1" low rings, still clears the barrel, maintains cheek height without any risers required, oh and no batteries, can't express how wonderful that illuminated green dot is for intuitive placement for the kids or myself (myself with aging eyes), my kid can explain how nice it was on a black bear at 10 yards also
(lot of black in the scope on that one)rifle, something known for moa or less accuracy, in my case chose the Ruger American Ranch, 16.1" barrel, maintains 3/4 moa in field conditions with factory ammo to 500 yards, reliable easy to clean bolt action, and just fancy enough to beat the shat out of
cartridge and ammo, 6.5 Grendel with 123gr Hornady Black ELD-M ammo .252 SD and .5 BC, more than enough SD for class 2 game (deer & sheep) and actually gets into class 3 class game SD recommendations of .25 and higher, it launches at 2386 fps but nice BC keeps it humming along and fighting wind and still holds 1700 fps to 500 yards from my short barrel 'deer rifle', I just dumped a fat whitetail doe at 420 yards DRT with it and 1800 fps impact and my kids took a mature buck at 300 and another doe at 355, it was a dial up season across the valley this year, dry, warm and windy, the blind on the bush edge wasn't producing so had to focus on the treed quiet shaded out of the wind side of a valley from a distance which meant dial up sniper action
weight not super important as more of it only eats recoil and keeps more happening inside the scope or help for follow ups or make easier for the whole family to shoot well, my rig currently maxes out all these checkboxes being at 8 1/4 lb bare scoped rifle and only 6.5 ft/lbs recoil energy, so watching the impacts a thing, keeping them in the scope a thing, and follow ups, as well as anyone shooting it well are also things, shoot ability goes up with weight, carry goes down, we're at the upper end of this typical range, I choose shootability now over ultralight sheep rigs as I'd rather pack the extra couple lbs and have even more to pack out at the end of the hunt
bonus on the cartridge is the game doesn't seem to hear it, so keeping things in the scope and follow ups all the more possible, we even had a coyote give a second chance this year, weird
so ya, I believe we have put together the ultimate deer rifle, not sure it could be topped or I would have built it
we've put it to the test over 4 seasons now and 3 shooters, 1 dad, 2 kids, 1 experienced, 2 rookies, and the freezer is full, batting 1000 with 10 head of big game, 5 from the old man, 5 from the kiddos (ages 12-14), from 10 yards (black bear) to 420 yards (deer) and one moose thrown in there for good measure, also one bighorn sheep, but 7 of the 10 are deer, 5 of those bucks
oh, the critical thing we did to make the system work was put that rifle in a chassis and use AR butt stock on a multi-position buffer tube, so it's quick fit to anyone, regular stocks won't do anymore, even for me, being able to quickly adjust to prone, or lots of clothes or whatever is too handy to give up, never mind fit any shooter quickly
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haha, it can be done with one safe, see my post above
I used to be 2 safe guy, not anymore haha
21st century options are supremely versatile
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dgradinaru
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- British Columbia
Ultimate deer rifle for my type of hunting would require the cartridge to be able to take shots from 20 yards and up to 350-400 yards. 6.5x55, 270 Win, 7x57, and 7x64 class of cartridges come to mind.
- Location
- Southern Vancouver Island
