Bush Specialty Firearm

A few that come to mind and some already mentioned
- Rem 600 or 660 .308, .35 rem or 350 mag
- Win 94 30-30
- Marlin 336 30-30
- Ruger scout
- BLR 308 or 358 would be really nice
- Marlin 1894 .44 or 1895 .444/4570
- Rem M Seven 308
- Rem 760 carbine 308/30-06/.35
- Tikka has a scout rifle as well
 
The husqvarna 46 is a real nice handling rifle. Quick to the shoulder and on target. 9.3x57 is perfect for shorter range.
 
It will be highly dependent upon your budget...but if you are looking at a new Ruger made 45-70 then you should have a decent budget as these seem to be running somewhere between 2 and 3 thousand. So this opens up a wider field of possibilities for you.

Another thing not mentioned was if you also desire being able to hunt any other animals in any other type of hunting environment. If not, not a worry, but if so, you may want to expand the rifles capability a bit with a different cartridge with a little more all around capacity.

Deer and bears aren't usually hard to kill cleanly (average foot pounds recommended being 1000 ft lbs of energy at the animal for quick clean kills), but as with any animal, they can be individuals and some are just more tenacious of life. Older, larger, mature specimens can also take a bit more to kill quickly. Always best to plan for the worst and err on the side of safety with a cartridge with a little more energy (a larger caliber doesn't hurt either as it will provide more frontal area that just imparts more energy on the animal) and makes larger entry/exit holes for more bloodletting that allows for easier tracking. This is desirable on bears, as their loose skin and fat can cover wounds and leave less blood sign for trailing.

As stated already, any lever action from the 30-30 on up to the 45-70 will work for you at those ranges. At those short ranges, open sights will work well, unless your eyes are past resolving open sights properly (a condition that comes with age!). In this case, there are option for mounting scopes on most (but not all) lever action rifles you may look at. Another option is to mount a scope in quick detachable rings so you can take off if you desire to use open sights. Peeps and ghost ring sights can improve the potential accuracy of the open sighted rifle by extending the sighting plane.

Some favourites of many hunters here (excuse any redundancy in those already listed) may include:
Lever actions:
- Marlin or Winchester in 30-30; (or Henry, Rossi, etc.))
- Browning BLR in 243 Win, 257 Roberts, 6.5 CM, 7mm-08 Rem, 308 Win, or 358 Win; (they also have 270 Win, 30-06, 7mm Rem Mag, 300 WSM and 300 Win Mag)
- Winchester Model 88 in 243 Win, 284 Win, and 308 Win (the 358 Win is pretty rare);
- Savage Model 99 in 243 Win, 250-3000 or 250 Savage, 7mm-08 Rem, 308 Win, 300 Savage, or 358 Win (also pretty rare);
- Marlin or Winchester in 357 Rem Mag, 41 Rem Mag (pretty rare), 44-40, or 44 Rem Mag;(or Henry, Rossi, etc.)
- Winchester in 7-30 Waters, or 307 Win;
- Marlin in 308 or 338 Marlin Express;
- Marlin or Winchester in 35 Rem;
- Marlin or Winchester in 356 Win;
- Marlin or Winchester in 375 Win;
- Marlin or Winchester in 444 Marlin;
- Marlin or Winchester in 45-70;
Semi Autos:
- Browning BAR's in a variety of cartridges;
- Remington 740, 742, 7400 in a variety of cartridges;
- Winchester Model 100 in 243, 284 Win or 308 Win;
- Shotguns with rifled barrels in 20 or 12 gauge;
Pump Actions:
-Remington 760, 7600 in a variety of cartridges;
- Shotguns with rifled barrels in 20 or 12 gauge;
Single Shots: While they may have longer barrels, these rifles are quite often shorter than comparable rifles with other actions
- Winchester or Browning 1885 in a variety of cartridges;
- Browning B-78 in a variety of cartridges;
- H&R, Thompson Centre and other manufacturers in a wide variety of cartridges;
Bolt Actions:
- Multitude of manufacturers that make a wide variety of bolt actions in various cartridges in short, handy configurations that will suit your needs - I won't get into them all, but the older Remington 600, 660 and newer 673 were popular for this, as are the newer Ruger Scout rifles mentioned. Ruger made some other rifles over the years with shorter barrels as well. Remington's Model 7s were another option that came with 18 1/2 and 20" barrels, depending on year of manufacture. Options included cartridges ranging from the 243 Win to the 350 Rem Mag. Then there are the full stocked carbines popular with the Europeans, often referred to as "mannlichers" after the original manufacturer, in popular European cartridges, and the Ruger M77 or No.1 RSI (or International) full stocked carbines in a variety of cartridges.
Many offer rifles with 16-20" barrels that are handy in the stand, with sufficient power for many species that may be hunted. A trend seen today is for rifles with 20" carbon rifle barrels that are accurate, light, and handy.

In the end, handle as many as you can to determine which fits and feels best to you, and checks off the priority needs and desires in the rifle you are looking for, along with the cartridge that also checks of your priorities and meets your needs.
Best of luck in your quest!
 
not sure about yhe 45-70 if your shooting range is 40-150 yds the 45-70 gives a lot of recoil and are generally heavy not really scope friendly . but ea to his own
any rifle that feels comfortable to you in a basic 308 win with 150-200 gr bullets if you think you need heavy bullets all you need are bullets with heavy jackets speer grand slam or nosler accubond
my choice a bolt action with a 2-7 power scope or maybe a 2.5x8 or a BLR with same scope options
 
struff55 said:
not sure about yhe 45-70 if your shooting range is 40-150 yds the 45-70 gives a lot of recoil and are generally heavy not really scope friendly . but ea to his own
any rifle that feels comfortable to you in a basic 308 win with 150-200 gr bullets if you think you need heavy bullets all you need are bullets with heavy jackets speer grand slam or nosler accubond
my choice a bolt action with a 2-7 power scope or maybe a 2.5x8 or a BLR with same scope options
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Your opinion on 45-70 is interesting. Heres my take on the 45-70 based on my experience. I hunt thick bush and call track, and still hunt. What i have found with high velocity rounds is after shot in traditional lung/ heart game makes a mad scramble for safety and ends up further in the entanglement and harder recovery. Cns hits are dificult to make consistently and high shoulder damages alot of meat. Enter 45-70. Big and slow allows for high shoulder shots that just anchor critters wether deer, elk, or moose and you can literally eat up to the hole. Now the 45-70 really is best as hand loaders cartridge. I like 405 hard casts and Hornady 350 RN as projectiles. For those who say they recoil too much...well for certain they can be loaded into the " wild " category but in my testing using hard casts terminal performance starts dropping off above 1600fps impact velocity so theres no need to load it to breath fire. I have two loads one @1650mv and a 1080pfs load using pistol powder. The 1650 load has about the same recoil as a 7mm-08 or less and the 1080 load is hardly noticable. In my testing the 1080 load is very usable out to 150yds and with an optimal zero can be held on fur out to that range on deer sized targets. Out past that it drops like a stone. The 1650 load is mpbr to 200 on deer. As to weight my marlin is under 8lbs and has a 16.5" barrel. And is extremely handy. I shoot it with irons or a tr25 red dot. I have never had as many drop right where they stand hits as i have with the 45-70 however it is a slower killer so a coup de gras is almost always needed. But my game animal raerly moves a few feet from where they were shot, and i get very minimal meat damage.
 
I find my BRNO combination gun pretty handy in the thick brush. 7x57 over 12 gauge. It's compact enough not to catch on everything and tough enough to take the punishment. In the fall I keep a pocket of shotgun shells for the odd grouse I scare up and in the spring keep a slug in the chamber for bear hunting. It's a win win having two guns in one.
 
Not all but most of the above suggestions. For me a snap too rifle is a little shorter than most guys like, youth models are great the shorter stock gets to the shoulder easily. Also balances out the shorter barrel and if it's really cold helps with the Michelin man looking jacket I'm wearing or lifejacket because I do a fair bit of canoe hunting.
 
At those ranges I’d look for a carbine length lever in 30-30 or a 18”-20” bolt rifle with good irons in .308, M94, 336, Ruger Scout, older 700 bdl. Even something in 44mag would work well but a 30cal rifle cartridge would be better across all areas and situations out further if you find yourself in more open spaces.
 
Wiseguym70 said:
Howdy Folks.


I hunt some pretty thick woods where most shots from the stand are about 40-80 yards. I currently am using a full sized bolt rifle (300 win mag) for bears and deer in my area but am looking to get into something more compact.

Any recommendations on a rifle and calibre combo?. I am leaning towards a 45-70 (impossible to find) or a 358 Winchester.


Thanks in advance!
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You think that 358 will be easier to find that 45-70? I'd like to visit your LGS!

Honestly, in thick woods a 30-06 with a 20" barrel would be my first choice with a 1-4x or 1.5-5x optic from Leupold..
 
A CZ 557 Ranger (308) or Lux SA (243) with 4 or 10-rd mag and 20 inch barrel would do. Great factory sights or use a NECG rear peep sight.
 
vmax204 said:
I find my BRNO combination gun pretty handy in the thick brush. 7x57 over 12 gauge. It's compact enough not to catch on everything and tough enough to take the punishment. In the fall I keep a pocket of shotgun shells for the odd grouse I scare up and in the spring keep a slug in the chamber for bear hunting. It's a win win having two guns in one.
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Nice rifle and calibre combo.
 
You have a lot of choices for your criteria.
308, 307, 356, 358, 375 Winchester, 338 Federal, the 444 and some of the other Marlin.
The first that came to my mind would be the 35 Remington in a Marlin lever.
I had the opportunity to try one and it really tripped my trigger.
If you are a reloader, you can build a load that is right and if you need to stretch it out for any reason it would be there for you.

I trust you will make the right choice for you and if not you can flip it and try something else.

David
 
T/C Encore or Contender nice compact platform... I have one in 50 cal , 357 Maximum (no slouch), and 308 the 357 max with the 180 hot cor speer over H110 powder is a hammer out to 100yds so far

I also have a Martini Cadet 12/15 action with a 357 Mag Barrel and that is also very accurate with RCBS cast 180 gr and unique powder
 
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