Hunting with a milsurp rifle

Any of those would work with a soft point hunting bullet. Make sure it isn't a FMJ round.

I have shot deer with a Mosin and 174 grain Round Nose bullets. Did the trick.
 
My Grandfather who fought in the Great War in the 24th Battalion, Victoria Rifles of Canada, had four rifles that I know of all four leaning up against in the back of his closet for me to look at in awe, three Enfields and a Ross. He was a hunter and a big joker and growing up I believed "nearly," all of his hunting stories. He said that one Enfield was for dear, one was for moose and one was for bear and he used the Ross to defend his garden against the squirrels and the rabbits
 
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I used my K31 a couple years for hunting as I just like shooting the gun. Carrying that heavy beast around all day on the trails is a labour of love and my love went back to my modern rifles with much less weight, better scope mount, and stainless for ease of cleaning after a rainy day.
 
I have taken a few bucks with a K31. Rifle worked as good as any I have hunted with.

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Pick the one you like the most and feels natural in your hands. Fit, comfort, experience, etc. That will matter the most. The rest is semantics essentially if you don't make a clean shot or follow ups.
 
RVG_Don said:
My Grandfather who fought in the Great War 1st Canadian division, had four rifles that I know of all four leaning in the back of his closet for me to look at in awe, three Enfields and a Ross. He was a hunter and a big joker and growing up I believed "nearly," all of his hunting stories. He said that one Enfield was for dear, one was for moose and one was for bear and he used the Ross to defend his garden against the squirrels and the rabbits
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I would have liked your grandfather , and I'd probably use the Swede . I've used mine for deer a few times , it worked great .
 
Zedbra said:
I used my K31 a couple years for hunting as I just like shooting the gun. Carrying that heavy beast around all day on the trails is a labour of love and my love went back to my modern rifles with much less weight, better scope mount, and stainless for ease of cleaning after a rainy day.
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I'd do whatever I could not to have to hunt with a milsurp. A Savage Axis would be a way better choice.
 
I understand where SuperCub is coming from. Most milsurps are heavy and require immediate care after being exposed to the elements. And if you're right handed but left eye dominant like me, you'll likely want to use a scope which isn't aleays easy without bubbaing your rifle.
 
SuperCub said:
I'd do whatever I could not to have to hunt with a milsurp. A Savage Axis would be a way better choice.
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Lol, early on in my hunting career I carried a P14 and a P17 around in the bush just because I guess. They were pretty heavy by the end of the day I can say that, so I can agree with you in some ways. However I also had some milsurp rifles that were pretty good to carry around such as a Model 95 Mauser short rifle in 7X57.
 
Boomer said:
The real answer is that you probably already know which rifle to use. Its the rifle you like the best, snap shoot the best, and find the easiest to carry. All provide suitable energy to have the expectation of killing a deer quickly with a well placed single shot, so power is not a consideration. An inch difference in group size from slow fire prone, or worse, off the bench, at 100 yards target is irrelevant to hunting. A 3 inch difference in trajectory at 300 yards is likewise irrelevant. Even if there was an opportunity to take a 300 yard shot with a scoped rifle, the target is large enough to be within the margin of error, but its unlikely you would even attempt that shot with the issue sights on the rifle, and almost as unlikely if you had a receiver mounted aperture sight, if the light was poor. If hunting in thick cover, where ranges are typically within 50 yards, and almost certainly always within 150, a fast handling SKS comes into its own with its ability to provide a rapid follow-up shot.
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This be proper advice for sure.^

I've hunted with most all of the rifle makes thus mentioned, but me all time favorite for deer sized & smaller critters is a tweeked M1 Carbine. My ones were
semi auto till the gov't boobs made 'em restricted. No biggie fer me as I just welded up the gas piston assy & set them up as straight-pull, spring assist on
closing bolt actions. Used them with issue sights & 4x scopes. Had no losses inside of 100 yds on the critters I bonked with handloads.

I sure wish some maker like Springfield Armory would partner up with an ammo maker like Hornady to make M1's in .35 Carbine. (Based on the .357 mag
with a rebated rim. Both cartridge cases are the same length.) Would make for a sweet number on big, furry buggers in close quarters with well selected
bullets and loads.
 
Boomer said:
If all of the rifles mentioned are in their "as issued" condition, my choice would be the Swede, assuming suitable ammunition is available. Let me say that I have no experience with the Swiss K31 rifle, so I do not include it amongst my considerations since I have no basis of comparison with it.

The real answer is that you probably already know which rifle to use. Its the rifle you like the best, snap shoot the best, and find the easiest to carry.
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anglia2 said:
I would have liked your grandfather , and I'd probably use the Swede . I've used mine for deer a few times , it worked great .
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anglia2, ya thanks he was a popular likable character who enjoyed sharing and talking about common interests, a wealth of knowledge, you would have liked him, he's greatly missed. Unfortunately I never owned an Enfield or a Ross to hunt with to keep the family tradition going and so also unfortunately as a result I've never reloaded for the .303 a very interesting cartridge. I have sold off most of my milsurps otherwise I would have used one of my two 1942 Husqvarna M38's as my first choice for milsurp hunting mainly because the M38 is like the perfect milsurp rifle for hunting with and also because I really like the 6.5x55. Today my K31 would seem like the obvious choice because it's such an awesome rifle, instead I still have a really nice great shooting TradeEx M96 that was beautifully sporterized at some point in the past and even though it might not meet the technical definition of a milsurp anymore I can say that I would also use the Swede for so many reasons
 
I used to shoot black bears with 180 grain Norma cartridges out of a Mosin Nagant.

My first deer was shot with a 303 Ross 50 years ago with one out of a random pocketful of cartridges of various weights and brands.

A 140 grain bullet in a 6.5x55 cartridge would be a good deer hunting load.
 
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