The "Holy Grail" Debate

Give me any well kept swedish mauser sporter. They are cheap. Dead accurate. Good ballistics. Some history. Not too heavy and well built.
If i could restart my firearms life my first and only deer gun would have been a sporter you could probably get for 300$. They are steals!
 
I started hunting over 18 years ago with a Remington 700 in 30-06 that was my fathers. My First rifle was a Remington 700 in .270 Win (gave it to my brother as a graduation first rifle gift) Those were both boring and I soon became a Gun "NUT" and bought and built many rifles from small to large, factory to wildcat, and cheap savage to custom action Mcmillan stock ect. I now have one hunting rifle left a Bergara b14 Hunter in .30-06. I hate the .30-06 and I hate plain but what I figured out over the years was simply this.

Under normal hunting conditions (non DG and mountains ect) you can't beat a 7lb rifle in .270 or 30-06. It points nice, It carries nice, It's easy on recoil, and you can literally walk into a village of 10 people with a general store and buy ammo, they just work. The other thing I learned was If you take a 4000 rifle with gorgeous wood and top it with a 3800 scope it's a hell of a beautiful thing, however you are more worried about not dinging it and babying it than you are hunting (cudo's to you guys who can treat them like a tool) It also never killed anything any better. I shoved the Butt of my Bergara in a snow bank after getting my moose this year and the work started. I would have put out a blanket for some of my other rifles I've owned.

S**t I think this means I am getting old.
 
Last edited:
I am quite fond of my micro hunter xbolt in 308win, I haven't considered another rifle since for things larger than coyotes.
On PEI, a good combo 20ga/223 would be amazing to have, or a 20ga/22wmr. I settled on a baikal 22lr/410, compromises... and end up taking my single shot 20ga more.
Can I imagine a 20ga 20ga 17hornet drilling? Such a combo gun would blow my mind.
 
This year I have decided to make the gun mentioned above. I'm taking an older Remington Model Seven and having International Barrels (IBI) make a .338 Fed(Reamer on the way and will be the first they produce!) with 19" 1-10 Twist and as light a contour they can produce without sucking. I've decided to put a Leupold VX-3i 2.5-8x36 with standard duplex reticle on it. A lightweight and compact scope, that looks pretty on top of the rifle. I am unsure if I want to have a Wildcat Customs stock built for it yet but that may come.

That's going to be nice... and very similar to what I have been thinking about for a while.

I picked up a Model Seven in .260 REM years ago, but now have two other .260's I shoot more (Tikka T3 and Savage 12FP) so have been thinking hard about re-barrelling the Seven in 338 federal. It's a wood stock and the current barrel contour is a bit too light for free-floating, so I'm thinking heavy-enough-to-be-accurate-floated contour. I had been planning for a longer barrel, maybe 22", but now that I think about it that was really driven by .260 requirements and it won't be a .260 any more (D'oh !!). Your 19" plan might be just right.

Congrats on the new build !
 
Last edited:
A few years ago I was looking at Canadian Military Sniper Rifles.. and I found the C3A1.in .308.. A Parker -Hale Mauser 98 action , complete with a McMillan A2 fiberglass stock and adj.cheek riser, topped with a Unerti 10x scope. Now I'm not too sure how often it happens, that a rifle and its owner have the same name , but a Parker McMillan... is ME! ....lol. I did a bit of searching and i couldn't find a source for one, so any input and assistance would be greatly appreciated. I can't post a damn picture tho , not sure why.

Parker in .PG
 
Last edited:
Perfect hunting rifle didn't exist so I had a custom one made, even then I don't believe there is a "perfect" rifle for everything in general, I have a choose the perfect tool for the job mentality.

Started with a Mac Bros evo titanium action sa
Hardy carbon fiber barrel 30cal 1-10 24" fin "heavy" Palma
McMillan carbon game warden sondoran ambush camo
Trigger tech flat blade
Badger M5 enhanced dbm
Hawkins titanium muzzle brake
Finished in midnight bronze cerakote
Topped with night force ultralight rings and a vx5hd scope
Use hsm trophy gold 300wsm 185gr Berger vlds
Ai 3/7 round wsm mags
Spartan javelin bipod
 
Hey Rob, cool looking rifle!...:) Can you please explain the animals on the stock? Pronghorn, hog, deer and fox? What make is that rifle? What caliber? What are you using to mark the kills on the stock? Looks very neat, thank you for sharing!.....:)
D1yTenP.jpg

BRNO Model 22 small ring Mauser-98. Caliber 8x57S
Barrel Length: 20.5" to front of bolt. Double set triggers.
Holts Wetzlar 6x scope. German No. 1 reticle.
Factory fitted see-through claw mounts.
Dated 1951 on barrel and receiver.
Matching serial numbers on barrel, bolt and stock (in barrel channel).
Czechoslovakian and German (Ulm) proofmarks.
Right side of barrel ahead of rear sight marked in English "Made in Czechoslovakia".
Receiver and barrel stamped "Geco" (German retailer, Gustav Genschow & Co.)

Stock stamped WB in a cartouche on bottom of stock behind the pistol grip.
Tally marked stock (silver inlays of European game: Roe Deer, Wild Boar, Red Deer, and Fox...silver tally pins)

...and its not my tally...
although I could give the previous owner a run for his money in terms of harvested deer numbers,
I have never even seen a Wild Boar in the wild.

Weight approx. 6lb. 10 oz. w/o scope.

OjLSpoq.jpg

E9bZisp.jpg
 
Last edited:
Just to be a little different, mine would be a Ruger Gunsite Scout rechambered to .358 Winchester while still keeping the factory 16” length and flash hider......just because.

I really love the platform but .308, although more than adequate, just doesn’t float my boat anymore. The .358 is an awesome cast bullet round and the GSR’s single stack mag should feed cast flat points with ease.
 
For all around use, my Holy Grail hunting rifle would be my Winchester Model 70 in .270win.

Being a southern Ontario boy, I can still carry it for varmint and predator hunting in my backyard.

Travel north and I can use it for whitetail deer, black bear, elk, and moose.

I even used it in Quebec for caribou.

With so many options for bullet weight and style this is an all around slam dunk choice for me.

Mike
 
From what's in my cabinet now:

Remington 700 SPS DM in 7mm Rem Mag with a Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40mm. Durable, reliable, versatile, affordable


If money was no object:

Merkel RX Helix Noblesse in .30-06 for all around capability and classicness. I'd mount a Zeiss Victory HT 2.5-10x50mm scope on it.

MERHELIXNOB30068.jpg


victory-ht-2_5-10x50_model-variation1_350x350.png
 
For all around use, my Holy Grail hunting rifle would be my Winchester Model 70 in .270win.

Being a southern Ontario boy, I can still carry it for varmint and predator hunting in my backyard.

Travel north and I can use it for whitetail deer, black bear, elk, and moose.

I even used it in Quebec for caribou.

With so many options for bullet weight and style this is an all around slam dunk choice for me.

Mike
This was my selection for the post apocalypse survival gun debate. If there is interest next week we will start that one.

Pre -64 Model 70 in 270. The pre 64 being one of the most reliable actions and 270 for it's roundedness and the need to still hold some identity/Personality for my own sanity. Not like those sheep that would say FAL in 7.62 NATO.
 
Back
Top Bottom