Thread: Your best Rifle EVER?

My favourite was an old Stirling .22 mag with a Japanese made Tasco scope made by Hakko I think. I must have been lucky as it never missed as beat or failed me was damn accurate and shot many rabbits, hares, quite few deer and one chamois up the deception valley. I lost it overboard crossing Lake Brunner in bad weather returning from shooting goats.

alltime favourites . .. to close to call a winner out of my .308 BRNO & .222 Sako

bought the Brno brand new 40+ years ago as my first real hunting rifle as an apprentice with a Redfield 4X on top . . its spent years at a time as a safe queen as i tried other calibers / rifles but i always came back to it sooner or later, old school wood/blued metal is a good fit for me.
Mk4 3.5-10 mildot on top these days, 19 inch barrel suppressed . . . good rifle

.222 Vixen was my first varmint rifle . . . totally under rated the caliber before i tried one, with a 6X on top it was deadly on Hares and Deer in the light. These days it has a 6.5-20 Leuplod on top and is my go to walkabout the paddocks Hare gun . . classic

honourable mentions go to sako Quad .17hmr - .30/30 Marlin - good rifles / cartridges

Originally Posted by kokako

85, 708 IIRC?

Yes @kokako 85SS 7mm08. Scope is 3-12×50 PMII P3 reticle, without illumination. So, very similar to your setup.

@rossi.45 just wondering do you ever swap the barrel on your sako quad ?

Its interesting we are seeing a few new (bucket list) rifles on this thread which i suppose perform well largely due to their owners having some experience behind them and also at last the money to buy them. However they are outnumbered by golden oldies: BSA, Stirling, SMLE etc. No one has listed a magnum or a tikka yet have they even though they could be technically " better" than most of rifles mentioned so far.

Good idea for a thread @Tahr.

Good idea for a thread,

when i first started hunting i loaned a sporterised 6.5x55 M96 from my uncle for a year or more, and missed a couple deer before nailing one. Then when i started as an apprentice i saved up for a while and bought a T3 in the same calibre. A week before i bought it i had eyed up a blued T3 in a local shop for 999 and went back the next week to buy it, as it happens it got sold and i promptly put a stainless one on layby. I got sick of the layby so went in the next week and paid the balance. later i got Scott to flute the barrell and bolt, and added some talley lightweight rings. This was before guncity and beretta decided to sell lightweight models

The scope is a bushnell 4200 and its taken a few knocks, a memorable time was when i got my first red stag , a 10 pointer from the Tararuas. I fell over in the creek and slammed the rifle on a rock a bit hard. I went back to the range the next week and it was out by a good foot at 25 metres. Its been to the northern kawekas, wanganui, through all of the tararuas, aorangis and rimutakas and recently down to the west coast, the paint on the bolt handle got a bit worn away after having to push it up ahead of me onto big rocks and stuff down there. The closest shot would be, 5 paces and the longest to date would be 210 metres. ive only missed one deer with it so far ( touch wood) and hopefully it serves me well for a few years yet..

Its the rifle that gets taken out the most out of the 3 i have, my mate shot his first deer on a Wanganui forum hunt a few years back, which was cool. He went and bought a ruger 7mm.. bastard. I have a choice of a few rifles in the safe such as .223, Sako 243, Sako 6.5-284 for long range, a 308 bushpig, and this always can be relied on to just go bang and kill stuff when i need it

Heres a couple pics of this year so far:

Originally Posted by scoped

Good idea for a thread,

when i first started hunting i loaned a sporterised 6.5x55 M96 from my uncle for a year or more, and missed a couple deer before nailing one. Then when i started as an apprentice i saved up for a while and bought a T3 in the same calibre. A week before i bought it i had eyed up a blued T3 in a local shop for 999 and went back the next week to buy it, as it happens it got sold and i promptly put a stainless one on layby. I got sick of the layby so went in the next week and paid the balance. later i got Scott to flute the barrell and bolt, and added some talley lightweight rings. This was before guncity and beretta decided to sell lightweight models

The scope is a bushnell 4200 and its taken a few knocks, a memorable time was when i got my first red stag , a 10 pointer from the Tararuas. I fell over in the creek and slammed the rifle on a rock a bit hard. I went back to the range the next week and it was out by a good foot at 25 metres. Its been to the northern kawekas, wanganui, through all of the tararuas, aorangis and rimutakas and recently down to the west coast, the paint on the bolt handle got a bit worn away after having to push it up ahead of me onto big rocks and stuff down there. The closest shot would be, 5 paces and the longest to date would be 210 metres. ive only missed one deer with it so far ( touch wood) and hopefully it serves me well for a few years yet..

Its the rifle that gets taken out the most out of the 3 i have, my mate shot his first deer on a Wanganui forum hunt a few years back, which was cool. He went and bought a ruger 7mm.. bastard. I have a choice of a few rifles in the safe such as .223, Sako 243, Sako 6.5-284 for long range, a 308 bushpig, and this always can be relied on to just go bang and kill stuff when i need it

Heres a couple pics of this year so far:

Attachment 47954Attachment 47955

Good going scoped , keep it up

Originally Posted by Bagheera

Yes @kokako 85SS

@rossi.45 just wondering do you ever swap the barrel on your sako quad ?


@Tahr.

yes but not often . .. if i had set up the Quad with high rings and a short scope or Warne rings with the levers it would be easier ( the barrel has be tipped up at a steep angle to remove ) but i think you would still have to check zero which kinda defeats the quick change idea ( must try it one day to find out ) . . . to me its more to try different calibers and see if you like them or replace the barrel with a different style without a gunsmiths services.

i liked the lightweight sporter so much i got the RANGE when one came up at a good price . . good slick actions with only a few negatives that i can live with

R

Mine would have to be my T3 7mm RM. It is one of two T3's I own and it is a honey to shoot. Plenty accurate, well balanced and nice to carry rifle. Has accounted for deer out to 385yds so far.

Specs:
Stainless Synthetic T3, 7mm Rem Mag
Fluted Bolt, after market oversized handle & aluminium shroud, 3 port directional brake (by Gunworks)
Bell & Carlson Medalist Stock
Talley rings
VX3 LR 4.5-14x40 with CDS & Alumina Flip-ups

I still have a soft spot for my first hunting rifle that my father handed down to me too:

Ruger M77 Mk1 .270win. Loved this rifle, I refurbished the stock and got the trigger improved. I really enjoyed shooting her. Still regret selling this 10 years ago.

My K95 6.5x55. Still got a few turn-bolts but haven't even fired another rifle for the last two years. Short, simple, enough punch to take anything at short ranges.

Originally Posted by K95

My K95 6.5x55. Still got a few turn-bolts but haven't even fired another rifle for the last two years. Short, simple, enough punch to take anything at short ranges.

Classy.


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Sako Vixen 222 Rem pinpoint accuracy topped with 4x leupold snug in low sako rings punches well above its weight 55 gn norma SP projectile @3200 fps

Only owned 2 centrefires, still have them ( haven't had them long).

T3 308 bushpig, nzhunter
T3 7mm rem mag big bushpig, nz hunter

Nothing fancy with them just fluted the rem mag bolt so I could tell them apart.

Loving the rem mag at the moment

Sako 85 Bavarian 308 with Kahles CT 3-9x42

Haven't had it long, absolutely love it. Don't ever plan to sell it, would like to pass it down to my kids. Dropped deer, tahr & pigs. Great times.

Really nice wood on that 85

Originally Posted by R93

Eat a dick!😆 I donated the extra ones to some Tasmanians.

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Mate they have two heads, the poor bastards don't need any other additional digits.



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Has to be my 308 Ruger Hawkeye with a Pentax 3-9x40 scope.