Thread: Calibre Choice in the 1970's

@Russian 22 But $26 was a fair chunk of change in the mid 70's and the M1's etc were only 30 years old max. And; there wasn't the disposable cash to spend on rifles etc as there is now. You only have to see what people spend on their "toys" and holidays etc now to see that. Just look on the forum here tp see how much people have to spend, Times and expectations change over the years.

I reckon hunting rifles have never been cheaper. My Ruger M77 cost me $434 in about 1981 and I was on about $48 gross a week, so 9x my wage. When you think you can buy a decent Howa etc for under a grand and the minimum wage is $800 a week..... Even if you spent $1500, it's still cheaper.

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

@Russian 22 But $26 was a fair chunk of change in the mid 70's and the M1's etc were only 30 years old max. And; there wasn't the disposable cash to spend on rifles etc as there is now. You only have to see what people spend on their "toys" and holidays etc now to see that. Just look on the forum here tp see how much people have to spend, Times and expectations change over the years.

I reckon hunting rifles have never been cheaper. My Ruger M77 cost me $434 in about 1981 and I was on about $48 gross a week, so 9x my wage. When you think you can buy a decent Howa etc for under a grand and the minimum wage is $800 a week..... Even if you spent $1500, it's still cheaper.

My first car was 13 pound! 3 weeks wages!

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

@Russian 22 But $26 was a fair chunk of change in the mid 70's and the M1's etc were only 30 years old max. And; there wasn't the disposable cash to spend on rifles etc as there is now. You only have to see what people spend on their "toys" and holidays etc now to see that. Just look on the forum here tp see how much people have to spend, Times and expectations change over the years.

I reckon hunting rifles have never been cheaper. My Ruger M77 cost me $434 in about 1981 and I was on about $48 gross a week, so 9x my wage. When you think you can buy a decent Howa etc for under a grand and the minimum wage is $800 a week..... Even if you spent $1500, it's still cheaper.

I guess so. I just wanna go to reloaders and find a few barrels of milsurps like the good old days!

Yeh we do not know how lucky we are now,reminds me of when first went to Oz shearing in the late 80's we went up to go hunting in Arnhem Land a huge expedition back then ,that locals doubted was possible, 3 nutters all loaded into a SWB Tojo with a letter of introduction from a Aboriginal Elder from the literal Back Of Bourke in NSW .

The locals were still using Siamese Mauser's converted to 45/70 to hunt Buffalo which were in herds of 100's on the Billabong flood plains .The moronic local government had a law back in the 60-70's that large bore rifles had to be Black powder based . I have owned & shot many big bores over the years & am a 458 Mag fanatic, having owned a old Husky 458 mag on its second barrel for decades & often hunt pigs with it for shuts & giggles now,so have fired some big kicking guns in my time . Those Siamese 45/70's loaded for Buff are among the worst of them & snapped & repaired stocks were common,in fact that was the first time l had ever seen the old brass never ending screws used to repair stocks by Old School Gunsmiths .

Some very interesting and effective rifles back then. Old man first got me to fire a jungle carbine 303 - kicked like a horse! My own first rifle was Parker Hale in 243, but it was not very well made, and had a fairly sloppy bolt from memory - entry level back then. My favourites for northern bush conditions were a 60s Winchester 94 in 30-30, and bit later a Remington 600 in 243. This 600, immediate predecessor to the Mohawk and 660, was a brilliant little hunter. A wee thing with 18" barrel, vent rib which some didn't like, and it was also excellent on the range at NZDA shoots. Would like another one now..

Old man's favourites were a Schulz and Larsen in 7x61, and his go-to for decades (for the bush and south westland shooting) was a Remington 760 pump action in 308 with 180gr Norma load. Very quick action and hit like a Mac truck.

Contrary to current internet 'expert' opinion, in my experience it was rare for an animal to get up after taking a shot from any of these rifles. They really did the business.

Ray Garner was the manager of Tisdalls Ch-Ch when I started with them as senior firearms salesman/gunsmith about 1969. Ray was a gentleman and a nice guy. He moved on and was replaced by a retired air force office, John Claydon, who was the last manager before they closed down.

well i an obviously not as old as some on here couldnt get my lisence till 1980 (days after turning 16) the old mn had already bought me a .22......
first centrefire was a winny 94 trapper in 30/30 then inherited an 8x57 brno (brother inherited a savage .303 )dabbled with 6.5x55 and 7.62x39 never been coerced into any of the new fancypants calibres and i must be one of the few that has never owned a 308.........having said that if i hadnt have got the 8mm i probably would have owned a .308

@gundoc - would that John Claydon be the same ex RNZAF Capt John Claydon as in flying aerial support to Sir Ed's Sth pole expedition.If so a truely remarkable character.Reckon he would have some great smoko time yarns.A quiet retail managerial roll pre retirement would have been an anticlimax to a facinating flying career

Originally Posted by bluebaiter222

@gundoc - would that John Claydon be the same ex RNZAF Capt John Claydon as in flying aerial support to Sir Ed's Sth pole expedition.If so a truely remarkable character.Reckon he would have some great smoko time yarns.A quiet retail managerial roll pre retirement would have been an anticlimax to a facinating flying career

Yes, that was him. He had and interesting career and died in 2014. He loaned me the funds to buy out an existing gunsmithing business in 1974.

I started out with the 303 as a lot did back in 1970. Soon after I replaced it with a Parker Hale Hassar 270 which I had for many years and shot quite a few animals with it. When in Forest Service I got a Sako 222 and soon after a Forrester 243 , both were great rifles and I wish I still had them. Over the years I have tried most calibers and still enjoy using different rifles etc .
Those bygone years were the best , we were lucky to have such good times. Unfortunately young people of today will have a tougher time enjoying Hunting and Shooting with the way people see us as a group.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

I started out with the 303 as a lot did back in 1970. Soon after I replaced it with a Parker Hale Hassar 270 which I had for many years and shot quite a few animals with it. When in Forest Service I got a Sako 222 and soon after a Forrester 243 , both were great rifles and I wish I still had them. Over the years I have tried most calibers and still enjoy using different rifles etc .
Those bygone years were the best , we were lucky to have such good times. Unfortunately young people of today will have a tougher time enjoying Hunting and Shooting with the way people see us as a group.

Hi @Mooseman, when in the NZFS did you get a discount on rifles purchased and free ammo?

Read somewhere that you got 3 rounds of .222 per deer or 2 rounds of .270/.243 etc.

Supposedly some cullers would sell their surplus factory (Belmont?) ammo then reload cases to increase their take home pay, can you confirm?

Many thanks and much respect!

Originally Posted by caberslash

Hi @Mooseman, when in the NZFS did you get a discount on rifles purchased and free ammo?

Read somewhere that you got 3 rounds of .222 per deer or 2 rounds of .270/.243 etc.

Supposedly some cullers would sell their surplus factory (Belmont?) ammo then reload cases to increase their take home pay, can you confirm?

Many thanks and much respect!

Hi @caberslash
Yes we got our Sako Vixen 222 for $240 with rings and a 4 xWeaver scope, and ammo was free. We were allocated 3 rounds per kill so we ended up with surplus as when we hunted 7 days a week you got pretty good with your rifle and didn't miss to often. Not sure about the last question I haven't heard of it happening but wouldn't be surprised . I bought a Sako Forrester in 243 while in the Forest Service but didn't get allocated ammo for it, it was cheap enough and some days I would take it out for a hunt just for a change, great days back then for sure.

@mudgripz I still have my Rem Mohawk 308, l brought for my 21st in 82, when l got back from a trip Shearing in Oz all cashed up ,in those days long barreled Weatherby types were the in thing & l picked it up on special as no one wanted them & we were mad on our pigging back then & we often used horses to get right up in the back country.I brought it with a Redfield scope, but it got bent like a banana when a horse rolled on it .

Mind you l still wish l had one of the sweetest little rifles l ever owned back in those days ,a little Ruger 44mag semi Carbine a Deer field?? l think the model was ,basically a 44Mag 10/22 & they actually sold matched sets of them back then ,with a non removable rotatory mag ,l had one of those old TV screen type Weaver 2X on it & as well as a truck load of pigs it nailed some nice Sika in the thick stuff ,l often wish l had it when hunting Sika & pigs now .

Originally Posted by bunji

@mudgripz I still have my Rem Mohawk 308, l brought for my 21st in 82, when l got back from a trip Shearing in Oz all cashed up ,in those days long barreled Weatherby types were the in thing & l picked it up on special as no one wanted them & we were mad on our pigging back then & we often used horses to get right up in the back country.I brought it with a Redfield scope, but it got bent like a banana when a horse rolled on it .

Mind you l still wish l had one of the sweetest little rifles l ever owned back in those days ,a little Ruger 44mag semi Carbine a Deer field?? l think the model was ,basically a 44Mag 10/22 & they actually sold matched sets of them back then ,with a non removable rotatory mag ,l had one of those old TV screen type Weaver 2X on it & as well as a truck load of pigs it nailed some nice Sika in the thick stuff ,l often wish l had it when hunting Sika & pigs now .

the closest you can have to the deerfield now is the ruger lever...pretty much identicle to the semi...they DO come up for sale,just not often....Ive always wondered why Ruger didnt do the same with the mini 14 EG make lever 223s would be a sweet wee rifle,and with the 300blk etc gaining suck traction,the action would be very versitile.


for me it was 30/30 trapper 94 then the 303..then back to 30/30 when got factory ammo andrealised how good it was...then swapped it for my winchester model 70 270 (and the 30/30 was my big brothers!!!) used that rifle for 30 years till she died with dodgy reload...sob sob...
replaced with howa...bought new zastava 223 some 24 years ago and wont sell it.geeze that rifle has killed some animals
had big brother to it in 308...still in cabinet but owned by mate

Ah ... The Mohawk 600.
Any calibre you like as long as it was 222, 243 or 308.
I could never get the money together to trade up from the 303.
Some friends had 3006. One was an American P17 and another a Midland. Considered a real cannon in thosxe days.