Thread: Calibre Choice in the 1970's

@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

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.

@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 Tahr

I was very fortunate to work in Tisdall's sports shop in PNth after school for 3 years from 1963. There was rack after rack of rifles (50 maybe?) and I oiled them with Youngs oil every week. I loved that job and was full time during the school holidays.

People could look at and handle all of the rifles.

The gun smith we used lived over on Main Street and I used to bike over there with guns to be repaired over my handle bars, and bring repaired ones back. No covers for them. Nothing said.

I can remember and see every rifle at Tisdalls like it was yesterday - and still smell the oil.

Yes, Schultz & Larsen in 7x61 & .270, Parker Hale in 308Norma Mag. BRNO's. Sakos etc. Lots of Savage lever actions because Tisdalls were the agents. My favourite rifle on the rack was the BSA Majestic, but I have never owned one. There were some exceptional military mausers in 8x57 - short carbine models. They looked brand new. They were agents for Anchutz too. Later when I was meat hunting I bought an Anchutz 308 for $199 new. One of my sons still has it and loves it.

I went on to own many rifles and hunting has been a passion ever since. The Manager (Jim Newman) was the first person to take me hunting - I never had a Dad so Jim took me under his wing. Jim took me up the Pari in the Ruahines and my first shot at a deer (missed) was with his BSA Hunter in 7x57. The Manager before Jim when I started was Ray Garner. Good people.

308 and .270 would ave been by far the most popular calibers, followed I think by 7x57.

Cool story and great memories for you. I believe my father use to have a part time (2nd job) as Tisdals in Palmy for a while too. He's coming up 79 in October, i wonder if you and him had an overlap at all.

He continued working part-time in various gun stores over the years. As a kid i remember me and my sister getting to stay up late on Friday nights, as Mum took us into town to pick dad up from his Friday night job at the Sportsman in Palmy North, we always use to stop at one of the takeaway shops in Main Street and get a couple of scoops of hot chips.

Maybe we only had one car at that point, even thou i pretty much always remember us having two (always had a Mini as a 2nd car back in those days) But thinking about it now, maybe Dad use to have a couple of beers after they knocked off hence why we picked him up. I must ask my parents next time im talking to them.

@GWH Make sure you ask the old man for any stories from back in those days as well ,always great to hear & send him best regards from us bunch of rough nuts

When l was Pro rabbit & fox shooting while shearing in Oz back in the 80's ,once you got to numbers the bosses o the Chillers were happy with for a few months ,you got a custom Brno 22 Mod 2 that a gunsmith in Sydney did for them a Heimo Pretz or something a european guy with big mustache ?? Fuck he had some stories from the shop being right in the middle of the city & he would point out bullet holes in the ceiling from over the years where the old Yeh mate of course it is unloaded BOOM & cops coming in looking to hock guns taken off crims . Another rifle regret selling he never let them out of the shop till they shot 3/4 MOA at 75 yards .

I remember my dad on the farm convincing mum she should take a shot with his jungle carbine 303. Carbine a brutal little bugger with no real recoil pad and a real kick. She gets down into prone position, he tells her to keep firm grip, then pull the trigger. She does. They have different ideas on what's a firm grip. BOOM ... and the rifle leaps right up out her hands, smacks her hard on the cheekbone and falls back down. Mum silent for a moment, gets up, doesn't look at him, and without a word spoken walks back to the farmhouse. Dad's lookin up at the hills, across at the trees, anywhere he can really.... Then gathers up rifle, gear, "that'll be it for today kids" and walks quietly back home. Never heard a word spoken but I think he was on the couch for some time. And the subject of further shooting practice never saw the light of day.

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.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

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.

Got one in .222, it’s done a few k’s


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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.

Many of the cartridges that were popular in the 70’s have stood the test of time and are as popular as ever 50 years later. 243, 270, and 308 are still hugely popular, and the 30/06 to some extent as well. The 7mm REM Mag is still going strong too. The 7x57 has fallen by the wayside but through no fault of its own, it’s just that the 7mm08 offered the same ballistics in a short action. Same deal for the 6mm REM vs the 243. The 222 is hanging in there but is semi-obsolete due to the 223. The 303 is obsolete but not really; there are still truckloads of SMLEs out there so it’s probably more popular than what you think

When you think about it, much of the true innovation in ballistics over the last 50 years has been in high BC projectiles and twist rates; and to a lesser extent shorter and fatter cartridges designed specifically to allow these high BC pills to be seated out. And you can throw some improvements to propellants in there as well. But the designers of the 30/06 and 308 were certainly onto something for both of them (and their derivatives) to remain so popular many decades down the track

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 7.62

Many of the cartridges that were popular in the 70’s have stood the test of time and are as popular as ever 50 years later. 243, 270, and 308 are still hugely popular, and the 30/06 to some extent as well. The 7mm REM Mag is still going strong too. The 7x57 has fallen by the wayside but through no fault of its own, it’s just that the 7mm08 offered the same ballistics in a short action. Same deal for the 6mm REM vs the 243. The 222 is hanging in there but is semi-obsolete due to the 223. The 303 is obsolete but not really; there are still truckloads of SMLEs out there so it’s probably more popular than what you think

When you think about it, much of the true innovation in ballistics over the last 50 years has been in high BC projectiles and twist rates; and to a lesser extent shorter and fatter cartridges designed specifically to allow these high BC pills to be seated out. And you can throw some improvements to propellants in there as well. But the designers of the 30/06 and 308 were certainly onto something for both of them (and their derivatives) to remain so popular many decades down the track

If you have a look at the new Remington website they are now making the Model 7 in 6mm REM with a 1:9 barrel.

I did see a Remington 600 243 on trademe 4-5 years back, rebarrelled and in very tidy condition. Went for about $700 scoped. Agonised over it and left it - like a bloody clot. Would love one in 243 or 222 - a little rifle with real character.

Old man had a 600 for a time in 308 but he liked his Rem 760 pump more for quick bush shots.

@Maca49 My first car was a 1961 Morry Minor. Bought it in 1979 for $600; it was all I could afford. Again; with wages of $48 a week (gross) I had to borrow off mum to buy it. Holy sh$t the garage scored some coin off me for suspension repairs due to taking it pig hunting on corrugated metal roads every weekend..... I actually had a running account with them paying off my garage bills.

In those days the Whangamomona Saddle was gravel and if it was raining any cars coming downhill had to pull over to let the ones coming up past. If you had to stop in the rain on the way up, you couldn't get enough traction in the slushy metal. So had to turn around, go back down and start from the bottom again to get momentum!