i think that jim carmichel is a putz, but i do agree with him when he wrote that the .260, 6.5x55mm or 6.5x54ms would make the "ultimate" whitetail rifle. if i remember correctly, the ballistics are so close on all of these as to be pretty much the same.



(added later)the exceptional ballistic and terminal qualities of the 6.5 pill apparently make it a great performer out to and slightly beyond 400 yards, while at the same time allowing it to perform well on the closer shots as well. all of this is according to carmichel and people i have talked to, and not due to my own personal experience, but it is a convincing argument for the 6.5. (added later)



aside from that, i would have to say that in my experience, the .30/30, .308 and .30/06 are all great performers under any circumstance. in the case of the .30/30, this would exclude anything beyond 200 yards.

In my eyes, for hunting in the south where shots are mostly limited to 300 yards and under, the most perfect deer rifle would be one of 3 remingtons. 1 the mountian rifle in stainless stell in 270. A light wieght all weather gun for most rages down here. 2 the model 7 in 308. Again light easy handling and wether proof. This would also be about the most perfect gun if oyu like to hunt tree stnads alot as i do. 3 For the long walker and spot and stalk hunter, the remington titanium in either 308 or 270 would be ideal. It is the lightest factory gun wiehing in at only 5 and quarter pounds. On all of these i would put the excellent leupold compact 3x9. just my 2 cents i thught this would be an interesting topic. Whats your opinion?

I live in New York State,to hunt the swamp I like the 30-30 or 45/70.Hunting on hay fields 200 to 300 yds,I go to my 308.

Remington Model 7 in stainless steel with a 2x7 Bushnell Elite 3000, preferably in 7mm-08. Covers anything under 300 yards with 140gr. Nosler Partitions.

Shiloh - "Whitetails" is a pretty broad subject. Depending on WHERE we are hunting them, there are big whitetails and there are little whitetails. There are whitetails in pretty open country and there are whitetails in jungle-like forests.

No one rifle will be "perfect" for all situations.
The gun I've had the most fun hunting whitetail deer with in Texas is, believe it or not, a lowly Marlin 357 Mag.

I've got lots hotter rifles but this rifle is just great fun to hunt with and I've managed to rack of 100% one shot kills. Only sacrifice I had to make was get in under 100 yards.

A 30/30 would have been an even better rifle, but less fun and more meat damage.

So, depends WHERE you want to hunt them. The old 250/3000 cartridge would be a good one. Lots of good choices. Nothing perfect.

While on the subject of the Remington Model 7, I seem to remember reading where there were issues with them in the accuracy department. Is there any truth to that? I have been wanting one in 7mm-08 but have been holding off because of what I had read. I cannot remember where I had read it though.



And while I'm at it I noticed that I am now a "new member" when just last week I was "one of us" with over 115 posts. Anyone else notice a "change" in status?

Ron, I seem to recall the same thing but don't remember if it was on a thread here of in a magazine. In the right combination the 7/08 couldn't help but being a good cartridge, so obviously the problems are with Remington. Remington is famous for introducing rifles with the wrong twist barrels.

Shiloh
You got my vote.

Pecos45,

I'm not sure if what I had heard was about the 7-08 with the 1 in 9 twist or the 308 with it's 1 in 10 twist.

I keep thinking it was the 7-08 though.

RonsGuns
I have experience with at least 12 Rem Mod 7s. In calibers 223, 243, 6mm, 308 [several], and 350RM. All of them have been excellent shooters. These have been wood, fiberglass and the new black plastic stocks. I have shot many of them to 300 yards, and a couple of them to 600 yards, on paper. All have been very accurate with several different loads.

NE - That's good enough recommendation for me. Thanks for the 1st hand.

My 708 Model 7 shoots itty bitty groups with just about anything I put in it as long as it says Varget on the can.

Pecos45
The secret to shooting any light weight rifle is to use a tight hasty sling. This controls the recoil keeping it the same from shot to shot. A model 7 in 308 is one of the finest non-magnum hunting rifles money can buy.

Perfect Whitetail round:

Close range (< 100 yds): 7mm BR in a short-barreled rifle. Loaded up with H335 and a 130 gr Speer and you will not believe how fast venision can become a menu item with so little recoil. And accurate... The lesser 6.5s, 7-30 Waters, 30-30, and 35 Rem would be good choices too.

Medium range (100-200 yds): 250-3000 with a 115 Nosler BT at about 2800 fps. Kills like lighting. Amazing. Bob would be good too. The lesser 6.5s too.

Longish range: (200-300 yds): 6.5x57 with 120 gr Speer at 2950 fps. 250-3000, Bob, 25-06, 260, 6.5x55, and 7mm-08 are good too.

I've killed way too many deer at extended ranges with the 250-3000, Bob, and various standard 6.5 bores to ever be convinced that something the power of a 270 is necessary for whitetails at 300 yds max. JMO...

I like lightweight, but ultra lightweight is too much of good thing, to me at least. A deer rifle that weighs in at 7.5 lbs scoped is plenty light for me. Plus, I don't really like synthetic stocks. Again, JMO...

9.3

my favorite deer rifles, obviously i'm a southern hunter with 35 yrs experience and over 100 kills,are 1. rem 700ks 30'06 with zeiss 3.5x10, 2. Rem 7fs 308 with zeiss 4x(3/4" rifle)3.rem 700lss 7 remmag with bushnell 3200 3x9-rainny day rifle. 4. rem 700 custom 257 roberts swart 3x10..if i had to pick only 1 it could be any of these thsy all have small but not significant differences.. i would avoid the titamium m700 they are simply too light to hold steady and kick badly even in 260.the m7 with scope weighs 6# and is very hard to hold off hand.

Skinner,

Exactly.

Jeff

The perfect whitetail gun for me is the one that happens to be in my hands when the bad boy shows his face.

Then the M7 in 308 will be comming home with me shortly

Thanks for all the input..

If I had to go the Remington Route, then I would be purchasing a Mountain Rifle with the Stainless Barrel and Laminate Stock in 260 Rem first, or 7/08 second, or 243 third.

A long action in 6 mm Remington, or 7 x 57 or 6.5 x 57 would be what I would go with, or at least re barrel the Mountain Rifle in Stainless with.

Probably top it with a good old Leupold 2 x 7 scope.
In Matt Finish of course.

Whatever turns you on within the following parameters:

257 - 308 caliber
7 - 8 pounds all-up

Go nuts from there: Lever or bolt. Walnut, Laminate or Synthetic. Blued or Stainless. Cheap or expensive bullets. This should cover the majority of whitetail situations.

There's the slower 358 calibers too of course, more specialized in my opinion.

Personally, I have no interest in ultra light rifles. I can understand the appeal, and they sell well enough but I'd rather keep the weight a little higher. It makes the range sessions more comfortable and keeps the price tag down.

This is an easy one, The new Remington CDL and the 7mm08, 3x-10x-40mm Signature Select, Jay

If I had the money it would be a Sako 75 Finnlight with the 2.5-10 LPS in 300 Win Mag.

mauser 98 or 96 in 6.5x55 or 7x57 or 257 rob'ts; good 2.5x or 4x with heavy duplex or no. 4 reticle OR peep and heavy whiteline front blade; all up weight of 6-7 pounds; crisp 3-4 pound trigger; three-position safety.

go huntin.'

These are all opinions so they are all right. My opinion is the .308 is about as close to perfection in a whitetail cartridge as you can get. Put that in a nice compact and light rifle and it is good for all whitetails everywhere. Not that there is anything wrong with any other caliber. I have several and love to hunt with them, .30-30, .35 Rem, .250 Savage, 8mm, 6.5 Swede, and others will all great fun and will work fine. But if I am deadly serious about putting meat in the freezer, the number one choice will be the Seven in .308. Just an opinion.

I just switched my all around, go to gun from my Remington M788 (L) in 308 Win that I've shot since 1975, to a Savage M11 in 300WSM.

I just bought a Dakota arms 76 in 7X57 specifically for whitetail hunting. I'll put a Schmidt & Bender scope that I happen to have laying around on it, 3 or 4 by 9 power I think.

IMHO IT'S ONLY A PERFECT RIFLE WHEN THE HUNTER DOES HIS PART AND THE GAME IS ON THE GROUND

Well

In Sweden there are no Whitetails. I think a 6,5X64, 6,5X55, 7X64 Brenneke or 6,8X64 would be my favorites I have shot whitetails in USA with 6,5X55, 7X64, 6,5X57 and 7 rem mag, all seems to work just fine.

Preferably a rifle with mauser action

/ JOHAN

Good day,

as for the perfect deer rifle, well I'm sure there are many different opinions. I will tell you what the perfect one (factory) is for me. Remington Mountain Rifle in 260 Rem. 125gr Partitions around 2850fps, good out to about 300 yards and it will do anything I would ever ask of it. 3-9 Leupold VX2 and that rounds it off. Just my opinion but this set up has helped me take many deer, yotes and blackies.

You mean my Sako 75 in .300 Weatherby isn't the perfect deer rifle?

No.

my harris talon in a 257 weatherby mag for the long range stuff. I also like my remington 700 in a 308 winne stuffed with a 165 of your choice.

liled

All the posts are very interesting. I can see different areas like different rifle, but to each his own. Like a few said whatever you like is the perfect gun and if you shoot one well stick to it. I myself do not actually own any kind of bolt action light wieght rifle(yet that is but that will change in a few months time )I Hunt with a well used but well taken care of marlin 336 in 3030 that i bought new when i was 11 years old. It has put alot of deer on the ground and i swear by rilfe and caliber. Soon though I am to get my first bolt gun. A remington mountian in 270 or a model 7 in 308. Please, if any of you have testomonies about either of these, let me know as i am having a very hard time deciding. I have already decided on optics as stated in my original post. Keep the comments comin, Matt

I would take the 270 or a 7mm-08 over a 308 personally.

It is one of the main reasons I like the Encore so much. I can switch to match. But if I had to settle for one cartridge for deer, ( in a bolt ). It would be a a 25-06 in a long action, or 7-08 in a short action.

Shiloh,

My first high powered rifle was (is) a Model 7 in 6mm, I was 14. Started reloading when I was 15, but time (or the lack thereof) has sort of taken its toll on that activity. That Model 7 has taken numerous whitetails, I managed to get 1MOA with both Speer and Nosler Partitions using either IMR 3031 or 4350. I don't have the loads here with me. I've got a friend who buys every Model 7 he can get his hands on. He shoots more in a week than I have shot in my life, his reloading and shooting bench is in an upstairs bedroom - he loads his ammo then swivels around and shoots out the back window . He's got a Model 7 in .223 that he says will shoot with any heavy varmint gun he has ever seen.

Lately though, I've been using a Rem BDL in .308 Win. Here in East Texas, you are as likely to have wild hogs cross your path as deer so I was looking for something with a little more punch than the 6mm and I ran across the .308 used. I have more confidence in it on larger game. I can also get plenty of practice ammo cheap (be sure you get it with non-corrosive primers). I use the factory Win. ammo with 150 gr. Failsafes, it has been deadly on several deer and hogs. I want to try the new 168 gr. Barnes TSX, they should be deadly also with better long range ballistics. Thus, my personal recommendation is to get the Model 7 with the laminated stock in .308 Win., get it glass bedded and have the trigger adjusted to 2.5 or 3 lbs (very easy for any competent gunsmith). You'll be adequetely armed for any non-dangerous game in the US, and it'll be around for your grandkids.

I am planning on getting my original Model 7 rebarreled to 260 Rem. The article that inspired me was Jim Carmichael way back in the very early 80's about the 6.5s as great deer cartridges. I'd like to take the old gun out more and my wife has taken a very agravating like to the .308 . She says is shoots where she aims - can't get much better than that.

please eldeguello, share what you think. That is just my personel opinion as I have been raised shooting my dads and uncles remingtons. I value everyones opinion on a subject such as this so please share yours.