Tikka Model 695 in 30-06. Not only does it shoot better than I do but it is a lucky gun in that I almost without fail find game and get a decent shot while carrying it. In the first three years I owned it I took 3 moose, 3 elk, 3 whitetail bucks, a couple mulie bucks and a few mulie does. Since then the haul has lessened but that is due to poorer luck in the draw than in the field. It still fills all the tags I get.

Peakebrook:

At first I thought that I didn't want to get mixed up in a fight about "meat guns". Then I read that you used a Win.94 in 32 Special.

The 94 I have no argument with but the 32 Special? I read once in Barnes'"Cartridges of the World" that the 32 Special was for those people who thought that smokeless powder wasn't here to stay. I laughed when I read it. (I'm just kidding you so don't get mad) What will it take to persuade you people that the 30-30 is the cartridge of the future?

I'd have to say my S&W 7MM Mag.

Gerry

The Model 94 was a gun I bought nearly 25 years ago. It is a gun I shoot 2-3 times a year, strictly when hunting. I have shot it three times this year, and killed three deer.

It is not that I care for the cartridge. It just seems that the gun is mystical. When ever I carry it, deer seem to do stupid things and want to die. The longest shot was probably 40 yards.

To be honest, I prefer to hunt with one of my bolt actions.

I'd classify a "meat gun" as something that would just plain have to work, period and would be used more for close range work, and snap shots....

For that variety, I'd pick my Marlin 444 any time, every time....If it is within 150 yds, it is definitely "down" when hit by a 44 caliber slug... my preference going to Hornady XTPs... usually in 300 grain weight...

cheers
seafire

When I think of a meat gun strictly for deer hunting, the first that comes to mind is my Thompson-Center Contender fitted with a 20 1/8th custom barrel in 7mm Bullberry. Out to 250 yards, it works like a charm and is consistently one of the most accurate firearms in my safe. My best-ever whitetail fell to this little carbine and its 130 grain bullet which develops a modest 2505 fps at the muzzle. The zero has always remained rock-solid and never needs tweaking, and I know the trajectory of the 130 grain Sierra SSP quite well. I feel confident with the rig, so I find myself reaching for it often -- no matter if it's a marauding varmint in the pasture or a whitetail that I'd like to match wits with. Other calibers may suit specific tasks better, but when I pull the trigger on the 7mm Bullberry carbine, I know that if I do my part, the results are going to be rather conclusive...

All my deer are shot for resale (into the food chain) with trophies are a pleasant bonus on top.

I have played with many but when the going gets tough 'Old Faithful' my first custom comes out. 6.5x55 on an 09 Argentine it is easily my best, most reliable and usable rifle. When I handle it I question my sanity in having anything else....

I guess I'm with several of you. My "ole-270" a Remington 700LH (BDL) w/ 3.5-10AO Leupold VXIII I bought about 30yrs ago, has taken about 25 head of Muley and a couple of Elk, along with half a dozen coyotes, badger, rabbits, snakes, logs, targets, rocks. Favorite load has always been a 130gr BTSP from Sierra with 58-60gr H4831 or(SC), a cci-200 primer, about 3100fps, what else could you want....

The one rifle that has killed the most for me is my Winchester model 70 Supergrade in 300 Win.
It is very accurate and everything from Javalina and deer to Kudu and Zebra have fallen down right away never to get up again. I have setled on the 200 grain Barnes x pushed by 72.5 grains of H4831.

However since moving to Maine 2 years ago I haven't had the need for long range shooting.
I think my new favorite is my Marlin guide gun which I picked up in CA a few years ago.
I wish they offered it in stainless when I bought mine other than that it seems to be the perfect gun for up here. I shoot 300 grain Barnes X pushed by 49 grains of R7. So far it has taken one Moose, 1 Black Bear and 1 coyote and one fox. However,I have struck out on deer with it 2 years in a row. No fault of the gun, you have to find one to shoot.

Peakebrook:

I read your reply - and smiled to myself. When I was about 15, I became devoted to ruff grouse hunting. A neighbor gave me an old Win. Model 97 pump. It was a hammer shotgun with a straight grip anmd, as I recall, a 28" barrel with a mod.choke. I cleaned it up - and proceeded to kill about 9-10 birds for every box of 25 shells. Never again in my lifetime of hunting ruffed grouse (a passion of mine) was I ever so good! I disposed of the shotgun when I was about 18. Why? I thought the shotgun looked too "Old fashioned". My father told me not to do so - but after all, what does the old man know? I can't argue with success in your case! I should have kept my mouth shut about the 32 Special.

Mine is my Ruger 77 MKII All weather in 300 WM, although if I ever get stationed back East, I have a recently aqquired MArlin 336 in 30-30 that has been worked over that may see alot more use...

Brent Yates, thank you for your service. Take care and come home safe.

Favorite meat gun? My hell, there's been a bunch. Probaly would have gotten a better response if you asked favorite cartridge for making meat, and even there it would get sticky.
Favorite caliber? Now we're getting close. It has to be the thirty of some kind. I'm speaking strictly of hunting deer now, California's Coastal Blacktail and Mule deer elsewhere. I haven't hunted California since 1969 and I left that liberal POS state permanently in 1970. Back then, it was usually either a 30-30 for blacktails or the 30-06 for blacktails and mule deer. When the .308 came out, I ignored it as relatively unnecessary for my use.
My how times have changed. When I hunted California, it was usually at or reasonably close to sea level. Now, I'm in Nevada, and at 4200 feet MSL with the hunting at 7500 to 9200 feet MSL. That old 9.5 pound 1903 Springfield butcher job I was hunting with literally broke my back going up into those mountains. I must add that at that time I was a heavy chain smoker, doing three packs a day at the time I quit in 1975.I hit the local gun shop looking for something a little lighter and found a Remington 660 in .308. The gun shot badly and it took a new Mannlicher style stock to make it shoot well and at least not look so damned ugly. A much lighter rifle, I used it almost exclusively until Remington did their first recall on the trigger. When I got the gun back, the stock was all screwed up as they opened up the area for the trigger mechanism and did not seal the wood. Hunting in a good rain storm brought that to my attention. About 1980, synthetic stocks were becoming popular and gun writer Clair Reese did a write up on one make that was made in Prescott Arizona, H&S Precision. I'd been transferred to Tucson, so I took the rifle with me to Prescott and looked into one of their stocks. They didn't make one for the 660, but did have one for a short action Remington 700. We figured I could adapt it to the 660, so I bought one and "adapted". It ain't pretty, but it works. FWIW, while still in the Mannlicher style stock, that rifle made the longest shot I'd ever taken on a deer, 427 paces witnessed. One of my hunting buddies had wounded it and it was getting away. A very lucky shot, and I'm the first to admit it.
One of my favorite rifle styles is the Mannlicher full stocked rifle. I had two originals in 6.5x54 that some scumbag stole. When Ruger brought out the M77 RSI, I had to have one. Now, I have three, all in .308 Win. My only gripe is they are damned fussy about what goes down their barrel. Still, I like them anyway.
Probably today, my favorite meat gun would be one of those two rifles in .308, the favorite being whatever one was in my my hand at the moment for a serious meat hunt. For just a general walkabout with a chance to take a meat animal, probably that old 1894 Winchester Model 94, made in 1910 that I killed my first deer with back in 1949.
Paul B.

quote:

Originally posted by Peakebrook:
Do any of you have a favorite meat gun?

Winchester M70 in 7mm magnum. Old Faithful.

Meat-gun-in-the-making, a Savage 24V in 6x45mm/20-gauge.

I don't have a fav "meat gun" anymore.

At one time I would have said the .257 Roberts, I shot it a lot and made steaming gut piles with it easily. It now has been adopted by my wife.

I have four rifles that I hunt with quite a bit. The only one thats busy in the "off" season has been my .25-06. It is quite accurate, ugly,( don't need to be careful)and effective on most anything. But if I had to grab one rifle, God Forbid, and leave I'd be in a quandry!

The handiest is a model 600 Rem in .308W topped with a 2.5x Weaver. Neat little set up for dragging along. Nate

Nate,
You're right about the 600 being handy. I've got one in 243. Make a good carry/scouting gun in the off season in case of yotes or hogs.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason Doss:
Nate,
You're right about the 600 being handy. I've got one in 243. Make a good carry/scouting gun in the off season in case of yotes or hogs.

Yeah, I'd like one just like it. Maybe one of these days...

My Winchester Featherweight in 6.5x55, Nikon Monarch 4x40. Trigger lightened to about 3#. 140gr. Nosler partitions at about 2600fps. Sweet meat gun.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Clem:
I prefer the Illudium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator. It desintegrates them. Isn't that delightful?

Where's the KA-BOOM? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering KA-BOOM!

Favorite? Whichever one I have--but for feral hogs, my M70 Featherweight in .22-250 (shoot 'em in the ear). For whitetails, either my 7mm Mag M77 Ruger (old style) or .25-06 M77 Ruger (old style).

My go to rifle is an old Remington 721 in 30-06 wearing a 4x Burris. Handloaded Hornady 180 grain have performed flawlessly over the last 20 years. It has stacked up a pile of elk, mulies, bear, and antelope. The rifle was my grandfathers and he gifted it to me at 11 years old.

My newest addition just happens to be a Remington 700 Ti in 30-06....Can't go wrong with the -06.

Winchester Model 70 Stainless Synthetic in 338 win mag. Does it all in comfort.

The .22 my butcher uses.....

T Bone:

The Rem. 721 in 30-06 was my first new big game rifle back in 1948-49. Remington brought it out in direct competition with the Win. Mod.70. It cost about $20 less than the Mod.70 ( a pretty fair amount of change in those days!) What really set off sales in its favor was the fact of the double lug bolt and a report in one of the hunting magazines (I just don't remember which one) that said the Remington 721 showed superior numbers on a Rockwell "hardness" test. I already owned a Win. Mod. 70 in 220 Swift and was very familiar with the action. I (and perhaps your grandfather,too) was sold on the strength of the 721's action. I had a Lyman peep sight on mine for years hunting in NY woods for deer and loved that rifle. Glad to hear that the Rem Mod.721 is still going strong!

My favorite meat gun is my one made of hamburger, venison hambuger that is.

I have two:

an old Savage 110 in .270.
a Model 66 mauser in .243

Both given to me by my dad............he knows how to choose a meat gun.

VZ-24 8x57 20" barrel Ramline stock, Microdot 3x9x40mm reddot scope 49gr's of AA-4064 and a 170gr Speer

Well, I'm a HUGE 270 Win. fan and have killed more deer with it then I could count, but I recently purchased a 270 WSM Browning A Bolt Medallion and would have to say that my newest "meat gun" might possibly change to my WSM.

Technically, my favorite "meat gun" is, without a doubt, my BPS 10 ga. With it, I've probably killed more pounds of meat (geese & turkeys) than all my rifles combined.

But, when the venison needs shooting, I'll almost always grab my Ruger Mk II ss/syn .300 Win Mag. topped with a Weaver 2x10.

My 99F in .358 Win is the rifle I carried when I really learned woodcraft and it has brought down a lot of game. Today I still use it now and then but I have been trying new guns and have shot the 270 WSM Kimber as of late.

Now I have a new lightweight in .308 and I am going to use that. I am using it once in a while for varmints in anticipation of next season.

The Old Canoe Paddle is a Rem788 in .308 that I bought used in the late 70's. It's got a Williams FP on the back and a homemade brass front post. The barrel has been floated. It gets fed handloads with 150 or 165 Sierra SBT's and if I let the barrel cool off after every third shot, it will keep 10 shots with either one at a hundred yards in a group you can cover with a nickel. Nothing I have fired it at has ever needed a second shot.

6MM Remington , when times were lean , it never was. Plenty of meals came from this gun , I think my wife thought I was crazy when I bought it , she did'nt seem to mind as much when we all had a mouthfull of chops .

quote:

It's got a Williams FP on the back and a homemade brass front post. The barrel has been floated. It gets fed handloads with 150 or 165 Sierra SBT's and if I let the barrel cool off after every third shot, it will keep 10 shots with either one at a hundred yards in a group you can cover with a nickel.

Wow, thats good shooting with a post. Good even with an apeture. Pretty darn good with a scope.

My Remington 720 30-06

Mossberg 30-06 for years

this is my go to wT rifle a M70 Winlite. These were very well made rifles, with the mcMillan stocks and good finish. It survived a dip in a few rivers, being stolen by Indians, and carried in all manner of nasty places. I used it to shoot most of my trophy WT and I pick it up whenever I need to increase luck

Oh it is in 270 Win caliber

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:

quote:

It's got a Williams FP on the back and a homemade brass front post. The barrel has been floated. It gets fed handloads with 150 or 165 Sierra SBT's and if I let the barrel cool off after every third shot, it will keep 10 shots with either one at a hundred yards in a group you can cover with a nickel.

Wow, thats good shooting with a post. Good even with an apeture. Pretty darn good with a scope.

The old Remington 788's were accurate all out of proportion to their very modest cost. (I have never fired one in any of their various chamberings that wouldn't do MOA, even the .44mag.) Not to overlook the fact that the .308 is inherently a very accurate cartridge. The post is wide with a flat top, no wings, and the sight picture is very like that of a Garand. I can keep them in 4" offhand, and all on a paper plate at 200yds. I won't shoot at anything alive much beyond 150yds, but that's a very long shot in New England where 35-75yds is the norm. If the light barrel heats up, it will string like any other rifle, but the only time I ever fired two consecutive shots was at a pair of coyotes on a frozen lake at about 120yds - got the first one, led the second too much and kicked up the snow in front of it. (My 22-250 m788 has a 6-20x50 scope and I would never have missed the second one with it, but I was deer hunting that day.)

T Bone and Gerry375, I too have a rem721 30-06, lyman 48 peep, load 50 gr. 4064 and 150gr sierra spitzer. If the chips are down this is my meat gun and the one gun I have the most confindance in. It has never let me down(never missed a deer with it- still, walking, running, flying low ALL DEAD. Longest shot was 105 yds. shortest shot 2 feet. 40+ deer only one deer shot twice(first shot was good enough) love my 721 bill439

bill439:

You have made an old man very happy that you are using a Rem.721, 30-06 AND with a peep. (when you're blessed with good eyes, a scope isn't always the only way to go!)

My dads Remington 740 .308 killed 3 doz. deer in his hands. 2 doz. in mine and has been out west on two elk hunts. 45 years nearly 60 deer 3 of which were first kills for young hunters. All of this and it is the worst grouping gun in my collection 4 inches at 100 yds. allways.