What a great question.. If I werent so damn computer illiterate Id give this thread 4 stars.



My 'smith likes the 30-338 and the 257 AI. His partner in crime is real fond of the 284 Winchester.

This is a great topic. David Christman, who is in the ACGG as a stockmaker, hunts with a gun he calls � Ol Ugly�. It is a stainless 70 classic action with a blued sendero barrel in 257 weath. It sets in a beat up post 64 xtr stock. But let me tell you boys one thing, I wouldn�t want to be a big fat slick headed doe inside of 500 yards of him behind that thing. It shoots. Just for the record he does have nicer guns, but I have never seen him carry into the woods anything as nice as he builds for other people.

Shawn

The local gunsmith I am using now, (Mercersburg, PA) uses a self-built 8mm'06 AI. Very powerful, deadly round!

Nice to hear I am not alone. I use the first rifle I built. It is a Browning Safari, FN barreled action I bought for $100 and put it into a Fajen pre-inlet. It will shoot 1/2 groups with military ball ammo, 30-06(but not for hunting with;only use Nosler 180part's). I have shot most everything I hunted with it; numerous elk, black bear, caribou,(alaska and Quebec)dall sheep, stone sheep and black bear in BC, along with untold numbers of Whitetail and mulies. I still use it exclusively and it is my "lucky" gun.

Jim

Some extra info on Jerry Fisher's rifle. It is a 7mm Rem Mag built on a pre-64 model 70 action in 64 or 65 topped with a Leupold Pioneer scope and has been the only rifle he has hunted with since that time.

Thanks for the replies!

I find it interesting yet not suprising that most of the gunsmiths battery's mentioned above are small in number but large on performance. I guess that one built right is better than a dozen that, well..........Aren't!

Chuck

WesternHunter,

Your 'smith and mine are partial to the same calibers; 30-338 and 257AI. I don't think they are the same person 'cause mine is down here in Florida. His personal rifle is a 30-338 made on a Mauser 98 action with about a 20 inch barrel and stocked with a Mauser 98 stock in Mannlicher configuration. He generally has a Leupold on it, but recently switched over to a Weaver Grand Slam. He also loves, but can't keep 257AI's. He generally has one in the white on hand or a bornin'.

He is also real partial to the .22 on a necked down 6mm Rem case. He culls deer and shoots very long distances with this caliber.

He has been playing around with the 30-06AI built on the new Parker Hale actions and equipped with a break (a BOSS off a 7mmRM he rebarreled for me. He says this a really great for us old men who want a handy, light rifle and don't want to aggravate the arthritis in our necks! Ku-dude

I did most of my hunting in my early years with a 99 Savage that my Dad rebarelled to 30-30 using an 03 3-groove barrel. That little rifle has killed more than I can count....From Blacktails, Roosevelt Elk, Black Bear, to Blue Grouse, and of course a few Porcupines.
I killed my first buck at the tender age of 7 using a stevens single shot in 25-20. That was my first gun part to be built too. I was told if you want to hunt with it, you'll need to make an ejector for it, so that what I did after a lot of hacksaw work, files and cussing when dad wasn't looking.
At 16 I graduated to a 721 in 30-06 with POS fiberglass stock that flexed so much you couldn't put your hand past the recoil lug before it started altering your shot strings. The chamber was excellent, and basically shot one-hole groups when I did my part out to a 100. Shot many a deer and Elk with that one, and still use it more than any other I've got. Gave it a face lift a couple years back with a Boyds JRS Classic and a new bottom metal from this guy I know
My most recent "cheap ass" project is a Model 7 that I bought about 4 years ago in 308 that I've glassed and screwed around with too long and have decided to switch her over to 7mm-08. Rick Bin over at 24hourcampfire swapped me a barrel so she's in the process of getting blueprinted. Gonna be sporting a 2-7x33 Leopold and some talley quick detach rings. Should be good medicine on these muleys over here.

What is it?

[url="http://www.hunt101.com/?p=125034&c=557&z=1"][/url]

I've shot 5 deer and 4 antelope with this rifle, so far. The caliber is .30-40. Will be taking the rifle to Africa in October for plains game.

Looks like a Rigby-ized Ruger NO. 1 that John Mandole got his talented hands on.

Depending on game, one of the following.....
Varmints...Coopers, Rem 700 Customs, Ruger #1
Med Game...Freedom Arms 454 Cassull or TC in "30 Something" (my own wildcat)
Med Game Rifle...Winchester Model 70 Classic Featherweight in 270 or 6.5X55
Big Game....Winchester Model 70 Classic Stainless Synthetic in 338 Win Mag or ULA in 7mm WSM

The gunsmith that I have hunted with is one of the long-time ACGG members. He hunts with guns that he built himself, and that are every bit as pretty as the guns he builds for customers. One is a .270 built on a G33/40 Mauser action, and one is a .338 Winchester built on a 1909 Argentine Mauser action. Both feature English Walnut stocks. His attitude is that life is too short to hunt with an ugly rifle, and that every rifle he builds is first and foremost a hunting tool that has to be as close to 100% reliable as a person can make it.