Woods carry rifle choice for hog, deer, black bear and elk

[rjohns94]

I was at the range today and put a box of 200 gr winchesters through the rifle. Got familiar with the rifle and got consistent 4shot groups of two inches at 100 yards. I have the red plaid wool jacket for tomorrow and I'm fussing around getting all the essentials together for a full day in the woods. I REALLY like this rifle!

[Canuck Bob]

Sorry, I have tried to avoid this thread. The pressure just gets to me and I feel compelled to say the same thing over and over again!

I would choose a peep sighted lever action made in large numbers and easily available used, big surprise. if your vision allows it in the bush. If a scope is required I can vouch for the 2.5X Leupold ultralight with 5" of relief, good for big game farther than I would shoot. I slightly prefer the Marlin pistol grip to the Win 94 . Nothing hand carries like an iron sighted lever action and an all day hunter should be outfitted with a sling.

If rifle style and history is not an issue I would say the 308 chambered BLR or Savage 99 offers best bang for the buck. The BLR can be had in a number of calibers and 358 is a dandy as well as the 30-06 (BLR only). These rifles scope easily.

If traditional levers with open hammers and tube magazines are your style, my preference, I would rate your options as used JM Marlin 336 style rifle, Win 94 close second, and the modern Henries and Mossbergs first checking them out here. You will run into the collector issue with pre-64 Winchesters. I found one D&T to add a Steel Lyman receiver sight for a good price. The Marlin is a bigger fitting rifle and the Winchester 94 snaps to battery like an upland shotgun should. The 30-30, 32 Special, and 35 Remington work fine for elk if you hit what you aim at. There is a reason that many millions of these rifles were valued when folks worked the bush not the back roads. I have a Win 94 in 32 Special and a Marlin 444S to cover all bases. At my age I would start with the 30-30 class in one of these rifles. Then add an elk/moose rifle later.

You added elk as an option. My first choice would be large bores or the modern chamberings like a Savage 308/358. The best bush rifle is the 444 Marlin and the 45-70 a close second, IMHO. They handle game of all sizes without turning the front half of a deer into dog food. Both are best handloaded. Full disclosure: I'm insanely loyal to my 444S or I would rank the 45-70 first based on long term ammo supply and common sense availability.

[MrMurphy]

To me I would defer to what some of the best woods hunters I can recall ever reading about used, the Gamemaster (or the 7xx designatoer of it's day) in 30-06, and 180gr round nose bullets.

For weight and simplicity, I would get one in 308. To ME the pump action is the most natural action repeater their is besides a semi auto which would not be my choice for reliability.

You can't short stroke a semiauto.....you can (and people regularly do) with a pump.

[cshold]

I was at the range today and put a box of 200 gr winchesters through the rifle. Got familiar with the rifle and got consistent 4shot groups of two inches at 100 yards. I have the red plaid wool jacket for tomorrow and I'm fussing around getting all the essentials together for a full day in the woods. I REALLY like this rifle!

Congratulations Mike ya done real good today with that classic rifle & plaid coat.
I won't steal anymore of your thunder

[Blaine]

Mike, do you have to wear hunter orange with that spiffy plaid coat?

[4t5]

I've got a 16" marlin 94 in 44 mag that is just the ticket,just about everything has been killed with a 44 handgun, I figure a 44 rifle will do it better.

[CowboyTutt]

This sounds like a perfect job for my McPherson "Super Puma" in 454 Casull. A 300 grain Hornady XTP mag at 2000 fps ought to do the job for bear and elk. The rifle has a 20 inch barrel, Lyman aperture rear sight with 3 different brass outlined rear apertures to choose from mounted in the stock and a fiber optic front sight. My BLR in 358 would be a good second choice but I like the fact the Puma can hold more rounds.







For those who previously mentioned the 45 Colt, here's another dandy little levergun for the job too. Jeff just reviewed it.

http://www.gunblast.com/Taylors-Alaskan45.htm

-Tutt

[1886]

Has anyone voted for the 7600 chambered in .35 Rem.? Pretty kool shooter. 1886.

[rjohns94]

Yes we do have to wear orange. I use a cloth vest that is minimalist and covers the requirement. That red jacket kept me very warm today.

[buckeyeshooter]

marlin 1895 in 50 Alaskan or 1895 Winchester in 30-06 depending on how far I think I will need to shoot.

[93marshooter]

I like my Mosin m44 for these task. 7.62x54r will do the job. I have a Remington 740 in 06 that would do.

[piller]

Again, if kept to ammunition that is readily available, then I would stick with my Guide Gun. I have a Ruger .44 Magnum semi auto that would also be a nice rifle for woods carry. The idea of a .45 Colt caliber Model 92 also meets the criteria of readily available ammo and would be a great gun for the task. If readily available ammo is no longer the criteria, then I would use my Model 92 in .480 Ruger. However, that link to the .45 caliber gun that Jeff Quinn tested sure made me wish I had a bunch of extra cash that I could spend on a levergun.

[Molasses]

I've got a number of 'em that I think would fit the bill.
Guess it'd come down to just how thick the brush would be, the weather in general, the odds of sliding or falling down a hillside and banging up the rifle and the ever important matter of what tickles my fancy when I'm headed out the door...

REALLY poor pictures taken at the bottom of the basement steps. It's snowing, so outside shots are out and I'm just not feeling like carrying 'em upstairs just for pics. There's a yardstick somewhere in there in each shot to allow (hopefully) a good idea of overall lengths.

MVC-028F.JPG

Above picture, left to right: Model 600 .350 Rem Mag (2X IER scope), BLR .358 Win (conventional 2.75X scope, post reticle), SBL .45-70, .444 Marlin and B-92 .44 Mag
Below picture, left to right: Steyr Scout .308 w. 2 10rd mags onboard (2.5X IER scope), Blaser Ultimate .375 H&H Mag (scope in QD rings detached), Model 7MS .350 Rem Mag (QD ditto) and M-S Model 1952 .30-06

The Blaser has an aluminum receiver, or maybe chassis for the working parts is a better description; something like an AR in that regard. Very lightweight for this caliber, so I figured the same light weight should make it eligible: it'd get carried a lot and shot little while woods walking. That Mannlicher Schoenauer Model 1952 carbine in '06 is a joy to carry and (thanks to a member here!), wears a nifty receiver sight that works really slick for snap shooting, although the receiver sights on the two big bore Marlins don't have any flies on them in that department, either. I'm also quite fond of low powered IER setups for snap shooting, so the two wearing forward scopes are fine by me. The Model 7 has a 1.5-4.5X scope that would work okay except for blocking the balance and it has pretty good barrel mounted sights, so either way there. The BLR is the only one wearing a scope that's hard to remove and blocks the balance point, although the Scout's 10rd mags should probably get swapped back to the slender 5rd arrangement before heading to the woods all day because it clutters up the same area from the other side. The .44 is just plain nice to handle and pairs up very nicely with my short Super Blackhawk.
I could see picking any of these for the job.

[Old Time Hunter]

'94 Winchester Timber Carbine, chambered for the venerable .444 Marlin...good for anything from squirrels to elephants depending on how you load it.

Weighs a heaping 6 1/2 lbs too!

Then again, my '94 Trapper chambered in .44 Mag has served me well. 13 whitetails, one Black Bear, and a nice size bull Elk up in the Bitterroots by the Clark Fork is its tally.

[H_Talon]

I love levers, and while I have a bunch, like my 45-70 , and 2 336's chambered in 30 GNR,
all three set up for scout scopes,



I love my 99's the most, I have two in 7mm-08 and one in 300sav, but my Fav is the 358win.





and I wouldn't feel under powered with any of them .. for hog, thru elk. and have taken a bunch of all except elk (still looking
to do a elk hunt)

if I could get off my lazy butt, I'd develop a load for my 1895 (Moroku) in 358 Hawk ..
it would be my new woods gun .. for everything ..



hmmm but I still love my 99's ..

I'm sure what ever caliber you choose will work if you place it where it needs to go

Talon

sorry for the crappie photos, I can't take pictures worth a pelosi

[Meeteetse]

Don't know about where you live, but most of the game you mentioned have a specific season and are not something you can shoot except during that season. With that in mind, if I am just woods bumming I like to carry either a 30/30 Trapper or perhaps my BLR-92 in .357, or no rifle at all and carry a large caliber handgun instead.

In the fall and during actual hunting season I switch to a bolt gun most of the time in .308 because I do not own a levergun I think is appropriate for big mule deer or elk. I do have a Marlin Cowboy in .44mag but the distance would have to be perfect for that. Wyoming has lots of open space and most of the time I try to keep shots under 200 yds., but it seldom works out. So I use different guns for different seasons. I'm always looking for a perfect general purpose rifle for all seasons.