Choosing Hunting Rifles

It's fun to discuss the virtues of different hunting rifles, actions, calibers... But my love of guns was influenced by the great gun writer Jack O'Connor. He loved guns, but gave us down-to-earth practical information. Yes it's fun, but not too necessary.

No cartridge, or gun is greatly superior to all others.
Read, become knowledgeable, and then decide for yourself.

Using the most ordinary hunting rifle, or the latest short-magnum-with-hard-to-find-expensive-ammunition doesn't change much.

Do your part, know your ability, gun, ammunition, and put
a proper bullet into a deer's "boiler room", and you will have venison. Assuming a reasonable gun, bullet, range...

The hunting rifles and ammunition made by established companies today are good enough to do the job. It doesn't even have to be a center-fire rifle, it could be a shotgun, muzzleloader, or bow.

Pictured: TC Contender Carbine
7-30 Waters caliber

You! What you hunt, where you hunt, how you hunt,
these are the important considerations.

Some use their deer hunting rifles for varmints... Some like smaller, lighter guns? Light weight guns kick more; it's simple physics. Everyone is somewhat recoil sensitive; some just don't know it, or won't admit it.

A six pound .243 kicks, a nine pound .300 magnum kicks and roars. A six pound .300 magnum - few would want to shoot it very often.

Most men would probably be more deadly if they used less powerful hunting rifles. The military chooses smaller rifle calibers for some combat, easier to shoot, quicker recoil recovery, higher rate of accurate fire...

Deer hunting and combat are different, but some principals carry over. With an anti-tank gun; I'd probably scare the hell out of a deer, and myself. But! With my .243 which is easy to shoot, the deer are in serious danger.

The bigger magnums are over-kill as deer rifles, but if you want to use the same gun for really big game they are a possibility. Those who shoot a lot do get better at handling the recoil.

Less recoil and/or varmints point toward the smaller caliber advantages: .243, 6 mm, .257, .25-06, .260... In dense woods the old .30-30, .35... These guns can weigh less, but most will still weigh seven to eight pounds with a scope.

If you plan to reload, and/or hunt varmints, a bolt action, or quality single shot makes sense. In smaller calibers use the heaver, tougher rifle bullets for deer. The lighter more explosive bullets are for smaller varmints. You'll probably have to change your sight settings for each load.

Use a variable power scope, not too much magnification, or you may loose a deer at close range with it.

Larger caliber hunting rifles can be used for deer, and for bigger game. Choose a standard .270, .280, .30 caliber, or a similar magnum caliber. These rifles need to be a little heavier. Say eight or nine pounds with scope... As the power goes up, the gun weight should also increase. This will help reduce the "felt" recoil.

Even with these larger rounds you may need to change loads/bullets. You need a more lightly constructed bullet for deer, and a heaver tougher bullet for the bigger tougher animals. Again you'll probably have to sight-in each time you switch ammunition.

Some say powerful hunting rifles make the difference on marginal shots. More power will surely punch through bone and muscle better. I would not be proud of taking a marginal shot. You'll have to decide this for yourself.

In dense woods where your shots will be short, you can use any action: pump, lever, semi-auto, bolt... you don't need great accuracy. You also don't need high velocity and flat trajectory at shorter ranges. You can use some of the lever-action rounds like the old .30-30, .32, .35... for deer, the .444, .450, .45-70... for deer or bigger game.

In the woods the shotgun slug is also a possibility. Consider adding sights to your shotgun, or a slug barrel and scope, or even buying a new shotgun. You may be able to use one shotgun for all your hunting.

A muzzleloader is slow to load, but the most modern are very effective. You could possibly use the same gun for both muzzleloading, and gun season. Honestly, most will opt for a center-fire rifle during gun season.

Handguns are another possibility, but difficult to shoot well. Ordinary handguns are not really adequate for deer. The .44 magnum was the most powerful handgun until a few years ago. It is fine for close shots, but does not equal the old .30-30 rifle.

The scoped single shot handguns which fire rifle cartridges are another subject. They can have more range. They are still not truly long range tools for a responsible hunter. If you are into them, I hope you already know enough about guns that you don't need my "two-cents"...

You could consider a bow! Bow-hunting is a challenge, but the rewards are great, and you often have a much longer season. Bow-hunting made my life better.

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