stock rifles

D.A.T.

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2010
Messages
145
just curious if anybody uses a stock rifle for hunting.i feel like a pauper in the kings castle
 
While I have some custom rifles, my favorite for hunting the whitetails in VA is my old Marlin MR-7 in 30-06. Bone stock and very accurate and comfortably lightweight and easy to traverse the thicker woods. This is the rifle model that Marlin came out with in mid 90's. Not the newer ones which I here are also pretty good out of the box.

Took 4 last year with longest shot around 250 yards. gun)Hit it right where I aimed. Dropped the 6 point without a step. Remington Core Lokt. I don't usually use that ammo but I used what my brother had already on hand.

Worked well.

Many stock rifles shoot very acceptably.
 
just curious if anybody uses a stock rifle for hunting.i feel like a pauper in the kings castle

So far all of mine are bone stock, Model-70's, minus trigger jobs, Limbsaver Recoil padds, mounts,rings, and scopes, slings and bipods. Hand loading has helped dial in the accuracy to acceptable sub moa levels for L/R.
I plan on building a ''semi custom'' out of my Model-70, 300wby, and getting a new pipe on my Model-70, 30-06.
Who knows what Im gonna do with my Browning A-Bolt 338 win mag. I havent even shot it yet. Right now Im so in love with my Model-70 270wsm that its all I want to shoot:D. In fact I like the wsm family of cartriges so much, I want a 300wsm just like my 270. I think if I got one they would be the only 2 rifles Id hunt with. The rest would just hang out in the gun cabnit, and give me a warm fuzzy feeling everytime I opened the door. Kinda the teddy bear effect. Gives you comfort to know you have em':D even if you dont use em'.
But ya I kinda get the same feeling when I see some of the equipment used here on L/R/H. Not to mention seeing what they can do with the right trigger man. Verry impressive for sure. The good news is that seeing these customs really builds a fire under your butt to get it done and build one for yourself so you can practice and increase your effective range, and personal ability beyond what it can be with most factory rifles. Either way it keeps pushing you to better yourself with what youve got, in the hopes that someday youll be able to reach the level to post pics and threads like those of Broz's recent posts and some others who have the skill, knowledge, equipment, and ability to make it all come togather. I love this place:)
 
until recently all that I had were totally stock, even used factory ammo but just
done my leg work and found ammo that shot well in my gun. I have taken several deer at over 400 and a bull elk at 640 using this and a burris ballistic plex scope.
Just dont short cut developing your shooting skills.
 
i wont cut my training out,just curious.ive been hunting for a long time.i was just wondering.
 
I have 20 plus Remington's 700's. They are all factory's except, stocks are replaced with HS and a few Bell & Carlson TI stocks with Leupolds. Hand load for all. Some shoot awesome and some shoot great. Only had 1 factory 270 WSM that had bad rifling, Remington just replaced barreled action (fluted) for $137.00. I have Remington's 700's stainless from 223 to 338 ultramag. I think my next gun will be a custom, but I have to put a roof on my house. There just went my custom build 338 edge.
 
Stock hunting rifles? Well, sort of stock. Probably tuned up stock rifles would be more accurate. They are all in off the shelf calibers. .17 Remington, .22 Hornet, .223Rem, .22-250 Rem, .243 Win., 7mm Rem. Mag., .30-06 Spr.

All have scopes on them and have been glass pillar bedded. All but the .17rem. have been inspected with a bore scope and recrowned if that was indicated. One (.22-250 LRPV) has been set back and rechambered because the throat was shot out of it. One (Model 10 Savage .243) has been rebarreled because the stock barrel was just plain awful. One, Model 70 .30-06) has had a recoil pad added.

I don't have any custom built exotic calibers from hign end gunsmiths. There isn't much need for rifles like that in the PA woods where I hunt - I struggle to find a shot longer than 200 yards where I hunt deer. If I was shooting from mountain side to mountain side across valleys I'd probably have to get a new rifle, but for here, I'm good to go with more or less stock rifles.

Fitch
 
Stock rifles are all I own and shoot. Not against a custom rifle or anybody else wanting one, I just don't need one. I shoot 2-3" groups at 500yds with any and all of mine. They wear Leupold and Nikon scopes and I installed aftermarket triggers on the 700P and the first 112BVSS. All four of them have the varmint profile barrels (.820") and weigh from 10-12 lbs.
I love to reload so that helps too. I don't settle for 1" groups and if I can't get a rifle to shoot half that with load development it has to go. JohnnyK.
 
I'm with Johnnyk on this, I can't remember a 700 or 600 Remington that I reloaded for that wouldn't shoot under a inch an I have had and shot alot of them, but I am going to have a custom made one of these days in fact I'm trying to thin some stuff down now to make room for one. :D:D:D
 
All stock rifles here, and I also shoot factory ammo. Here in MI most shots are under 200 yards except for one field we shoot over that is 465 yards, and for that the Wby 7mm Mag works well. I've just sent my first rifle out to be bedded and have a couple I'm going to do myself. Other than trigger tweaks and one stock swap (plastic to B&C Medalist done by a previous owner) everything is as-factory here as well. There is only one range anywhere near me that even goes over 200 yards, so long range here is all relativle. :D

Having said that I just picked up a lightly used Remington Sendero in 7mm Rem Mag that is quite the accurate rifle. For a factory rifle and for the price - wow.
 
I am feelin you on feeling like a pauper on a kings mountain. All of my rifles are stock. The furthest thing I have from stock is a husqvarna crow grade that is really a fairly inexpensive rifle with a really good action and barrel. It is bedded and rechambered to 6.5-284. My other 6.5-284 is the Savage 111LRH I just got. aside from that they are all, including the savage, bone stock. I have put a brake on my .300 mag but I won it in a raffle a long time ago so that is all it cost me. My rifles all shoot very well but none are just real special. In stock rifles for a guy on a budget I would suggest a Marlin XL7 in 25-06, that thing is a shooter right out of the box. It isn't mine but I have it to play with any time I want. My father has some customs, so I have experience with custom rifles but haven't been able to afford one myself. Nothing wrong with most mass manufactured rifles now days. besides you can always get a rifle and have it rebarreled or restocked or both down the road. Until you can afford it "run what you brung!" not everyone can afford the biggest baddest or best, I don't think anyone here or elsewhere will look down on you for that. I got the Savage LRH because it has all of the features I would want on a custom in a stock, somewhat affordable platform, and being a savage you can easily replace barrels and stocks with custom fairly inexpensive down the road. Don't feel bad though, there are others here with you.
 
I am feelin you on feeling like a pauper on a kings mountain. All of my rifles are stock. The furthest thing I have from stock is a husqvarna crow grade that is really a fairly inexpensive rifle with a really good action and barrel. It is bedded and rechambered to 6.5-284. My other 6.5-284 is the Savage 111LRH I just got. aside from that they are all, including the savage, bone stock. I have put a brake on my .300 mag but I won it in a raffle a long time ago so that is all it cost me. My rifles all shoot very well but none are just real special. In stock rifles for a guy on a budget I would suggest a Marlin XL7 in 25-06, that thing is a shooter right out of the box. It isn't mine but I have it to play with any time I want. My father has some customs, so I have experience with custom rifles but haven't been able to afford one myself. Nothing wrong with most mass manufactured rifles now days. besides you can always get a rifle and have it rebarreled or restocked or both down the road. Until you can afford it "run what you brung!" not everyone can afford the biggest baddest or best, I don't think anyone here or elsewhere will look down on you for that. I got the Savage LRH because it has all of the features I would want on a custom in a stock, somewhat affordable platform, and being a savage you can easily replace barrels and stocks with custom fairly inexpensive down the road. Don't feel bad though, there are others here with you.

Ill second that. Cfvickers brought up a good point. I havent met anyone here on L/R/H yet that has looked down thier nose at me for shooting factory rifles. Actually quite the opposite. Ive recived alot of help and information on tips, and tricks to tweak my handloads to bring out even more accuracy. Not everyone here has a custom. But even the folks that do own customs are always willing to help someone better thier skills with whatever they have.
Like I said in my earlier post, alot of these guys are mentors, who are more than polite, and helpfull. For me, seeing what they can achieve, realy builds a fire under your butt to better yourself, and try to attain a simmilar level of skill and equipment someday. Because of the way this site is run, and the integredy of its members, L/R/H is a top notch place to learn how to hone your skills no matter what you shoot.
 
This is one thing I like about most of the reloading forums I am on, they don't snub their nose at those who don't have the best stuff available. On the fly fishing forums it isn't so nice. Most of those guys think if you are not fishing with a sage, winston, or some other form of really expensive rod you are obviously inexperienced and don't have anything to add. I have one Sage rod, and it is the singular rod that does not have competition and you can't get anything comparable without buying a sage. But I have some very nice rods, and they look down on me because my rods ARE all customs that I build myself and it is actually less expensive this way, but still not cheap. Takes a long time to talk yourself into spending close to 300.00 on a one ounce stick of graphite. But it is rewarding to catch that first fish on it. Just a comparison, shooters are a different breed and that is why I love it.
 
What annoys me most is buying a stock rifle which then requires an aftermarket trigger, stock, etc before being fit for purpose which to me is hunting. Therefore i just don't buy such rifles - it's for this reason that you won't find a remington or late model winchester in my collection.

About 90% of my deer stalking and vermin control is carried out with completely stock rifles that have not been changed from the way they left the factory, in any way. My hunting rifles include:

Tikka M65 in 25-06
Kimber 84M in .243
Steyr SSG69 in 308win
BSA Monarch in .270

I don't mind messing around with target orientated rifles, but i expect my hunting rifles to do the job every time without fuss or requiring special handling.
 
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