Your First Big Game Rifle?

[biglakejake]

1 hour ago, PRDATR said:

There used to be a place on Southern just west of Rural called Walk In Auto I bought a Nylon 66 from. Still have it.

probably a western auto.  my parents were fishing buddies with the couple that owned the sierra vista western auto.

lee

[Coffeeman]

I cut grass the entire summer before I turned 12 to buy my first rifle a Remington 788 in .308. That thing was the heaviest rifle I’ve owned to date. It had a cheap 4x Bushnell scope and the worst high gloss lacquer stock but it was mine. Killed my first deer with it shooting 150 grain nosier ballistic tips loaded in my grandpas basement. Sold it around 18 years old and can’t say I’ve missed it. Wow this brought back a lot of memories.

[forepaw]

1 hour ago, PRDATR said:

There used to be a place on Southern just west of Rural called Walk In Auto I bought a Nylon 66 from. Still have it.

I remember that store.  They had some neat stuff, and the owner or manager at the time, would dicker to get you out the door with something at a decent price.  I bought my wife a Rem. 870 20 ga. there.  She still has it.  (She wasn't my wife at the time).  Came close to buying a Mont. Wards - labeled mauser in '06, believe it was a model 51 or 53.  4x steel-tube Weaver w/post reticle.  Pretty good stock and trigger.

There was a Holubar store in the same little strip mall.  Good backcountry gear, much of it made it the U.S.  Remember Smitty's on Baseline and Rural?  Bought my dad a 10-22 and scope there.  Also got myself a set of .270 dies with birthday money.

When us kids would get together on our deer hunts, you would see Santa Barbara mausers, Lee Enfields, Rem. M 722s, Springfields - all faded from the scene nowadays.  Another lifetime I guess, at least if feels like it.

   

[broadhead]

1993 Winchester Model 70 .243 with a cheap Tasco scope that sat on top of that rifle until a month ago when I had some gunsmith work done to it and decide what to replace it with. When I got old enough to hunt my dad traded his Remington pump action 30-06 and put it toward two new Model 70s - the .243 for me and 30-06 for him. Took my first deer with it. After he died I brought all the guns down to Arizona. The .243 isn't my go-to for deer down here but I threaded the barrel for a suppressor and am upgrading the scope and will use it to knock down some coyotes until I can get back to Wisconsin and take another deer with it one of these years. Dad's 30-06 will stay just the way it was when he had it.

[forepaw]

43 minutes ago, biglakejake said:

probably a western auto.  my parents were fishing buddies with the couple that owned the sierra vista western auto.

lee

You're close.  The Western auto was about 2 or 3 doors to the east.  It was turned into a bar I believe.  I recall shooting pool there a few times.

 

[muledeerarea33?]

1 hour ago, biglakejake said:

probably a western auto.  my parents were fishing buddies with the couple that owned the sierra vista western auto.

lee

My bunk bed, many sets of tires, hardware, and plenty of guns and ammo came from that store and the one in safford.

[muleybowhunter]

i got a remingtion sportsmans model 78, 30-06 still have it kicks like a mule,

[Ed67]

Traded a Yamaha YZ80 in 1980 for a JC Higgins model 50 Mauser in 270. I never hunted before and definitely wasn’t very good at it for at least another decade. I sold it for peanuts in the early 90s when we started a family.

[AZJR]

Great thread RR, thanks for starting it. We're likely close in age as John Wooters was quite the guns/hunting writer when I purchased my first centerfire rifle too. The two writers I read without fail were Jack O'Connor and Wooters. JOC was the Win M70 .270 Win man, Wooters was commonly shown with his Sako Forrester in .308 Win with the full length mannlicher stock. I compromised and bought a Sako bolt rifle in .270 Win, with a pretty blonde stock and a Leupold 2X-7X in the heavy Sako rings that came with the rifle. I purchased it at Andrew's Sporting Goods in Long Beach, CA in 1984 IIRC. Can't remember if Andrew's had changed it's name to Turner's Sporting Goods at that time yet?

Loaded up Sierra 130 gr Boattail bullets with war surplus H4831 powder; it was a fine load in a very accurate rifle. I wish I still had that rig, sold it because it "was too heavy" after lugging it around the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a few seasons. I replaced it with a push-feed M70 in .270 Win built by Brown Precision. I still have that rifle and prefer it over everything else acquired over the years.

[bigbuckfever]

My first rifle was a Ruger 30-06 my dad got me for my birthday when I was about 20.  Used it for everything until I won a Winchester model 70 in 270 with the Boss System (muzzle break) and synthetic stock at an early AZ Mule Deer Association banquet in the balloon raffle.  I put a Swarovski scope on it (I won that in the Optics Package raffle another year at a RMEF banquet) and had some trigger work done to it.  I added the bi-pod to the front.  Still use this gun and love it.  I also still use the 30-06 for elk (if and when I ever get drawn!!!)

[IA Born]

My first big game rifle was a Rem 700 ADL in .30-06.  I was 14 and I worked hard that summer detasseling corn in Iowa and saved my money.  My dad and I went round and round over what I was going to get.  I wanted a .308 and he told me I was getting a .30-06.  He even got his gun dealer buddy in on it and they ganged up on me.  I held my ground for a .308 and dad took me to Walmart to help me buy my .30-06!  I had a Bushnell 4x40 scope on it with a bullet drop turret.  The first time I shot it, I was 16 (no center fire options in Iowa at that time) and I got scope-eye 5 times.  As I grew and reminded myself of the history of the '06, I fell more in love with my rifle.  A friend put some handloads together for me with 165 gr Hornady SPs.  I took my first deer in AZ with those.  When I moved to Flagstaff, I started handloading my own, using 165gr Barnes TSX and it shoots half-inch groups all day long.  I recently switched to the 168 TTSXs and its just about 0.7inch groups and I love it.  Over the years, I had the factory trigger lightened to 2.75 lbs, the action bedded, the barrel floated, and its been sitting on a McMillan thumbhole stock for about 10 years now.  I used it on my deer hunt this past fall and fell in love all over again, after not using a rifle for 10 years.  I love it and will never get rid of it.

[buckshotaz]

First rifle was a Remington 742? semi auto 30.06 I got it about 1972 in Mesa. I had it for a few years, but it was stolen in a burglary of my home when I was a kid. I never shot anything with it, but I always dreamed about doing it. 

[PRDATR]

2 hours ago, IA Born said:

My first big game rifle was a Rem 700 ADL in .30-06.  I was 14 and I worked hard that summer detasseling corn in Iowa and saved my money.  My dad and I went round and round over what I was going to get.  I wanted a .308 and he told me I was getting a .30-06.  He even got his gun dealer buddy in on it and they ganged up on me.  I held my ground for a .308 and dad took me to Walmart to help me buy my .30-06!  I had a Bushnell 4x40 scope on it with a bullet drop turret.  The first time I shot it, I was 16 (no center fire options in Iowa at that time) and I got scope-eye 5 times.  As I grew and reminded myself of the history of the '06, I fell more in love with my rifle.  A friend put some handloads together for me with 165 gr Hornady SPs.  I took my first deer in AZ with those.  When I moved to Flagstaff, I started handloading my own, using 165gr Barnes TSX and it should half-inch groups all day long.  I recently switched to the 168 TTSXs and its just about 0.7inch groups and I love it.  Over the years, I had the factory trigger lightened to 2.75 lbs, the action bedded, the barrel floated, and its been sitting on a McMillan thumbhole stock for about 10 years now.  I used it on my deer hunt this past fall and fell in love all over again, after not using a rifle for 10 years.  I love it and will never get rid of it.

Love the 06. I bought a pre T3 Tikka one for my son at least 15 years ago. It is his only big game rifle and he is now 30. It is well under MOA with factory ammo in his hands. The 06 is incredibly underrated.

Back in the early a friend built one as his High Power Silhouette rifle after retiring his Ruger #1 in 25-06.

[Couesdeer]

My first big game rifle was a Brazilian mauser in 8X57.  In the late 70s, my father purchased the barreled action from a local gunshop in for $20.  He had the bolt sporterized, the action drilled and tapped, and put it in a utility grade stock from Fajens.  Topped with a 3-9 bushnell sportview, I killed my first two big game animals with it. 

The first rifle that I ever purchased was a Winchester 70 XTR chambered in 7mm Rem Mag.  I bought it used out of the local classifieds (not only am I old enough to remember newspapers, but I can remember when they had a firearms section in the classifieds!)  Anyway, I got the rifle, with a harris bipod, leupold 2.5-8, sling, 2 boxes of ammo for $400.  Not bad for a college kid on a budget.  

Side note: I still have both rifles (or actions anyway) the mauser has had the bolt face opened up and has been  rebarreled to .257 wby, and the model 70 spent a few years as a .257 until I shot the barrel out.  Now, I am going to build a 7mm of some sort on it for my son.  

   

[DUG]

Saved my money cutting lawns etc. for a Remington 760 Pump in .270 Win. I had about 130$ saved up. My Dad paid for the rest. I shot a mule deer and a CWT with it.