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Feeling nostalgic this morning......


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I found this ad on the internet this morning, this is still my favorite deer and cow elk rifle.  My dad bought it for me, a 336 Texan back in 1969 in 30-30.  The rifle is 52 years old and on the 50th year, myself and 3 like minded lever gun  aficionados decided to hunt mule deer with our lever guns, iron sights only as we did way back.  By mid day on day one all of us had taken meat for the freezer, all shot at less than 100 yards.     

 

Here is to old pards and hunting partners that have since left us.....Long live the old days and old ways.

 

What was you 1st deer rifle?

 

 

 

1962 MARLIN Model 336 Texan Lever Action Rifle PRINT AD | eBay

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Interesting question.

 

If you mean the first rifle I bought for the purpose of shooting deer, it would be a Steyr Mannlicher Model L in .308 Winchester.

 

If you mean the first rifle I shot a deer with, that would be a Ruger Deerstalker in .44 Magnum.

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.243 Remington. 

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Marlin 336c, 30-30, 24" brl. Dad bought for me in 1973. Wish I'd hung on to it

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As I reported in the "336 is coming back" thread, my first was a Marlin 336 .30-30, that I bought from F. Bob Chow in the summer of 1971, when still a sprightly 19 years old.

 

It has served me well, and is still my favorite field rifle.

 

 

                               150127657_Sling1.thumb.jpg.749e1805d4f007783cf306972affb920.jpg

 

 

A fun shooting exercise:  Half-Breed Pete and his twin brothers once took me on an outing into the foothills of California's Coastal Range for some "live action" shooting practice.

 

We took along three old tires, and wired large circular pieces of cardboard inside them, essentially filling the opening.  A black target spot was painted on the center of the cardboard.

 

We would take turns lugging the tires to the top of a hill to the left of our shooting position.  For each shooter, the guy on the hill would loose a tire, which would gain speed as it rolled downhill, eventually reaching the flats and bounding past the shooter at ranges of 50 - 75 yards, emulating a running and leaping deer.  

 

Leading the target, with that Marlin I could consistently put three out of five shots through the cardboard.

 

Damn, but that was fun!  ^_^

 

 

 

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Mine was a masterfully converted 1903A3 rifle.  I was fourteen years old.  

 

That was the same year (1956) that I bought my first handgun, a real live "cowboy" six shooter, .45 with a 5 1/2" barrel and real ivory grips.  It was pretty well worn out, the grips were cracked and piece was missing, and it came with holster and belt and a half a box of ammo, all for $50.00 + 1% Utah sales tax.

 

The man at the gun shop who sold it to me called Dad and asked if it was alright and Dad told him it was if I had cash.  We didn't do credit or lay away in our family.

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Winchester Model ‘94 in .30-30

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got my first Deer with  Mom's Cadillac Eldo 

First deer rifle was rem 700 in 308 ..still have it 

wish I had the Cadillac 

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Borrowed Dad's SMLE No1 Mk III while I was a teenager and hunting with friends (Dad was a small game hunter).

I bought an H & R Huntsman in .58 when I was 21.

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Model 70 push feed 30-06 bought from my shop teacher in 1985. Got my first deer through 4th,bobcat, coyote. Never missed with her. Main reason I didn’t use her last year was 257 Bob a lot easier on neck and just wanted too.

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I wasn’t allowed to hunt as a kid. Long story I would prefer not to get into here. I did go hunting with friends, but didn’t own a gun. 
 

Anyway, my first rifle that I hunted deer with was a Sporterized 1917 Springfield. I took it on many hunts in SoCal, but never got a deer with it. 

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I'll be different here. 7.65mm Argentine '91 Mauser. Hand me down from my dad. He had it scoped for me back in the early 70's when I was about 12. Still have it. Got stolen out of my truck some years back and wonder of wonders Abilene PD recovered it the next day.

JHC

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I grew up where rifles were not legal for deer hunting; it was shotguns with slugs only during that season, or muzzleloaders during that season, or archery.  So my first deer rifle was a Lyman Deerstalker muzzleloader.  I still have it, and I hunt in Colorado with it, too.  It's taken a few deer.  I love deer hunting with a muzzle loader because there are fewer idiots in the woods.  Everyone tells me, "But you only get one shot!"  Well, you only get one shot with a shotgun or rifle, too!  Plus, it only takes one if you know how to shoot.  

 

I also own a flintlock Pennsylvania Longrifle in .50 caliber.  It's a great gun, and I've learned how to make that thing touch off every time.  I particularly like the double set triggers; it helps me with accuracy.  But I've never hunted with it, either.

 

As to centerfire rifles, I didn't even own one until I moved to Colorado 20 years ago for the reason I mentioned.  Now I own a small fleet of them.  My first was a Remington 700 BDL in .30-06.  I still use it, but because of the high quality scope and bipod I have mounted on it, is my go-to antelope rifle.  I also use it for elk because it's a long range gun.  I also have a Ruger M77 in .270 with a fixed 4X scope that I use for deer in thick timber.  

 

Of course I have a Marlin 336 in .30-30, another one in .35 Remington, and a whole bunch of pistol caliber lever actions for CAS :)  I've never hunted deer with any of them because I have more guns than I have opportunities to hunt :)  I cast lead bullets for all of them, and it would be fun to hunt with bullets I made myself, especially since my horse can carry a lever action a lot easier than a scoped bolt action.

 

Aaaand last but not least, I have a Shiloh Sharps model 1874 in .45-70.  I cast a 500 grain bullet and load it on top of 65 grains of black powder (the bullet is so big it takes up too much room to get all 70 grains in there!).  Of course, that might be a little overkill on a deer.  I've never hunted with it; it's my range toy so far.  Maybe I should take it elk hunting?  Then again, I don't really want to lug that thing up and down the mountains in Colorado.  

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My first deer GUN was a Brazilian smoothbore 20 gauge. Couldn't hit nuthin with it. Bought a Mossberg 500 and shot my first deer with it. Shot my first deer at the cabin with a M90 AK. All I had at the time for a rifle. Bought a Ruger mark II in .270 after that. Got a lot of deer with that one over the years. 

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The county I live in is shotgun/muzzle loader or Hand gun only. My first Deer gun was a S&W Model 29, .44 mag with a 6 inch barrel and a 2x scope.Shot a nice sized doe with it for meat in the freezer. Haven't been deer hunting in years due to a screwed up back.

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I’m with Forty Rod.  My first was also an 03/A3 that I bought myself through the CMP, but I took my first deer, a small mule deer buck,  using it in original military configuration.  Later I modernized it with a Fajen stock and a scope and then traded it away.  Dumb.

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