Anyone shoot a single shot out there?

[blacksheep]

I switched from a bolt gun to a Thompson Center Encore about 20 years ago and I have never looked back. I am headed out to Colorado this fall for my first elk hunt. I have a Encore with a 300 win mag barrel and a 7mm mag in the Pro Hunter. Both have had trigger jobs done and have a trigger pull of about 2 1/2 lbs. I am in the process of putting scopes on both of these. I bought a VX-5hd like Randy's today for a great price and I am looking at a Nikon Monarch 5 3-15x44 for the other rifle. Both will wear black synthetic stocks to keep weight down and the scopes will be mounted in dual dovetail mounts. Having 1 shot has made me very selective on my shot and its placement. I think that this has made me a better hunter. Unlike a bolt gun I have to come off of the gun to reload and then re-sight the animal in the scope. I hope to have them completed in the next couple of weeks and I will post pictures of the final products. Thanks


blacksheep

 

[Millsworks]

The only thing that stops me from owning a single shot rifle is the unfortunate fact that they cost the same , or many times even more than a good bolt gun.
Nothing wrong with hunting with what you like. Bolt guns, single shots, or semi-auto for that matter.
The shooter using them is what makes the difference.

 

[p_ham]

My only single shot is a front stuffer. There are a few on my wishlist. I would love a Sharps someday. Along with a rolling block and a highwall.

 

[Sawtooth]

I have hunted deer and coyotes with my Thompson Contender Super 14 in 7x30 Waters. I understand your need to pick your shots carefully. The single shot normally doesn't come with me until after I have an elk in the freezer.

 

[VikingsGuy]

I will add a 1885 drop block to the safe some day, but not today.

 

[Busyfarmin]

My 25-06 tc encore is my main hunting rifle I've used it on mule deer, pronghorn, and coyotes. Knowing there is usually only time for one shot helps me focus more on the shot except for a few days ago when I missed a very nice black coyote.

 

[uncle sage]

For about a ten year period back during my more adventurous and productive hunting seasons, i shot a B-78 in 6mm almost exclusively. The rifle was a very elegant thing i thought and i was always proud to have it resting in the cradle of my arm. It had a 28" octagon barrel but without a action, it felt compact. The rifle came easy to shoulder, shot well enough to hunt varmints at distance, and the only complaint i can recall was that the trigger was not the best and could have used some work. Otherwise, those decent blacktail, muleys, and antelope bucks i took with it probably would have been a lot better off running into some guy with his new ultra something or other.

I traded that rifle because i had a special Elk trip planned and didn't have enough money to go and also buy a different rifle. The rifle i traded for was a Ruger #1 in 30-06 which compared to the Browning, was a shooter but a bulky and blocky thing in my hands that, after that hunt, i parted ways with. I think it true that a guy shooting a single shot better takes his time, gets closer, and makes the first shot count. I liked mine.

 

[prhunter]

I am actually taking my H&R Handy Rifle to AZ this spring for javelina. Love the simplicity of the single shot.

 

[blacksheep]

Meeeeee toooooo!!! 45-110 Quigley sharps in on my list. They are just a little on the expensive side for me. $3600 or so for what I want!

 

[blacksheep]

My dad hunts with a H&R Handirifle in .270 and loves it!

 

[WildWill]

My father has hunted with a Ruger #1 in 30-06 for close to 30 years and has never had any complaints. I also wouldn't mind a Sharps beautiful gun.

 

[HowaMini]

Some kind of single shot like a #1 or 1885 is probably going to be my next gun. I always wanted a #1 but couldn't afford it when I was younger.

 

[LCH]

Indiana used to be a shotgun or muzzleloader only state for deer. My first deer gun was a NEF (H&R) 12 gauge Tracker II, iron sights and rifled barrel, all of about 6 pounds. It kicks like a mule, but I've taken more deer and hogs with it than any of my other shotguns or rifles.

Then about 10 years ago, Indiana legalized certain pistol-caliber rifles for deer hunting. There really wasn't a whole lot of affordable options for rifles chambered in .44 mag, .500 S&W, etc. I picked up an H&R .357 Mag rifle and used it for several years, no recoil at all really and about the same range as the 12 gauge. I still have it, and will start my girls out hunting with it.

Last summer I was shooting my Howa 1500 in .223 and my dad asked me to zero his H&R .223 while I had everything out. Within just a few shots I was shooting 1.5" groups @ 200 yards with Core-locts, better than I was getting with my Howa.

A couple years ago, Indiana legalized most calibers > .243, so now most of my hunting is with a bolt-action or semi-auto, but all those years being more or less forced to use a single shot has endeared them to me.

 

[blacksheep]

I feel that having just 1 shot has made me a better hunter. I have become more patient and tend to look for my shot. I shot a young 5 point buck this fall at 150 yds off hand with my encore in 20g. I used Hornady 20g SST slugs, made 1 shot and dropped him like a stone. I find my self taking my time and aiming rather that reacting to seeing a deer. I watch them more and I have let several pass. I hope these two rifles will shoot good. I have made them as accurate as I can and I am using good glass. My 300 is getting a muzzle brake this week and i should be ready to head to the range some time in the next few weeks. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[Tikka06]

I used a TC Encore in 7mag for a few years and killed a few deer with it despite it being the most finicky rifle I've ever owned. I did like the way it handled and the ease of loading/unloading. It needed a trigger job and I couldn't find a smith around here to work on it so down the road it went. If I could have ever gotten it to group better than 1.5-2moa and had the trigger tuned up I probably would have kept it.

 

[BrentD]

I rarely hunt with anything but a single shot. Birds and bunnies being the only regular exceptions.

There isn't much need for multishooters to be honest, so I hunt with an original Ballard Pacific, an original Winchester 1885, a Shiloh 74 Sharps, or a .22 Winchester 1885 lowwall. When a follow up shot is needed, it has always been fast enough to shuck the empty and drop in a second cartridge from my pocket.

Single shots are easier to carry, more elegant, simpler in design, less likely to malfunction than multishooters on average, so it's a given for me that they are the gun I will choose the most often. All summer I will have to struggle with choosing which one(s) will go elk hunting this fall. Always a difficult choice.

 

[singleshot1]

I currently have several single shots, they all serve their purpose at given times. I agree having only one shot improves your shot selection. All are pretty light and easy to carry except for the slug gun, that thing is a pig to tote around!
12 gauge H&R Ultra Slug Hunter
.223 H&R Handi Rifle
(3) Different 12 gauge shotguns, various makes and chokes
(2) muzzleloaders

 

[SFC B]

Like LCH, I have a Handi Rifle in the "collection" . It is actually my son's and it is chambered in .44m. Bought it for him to take advantage of IN PCR rule several years ago and it is a shooter as well. Rifle was only $200 and carries a serviceable Burris scope. He took his first deer in IN with it just a couple of days and one practice session later. Since then he has taken several deer and a pig with it and I have taken a doe with it. Nothing bad to say about it.

 

[MThuntr]

I had a T/C encore many years ago...I had delusions of grandeur but in reality all I had was 1 rifle with multiple barrels when for the same price I could have had a couple Savages or a Rem700. I will have a Sharps rifle built one day but that dreams only gets renewed when I watch Quigley Down Under.

I have 2 sidelock muzzleloaders and 1 inline rifle as well as a 40 gauge shotgun...all get hunted. I have a CVA double 50 cal that shoots minute of barn on a good day but that one isn't worth the effort most days.

 

[onpoint]

Elitist moral highground hunters like singleshots. 7x57, my whitetail favorite.