What was your first big game rifle, and do you still have it?

[Pucky Freak]

H&R Handi Rifle break action single shot .30-30 and 20 ga. interchangeable combo barrels, youth.

I learned to shoot iron sights on a .22, and then my deer camp mentors started me on the borrowed .30-30. I did not shoot it accurately, and I had very little range practice. The advice was just to take close shots. In hindsight, I’m guessing I was flinching, trouble with trigger weight, and/or poor fit. It was also a relatively lightweight gun and the recoil felt heavy - it was too much of a jump up from the .22.

I sat 7 deer seasons in a stand in a really crappy location and never saw a deer. Probably a good thing I didn’t as a killing shot would have been dumb luck.

Someday I will buy a .30-30 and hunt big game with it to break the 7-year drought, and also because it’s a cool historical cartridge.

 

[MTTW]

I started hunting with a military Mauser that I helped my dad rebarrel and chamber in .243. My dad had a lathe and we turned a barrel from a blank. Iron sights the first year then bought a weaver 2-7. I killed a few deer and antelope over the next 4 years but never got a chance at an elk.

I blew the action up in a reloading accident when I was 16.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Ruger M77 tang safety in 7mm Mauser. Dad traded a Winchester model 12 & a Remington Rolling Block for it.

The rifle never did shoot straight, so it sat in the closet while we had to move to Houston in the 80's. When I finally pulled it out of the safe to do load development on it, the same issues emerged - shotgun patterns instead of groups.

Had it rebarreled to 7mm Mauser AI & it's a 1/2" gun. Only shot pronghorn with it and it's a work in progress, needing a new stock but it's in the safe & it can take anything in NA that it gets pointed at.

 

[Boarmaster]

I guess mine was a Marlin 336cs 30-30. No scope. I bought it to shoot wild hogs in Florida. I shot it for two years then bought what I consider my first real big game rifle , a ruger m77 tanger in 30-06. I still have both rifles.

 

[appmtnhntr]

A used 1984 Browning BAR 30-06 to bear hunt with. Still have it. Will always have it. Still has never had a scope.
Killed lots of bears, prolly a dozen deer, and 5 or 6 hogs.

 

[Rzrbck918]

The first rifle I ever bought was a Remington Model 70 in .30-06 with a cheap scope as a combo at Walmart. It was a bit over $300 and that was a lot of money to us at the time. I hunted with that for over a decade providing the majority of the protein we ate. Ive bought rifles worth multiples of that since and have yet to experience the pride I had in that one. Good memories.

 

[LuketheDog]

Ruger Mark II .270 with the tang safety and hard red recoil pad. Bought it off a guy who painted the houses my dad built for $200 when I was 16, he put a dozen rounds through it to sight in and shot a deer, then decided he liked fishing better. I shot the barrel out and sold it for $450 after 18 years, shoulda kept it.

 

[Cattleman]

I had & used a 270 savage from 12-17yrs old which i then sold for more than the orginal purchase price to buy a browning 7mm rem mag

 

[Howie]

1950 JM marked Marlin 336RC 30-30. Rifle, box of Remington shells and a sling for $25.00

Still in the safe and used

 

[grizzly63]

Bought a TC .50 Hawken and a Navy arms .50 call at same time, used the TC and shot a Doe at Sand Lake, missed a few bucks first. Still have the Navy Arms. Sold the TC long time ago. Graduated to Center fires after that.

 

[Islander]

Bought new in 1984. Yes, big game, doves, snipe, varmints, defense. We were poor. Still looks new.

 

[blueridge]

Remington 7400 in 30-06 with a 3-9 Tasco. Went in with my dad on it when I was 13. Hunted with it through high school and college and killed a couple every year. Inside 150yds it was minute of deer. Beyond that ... complete crap shoot. It had issues. Sold it to help buy my Tikka 7-08 and never looked back. I have other guns that are sentimental to me; that wasn't one.

 

[williaada]

Remington Model 700 youth BDL .257 Roberts. My dad bought it for me just after my 14th birthday from Gander Mountain when it was a true sporting goods store for hunting and fishing. It has taken too many whitetails to count and 2 or 3 coyotes. It has been a safe queen for the last 6-7 years. Will never sell the rifle. Currently my 11 year old has been shooting it a little, and might try it on whitetail this year.

 

[Trkyman1]

Interarms in .243 winchester. Shot many deer with it and still have it 42 years later.

 

[glass eye]

Remington 760 pump action 30-06
Killed my first deer with it. Sold it and bought a Ruger M77 in 7mm rem mag. Still have the 7mm but now I’m using a ULA in 300 win mag

 

[JakeB]

Savage .243 actually is a really accurate rifle. Still have it with plans to hand it down to my son.

 

[belshawelk]

Remington 700 SPS 300WM. It’ll never leave me. One of the good ones. Must be 30 years ago. Took my first elk and mule deer.

 

[Nicoli7153]

Bought new in 1984. Yes, big game, doves, snipe, varmints, defense. We were poor. Still looks new.
View attachment 296426

They're worth a lot more now!!! People have started to realize what a great gun they are.

 

[Farmerj]

First center fire rifle was a Stevens 340 in .30-30.

Wish I still had that pole .

 

[Stone_Ice_1]

Remington Model 700 .270 that was my dad's. That thing has a seriously high body count. I just got 2 more antelope with it on Saturday.