My Favorite Hunting Guns

[JimT]

Handgun is my Top Choice for hunting. I would rather hunt with a handgun than anything else. My hunting gun is my Bowen .41 Magnum. I have used it to take Javelina, hogs, deer (both Whitetail and Mule Deer), elk, coyotes, skunks, coons, etc.

bowen 41 magnum.JPG

The Rifle that is my favorite is the Winchester Model 94 Trapper in .30-30 ... I have used it to take both Whitetail and Mule Deer as well as small game and varmints.

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[Bill in Oregon]

Fine choices, Jim. I'll have to rethink things now that I am back in New Mexico, but a hunting sixgun is pretty high on the list.
For rifles, there is the plain-vanilla sportered 1903 Springfield -- my late father's first choice born out of his experience carrying one in World War II -- and the early Remington Model 8 in .25 Remington if I ever get it back from my gunsmith. I'd love to take a javelina with that Model 8.

[Ray]

Handgun is my Top Choice for hunting. I would rather hunt with a handgun than anything else. My hunting gun is my Bowen .41 Magnum. I have used it to take Javelina, hogs, deer (both Whitetail and Mule Deer), elk, coyotes, skunks, coons, etc.

bowen 41 magnum.JPG

The Rifle that is my favorite is the Winchester Model 94 Trapper in .30-30 ... I have used it to take both Whitetail and Mule Deer as well as small game and varmints.

IMG_3888.JPG

I think I shot that trapper at a hackberry tree just before everybody got mad at it and chopped it down. I'm not sure just what I was keeping that last nerve for but that fusilade sure stepped on it !

[Grizz]

Handgun is my Top Choice for hunting. I would rather hunt with a handgun than anything else. My hunting gun is my Bowen .41 Magnum. I have used it to take Javelina, hogs, deer (both Whitetail and Mule Deer), elk, coyotes, skunks, coons, etc.

bowen 41 magnum.JPG

The Rifle that is my favorite is the Winchester Model 94 Trapper in .30-30 ... I have used it to take both Whitetail and Mule Deer as well as small game and varmints.

IMG_3888.JPG

Great choices Jim. My most productive hunting guns are a 10" SBH and Marlin 1894 in 44 mag. And only ever made venison with them.
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in case i find a photo - - -
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grizz

[Walt]

Jim, I covet your .41. What a very nice gun. I have and appreciate my M94 Trapper in .30-30 but your Bowen takes the cake.

[JimT]

Jim, I covet your .41. What a very nice gun. I have and appreciate my M94 Trapper in .30-30 but your Bowen takes the cake.

I don't know if you have ever read the story behind the gun, but in case you have not, here is a link.

viewtopic.php?p=982667&hilit=Bowen+.41+Magnum#p982667

[Walt]

Thanks for the link, Jim. I had read and commented on your amazing Bowen at that time. It's got to be a best friend for life.

[JimT]

Thanks for the link, Jim. I had read and commented on your amazing Bowen at that time. It's got to be a best friend for life.

Yessir. And thank you.

[Griff]

My favorite hunting rifle is a .30-30 Winchester 94 carbine, it's been the demise of several coyotes. I've shot a few javelina with a Winchester 94 Rifle in .30-30. My most productive deer rifle is a mdl 700 Remington in 7mmRemMag. Success 7 years out of 10 in CA. I've hunted, but never shot anything with my Uberti Santa Fe Hawken in .53. The one time I had a shot, my partner & I jumped a bunch of does and a lone buck at the back end of the bunch. But... as luck would have it, somewhere in the stalk, the cap had fallen off. 5 years runnin' while afield with it, I didn't see a buck. Haven't hunted with it since moving to TX in '90. I should probably rectify that!

I've never hunted with a handgun.

[Scott Tschirhart]

My Old Model Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt takes the honors. I have taken a turkey and a cow with it (neither required much hunting skill) mainly because it happened to be handy. I think an RCBS .45-270-SAA bullet at 800 to 950 fps will take anything I want to shoot at.

I’ve killed more with my Ruger Scout Rifle than anything else.

[LeverGunner]

Nice Jim. Not much that combo can't do.

[Ysabel Kid]

Hi Jim. What is the barrel length of your trapper?

[JimT]

Hi Jim. What is the barrel length of your trapper?

16 inches

[Ysabel Kid]

Thanks Jim!

[Scott Tschirhart]

Now I can post this. .45 Colt Old Model Ruger Blackhawk. But I need to stop shooting everything else so I can get better with this one.

[Grizz]

Handgun is my Top Choice for hunting. I would rather hunt with a handgun than anything else. My hunting gun is my Bowen .41 Magnum. I have used it to take Javelina, hogs, deer (both Whitetail and Mule Deer), elk, coyotes, skunks, coons, etc.

bowen 41 magnum.JPG

The Rifle that is my favorite is the Winchester Model 94 Trapper in .30-30 ... I have used it to take both Whitetail and Mule Deer as well as small game and varmints.

IMG_3888.JPG

Great choices Jim. My most productive hunting guns are a 10" SBH and Marlin 1894 in 44 mag. And we only ever made venison with them.
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44_SBH_10 inch.jpg

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I can't think of enough good things to say about this one. It made a lot of meat for us, but i don't have any idea how many deer. It was just routine, reliable, and no surprises. We spent a lot of time together. Once i found the load that's all it shot. Lots and lots and lots of memories.

I inquired about would he like to say a few words, but he's gun-shy - - - sri
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grizz
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grizz

[AJMD429]

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All I hunt for the recent years has been whitetail deer.

My favorite hunting BULLET is a 240 grain semijacketed soft point, but as far as 'guns' there are several ways I launch that projectile...

My favorite would probably be my Ruger 96/44 levergun, just because it is 'different', sort of Savage-99'ish in appearance, and four of my first five guns were Rugers (Ruger 10/22 rifle, Ruger Mk1 pistol, Marlin 1894, Ruger Super Blackhawk, Ruger Mini-14 - Ruger didn't make the 96/44 yet, or it would have been 5/5 )

But I have seven (or maybe eight) ways of sending that 240 grain JSP to the target - ?

1. Most days - Marlin 1894SS with Williams FP rear 'ghosted' and green Firesight up front - light, handy, not much to break
2. Dawn/Dusk - the Ruger 96/44, with a 4x scope that 'gathers light' well, and the detachable magazine nicer to unload when needed than the tubular mag
3. Rain/Snow - a Ruger 77/44 stainless version and a rubber sling, with NEGS aperture sight, and a small gold bead front sight - TOTALLY impervious to weather
4. When in the mood to use a handgun - a Ruger Redhawk 7" with apreture rear sight blade insert and green Firesight up front
5. For more varitey - a Ruger Super Blackhawk with aftermarket Bisley grips, and an aperture rear sight blade insert and small gold bead front
6. For even more challenge - a Thompson Contender Pistol 14" with Williams FP rear and (right now at least) the factory 'Patridge' front blade
7. To extend the Season - a Savage ML10 'bolt action' muzzleloader with 4-16x scope, using 50 caliber sabots to hold my 240 grain JSP's
8? I also have used - Mossberg 500 with slug barrel, 4x scope - with saboted shotgun slugs with a 240 grain JSP bullet in them, though I don't honestly know if they were '44' or '45' caliber

So perhaps I have a "favorite hunting cartridge" or even just a "favorite hunting bullet" - and not a favorite hunting firearm...

I've also harvested whitetail with:

500 S&W - Big Horn Armory 89
45 Colt - Marlin 1894
357 Maximum - Thompson Contender
357 Magnum - Marlin 1894CSS
300 Blackout - Aero Precision pistol-format AR

Then twice I've euthanized automobile-mangled whitetail with a 9mm (one with a Taurus 92, one with a Glock 17).

My 'want to use someday' cartridges include:

6mm Remington - to 'blood' my Ruger M77V that is SO accurate
35 Remington - because it is a 'classic' cartridge - Marlin 336
30-30 - because it, too, is a 'classic' cartridge - Marlin 336
45-70 - because it is an even older 'classic' cartridge - Marlin 1895
444 Marlin - Marlin 1895 - because I have to prove it can do anything a 45-70 can do...

[Bob Hatfield]

Dang. 20 years ago, I sold my Ruger 96 for $350. Didn't need the money. Just got a wild hair to sell something to justify buying something. I have a hard time sitting now from kicking myself in the buttocks so much every time someone mentions they have one.

Bob

[AJMD429]

Dang. 20 years ago, I sold my Ruger 96 for $350. Didn't need the money. Just got a wild hair to sell something to justify buying something. I have a hard time sitting now from kicking myself in the buttocks so much every time someone mentions they have one.

Bob

I got a 96/22 and then the 96/44, and ultimately rebarreled the 96/22 with an Operative integrally-suppressed barrel (added second extractor groove to the 10/22 version that fits the 96/22). Then completed the set with a 96/22Mag and got a second of those and rebarreled it to 17 HMR. So yeah I like the Ruger 96’s…!

Sadly Ruger no longer sells parts or repairs them, but they’ve held up fine.

[6pt-sika]

Hmmmm , for rifles the Mannlicher Schoenauer carbines in 6.5x54 MS and 7x57 come first now .

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Then comes the Remington 700 Ultimate ML .

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Then for shotguns I’m partial to my Parker DH 8 gauge and several different Parker 10 gauge guns .

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