Your Father's Deer Rifle?

[Timberline]

Our fathers were different men. Men of a different generation, different thinking and different times. It’s interesting to look back on the hunting they did and the rifles they carried.

What deer rifle did your father prefer?

I clearly remember my father’s deer rifle. My late father was a practical man. He bought a Remington Model 14 in .35 Remington upon returning to Wisconsin from World War II, and he used that rifle faithfully for the next 40 years. “Why even consider another,” he’d say. “This one works, every season, every shot.” I can’t ever remember him missing a deer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/TimberlineX/RemingtonModel14.jpg

By today’s flashy firearms standards, the Remington Model 14 is an antique and the .35 Remington an underpowered relic. But it was my father’s deer rifle, and in the thick-as-dog’s-hair Northern Wisconsin brush it did work wonderfully. It featured a smooth-as-butter pump action and it held a whole fistful of stubby cartridges. He never, ever scoped it. Heavens no. Whatever for? Its tiny silver front bead and ultra-low rear notch seemed just right for him, ever the believer in head shots for does and neck shots for bucks. “I’ll just tickled their brain at 30 steps,” he used to tell me whenever I talked wistfully of scopes, new-fangled bolt-actions and magnum cartridges (I definitely did NOT inherit my father’s practicality).

Today, my brother owns that old rifle. He cherishes it. That’s good. I’ve told him I may need to borrow it someday, to shoot just one more whitetail. It was, after all, my father’s deer rifle.

What deer rifle did your father or hunting mentor favor?

[Huntsman22]

Mine used a model 94 in 30-30. He retired it when I bought him a ruger 77 in 270. He would use nothing else until he had to quit hunting. My wife used his 270 for years until I bought her a 7/08

[Ed C]

My father was an upland bird hunter. He didn't hunt big game.
On my 16th birthday he bought me a remington mod 600 .243win.
Western Auto Borger,Tex. It sold for some exorbitant amount. I'm going to say $79.00. So I guess it was his deer rifle, but I was the one doing the killing. He did enjoy shooting it, and anything else. His favorite saying "Nothing like the smell of gun powder"

Great Memories

[elmbow]

My father had 20 plus firearms when he passed away, but he always hunted with a beautifully executed Krag Sporter. It had perfect bluing, a steel windage and elevation adjustable Redfield receiver sight, ramped and hooded silver soldered front sight, great checkering on the wood, mother of pearl diamond inlays (I think), and those 180 grain CoreLokts absolutely hammered big mulies and elk. I fired it first time off a big rock at 14 and it felt like the mother of all magnums. When I turned 16 I got to use one of his Krags that was full military surplus on my first deer hunt. I had a cross canyon shot at a nice buck running up and away at about 1/4 mile, (200 yards?) and I emptied the first magazine and (literally) threw another five rounds in and the 6th shot dropped him. What a rush! I felt like the King of Bunker Hill. There were 8 kids in the family and the old man never did a will or promised anyone any particular guns, so we sat around the family dining table after the appropriate time had passed and commenced to draw straws for all the weaponry. My 2nd oldest brother got the sporterized Krag and I think he used it a few times years ago, but pretty much its relegated to the closet. I've cajoled him with all sorts of sweet deals, my firstborn, etc. but nothing takes. He's got boys that will value it when it gets passed down again and I'm ok with that. Now my Grandpa, well he shot a Remington model 8 in .35 Rem and I could tell stories of his prowess with that old brass spitting blunderbuss, but I'd be called a liar, because everyone knows the 35 Rem ain't good for much past spitting distance. My cousin ended up with it, but he's a good man and was really close to Gramps, so that's ok too, besides, I got Grandpa's damascus Greener. I've since owned 2 model 8's and may own another. Anything Browning is good.

[Jon S]

My dad killed his first and only deer with a Marlin 336 30-30. He kept it in the closet until after I moved to CO. I never shot it, knew how to clean it, sighted many squirrel with it in my backyard as a kid, some with his permission, others without.
It was stolen some years ago and he has mentioned how much he liked it a few times.
I bought one like it two years ago, plan on giving it to him for Christmas, then planning a hunt where he can kill a deer with it.
Should be a good time and do what many father and sons do now, hunt together. Although the roles will be reversed, I will be teaching/guiding him, it will be good practice if I ever have kids.
When it happens, there will be pics and hopefully a Timberline-esque story to boot.

[moho]

My great Uncle Dick was the most avid hunter in our immediate family and his main rifle was a Winchester M70 in .30-06, pre WWII vintage. He died when I was about 8 and though my Dad had been a Garand instructor and took me shooting frequently, he didn't get to hunt much. So the gun spent some time in a closet and then was sold during a family move before I got to hunt with it. A few years later, he bought me a Savage 24 which was far more appropriate, but I still look fondly at old M70s at gun shows.

[Kmassaro]

My late father used to hunt initially with an old 30-40 Krag sporter. In 1959, he replaced that with a Remington 721 in 30-06 with a Bausch and Lomb Balvar 8, 2.5-8x scope, and with that, he killed a ton of whitetails. He hunted with a few others, but that 30-06 is what I always identify with him.

Kids in the hunting camp knew that you couldn't even put a fingerprint on his rifle or Dad would go ballistic.

I've still got that rifle, and have to take it hunting, a la Timberline. Thanks for reminding me.

[CCH]

My dad killed his first deer in Pennsylvania when he was about 14 using a cut down Winchester 1892 w/ octagonal barrel in .38-40. I still have that pretty much unexpanded bullet. He read O'Connor and picked up a Rem. 721 in .270 and hunted with that for years. He still prefers it although he has a couple of other rifles now. When I was in high school, I had the 721 fitted with a B&C fiberglass stock and a Kwik-Clip set up. Not classic anymore but that stock puts your face in a much better spot for scope use than the original.

[Big W]

My dad used a Remington 742 30-06 woods master. My grandpa used a pre-64 model 70 in 30-06. My great grandfather used an assortment of model 70's in 270, 30-06 and his favorite being a pre-war 300 H&H

[Super Chicken]

My Father is/was more of a small game hunter. He tells tales of going deer hunting with his brothers and just taking his H&R 9 shot .22 wheelgun. My Uncles would come back to camp from an unsuccessful stalk and he would be roasting his rabbits while they looked on and ate jerky. :D Unfortunately his revolver and my Grandfathers Winchester 94 were stolen many moons ago.

[Smokepole]

A Remington Sportsman 58, with a 32 inch barrel, full choke, slinging 00 buck shot. Rifles aren't allowed for deer hunting in eastern VA, and the deer were always running anyway, chased by hounds.

[hunting1]

Mine was a Remington 760 in 30-06. "Only rifel you need" he would say. He was right!

[Vernon]

The rifle I most associate with my Dad is a Winchester Model 70 in .264 Magnum. He killed several deer with that gun at incredible ranges (usually without any support or rest). He eventually sold it but my brother did acquire a Remington in .264. There have been several guns over the years but that one sticks in my mind.

[snakey2]

My Dad's first rifle was a Savage 99 (with 12 turkey marks and 23 deer marks carved in the fore end) but the rifle he hunted with when I was in the picture (and the rifle I associate with him) was, like many here it seems, a sporterized 30-40 Krag. I used the Savage 99 and he the Krag on the first deer hunts I ever went on 50 years ago. That Krag with the steel butt plate kick a kid like me horribly (I think it knocked me down the first time I shot it) but I never shied away from shooting it.

[William Clunie]

My father used an old Spanish War relic in 8mm for deer hunting. Someone lifted that and a few others when they broke into the house. A favorite that was taken was a high-grade, Remington (Browning) model 11, semi-auto 12 gauge, purchase by my grandfather a long time ago. I would have liked to have been in the home when the sleeze bags broke in, with the shotgun in my hands.

[colohunter303]

Just as a Disclaimer i am 19 so my fathers rifle isnt some ancient relic or anyhting. my father bought a Marlin .444 when he was 16 years old. his father didnt hunt but was on the Air Force marksmen team when he was in the service. so my father was no stranger to shooting. at 18 my dad had to be macho and as the story goes he walked into a gun shop in colo. springs and asked the owner, "gimme the biggest you got". well the owner handed him the .444. my dad took his first deer with that gun about a decade ago. it was his second season ever hunting. a few years ago he replaced that with a remington 672 guide gun in 300SAUM that i think will be in his casket with him. he loves that gun. My mothers father preferred a win mod 94 in 30-30 and took countless amounts of deer in OK with it. he just gave that gun to my mother. i only hope that i can take a deer with it someday, as well as the .444 but i think i wanna take an elk with it.

[Scoutin' Wyo]

My dad owned his first firearm when I sold it to him in 1999, a berreta AL-2. He then picked up a ruger single six after he found how fun it was to shoot my colt frontier. I bought him his 3rd firearm a henry golden boy in 22lr.

My dad was never a hunter until I was old enough to own my own home, then he went with me just to be with me. He did drop one pheasant, but that was the last time he went pheasent hunting with me. His favorite is archery elk/deer, just because of the time of year and mild temps. Now that he bought a cabin in the Snowy Range he just sleeps in and works on the old place while I get up at the crack of dawn and chase critters.


I will say that my folks were pretty understanding and let me purchase my own shotgun when I was 13 with the money I earned washing dishes at my uncles restaurant. My sister's boyfriend was the guy who got me hooked on hunting. Funny thing is I no longer hunt with him. I guess we just took separate paths in our hunting styles.

[evanhill]

Timberline, it's just got to be said. My dad is indeed "a man of a different generation" -- your generation! :D

Like you, he's something of a gun nut. To make matters worse, he also bounced back and forth between residence in Alaska and the lower 48 a couple of times, which of course required arsenal changes. You could produce a pretty nice coffee table book out of all the guns he has owned over the years. You'd have to severely edit the accompanying rationales for each specific purchase if you wanted a book that wouldn't break the coffee table though.

The one gun that stands out to me as "dad's gun" that hasn't been sold or traded to make way for the newest best thing is the stevens octagonal barrel 22 he grew up with.

Now, grandma's deer rifle is a different story. I'll let Scot describe it and post a picture because he has it. I think it was *her* father's rifle originally (he might have used it for moose in the NE?), but Scot will remember for sure. She hunted into her 70s on the family's place outside of Kerrville. Always one shot. Always in the neck. Fried heart and onions for dinner that night.

[Timberline]

Timberline, it's just got to be said. My dad is indeed "a man of a different generation" -- your generation! :D


Ouch! Youth is definitely wasted on the young and disrespectful. :)

[Gregdoo]

The story goes that a crafty German uncle (emigrated to the US in the early 30s, well before WW II) somehow got a German Mauser out of Germany that was supposedly used by another relative....on the German side in WW II.

Regardless of provenance, Dad was given this 8 x 57 Mauser in the early 50s which he used on his father's farm in a rural part of the Catskill Mts. of New York. They were a poor family, and though surplus ammo was available, it was still a "one shot, one kill, one in the pot" deal. Dad said he usually only took one bullet up the rocky back pasture when hunting for the next week's meat. One evening he shot a deer and when he got to the deer, the deer jumped up, and though injured was feisty and intent on not becoming dinner. Dad wrestled the deer and ended up using the rifle butt as a club to finish the deal, as he didn't have another bullet. The rifle had a very chunky, heavy walnut sporterized stock, white spacer and cheap recoil pad. Over later years, when money wasn't as much an issue, the bolt was bent down, Buehler safety added, and a nice, German-made "Hy-Score" 2.5 x 6 scope added. In the 70s Dad took a belt sander to the stock and made probably a pound or so of walnut powder, leaving the stock an ugly shape, but lighter and easier to handle. It was given a coat of linseed oil and that was it. Dad was never much of a craftsman. He gave me the rifle and I shot my first deer with it in upstate NY. Later, when stationed in Alaska I had a Timney trigger added allowing better groups than the original, creepy one. I never took any Alaskan game with it, but found that a thorough bore cleaning to remove WW II era lead and crud as well as decent reloads tightened the shot group to an honest 1.5" at 100yds. So while it still wears that ugly stock with unusual dips from the belt sander, it reminds me of Dad and I cherish it. I had the pleasure hunting with Dad this past April and taking two wild pigs in Texas. The old 8 x 57 was as reliable as ever.....and I didn't have to finish them using the "wrong end" of the rifle!

[Cleve]

My father wasn't really a hunter/shooter, but a flyfisherman. The only day I ever hunted with him (I was about 10 or 11?) he borrowed a friend's scoped bolt action rifle, but I didn't know enought to ask what nor would I remember now what it was exactly. There was however a bamboo flyrod my mother broke my heart by giving away after he died, but that's another story.

The hunter was my grandfather (for whom I'm named, sort of, long story) who was born on a homestead here in Colo in 1884, and lived as a ranch hand (on other people's ranches) into his 60s. He was 70 when I was born. Lived in a wall tent in Taylor Park every summer from ice out until around Labor Day until he was 81. He carried a Winchester 94 in .30-30. That little carbine had gathered all the venison I ate as a child and was the reassuring pressence under the bedroll in camp. I inherited it, or rather he gave it to me, in the late 1960s just before he passed on. I killed my first deer with it at age 14 and still have it and the leather saddle scabbard he kept it in. It shows plenty of wear but still shoots well enough although my post-50 year old eyes don't handle the open sights as well as they used to. I debate having it "fixed up" by a gunsmith and adding apperture sights, but then it would no longer be "Daddy Cleve's" rifle. If the house caught fire and I had time to only grab one thing it would be that gun -- my wife would never understand why I didn't grab the baby pictures, but so be it.

[scothill]

Evan covered Dad's rifles so I will cover Grandmothers battery as I have both her shotgun and rifle. The Shotgun is a Winchester Model 12 20 gauge takedown. She really wasn't much of a bird hunter so I have had this shotgun for years, and have take quail and cottontails with it. In all a pretty plan jane working shotgun.

The rifle however is a different matter. It is a well used Remington Model 8 in 30 Remington. The caliber and rifle were introduced in 1906 as a semi-auto 30-30 basically. The round was designed to replicate the 3030 in a rimmed cartridge. The most interesting thing is that the barrel of the rifle is mounted in a sleeve with a spring around it and actually recoils backwards before the bolt unlocks and then recoils. The safety is much like an AK. Due to top eject the scope is mounted off the topleft side of the rifle. It comes with a box magazine. So all in all we have what was essentially one of the first assault rifles. It was extremely popular with the Texas Rangers for instance and I have seen several pictures of rifles that where retrofitted with longer magazines for greater capacity.

As I understand it her father wanted a new hunting rifle and went down and bought it as it was on the cutting edge of what was available at the time. He did hunt with it, but I can't remember if moose was taken or not. My grandmother then used it up into her mid 80s to hunt on the family place. As Evan said always a neck shot, always a deer down. She didn't shoot unless she was sure, and when she was sure she was sure. I have the rifle with original scope and the sling she always used and presumably her father used. I also have a few boxes of ammunition for it. I have never shot it as the ammunition can be hard to find, but if I ever head down to the family place in Texas to hunt I will probably have to take it along.

[snakey2]

Ahh memories!!

[Karl]

My Father doesn't hunt but I inherited my Grandfather's Savage Model 99 in 300 Savage with open sights. I shot my first elk with it.

Shot, hit... she took two steps... Shot, hit... she took off into the trees. Wait... Investigate. Confirmed hits with blood splatter on snow. 5-10 minutes later I walk into the trees and she gets up. Back to the horse... Track her. She's headed back to camp. I Enter a meadow and she's at the other end 150 yards. I leap from the horse, grab the gun. The horse starts for camp. I lob one down range.

Someone comes around the corner from camp to see what the shootings all about. I'm running and pointing... finally he gets the point and sees her disappear into the trees and starts running back to the tents. One of the youngsters in camp grabs a rifle and takes a shot as she traverses the hill across from camp...

I make it back to camp where my horse is now waiting and get back on her trail. 2-3 miles further down the main trail mid day and she circles back into the trees. I finally caught up to here and landed one more in the chest. She collapsed 30 yards further on.

Postmortem. Shot one appears to have been low in the chest and missed vitals, shot two broke a rib going in and was recovered in the farside hide, shot three in the meadow caught her in the left hind quarter just above the hip, shots from the camp missed completed, and the fourth shot that finished her appears to have hit the heart.

Bought a Savage in .338 Win Mag. Next year my cow dropped where she stood.

--Karl

[Karl]

The rifle however is a different matter. It is a well used Remington Model 8 in 30 Remington. The caliber and rifle were introduced in 1906 as a semi-auto 30-30 basically. The round was designed to replicate the 3030 in a rimmed cartridge. The most interesting thing is that the barrel of the rifle is mounted in a sleeve with a spring around it and actually recoils backwards before the bolt unlocks and then recoils. The safety is much like an AK. Due to top eject the scope is mounted off the topleft side of the rifle. It comes with a box magazine. So all in all we have what was essentially one of the first assault rifles. It was extremely popular with the Texas Rangers for instance and I have seen several pictures of rifles that where retrofitted with longer magazines for greater capacity.

I had one of these Remington's in 300 Savage also very similar to the 30-30. I put a box of shells though it. Interesting to shoot. Very mechanical sound as I recall. It was sold to a collector in part to fund the my .338. I still have my Savage 99 in 300 Savage though.

--Karl

[scothill]

Bought a Savage in .338 Win Mag. Next year my cow dropped where she stood.

--Karl

I am not sure how to ask this politely, so here goes. Dropped because of better shot placement or because of the bigger caliber only?

[scothill]

I had one of these Remington's in 300 Savage also very similar to the 30-30. I put a box of shells though it. Interesting to shoot. Very mechanical sound as I recall. It was sold to a collector in part to fund the my .338. I still have my Savage 99 in 300 Savage though.

--Karl

It is a very neat rifle. If ammo was more available it would make a great using rifle. My understanding is that the 6.8SPC is in part based on the 30 Rem cartridge.

[scothill]

I had one of these Remington's in 300 Savage also very similar to the 30-30. I put a box of shells though it. Interesting to shoot. Very mechanical sound as I recall. It was sold to a collector in part to fund the my .338. I still have my Savage 99 in 300 Savage though.

--Karl

It is a very neat rifle. If ammo was more available it would make a great using rifle. My understanding is that the 6.8SPC is in part based on the 30 Rem cartridge.

[elmbow]

Evan covered Dad's rifles so I will cover Grandmothers battery as I have both her shotgun and rifle. The Shotgun is a Winchester Model 12 20 gauge takedown. She really wasn't much of a bird hunter so I have had this shotgun for years, and have take quail and cottontails with it. In all a pretty plan jane working shotgun.

The rifle however is a different matter. It is a well used Remington Model 8 in 30 Remington. The caliber and rifle were introduced in 1906 as a semi-auto 30-30 basically. The round was designed to replicate the 3030 in a rimmed cartridge. The most interesting thing is that the barrel of the rifle is mounted in a sleeve with a spring around it and actually recoils backwards before the bolt unlocks and then recoils. The safety is much like an AK. Due to top eject the scope is mounted off the topleft side of the rifle. It comes with a box magazine. So all in all we have what was essentially one of the first assault rifles. It was extremely popular with the Texas Rangers for instance and I have seen several pictures of rifles that where retrofitted with longer magazines for greater capacity.

As I understand it her father wanted a new hunting rifle and went down and bought it as it was on the cutting edge of what was available at the time. He did hunt with it, but I can't remember if moose was taken or not. My grandmother then used it up into her mid 80s to hunt on the family place. As Evan said always a neck shot, always a deer down. She didn't shoot unless she was sure, and when she was sure she was sure. I have the rifle with original scope and the sling she always used and presumably her father used. I also have a few boxes of ammunition for it. I have never shot it as the ammunition can be hard to find, but if I ever head down to the family place in Texas to hunt I will probably have to take it along.
John Browning's first commercial semi auto, mfg. rights bought outright by Remington, blowback operated, that spring is what brought it back into battery. Very similar in operation to the Auto 5 and extremely reliable. Yes it was used extensively by law enforcement. Feds used it a bunch during prohibition and the gangsta period. Years ago American Rifleman had a writeup on a brace of them that Gene Autrey owned, very ornately done. I believe Rem offered it in 25, 30 and 35 caliber, all pretty much the same case. Some people think they are ugly. I like 'em, again perbably because my grampap was a elk slayer with his. Both of mine owned tang mounted (more on the back of the action than tang), Lyman peep sights. I'm thinking it was the new fangled gota have high speed firearm to own back in the day of levers and early bolt guns. Don't know if you reload but brass is plentiful for the 35 Rem and I'm thinking necking down would be a snap. The 35 Rem was the darling of the T/C Contender crowd for a long time as a silhouette gun. The old Hornady SST line had a spire point 180 grainer that was a sweet load in the Model 8 over some Re 7 and about 2100 fps.

[Bushcraft]

Interesting. Well, there you have it Scot. Just get the die and the 35 Rem brass on my reloading bench and you'll be able to shoot that ol' rifle to your heart's content.

[Bushcraft]

Neither my father or grandfather did much in the way of deer hunting. They preferred ducks and big-game hunting was just not their bag per se. I think I garnered most of my innoculation from an uncle, every hunting book and magazine I could get my hands on and from listening wide-eyed to the tall tales of hunting prowess all my friend's fathers seemed to possess, delivered second-hand of course.

Grandpa liked a Win 64 in .30-30 for a saddle gun and a heavily sporterized military something or other (mauser action) in .30-06, both setup up with peeps. I have and cherish both of 'em now.

Dad liked the simplicity and economy of his '94 .30-30, but, like I said, he was never much of a big-game hunter (punched a few cow tags) and gave it to my brother some time ago.

As for my uncle, he procured a J.C. Higgins Model 50 in .270 during his post-graduate years and used it for deer and elk in the lower 48 and very successfully on caribou and moose in Alaska. He passed that well traveled piece on to one of his sons, niether of which are hunters per se, some time ago and now totes a Winchester Featherweight in .30-06 into the backcountry. I'll have to try and horse-trade for it one of these days.

[elmbow]

Not to steal the thread Scot, but it looks like i was wrong on converting 35 rem to 30 rem. The 25, 30 and 32 rem were same size, 35 rem jumped up. It would be a pita to convert. That said, I'm guessing that 30 Remington is still fairly easy to come by. Try places like Grafs, Huntington, etc. Might cost a bit more but not outrageous. You should be shooting the model 8, they are well made, good steel, accurate, fun, and make a heck of a brush gun. I think it would be a hoot for you to take a rainforest blacktail or Rossevelt with that 30 Rem of yours.

[scothill]

Not to steal the thread Scot, but it looks like i was wrong on converting 35 rem to 30 rem. The 25, 30 and 32 rem were same size, 35 rem jumped up. It would be a pita to convert. That said, I'm guessing that 30 Remington is still fairly easy to come by. Try places like Grafs, Huntington, etc. Might cost a bit more but not outrageous. You should be shooting the model 8, they are well made, good steel, accurate, fun, and make a heck of a brush gun. I think it would be a hoot for you to take a rainforest blacktail or Rossevelt with that 30 Rem of yours.

I will have to look into that.

[CCH]

http://www.grafs.com/metallic/747

[Kmassaro]

Oh, BTW, my mother's deer rifle was a sporterized 303 British SMLE Mk-IV with a Weaver K-4.

Wish they hadn't sold it, it was a darn good rifle.

[Ralph]

I had one of those, Kevin, without the scope. For several years it was my only centerfire rifle and it was a good one.

[moosedog]

The only rifle I ever saw in my Dad's gun case was a Savage Model 99c (I think) in .243. He said he used it before I came along when hunting in northern Wisconsin. It's long since been sold. When I started hunting, we lived in Dane county (near Madison) and could only hunt with shotguns. He used a Remington 1100 with a smooth bore slug barrel. He still likes to tell me how many big bucks he missed with it. It's a pretty 1100 and he still has it. Someday, I'll be able to let both of my boys hunt with it. It will be used on fowl, though, not deer. I've already begun secretly planning what rifle they'll get to use. He is retired to some nice property in central Wisconsin now that we (mostly me these days) hunt. I helped him buy a nice Browning A-Bolt in .30-06. some years ago and it's scoped with a Vari-X III. He still misses but not as often.

[Uncle Jake]

My dad's rifle was a sporterized 03A3 in .30-06, thumbhole stock, Weaver K4 scope.
My nephew has the rifle, but I have the scope. Killed a lot of deer in it's day, antelope too, some elk, and at least one mtn. goat.

[KurtB]

7.65 Argentine Mauser for most of his deer. Converted him to a Remington 30-06 and a Winchester 270 in later years. That Remington was an awfully nice older walnut stocked adl that I got for him in Indiana back in 1990 or so. The old mauser is sporterized and still sitting in the safe. The Norma ammo for it is quite high now though.

[GlennGTR]

My dad used a Parker Hale 30-06 that he bought at the PX after getting back from Vietnam. I remember the first time I shot it. They had these real advanced hard plastic (polymer) checkered but plates on them that did little for recoil. The stock was a blonde colored wood and it had a rose wood tip. He had one of the early Leupolds and used it for everything in the coastal range of Oregon. He is still around and uses that rifle to this day.

[SmokeJumper]

My Dad started out with a Winchester model 94 in .30-30 with open sights. That's probably why I started with a .30-30, but I was lucky, he bought me a Marlin and mounted a 4x scope on it for my first deer rifle. He then moved up to a Remington 700BDL in 7mm. Rem. Mag. I'll always remember that first 7 mag. from early trips to the range before deer season opened each year.
Good idea on this thread- some good reads!

[The Crow]

My father was not a big hunter. He mostly stuck with rabbits behind my grandfather's beagles. My grandfather on the other hand was an avid hunter and like Timberline was a Remington fan, although his was a .30 Remington. My cousin still has that rifle. I inherited my grandfathers Model 25 in 25-20, he also owned a Winchester Model 12, a Remington Pumpmaster.22 and a Winchester pump .22 although I don't remember the model number. He stuck with the pumps exclusively. I used that 25-20 all this past summer thinning out the groundhog population in PA. Despite the fact that the gun was last produced in 1939 and it has to have a 10#+ trigger pull, it was amazingly accurate and accounted for many many groundhogs this past summer. This is the person who fanned my love of the hunt. There was always a Sports Afield or Field and Stream on the coffee table, and plenty of tin cans and claybirds to eradicate off the property.

[one-eyed Bob]

My father-in-law was my first hunting partner (post BB gun) and always used a .28 guage Remington auto with barrel that cycled on each shot. It came with a cutts compensator on the end of a slim barrel. He died at age 91 two days ago and I will now carry it fondly. Thank you for this thread.