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

[Deleted member 16014]

Ruger M77 MKII, 7mm Rem Mag. I do not have it. I do have the scope that was on it on my granddad's .17 HMR, a Vari-x II.
My first kill was with my brother's rifle which was the same. He still has it and hunts with it.

 

[MTLabrador]

Winchester Model 70 featherweight .22-250. Still have it. I’ll have to shoot another deer with it one of these days.

 

[buffybr]

I killed my first deer, a spike Muley, back in 1965 hunting in NW Colorado with one of my college roommates and using a Winchester Model 94 .32 Spl that I borrowed from him.

I went back with him the next year carrying a soprterized .30-40 Krag rifle that I borrowed from my Uncle. I shot my first elk, a 5x5 bull, on that trip.

The next summer I ordered a Herter's Model U-9 .30-06 barreled action and a semi-inleted stock from them. I got it all finished and hand checkered by deer season that fall, and shot my first 4x4 muley buck with it.

I got drafted into the Army the next spring and didn't have a chance to use that rifle until the fall of '71 when I shot another 5x5 bull elk with it. I continued to shoot a deer and elk with it every fall through 1977. Then in 1978 I had it re-chambered to .30 Gibbs and it became my primary elk rifle until 2004 when a fireforming overload bulged the chamber and broke the etractor.

I had a local gunsmith re-chamber the bulged chamber, but he couldn't completely fix the extractor so that rifle has been retired to the back of my safe, where it still sits today.

 

[nastynate]

I come from a non-hunting family and my first deer hunt was with a college friends family deer camp. I borrowed his fathers (and my deer hunting mentor's) Remington 760 30-06 and got my first few deer with it, before I purchased my own rifle. He has passed, and if that family ever chooses to sell those guns I'll buy it but for now it stays in their family where it belongs.

My first wild game harvest was a ruffed grouse with Grandpa's Winchester Model 12 16 gauge (grandpa wasn't a big hunter, but still owned a shotgun). It was a full choke, which is not my preference for my style of hunting. I recently opened it up to IC and have been loving carrying that gun the last three seasons. It is a sweet, light, quick pointing pump gun. Love it.

 

[rjthehunter]

338 win mag. Grandpa gave it to me. He had it custom built back in '87 (if I remember right) and used it for countless big game animals around the world... From a leopard in Africa, to a polar bear near the north pole, to a Marco polo sheep in Tajikistan. If only this gun could tell some stories...

I use it for almost all of my big game rifle hunts. The rifle is still a tack driver and I was just working up a new load this last weekend with 230gr eldx bullets and H4350. Put a new Athlon ares 2.5-15x50 FFP on it this past winter and hold crap is this ever a nice scope...

 

[Muleyhunter78]

First rifle was an Interarms Mark X with Mannlicher stock in .270 Win topped with a leupold 2-7x20. Awesome tight woods gun. Will be taking it out this year for sure! Still a tack driver.

 

[275Rigby]

Ruger M77 7x57 with tang safety, open sights and Leupold 4X. My Dad jeweled the bolt and top of follower for fun.
Used to reload 145gr Speer factory 2nds that my Dad got from Lolo Sporting Goods in Lewiston, ID back in the day.
Have killed a bunch of deer, a few elk and a bear with it. My oldest son used it on a couple of doe antelope.
A favorite for sure.

 

[Nicoli7153]

Great to hear all of the history and memories on this thread. Very cool!

 

[std7mag]

Being from a non hunting family, I purchased mine not too long after I got out of highschool.
Savage 110 in 30-30.
Started off shooting Federal blue box.
Then one of the guys I worked with offered to do some handloads for my.
He was surprised when I asked for a spitzer bullet.
Told him it was a bolt action.
He actually made me show him my rifle before he would load for me.

I later traded it for a Savage 110 in 30-06 that had trigger work and a muzzle brake.
Alas, that was one of several firearms stolen from me.

 

[MS 9x56]

Still got it. I still hunt with it.308 savage 99.

 

[Nick87]

The gun is ridiculously accurate. I can't believe they stopped making them.

I love those a-bolts. I've got three and counting.

 

[Green n' White Troll]

I killed my first deer, a spike Muley, back in 1965 hunting in NW Colorado with one of my college roommates and using a Winchester Model 94 .32 Spl that I borrowed from him.

I went back with him the next year carrying a soprterized .30-40 Krag rifle that I borrowed from my Uncle. I shot my first elk, a 5x5 bull, on that trip.

The next summer I ordered a Herter's Model U-9 .30-06 barreled action and a semi-inleted stock from them. I got it all finished and hand checkered by deer season that fall, and shot my first 4x4 muley buck with it.

I got drafted into the Army the next spring and didn't have a chance to use that rifle until the fall of '71 when I shot another 5x5 bull elk with it. I continued to shoot a deer and elk with it every fall through 1977. Then in 1978 I had it re-chambered to .30 Gibbs and it became my primary elk rifle until 2004 when a fireforming overload bulged the chamber and broke the etractor.

I had a local gunsmith re-chamber the bulged chamber, but he couldn't completely fix the extractor so that rifle has been retired to the back of my safe, where it still sits today.

This rifle also holds a special memory for me. Shot my first deer (button buck) in 1978 at the age of 14. Still have that Winchester 32 spl. Weaver scope. Have not shot another animal since with this gun.

 

[rideold]

Remy 700 BDL 30-06. Only center-fire I've ever owned and still use it. Sounds great but I didn't start hunting until 2015 so it's not that long really

 

[howl]

Marlin 336CS. My brother was jealous because it was brand new and we never got anything new. I let him borrow it a few times. He shot his biggest buck with it and my nephew got his first deer. Happens to be a consistent 1" shooter with handloads. I got my first and killed all my deer with it into my teens. I switched to other guns, but I hardly ever kill anything I couldn't with the old gun.

Here's my boy with his first public land deer.

 

[sneakypete]

Winchester Model 70 7mm. Yes I still have.

 

[BoulderBulls]

Rem 700 .243
Still have it

 

[Dougfirtree]

I hunted with a shotgun and bow for years before ever owning a centerfire rifle. But when I got one, it was a 1969 Remington 700 ADL in .30-06. It did its job just fine and I no longer own it, but I sold it to a friend, so I still see it about every other year when we hunt together.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Mine was a rem 700 I’m .270wsm… I got rid of it, actually wish I still had it but probably would have rebarreled it to something else, new stock, barrel, ect

 

[fulldraw]

Remington model 700 BDL, bought it in 1973 and still have it in the safe.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Some cool stories here. Mine was just a wal-mart m700 ADL .270 with a nikon prostaff 3-9. Still have it but dont know why.