USA: Deer & Double Rifles

[Scrumbag]

Very nice!!!

 

[VertigoBE]

That’s just classy! Very well written too

 

[Scrumbag]

I must admit I'm not sure why people really insist on putting rimless cartridges in doubles / break actions, rimmed cases just work better.

Also in rimmed cases you can do an awful lot:

.22 Centre Fire - 5.6x57 Rimmed gives you 220 Swift eating performance (Slightly annoying larger bullet though), 22 Hornet is a lovely little round and there are probably some others I am forgetting
6.5x57R - Lovely deer and plainsgame (Just a bit flatter shooting than 7x57R parent). If you wanted a 6.5x55 / 6.5 Creedmoor type performance from a bolt action, this is it.
7x57R - Great chambering. If you want a break action that shoots like a .308W, this is it
7x65R - Want a 270W / 280 Rem / .30-06 (With lighter bullets) then this is the one you want
8x57R - Want a break action that shoots like a 308W but handles ~200gr bullets well? This guy
9.3x57R - Like 358W but want a break action? Done.
9.3x72R - Want a 9.3x62 AKA 35 Whelan that shoots heavy bullets - this dude.

Bar 9.3x57R, all are available from manufacturers such as S&B, Prvi PPU, Norma, RWS and others.

Doesn't matter if you're using single shot, SxS or O/U the rimmed chamberings work better

Scrummy

 

[Rubberhead]

I must admit I'm not sure why people really insist on putting rimless cartridges in doubles / break actions, rimmed cases just work better.


Scrummy

You are completely right. The most worrisome and delicate parts on the gun are the extractors/ejectors but as of now, they're working perfectly. They lift every unfired cartridge up for me to grap and sling the fired cases well over my shoulder with a pleasing and satisfying metallic "ping".

 

[Scrumbag]

You are completely right. The most worrisome and delicate parts on the gun are the extractors/ejectors but as of now, they're working perfectly. They lift every unfired cartridge up for me to grap and sling the fired cases well over my shoulder with a pleasing and satisfying metallic "ping".

If you tap a cartridge on the side of your action to make the ping, the German wild boar will think you're empty and come out, then you get 'em!

(Parody of the Garand "Ping" before I'm told of...)

 

[Rubberhead]

If you tap a cartridge on the side of your action to make the ping, the German wild boar will think you're empty and come out, then you get 'em!

(Parody of the Garand "Ping" before I'm told of...)

It's like ducks only decoying when I try to take a leak.

 

[Scrumbag]

It's like ducks only decoying when I try to take a leak.

I swear they know... it's uncanardly...

 

[Franco]

Nice, I love to hear about double rifles. I have to admit - I prefer the side by sides.

As a small child I had an old Daisy double barrelled BB gun - it actually belonged to my uncle. It gave me quite an advantage in our BB gun "wars". Paired with my green walnut slingshot - powered by an old inner tube - I could easily hold off a charge from my tree fort.

Football helmet, goggles, shirts and pants stuffed with magazines and newspaper - it was game on.

Kids today have no idea what they're missing.

When I got a bit older my dad outfitted me with an old Iver Johnson single shot, break action 20 gauge and introduced me to pheasants, dove, and quail.

Longing for a double, I located an LC Smith amongst my dad's collection and asked if I could have it. His response was, "If you can handle it - you can shoot it". I shot that LC until he suggested I switch to one of his Berettas. I still shoot Beretta doubles.

There was a Heym 375H&H double for sale awhile back, based on what I'm reading, perhaps I should consider it or maybe something even smaller - sounds like fun.

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

I killed two deer last week with the double. One with a Nosler Ballistic-tip from the Over barrel, one with a Accubond from the Under barrel...

This is the "over" deer...

View attachment 572406

I did not know this rifle existed and I'm smitten. Thanks for that....

 

[IvW]

Blaser BBF97 Bergstutzen could be perfect....O/U accurate safe diiferent.....

 

[Scrumbag]

I do regret not bidding on a Tikka a few months ago. 20g barrel set and a 7x65r barrel set. Would have been sweet

 

[Rubberhead]

I did not know this rifle existed and I'm smitten. Thanks for that....

Thanks for noticing. It's a Belgian Browning made in 1981. It was somebody's safe queen until I got it. When the FFL that received it first opened the box, he asked if it was metric? Nope, I told him, 30-06.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Kill a deer," I said, "hopefully a lot of deer..."

 

[degoins]

Our season runs through January 1st and I’ve got two bucks in the freezer so I’m in the “looking for a giant” phase of my deer season.

Dang those "meat deer" you killed are giants in my book!!!!

 

[Rubberhead]

After, presumably, being locked in a safe for 39 years, I can only imagine that this gun absolutely loves breathing the free air...I've still got a few tags left in my pocket...

 

[Rare Breed]

I have hunted deer since I was 8 years old. I stopped about 7 years ago due to my focus on africa and family. I would not hesitate though if I still hunted them to use my DRs on deer on my farm from just the sheer enjoyment!!! Well done with your own DR on some great deer!!!

 

[AZDAVE]

Nice to see a double out hunting deer! Congratulation on some fine hunts.

On the what is or isn't a double rifle question I am simple if it has two barrels and shoots a rifle cartridge it is a double rifle.

 

[Rubberhead]

So, this young deer represents a few important milestones. This is going to sound like an apology but, trust me, it isn't - it's a young deer, probably 2½ years old. I've passed up a few older bucks earlier in the year. I think I've passed this particular buck up at least once but probably twice. So what "milestones" am I talking about?

The first one is that it's a rack buck in late December. To some that might not sound like much but once the "rut" is over and the bucks get back to together in bachelor groups, they get very hard to find. My lease doesn't have row crops, food plots, corn piles or deer "feeders" so, by choice, I hunt whitetail using only their own habits. I won't dwell on the difficulty of getting a shot at a late December buck in SC, but it is a gap in my deer hunting tool bag that I've decided to try to fill.

I didn't do much to kill this deer. I just recognized from talking with other deer hunters and from my own trial cameras that bucks were getting back together. I chose a stand that sucks so bad during the rut that it's earned the nickname, the deerless tripod. But it hit me that I always get pictures of bucks there in July and August, before the all-male groups break up, so I decided to sit there and did see a bachelor group of at least 5 bucks. The second milestone is that I finally worked up the nerve to try a neck shot with a double rifle.

I didn't buy this rifle with any hope that it would ever be a tack-driver. But it's turned out to be reliably accurate from both barrels. I've even told my Dad that it doesn't just shoot where I'm aiming, it shoots where I'm thinking. I've been wanting to try a neck shot but conditions up until this buck have always be prescriptive for a heart shot. This bachelor group was staying in the center of a 4-year-old clear cut and it was getting dark. Even with a good shot, I had a long, rugged drag out ahead of me, I didn't want to complicate it any further by having to look for a heart-shot deer that's somehow buried himself in this standing tangle, and in the dark so I made up my mind to take a neck shot.

This buck briefly hooked antlers with what I think was an older buck but the older buck's left antler was broken right at the G2. When they split-up, my buck was left standing looking straight in my direction at about 100 yards. The only ethical shot was a neck shot. I lined up about 4" below his throat patch and let go. Bang, flop. I hit him dead center in the neck leaving a nice exit wound on the back side. The deer he was fighting jumped back but didn't spook. The drag out was as bad as I figured it would be.

 

[IvW]

I must admit I'm not sure why people really insist on putting rimless cartridges in doubles / break actions, rimmed cases just work better.

Also in rimmed cases you can do an awful lot:

.22 Centre Fire - 5.6x57 Rimmed gives you 220 Swift eating performance (Slightly annoying larger bullet though), 22 Hornet is a lovely little round and there are probably some others I am forgetting
6.5x57R - Lovely deer and plainsgame (Just a bit flatter shooting than 7x57R parent). If you wanted a 6.5x55 / 6.5 Creedmoor type performance from a bolt action, this is it.
7x57R - Great chambering. If you want a break action that shoots like a .308W, this is it
7x65R - Want a 270W / 280 Rem / .30-06 (With lighter bullets) then this is the one you want
8x57R - Want a break action that shoots like a 308W but handles ~200gr bullets well? This guy
9.3x57R - Like 358W but want a break action? Done.
9.3x72R - Want a 9.3x62 AKA 35 Whelan that shoots heavy bullets - this dude.

Bar 9.3x57R, all are available from manufacturers such as S&B, Prvi PPU, Norma, RWS and others.

Doesn't matter if you're using single shot, SxS or O/U the rimmed chamberings work better

Scrummy

6.5x57R is not a bolt action caliber....

9.3x72R is not compareable to a 9.3x62mm or a 35 Whelen it can also not handle heavy for caliber bullets.....

 

[Scrumbag]

6.5x57R is not a bolt action caliber....

9.3x72R is not compareable to a 9.3x62mm or a 35 Whelen it can also not handle heavy for caliber bullets.....

Didn’t say 6.5x57r was.

You’re right, should have said 9.3x74r

 

[Manwe]

The Savage 1899 is among best repeating rifles ever made. With fully loaded rotary magazine it balances very well. I have 1949 vintage EG .300 and it's a gem. Even today it is amazingly modern looking rifle. Federal Cartridge makes excellent 180gr spitzer SP in .300, so be sure to check them out.