Actually I got a winter restoration project—a Savage Model 24 in .22LR/.410 with good bores and solid wood but a very rough exterior. As far as I’m concerned, the Model 24 in this configuration is the perfect squirrel gun.
By the way, did you know that squirrel hunting makes excellent practice for hunting whitetail deer, the species about which this blog is solely dedicated?
As I was saying, it’s a fantastic squirrel gun, particularly for small woodlots close to populated areas, because you can use the .22 when your backdrop will stop a bullet and the .410 when it won’t. Plus it’s just a damned cool gun that I’ve always wanted to own.
And now, with more than 800 votes cast in the final matchup, it is all over—and it wasn’t even that close. While I admit I was rooting for the 94, my sentimental choice, I’m not surprised the 336 came out on top. I am mildly shocked, however, that it trounced the venerable 94, which got only about 40 percent of the vote.
by Dave Hurteau So this is it—the final game, for all the marbles. And although I’m mildly shocked that the 7600 did not give the 336 a better run (maybe it’s a Northeastern thing), I don’t think any of us can be very surprised that it has come down to the all-time king of deer rifles vs. the people’s favorite 336.
Well things are getting interesting now, aren’t they? Not to mention a little upsetting as one of the stars in my cabinet, the venerable 99, goes down in flames. (Oh well, I’ve got two more still in the running.) Meanwhile, who’d have guessed that a bolt—even one so popular as the Model Seven—would get this deep into the tourney? But it has, and we now have our final four matchups.
First is the aforementioned Seven vs. the most popular deer rifle ever made. I think we can at least pencil that one in. But second is a far more interesting matchup: the 336 vs. the 7600. A few years back, I traded a 760 in .35 Rem. for a 336 in .35 Rem.—and am still not sure who got the better gun in the deal. I know this: At the Adirondack camps I where I’ve hunted, there are more of the two-seed 7600 than the one-seed 336.
On the radio this morning and it’s all UConn vs. Butler. But who can be bothered with that when the all-time deer-killing king is about to go head-to-head with perhaps the best all-around whitetail rifle ever made, in the 94 vs. 99 matchup. And if it’s a shootout you’re after, we’ve got the North Woods’ ubiquitous pump vs. its autoloading brother.
With Division II play wrapped up, including an not-very-surprising upset pulled off by the popular Woodsmaster, we arrive the our Elite Eight. So, as usual, check out the bracket (you can click here to print out a larger copy if you want to fill it out). Then vote for your preferred brush rifle in each matchup below. And in a few days, we will have our Final Four.
With nearly 800 votes cast, I have no choice but to call the winners for the first round of Division 1 matchups, and I have to tell you I’m sorely disappointed. This round should have been rife with upsets. What is this persistent fascination with the utterly outdated Model 94, a barrel-light pipsqueak chambered in cowboy-action rounds unsuited for deer by today’s standards? By the way, the Savage 99, always touted as a great brush gun, is in truth a thick-wristed, long-barreled slow-cycler that’s too clunky to the shoulder for thick-woods hunting, although I’ll admit those are mute points when you can’t find ammo for most of the chamberings. And I suppose you’ll go chalk with the 336 in Division II as well. Am I right? That overweight second cousin to the obsolete 94....
Okay enough of that. Check the date. Seriously, I own one of each. So the perfectly reasonable winners are the Winchester Model 94, Savage 99, Remington Model Seven (in upset fashion), and Marlin Model 308MXLR.
With the NCAA college basketball Final Four round now less than a week away, the time has come to tip-off our own March Madness, beginning with brush-rifle braketology. As your surely know, one subgroup into which deer rifles are commonly separated is the brush rifle—typically a light, quick-pointing gun that facilitate quick follow-up shots and is chambered for a short- to medium-range round sporting a fairly heavy bullet.
So we start with 16 contenders for the title of Best Whitetail Brush Rifle, which have been chosen, split into two divisions, and seeded by SHOT Business contributing editor Christopher Cogley, whom I chose to help with this, like year, so that I would have someone to throw under the bus if it comes to that. Cogley’s seeded selections (which I encourage you to take issue with) are as follows:
Last year for the July 2009 issue, I edited Dave Petzal’s “No B.S. Accuracy” field manual (not that Dave needs much in the way of editing). He wrote: “It’s common advice that you should squeeze the trigger so that you’re surprised when the rifle goes off. This assumes you can hold the rifle perfectly still. I can’t do that in the field. I wobble and weave—not much, but enough. Instead, I pick the precise instant when the crosshairs are where they should be and then pull that trigger smartly.”
Dave actually gave me this advice almost 15 years ago, and since then I’ve done just as he describes. In the field, hunting deer, I pull the trigger. I don’t squeeze it. I try to pull it straight back with minimal extraneous movement—but it is not a surprise when the gun goes off.
The polls are closed. There are no hanging chads (WA Mnthunter). And we have a winner. You can still argue the point at deer camp if you want, but on this site the old .270 vs .30-06 debate is over. The longstanding question is answered, once and for all. And the .30-06 is our National Whitetail Cartridge Champion.
With a final score of 57 percent to 42 percent,* it wasn’t even all that close. It started out tight, but as the ’06 fans began making their points—better versatility, longer history, more bullet options—the old military vet started pulling away. By the time someone finally got around to the most salient point: “Aught-6. Just because I like to say the word “Aught” (Papa B.), you knew it was over. How you going to argue with that?
After four rounds of play and some 3,700 votes from you, we have our final matchup. Are you sitting down? ’Cause you’re not going to believe it….
It’s .270 vs .30-06. Shocker, right?
Okay, maybe not. But I’ll admit to being a little surprised at the absolute thumping these rounds put on the venerable .308 and the all-the-rage .270 WSM, respectively. It speaks to the enormous popularity of our finalists—and cements the fact that the .270 and .30-06 are the Titans in the category. The real heavy hitters. And now they go head to head.