Do I Need A Thousand Dollar Deer Rifle
It is that time of year, deer season and the endless opinion pieces by the various outdoors rags about which rifle you have to buy to kill a big buck. There are very seldom any mention of what I call working man’s guns. Articles will have you believe that you need this years new old model rifle, with this year’s new camo, in the newest caliber that replicates performance of ten other calibers. I will be the first to admit falling victim to this in the past. I will also admit to killing the majority of my deer with more pedestrian guns than magazine cover gucci guns. Coming from a shotgun state originally, I have killed the majority of my trophy bucks with a Remington 870 police trade in with rifle sights. I have also killed big bucks with Benelli, Beretta, and Browning shotguns.
Now I hunt in a rifle state and have run the gamut from home built ARs in 350 Legend to Browning BARs in 300 Winchester Magnum. This year I decided to go back to my roots. I grabbed up a new old stock Gen1 Ruger American Ranch in 7.62×39. Since I shoot most of my deer under 75 yards, the X39 will be quite ethical for clean kills. The rifle sports a 16 inch medium weight barrel, synthetic stock, threaded barrel, one piece base, 5 round magazine, and adjustable trigger. A local big box store outdoors retailer had one Gen1 left. I specifically bought it because it still used the old Mini 30 magazines and saved me 50 dollars. I put a $150.00 Firefield 1×6 illuminated scope on it. I had an old set of unused rings to mount it with. All in, I have $650.00 invested. I then bought once fired brass, 123gr interlock projectiles, and loaded up 200 rounds. With my Harvester 30 suppressor attached, the barrel length comes in at 23 inches. To say this thing is fun to shoot is an understatement.
The other Ruger is a Ruger American Predator in 308 Winchester. Same basic rifle but with a 20 inch medium weight barrel. This particular rifle is a Lipseys special, which is why the stock is tan vs the normal predator green. Brand new, out the door, it was $550.00 plus tax. I found an old school Tasco World Class 3x9x40 and utilized another set of spare rings. Scope cost was $35.00 and being honest, back in the day the World Class was fairly popular and reliable if used within it’s design parameters. A little LC once fired brass and some oddball 150gr Remington Accu Tips I had laying around and it is ready for deer season also. Total rifle cost is sub $600.00.
Stay tuned for 2024 budget deer season results.
Kraken
www.John1911.com
“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”
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