The "Perfect" Lightweight Stalking Rifle

[TI Hunter]

As the dark winter evenings draw in and whisky fuelled fire side chats drift towards "what would be your ideal stalking gun"...….I have IMHO found what I consider to be my perfect "Go To" stalking rifle!

The brief was.....Must be light enough to haul up and down the Scottish hill all day, short enough to scramble through Dorset heathland gorse and New Forest birch thickets. Must be able to shoot effectively out to 400m, must be able to launch a 120-160 grain bullet at reasonable speeds to knock down all of the UK species and a cheeky pig or two if needed. Must look sexy (Obviously!) and mustn't cost my other arm and leg ( the other two being spend on an R8)

So a trip to The Dasherman...….. a second hand shot-out T3, a 20" Bartlein barrel, an Atec Hertz can, a lightweight hunter PSE stock from Edi, a set of Talley rings, a spray of graphite black cerakote, a twirl of a router along the bolt, a Swaro 5-30 x 50 on top, and VIOLA !!!

Weighing in at a tad over 7.5lbs fully loaded...…... my 7mm-08 "Hill & Heathland" machine!

Christened with a Dorset muntjac, followed by a roe buck, fallow buck, sika stag and dragged up to a wet Scotland for a red hind.

Pushing a 140gr Interbond at 2800fps it drops everything its hit so far!

A HUGE thanks to Neil for making it happen....Its all I could have dreamed off and exactly what we set out to achieve!

Happy Bunny !!!
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Very nice indeed

 

[Uncle f]

If it's genuinely within your ability then it's perfectly ethical and of course it's deer stalking.
If you don't like it, or just can't do it, don't give others a hard time about it.

No hard time BUT it’s not stalking (clues in the name) deer shooting maybe but certainly not stalking

 

[tarponhead]

Used 30/30 leverguns for years. Great for woodlands.
View attachment 144606
The Winchester 94 comes up like a shotgun.

Great looking outfit and nice result. I can generally get under 100yds into deer in most places especially the woods - what kind of accuracy can you get from a lever-actioned rifle? I'm assuming minute of deer and better than that with hand loads. How close is 30-30 or 44 Mag to deer-legal in the UK? I'll have to look that up.

 

[tarponhead]

How many guides would let a client with a lever-action (or just iron sights if it comes to that) stalk with them? I'm thinking about the fact of no mod....

 

[Smellydog]

Great looking outfit and nice result. I can generally get under 100yds into deer in most places especially the woods - what kind of accuracy can you get from a lever-actioned rifle? I'm assuming minute of deer and better than that with hand loads. How close is 30-30 or 44 Mag to deer-legal in the UK? I'll have to look that up.

I have had one 94 shoot most reloads into 1.5"@100.
Another I had to work at it.
The Marlin 336 was 2" all day long.
Most my deer were well under 100.
I did take a roe doe at 140 yards with the Marlin once.
In the earlier photo she was shot first a 60 off hand, then she ran in a big loop and stopped at 80. The second round put her down and landed 2" away from the first.
6x scope.
It's like shooting a shotgun really.
Never had a 44m but would expect excellent results just the same.

The red stag was shot at 15yards.

 

[Smellydog]

How many guides would let a client with a lever-action (or just iron sights if it comes to that) stalk with them? I'm thinking about the fact of no mod....

Go on your own then, I think you should still be wearing ear protection even with a mod, no?
I know it's not guides but I often went stalking with friends. One with a 7mm rem mag, one with a 270 and one with a 243.
They did no better than me.

 

[Southern]

Browning BLR Lightweight in 308, 7mm-08, or 243.

 

[6pt-sika]

I wouldn't say it's the perfect rifle by any stretch of the imagination , but I picked up a Mannlicher Schoenauer Model 1903 Carbine in 6.5x54 MS a week or two ago and last Saturday knocked over a button buck with the PPU factory 156 grain load . I've since worked up loads for the Hornady 123 SST and Nosler 120 BT that both have the same POI at 50 and 100 yards and they'll be in the rifle for in the morning an SST for the first shot and BT's for anything after .


Gun came with an old Lyman PermaCenter 4x scope and I swapped it out for an equally old Redfield Traditional 2-7 .

The little button I plunked last Saturday at 51 yards boom flop .

 

[Southern]

Those old M-S are neat rifles. I had one, just like that, in 6.5x54mm, with a Zeiss 4x scope. I sold it to a fried for his "vintage safari", with two larger bore English rifles he had bought cheaply and restored.

I still have a the M-S Express Rifle of that vintage in .30-06, but my full stock carbine is a much louder Model M .270 Winchester. Loaded down mildly, it still barks more than the old 6.5x54.

I hope you get to take yours out every day before the deer season ends.

 

[deeangeo]

Absolutely delighted to hear of this MSch stutzen in use.
Such a lovely little stutzen and renowned cartridge. A superb really slick action and beautifully engineered rotary magazine.
Truly a gem to own ... and some pillock fitted a blasted cheapo sidemount scope system on it.
It should have had proper claw & ring mounts fitted, with the correct tailored rear mount base & ring.
Shame really.

 

[booradley]

I don’t stalk much but do a lot of lurking. What would be a good lurking rifle?

 

[Heym SR20]

Those MS are really lovely little rifles, beautifully made and will keep working for another hundred years. Their rotary magazine is thing of wonder. Now I cant see our grandchildren saying the same about the Blaser R8 on 93

 

[Southern]

Absolutely delighted to hear of this MSch stutzen in use.
Such a lovely little stutzen and renowned cartridge. A superb really slick action and beautifully engineered rotary magazine.
Truly a gem to own ... and some pillock fitted a blasted cheapo sidemount scope system on it.
It should have had proper claw & ring mounts fitted, with the correct tailored rear mount base & ring.
Shame really.

Because of the split bridge on the old Mannlicher rifles, the claw mounts wouldn't work, so there were various side and rear cantilever mounts developed.

My rifle came with a factory mount, by which the scope could be removed and replaced easily.

My .30-06 has a different factory mount, also quick and easy.

The Griffin & Howe or the Paul Jaeger quick release side mounts were often fitted, as they were a top choice on many Mauser and 1903 Springfield action custom rifles of the same era as this lithe little Mannlicher grabbed by Mr 6ptsitka.

 

[Hornet 6]

If it's genuinely within your ability then it's perfectly ethical and of course it's deer stalking.
If you don't like it, or just can't do it, don't give others a hard time about it.

Perhaps it is not not I that is giving anyone a hard time ?
Perhaps its you who has a problem for some reason ?
Anyway, its a forum, everyone has differing opinions on what is right or wrong, its called having differing opinions.
If yours is different to mine thats ok in my book, its just you who is having a hard time accepting the difference.

Neil.

 

[Southern]

A long shot may be excusable in a few circumstances, but seldom necessary, and once the range becomes further than 300 yards, fewer hunters are capable of making the shots

Anyway, a STALKING rifle, to me, means well inside 200 yards, where you are likely to have to shoot fairly quickly.

 

[ejg]

A long shot may be excusable in a few circumstances, but seldom necessary, and once the range becomes further than 300 yards, fewer hunters are capable of making the shots

Anyway, a STALKING rifle, to me, means well inside 200 yards, where you are likely to have to shoot fairly quickly.

Depends on.... if one needs to reduce numbers of deer due to farmers and or forestry companies screaming or plantations that have deer trapped etc. Pussy footed stalkers who just mess around are a waste of time. Hunters who are capable of taking deer from close range up to say 400m are much much more efficient than the 150yd stalker. In plantations for example a farmer must pay the costs of fencing / plantation etc. Grant payments are only met if no deer are in the area. Game rangers check. The farmer wants a proper hunter. My last two weeks were... overlooking a valley dropping 4 deer in 10 min closest was 350m which was a stag with a cracked skull and horn sideways. Last Sunday same rifle a calf at 25yds off-hand then today another calf in a plantation 100yd.
Just because some are able to shoot deer further out does not mean they can't shoot one close. Of course the terrain plays a big role to but even so there are rifles that cover all bases.
edi

 

[Southern]

I agree, ejg.

I know grain farmers adjoining national parks and military bases which are largely wildlife sanctuaries.

They get predation permits, so they can shoot a deer a day. Raised shooting houses and .270 Winchesters covering 400 yards rule the day. But it's not stalking.

 

[Smellydog]

I don't get this. This thread is a joke.
The perfect stalking rifle is a rifle that is light and does not burden the STALKER any more than is absolutely neccersary.
So that rules out, bipods, heavy barrels and stocks befitting to a bench/target rifle.

The idea SLAUGHTERING rifle be it deer or what ever can be but not exclusively the things above.
Considering the title of this thread a SLAUGHTERING rifle need not be discussed but be as it may that the OP has actually displayed a rifle that displays the attributes of a SLAUGHTERING rifle maybe he didn't truly in good faith realize what he was talking about.
Fortunately some have displayed good examples of STALKING rifles but I guess some can not understand lesser ones.

Sure sure, some have a bloody job to do but what about the wee feller that just wants to pitch his skills against a smart animal, how is he any less?
You know I use to know a bloke that use to brag how far he could shoot his 7mm. Heavy long barrel, a huge can on the end, heavy stock. It was longer than my longest muzzleloader but it sure didn't shoulder like a muzzleloader! Same feller use to brag he ate what he shot and never bought any meat!
We use to chuckle how he may as well become vegetarian then!
He could never deploy that bloody rifle in time when he saw a deer. We though......

It was his choice and that's all that mattered and we respected his choice. Oh by the way, last I heard he gave that rifle up and got a 6mm lighter rig setup. Did much better

 

[ejg]

Southern,
Stalking is certainly not an art to satisfy an ego... or at least shouldn't be. One can play other games to show off how good one is. Stalking is in my book an art/know-how/talent or whatever you want to call it to slay animals that can't be bagged with other easier methods. Stalking is only a tool used to hunt animals. Nobody has set a rule at what distance we talk about stalking or how close we have to get before firing.
edi

 

[alberta boy]

I hunt using both above methods , though I understand how some feel about either extreme . One old friend of mine uses a Shiloh Sharps to take game in Black Timber ( which covers a large part of the province ) every year . He is probably the best woodland stalker I know , his skill set is perfectly matched to his environment and the game he hunts . Another friend , Perry , who was pictured here holding a 200 lb Cougar Tom a while back , regularly shoots on his property out to roughly 700 yards . He also takes game out to about 500 , that's what he enjoys and he's very good at it . Both of them are far better than I am at their chosen method , I have a high amount of respect for both . They're just different ways to accomplish the same thing , I'm a little confused as to why this is a contentious issue actually . When it comes to hunting , do whatever blows your hair back and I'm all for it .

AB