bearcat

The 30-06 is my favorite all-around caliber. The 7mm Remington Magnum is a close second. If hunting in more open terrain the 7mm Rem. Mag. would be number one. I also like my .300 RUM. If I could hunt all over the country and some in other countries, it would be my number one. I can't think of too many critters on this continent that a .300 RUM with a stout 180- 200 grain bullet couldn't reek serious havoc on.

I also shoot Remington 870's. I have the 870 express with a 28" barrel for dove hunting and clay shooting. I use an 870 Express Super Magnum with a 26" barrel for turkey hunting. I have killed a lot of turkeys with my 870 Express Super Magnum, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I had a Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag with a 24" barrel for turkey hunting, but I just didn't like it as well as the 870. It didn't fit me as well and it kicked alot harder than the 870 when using the same shells.

The Smith and Wesson M&P Compact and the Springfield XD Sub-Compact are also excellent choices. These can be had in 9mm, .40 cal., I am not real sure but maybe even .45acp. I have the full size versions of both of these pistols and they are both excellent quality.

I have heard and read a lot of great things about the Tikka T3, but I don't have any personal experience with one. But I do have about 23 years experience with the 7mm Remington Magnum. This is a great cartridge. It can do anything the .300 Win. Mag. can do but with less recoil. When this cartridge was created in 1962, it was designed to give the trajectory of a .270 Win. and have more punch than a 30-06. It easily accomplishes both of these tasks. You are one lucky man in my opinion.

I have two Leupold Vari-XII's, and a Rifleman. I have a Weaver Grand Slam, A Nikon Monarch, and a Burris Fullfield II. I really like all of them. The Weaver Grand Slam seems to be the clearest and the best in low light. It would be hard to pick a favorite. I have always liked Leupold for toughness and clarity, but the Weaver Grand Slam is hard to beat for the money.

The 30-06 is a great cartridge. I have hunted with a 30-06 for over 30 years now. It offers a very wide range of factory loads and can safely handle most any game in the world. It is not as flat shooting as some, but it is no slouch either. With same weight bullets, it only drops about 2 inches more at 300 yards and 5 inches more at 400 yards than the mighty .300 Win. Mag. With certain loads, it is right on the heels of the .300 Win Mag. These loads by Hornady(Superformance, Light Magnum) and Federal(High Energy) come within 50- 80 fps of the .300. All I can say is that you are one lucky man to recieve a free 30-06.

You are right. TC has introduced these calibers new for 2010. I wasn't aware that they had already started offering these calibers so soon. The new rifle in camo looks great.

You are right. TC has introduced these calibers new for 2010. I wasn't aware that they had already started offering these calibers so soon. The new rifle in camo looks great.

I also clean my barrels after each shooting session. I like to get all of the fouling out and put a thin film of gun oil in the bore. Some rifles do shoot better with a fouled barrel than a completely clean one. Some people fire a fouling shot before hunting season. A barrel that has had a couple of rounds fired through it has no oil in the bore. Therefore there is no corrosion protection. I would rather have the protection from the oil so my bore don't rust. Once a rifle bore has been broken in or seasoned, it will usually shoot better clean.

I have also been looking at these rifles. They seem to be great quality at a great price. The barrels are the same as on the more expensive Icon. The bolt is also made with the same fat body and three lugs as the Icon. I actually handled one of these rifles at a gun shop called Mace's in Mebane, North Carolina right before Christmas. I was impressed with the way that it felt in my hands and the bolt was real slick and smooth. The price was $450.00. If you want one in .308 Win. you may have to wait. Currently they are only offered in .270, 30-06, 7mm Rem. Mag. and .300 Win. Mag. TC has promised more calibers this year though. Tax time is right around the corner, I may just have to make my wife mad and buy one in 7mm Rem.Mag.

In North Carolina the class was $35.00. The class was in two parts. One Saturday was spent in a classroom learning all of the laws and about handguns, handgun safety, do's and don'ts etc. The next Saturday was spent at the Range qualifying. The next step was to go to the clerk of courts and get a copy of criminal history this cost $15.00. Then had to take certificate for class and criminal history records to Sheriffs office and fill out a big application for them. Then had to give the Sheriffs office $90.00 for the application. The grand total cost was $140.00 plus all of the gas for going to the class, shooting range, court house and sheriffs office. After all of this it took 54 days for them to check me out thouroghly and give me my permit. The permit is good for 5 years and renewal is another $90.00 to the Sheriffs office. The renewal has to be applied for at least 60 days before permit expires.

I would like to have another 7mm Remington Magnum. I was thinking about the new TC Venture. It is a very well made rifle at a very reasonable price. I have always been a Remington model 700 man, I own four of them. Since price is going to play a role in my next rifle purchase, a model 700 SPS or SPS Stainless would probably be the only model 700's that I could consider. I am leaning heavily toward the TC Venture because of Price/Quality. If I lean much more, I might just fall into one of these.

I would have to say my favorite deer rifle is also my oldest deer rifle. It is my Remington 700 BDL in 7mm Remington Magnum. I bought this rifle when I was 19 years old back in 1986. I have shot alot of deer with this old friend. Alot of these deer have been big bucks. I put a Leupold Vari-Xll 2x7x33 on it when it was new. After 23 years of service, the lense coatings have wore off. I have since put a Burris Fullfield ll 3x9x40 with ballistic plex reticle on my old friend. Leupold told me to send my old scope to them and they would either repair or replace it for me. I may have to reunite these two in the near future. By the way my second favorite is my Remington 700 BDL SS 30-06. These two rifles are the ones that I reach for more than any others.

I have 2 of them. My first one was the Remington 700 BDL SS. I took the synthetic stock off and put a Remington Laminated stock on it turning it into a 700 LSS. My second one is a model 700 Stainless Fluted Sendero. I love both of these rifles. They both shoot very well and have more power than anyone could ask for in a .30 caliber. When I bought the first one in 1999, ammo was only $26.99 dollars per box. Now, they are $55.99 dollars and up. This is a major setback to owning this cartridge. The only other setback that I know of is there are limited factory loads available. Remington and Federal are the only two major ammo makers that load for it. There are some smaller ammo makers like Double Tap, Nosler Custom, HSM, Corbon etc. that have a load or two. If you can withstand the extreme high cost of ammo for the .300 RUM, then this is one excellent cartridge. Forget about all of the barrel burning stories, at $50-$60 a box it would take about $3000.00 dollars to burn out a barrel assuming the barrel stays accurate for a thousand rounds. This is the most powerfull, flatest shooting Commercially loaded .30 caliber out there and it is very accurate, these are the reasons that I like mine so well. By the way Recoil is stiff but very tolerable.

CORN! Lots and lots of corn(where legal of course.)