What Was Your First Dedicated Predator Rifle

Originally Posted By: tawnoper1978 Ruger 77 in 6mm Rem. 3x9 Leupold vari-x 2. Still own it.

I bet that's a shooter. About 7 years ago my grandfather gave me a new in box 1978 tang safety M77 in 243 Win. Such a nice rifle, I took a coyote with it in 2010'ish. One of the reason's I picked up my 25-06 is because that rifle is so beautiful I think I want to keep it as a range rifle only. If the wind kicks up or I think I will need the extra punch I can take my 25-06 now and beat it up if I need to. LOL
 

I got mine in 1968, it is a Remington 722 that came as a .222. I bought it used and never shot it as a .222, I took it right to the gunsmith and had it built into a heavy barrel 6X47. I still have it and it still shoots very well, I have never used it for anything other than predator hunting. My go to predator gun today is a single shot Falling Block Works heavy barrel in 6X50R Mag.
 
I shot a Model 70 25-06 for everything until I was old enough to buy my first "dedicated" predator rifle at about 20yo...As fate would have it, I had a pocket full of money (rare then) when I came across a Rem 700 Varmint/HS stock that had been re-barreled with a stainless 20" Douglas chambered in .22-250....

I guess nobody wanted a 20" .22-250 probably because back in those days everyone chased speed. Having hand loaded since I was 15, I knew it would still out run a .223, handily.

I happily snatched it up for way less than asking price and proceeded to load 55gr Ballistic tips to nearly 3600fps and thereby lay waste to all kinds of varmints, including a pile of predators.

Sold it to a friend when I got into building full custom rifles but the pattern has been replicated a few time since then...

I'm currently without a short bull barreled rig but this thread has got me to thinking about a 20" fast twist .22 of some sort........


PLOTBOSS
 
Remington 600 in 222. I traded three cord of firewood for it. It was insanely accurate and handy as a truck gun, walking varmint rifle and calling gun. I truly regret trading it off. Thought I needed faster and flatter at the time.
 
It was 1968 and the local gun shop just got some Remington 788s so i bought one in 22-250 cal for the price of $ 87.50.Came home and placed a redfield 6-18 scope on it.Now its in the hands of my son and grandson.they have taken many song dogs and a few speed goats with it still shoots under .5 moa
 
While not a dedicated rifle (it was my only HP rifle for a number of years), my first coyote was shot with a 98 Mauser sporter I built under the watchful eye of a master gunsmith, long time friend and mentor in the early '50s. The rifle had a Browning water cooled MG barrel which proved to be OK but not great at higher velocities of the new, then experimental, T65 cartridge (before it was accepted by the US as the 7.62 Nato and introduced commercially as the .308 Win.)

The less than stellar accuracy at higher velocities could have been due to the fact that no brass or ammo was available for this still experimental cartridge. We had to make all the brass by pushing shoulder back on 30-06 resulting in reduced case capacity and somewhat higher pressures. It was extremely accurate at moderate velocities.

I later replaced barrel w/a Shilen blank, chambered it in 6mm Rem.; it was my only rifle for years; not dedicated, but did account for a number of coyotes, deer, etc.

It's a bit heavy for my taste in a predator rifle with it's 26" barrel and heavy burl walnut stock.....
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....so I haven't shot it in a number of years but often pick it up as a fond reminder of the many evenings spent with my gunsmith friend in his shop and days in the field. Thanks Werth, RIP!

Regards,
hm
 
Beautiful old Mauser and what great history.

In the 1970's I got to play with a comercila Mauser(GI bring back) that was rebarreled with a 250-3000 Buhmiller barrel, it still had the set triggers in it, it was wonderfully accurate. The owner asked me to work up some fox loads for him with 60gr Speer bullets.
 
Thanks, AW. There were lots of war babies available back in the '50s and the Mausers were very popular action donors. I was still in high school at the time. Werth had fitted the Browning barrel to the action and bedded it in a very nice, unshaped stock blank when he offered it to me for what he had invested and then supervised completion of the project. What a wonderful learning experience and great friend! Werth was always taking in youngsters and mentoring them. He did the same for my son in the '70s. I miss him.

Regards,
hm
 
My first coyote rifle was a norinco .223 that I believe may have been a cz American copy. A ? No name 3-9x illuminated reticle scope. No idea what I was doing but it was the start that mattered.
 
It is hard to draw a bright line on what was my first dedicated coyote rifle.

My first two centerfires were a Remington 742 in 30-06 and a Savage 99 in 250 Sav, I hunted coyotes more with the 250 than the 06 .... that is for sure but the larger gun was in the game as well.

My father bought me a Winchester 670 Ranger (bolt gun) for Christmas one year in 243 Win and I took up hand loading.

It certainly killed coyotes but the accuracy did not impress me as much as my coyote huntin’ buddy’s rifle did. His was a Ruger tang 77V in 243.

I just was not going to be happy until I upgraded!

I kept talking about that upgrade for months and it about drove my father nuts I suppose.

One day him and I were out toolin’ around the ranch and we jumped a coyote running broadside at 275 yds, I grabbed the sporter Winny and dad’s jacket for a rifle cushion and leveled the cross hairs while resting on the roof of his Datsun pup. The coyote slammed to a full stop right about then and I took full advantage of the situation. I heard the bullet open but lost the coyote in the tall dry grass. We hiked out and were just about to give up the search when I turned back to tell my father I knew I got that coyote because bullets never lie and it was a very good “pop”!

There was the coyote!

We drove on farther and another one presented itself but this one played hide and seek in a swale in the cow pasture. Finally it presented a head shot at about 150 yd. Dropped that one too!

My father had enough .... He blurted out that for the life of him he could not understand WHY I thought I needed a better rifle!

I admit he had a valid point but I did trade up a few months later.

And I sold my cheap Winny for the same money it cost new and added $$ to get the apple of my eye:

A Ruger 77V in 243 Win new in the box and to my surprise it was a Liberty model!

Still have it and as I further refined my hand loading craft I found this rifle to be a 3 tenth 5 shot 100 yd rifle.

Still have it and it is a low round gun. As a farmer I decided that I had to have a “tractor” rifle ..... and I have a big pile of them!

Sometimes I wish I had kept that cheap Winny as it would been the perfect tractor gun with the Ruger V Liberty for “fancy” coyote huntin’

My father knew within a few years that I had made a good move in getting that Ruger though he never admitted to me but mom caught him telling stories about the gun when I was around! Lol!!

Three 44s
 
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Fairly rookie coyote hunter but first started out with a Ruger AR556 with a cheap scope and upgraded to vortex viper pst 2.5-10. Just bought a Ruger American Predator in 22-250. Have yet to scope it. More of a bolt fan. Had some work done to the AR so the RAP will be the new dedicated.
 
Remington 788 in .243 in the carbine 18.5 inch barrel. Man that thing threw dust everywhere off of a blanket on the ground. And loud, my ears still ring. Tasco 4-16 Japanese scope. It would do double duty on Utah Muleys. Great post . A real blast back to the past.
 
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First Dedicated Predator Rifle;
Circa....1963, 1894 Winchester .25-35, it was in the Scabbard attached to the Saddle that Grandad gave me, that was my 1st year riding fences by myself, with my dog.
7,000 acre Cattle Ranch, -[N.Nevada, S.Oregon, N.Calif. High Desert Country]-
 
BigDawwg:

Now that, right there is the first predator gun..... wow. Hope ya still have it, and the saddle also.......

Welcome to the forum....
 
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huntschool,,,, Well I wish I still had it too, all was lost in a Barn & Tack Room Fire,,, lost 2-horses out of 6-in that Fire as well,,,, I found out about it, in a letter from my Mother when I was in VietNam, a Lightning Strike hit the Barn.
sneaky2.gif
Thanks Mother-Nature.
BD

Thanks for the Welcome, I've been "Lurking" for some time.
 
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