Gun Talk with Harold Harton
Be reasonable, selective when choosing favorite hunting rifle

Harold Harton has contributed outdoors columns to the Dispatch Record since 1954.

With today's choices, selecting a favorite rifle is a difficult task and one that must be done with some reservations.

In my situation, for instance, I would do so predicated on the use of that rifle. I am not going to Africa, and I probably will not hunt in Alaska; therefore, I will not need a rifle that will take dangerous game or large, tough animals that are hard to bring down.

With that in mind, my rifle would be something between the .243/6mm class up to and including a .30-06/.338-06 caliber. The upper end would be for the tough Nilgai in South Texas.

I have always thought and still believe a person should shoot the rifle he is comfortable with and one he can shoot accurately. Placement of a bullet that is constructed for the intended purpose is most important.

Back in the '50s and '60s, I read a lot of articles by a writer named Les Bowman, who was a big-game guide and outfitter in Wyoming. He also was an experimenter of guns and loads for various game and varmints.

I recall that often he related stories about clients who would come to hunt with him. Many times they would show up with a new rifle that had been sighted in by the store that sold it but which they had never shot. Many of these clients were office-bound big shots who had read recommendations of heavy calibers and rifles from writers much like themselves with little -- if any -- field experience.

Les related that after missing several shots at trophy elk and mule deer, he would take them to his range and let them shoot his .243, which they found more comfortable to use. The next day they would hit their targets and collect their trophy.

In my experience with rifles that I have used to hunt game, I have had good luck with several -- from the hot-shot .22s through the .338-06. I have taken many whitetail bucks with the .222 Remington and have never found it to fail me. When it first came out in 1950, it became a favorite with many hunters in this area.

I recall that my old friend Skeet Skaggs killed 19 deer and two antelope over a period of time with 22 shots using the .222. Not a one ran more than about 40 yards, and many dropped in their tracks. During that time, I remember helping a neighbor chase down a wounded buck he had shot several times with a .30-06.

That doesn't mean the .222 is a better deer rifle than the .30-06, but it proves that a well-placed, wellconstructed bullet will do the trick regardless of the caliber.

Caliber must be part of the equation because placing the shot of a well-constructed bullet would include consideration of the ballistics of that caliber to reach the animal at the maximum distance one would take a shot and its ability to maintain the killing power to do the job. Consider the bullet's weight/caliber, which gives it the ability (with proper twist) to maintain proper flight to reach the target.

I have not had much experience with the 6.5 caliber, but I believe it has a lot to offer. The new .260 Remington, which is a .243 case necked up to accept the 6.5 bullet, is very near to a caliber designed many years ago by a California gunsmith named Vern Juneke. He called it the .260AAR, which stood for all-around rifle. And it probably was as close as one could come to just that description.

As I recall, it performed right along with the .270 Winchester but with about 7 or 8 grains less powder and less recoil.

The new .260 Remington is almost a new version of Vern's caliber. If I were a novice hunter about to select one rifle for use in this area, I probably would give strong consideration to the .260 Remington in Remington's Model 7. It is light, easy to carry, with mild recoil and the ability to shoot as much as a 160-grain bullet, if needed. But with the 120-grain factory load, my limited experience shows it is very accurate and delivers the goods way out there.

I could go on for a long time about hunting rifles, calibers, etc., but if I could have only one rifle to hunt with, I would be hardpressed to let go of my 6mm Remington 700 with a Shilen stainless match barrel which shoots several weights of bullets in the same group. With it, and the proper bullet, I feel I can take any game I will ever hunt. But I'm not giving up my 7mm Magnum!