Favorite "BUSH" carbine and caliber

[gdmoody]

I would go with the Ruger .44 Magnum carbine, also. I have one that I let my grandson hunt with. It is light and very maneuverable and easy to shoot, and I do think they made a lever action. Ruger also made/makes a bolt action in .44 Magnum, I think it is Model 77/44

[capgun]

# 1 is my Marlin 336 in 44 mag
# 2 is my Ruger m44 carbine 44 mag
# 3 is my Remington 788 carbine in 308

[jwrauch]

Originally Posted by The Duke

I dont have one, but if I did it would be a Marlin Guide Gun .45-70.

I hope you love recoil . I sold mine cause it hurt too much. JR

[Infidel]

Originally Posted by The Duke

I dont have one, but if I did it would be a Marlin Guide Gun .45-70.

I agree! Matter of fact, I have a Marlin 1895GSS in 45-70, Magna-ported model. The Magna-porting dramatically reduces the climb and recoil of this gun. I have a 3-8x40 Bushnell dtd scope with a BDC. Its perfect!

Oh, I duracoated the stainless parts black to hide the shine.

[Infidel]

Originally Posted by jwrauch

I hope you love recoil . I sold mine cause it hurt too much. JR

Did you have the ported model?

I had a browning 1885 falling block that would break bones, but I loved it. Only sold it because I really needed 700 bucks at the time. Kick myself everyday, but anyway, I load rounds for my wife and other people who want to shoot it and it has no more recoil than my single .410. For the more adventuresome, I have some 300 grainers pushing 1900fps. Yep...they hurt.

The comfy loads are 405g at about 1350fps. Can shoot 'em all day! Plenty of whack. No deer out to 150 yds has ever complained.

[joncutt87]

I have a winchester 94 in .30-30, a marlin 336 in .30-30, and a savage 99 in .300 savage. I want a .45-70 though

[savage170]

One I didn't see mentioned that I always wanted is the Marlin 1895 .444

[Bigbill]

Were talking a bush/brush hunting in heavy cover caliber right?

This is where any speedy small diameter caliber is out of the selection. Even my 30-06 takes a back seat in this one. Meaning a small twig can deflect a speedy small diameter bullet. I just don't see a '06 or 308 being a brush gun.

Ok what we want is a larger diameter, heavier than normal bullet thats slow and lumbers along and it goes thru anything that gets in the way yet stays on its projected path. Yet it needs to hit like a freight train too. The only drawback with a larger caliber brush gun the distance is limited to 100 to 125yds max.

My marlin 444s in 444 marlin will do all of the above. I have no fear in bear country with the 444 round. Lately i been very interested in playing with the 444 round by upping the power game using the 270gr and 300gr jacketed soft point bullets. I was told about 40 years ago the marlin 444 is one of the best brush guns there ever was at that time.

Now i wouldn't sell the marlin 45/70 short either. I like the 405gr bullet too. I just never got around to getting a CB model yet but i want one.

Remember a long straight case brass has less kick and recoil over a necked case.

Brush guns I always take one hunting with me. If i'm in the thicker brush area its in there with me. Bill

[Infidel]

The .444 is awesome, a great all around. A 45-70 is great too, as posited by my post, but I only found the full potential of mine by loading my own rounds. Very little factory ammo(that isn't very pricey) impresses me. The Marlin is about the stoutest lever gun I know. It can take some punishment allowing for some really hard hitting loads.

I have shot 300 yds with mine but the best load still had about a 8-10 ft drop....but it still hit the 9in plate! My scope has a BDC I tune to specific rounds. Wind, unless it is almost a hurricane, has almost no effect on the heavy stuff.

[Zhurh]

Maybe not a carbine, but over the last few days, I have killed a couple caribou moving through thick black spruce with an Armalite AR-10 in 338 fed. 250 gr noslers, all I could find and didn't get my brass reloaded with 160's in time. Both shots were 2-3 hundred yards and bullet didn't drop much. It's heavy, but with 3.5X35 acog, the gun sure works for me. Anyway, lots of shells in the clip if I miss. Hope to kill a moose with the gun pretty quick.

[warriflefan]

The PSL is really a large rifle, but the 7.62x54R round has similar ballistics to the 30-.06. You can probably load it down to almost 30-30 pressures; probably IMR4198 would work with a similar load to a down loaded .303 british. I use 150 gn bullets with 25 gn of IMR4198 in my 91/30. Maybe check out a m38 Mosin Nagant. I saw one at a recent gun show for under $150 and the short length would be great in the woods. (I would have bought it but I finally found a CZ52 and it was higher on my list of wants).

[Shep]

My favorite "brush" lever gun is the Marlin 1895 45-70. Standard factory loads are on the wimpy side, but are good enough for deer and have little recoil. But the gun will handle much heavier loads that ought to bring down just about anything.



If your wife really insists on a lever gun in 30-06, you might look for an 1895 Winchester. The modern Jap made ones are not cheap, but much more reasonable priced than the originals. And the quality is outstanding.
The one below is in .270 cal, but the 30-06 version is a lot more common.

[focusmaniaczx3]

ive always liked using 7.62x39 guns for bush guns and AK/SKS type rifles dont have much kick at all so the lady should be able to use one just fine. but i have always personally wanted to get the keltec RFB carbine for bush hunting. its a bit pricey though. other than that i either choose between SKS in bullpup, wasr-10 AK47 with 6 pos stock for hunting in thick brush. im going to try my luck with the 12 gauge shooting slugs this year though. if im hunting where i will be reaching out more than 75 yards though i always use my remmy model 710 270. unmodified from the factory i put a hole in a hole from 150 yards with it. its been a very good gun to me and is probably the cheapest rifle i own after you put together how much it cost to buy and then add in modifications that i made.

as far as lever action goes ive never had one except for a marlin 22lr but a friend of mine has always hunted with some rossi lever action in 44 magnum and he gets several kills with it every year. he swears by that gun and even though he has other hunting rifles he never uses them so it must be alright.

[Jackman]

I just bought a 1958 issue Marlin 336RC in .35 that's my favorite brush rifle

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by hunter29180

wife and i were talking..(yes..more than 5 seconds..no I DID NOT get a KLONDIKE bar...) we we discussing what rifle she wanted to deer hunt with. since i will have to buy 2 rifles next year anyways. one for her and one for me.

we both are partial to lever actions, but dont let that limit your choice.
she likes the 30-30 or the 30-06. not bad choices in a lever action for her, and short enough to be easily used in "brushy" areas. she says the 30-06 will take down any north american game she will hunt. Personally i think the 30-06 recoil may be a bit much for her..she has carpel tunnel in both wrists and a pinched nerve in her shooting shoulder.

my choices..454 casuel in a lever action, i like this because its a true Brush popper, the heaver round wont be deflected easily, and it shoots the 45lc for practice. or and i found this at Classic Arms..(hope they still can get these when its my turn to buy!!) ROMANIAN 7.62X54R SEMI-AUTO PSL SNIPER RIFLES

love the wood on this one, and while its a bit long for "Bush" hunting..with a 1000 yd range I hope to be on a hill out of the "bush!

Anyways post your FAVORITE rifle for "Bush" hunting or other deer rifle. list caliber also..and if you can why its your favorite!

I like the .350 Remington magnum.

[45nut]

1. Rossi 92 copy in .357 mag
2. Pre-64 94 in 32 WS
3. 94 in 30-30
4. RIA Milspec .45 ACP
5. Uberti 5 1/2" .357 mag

[popgun]

Originally Posted by savage170

The top one in the picture savage 99 .300 savage

I was going to say Win 94 in 30-30, but man I kove those Remington Mod 8's