I became intrigued with this concept of a "stalking rifle". I was browsing through some of the more well known commercial names like Blaser, Krieghoff, Merkel, etc.

Anyone shoot a single shot stalking rifle at big game here in the US? If so, do you think you are handicapped with a single shot rifle compared to a bolt action? The Krieghoff Hubertus has me interested in a single shot rifle.

I've been using a Ruger #1 in .270 cal. for many years on whitetail deer. We rarely get a second shot on them anyway in the thick woodlands of the South, so the one shot really doesn't create any handicap at all. If I were hunting Griz, I'd probably feel differently...Geo

Geo: that was what I was thinking. I live in the mid-Atlantic area and have lived in the northeast (NY and NJ). Most of the hunting I have done has been "pushing" open fields to kick up bedded down deer and using a semi-auto shotgun but even then, I can get off at most two shots (on a good day) before the deer scatters through the brush and into the woods (if I didn't hit it).

Geo, it's nice to see someone other than me that uses a Ruger single shot. I use a Ruger #3 carbine in 45/70 with open sights. I initially bought it for a bear hunt in Canada back in 1978. Some people thought I was nuts for using it on that hunt. I guess it all boiled down to confidence in my carbine and shooting ability with it. It has since become my first choice for deer hunting up here. Should I ever go bear hunting again it will definately go with me.

I hunt with a .270 #1 my friend's thought i was nuts.bought it in 1978 it is a 1976 production.i mostly liked the wood.(unusual on a Ruger)

For some reasons, the wood on the No1 Rugers is very good, in my experience.
Mike

I like to use one of two Browning 1885's that I bought new in the early 80's......I like the octagon 28" tulip breech barrels.....one chambered in .270, and one in 22-250...same hole accuracy with either gun, if I do my part......I like long barrels and the accuracy that comes with them.....

Also use a Whitney-Laidley split breech 28" tulip octagon in 30/40 that I built up and a Pedersoli Sharp's 32" octagon in 45-70 for anything you want dead in their tracks.......

Well that's two Rugers with nice wood then. For some reason I lucked out and got very nice wood on my #3. The butt plate is a different story. It's the same piece of cheap plastic crap as the Mini-14. If I ever get off my lazy butt I'm going to hand make a steel butt plate for it.

Well stated- St. Hubertus is the patron Saint of serious hunters. I have a Winchester High-Wall in .45-70 and recent changes in that great old BP load- for the Marlin LA guide series carbines- have made it a real 'stopper' so is the .348Win with 300 grainers- but getting ammo for that, like for the old .32 Special, is getting to be almost as bad as trying to find a wide range of affordable shotshells for the Bastard guages-- C'est La Vie!!

I live in a shotgun only area and I went with a single shot rifled as I would rather cary a 6# gun than the alternative, and accurate as far as it has to be. Up to this point it hasn't caused a problem. If the gun has ejectors the situation is diminished further.

This past weekend I was hunting in the Catskills with a small frame rolling block in 9.3mm. Trim, light gun with a 27" octogon. Felt great in the hands when climbing mountains if I might actually have had to shoot it.

Cheers,

Tom

I've used single shot rifles for hunting all my life, starting with a Stevens Model 44 "Ideal" in .22 WRF that I got for cleaning out a neighbor's sheepshed in 1952 when I was 9.

I prefer the original Win 1885 High Wall and the Ruger #1 for big stuff and the Win Low Wall and T-C Contender Carbine for little stuff. The T-C is butt ugly but shoots like a dream and is easy to take down, clean, and switch barrels. Right now I have only one, but it has a .22WRM barrel, a .410 barrel, and a .25-35 WCF barrel.

REAL "stalking rifles": break-open Germanic single shots like the Merkel are just too expensive for me. The Ruger #1 is an excellent and economical choice, made in USA. How many good products can claim that any more?

Mike Armstrong

I took a great 5x5 Whitetail buck last week with my favorite stalking rifle, my H&H falling block built on a trade farquharison in .30 super. The gun is deadly accurate and powerful with ballistics quite similar to a .30-06. Pictures to follow.

C?Z brno has a stalking rifle in 308 or 3006 german styling at around 1600.00.good job Steve, i really like the 30 super mc

I've been hunting with single shots since 1986, either a BPC rifle or muzzleloader, with the occasional hunt with one of my douible rifles. I've never experienced any difficulty or lack of confidence in my one shot. Sure has been a lot of game fallen to my rifles.

Up until my eyes got so bad I couldnt shoot open sights anymore, I used a Ruger #3 in 45/70 as my elk rifle. We hunt in a rough area and shots are seldom more than 50-60 yards. I packed a 45/120 Sharps for a while as well. I shot a good number of deer with it around the home place. One shot, witnessed by my boys,516 yards off sticks with a cast bullet. Held on the nose, broke the brisket...Tang Peep..Scoped .416 these days..

I have 2 that I use, the first is a No. in 45-70 with a old Redfield 1.75x5, has been a very productive rig. The second is and old Savage 219 in 30-30, for sights I installed a Wms. Guide Receiver and a fiber optic front sight, this combo has taken a number of deer too. Alas, but none this year.

Do you still have your #3 LD? I would never give mine up. About 20 years ago I had thought of having mine chamber reamed for 45/90 so I would have more powder capacity. I never did it and I'm glad. Recoil with handloads is murder just the way it is.

If "reverse snobbery" isn't a problem the H&R/NEF "Handi-rifle" might be worthy of consideration. The standard version, in 30-30 caliber offers a nice 7-pound package that carries easily and offers pretty good accuracy and flexibility with great carrying characteristics. The same rifle can also still be obtained in 45-70 and 50 S&W but those calibers in such a light rifle might be "too much gun" for some folks.

Another worthy "stalking rifle" is the "Buffalo Classic" version. This 32-inch barreled, 8-pound beauty has a fine balance and is capable of excellent accuracy. It is also rated for 1895 Marlin-class loads. This fact should make it "big medicine" for anything that walks or crawls in the Western Hemishere.

H&R single-shot guns can be great "customizers". I had the butt stock of mine reshaped to a Prince of Wales grip configuration and also had the "Schnabbel" on the forestock refined a bit. With its new, "darkish" stock finish the rifle's stock might not pass for a custom-grade walnut masterpiece but it is "pretty", all the same. A gunsmith's judicious trigger stoning and adjustments resulted in a pretty respectable "hunting trigger", too.

My #3 45/70 was stolen some time ago with 70 other guns, only one ever recovered. Interesting that another of the stolen guns was a Savage 219! This one had 2 Bbls, .410 and 22 hornet. Was a special order I think. Cheekpiece, BT forend, some engraving nice wood..My #3 was real kicker, possibly because I tried to make it act like a .458...I Broke 2 buttstocks, Ruger said they wouldnt fix it any more..so I backed off to "normal" loads..The H&R single shots, aside from being really ugly, perform very well..

You have my sympathy. A miscreant helped himself to my guns a few years ago, too. There was a real sense of violation. The guns were ultimately replaced, more or less, but the feeling has never quite gone away.

I suppose that "ugly is as ugly does" when it comes to H&R single-shots. My "customized" piece looks quite nice IMHO and the "Buffalo Classic" and the trap gun can be at least reasonably attractive guns "from the get-go". Who knows? Perhaps in each "ugly" H&R is a "pretty" H&R stuggling to get out!

Sorry about your stolen guns. I'm sure there was a lot of sentiment behind some of these that can never be replaced. My #3 is a kicker too. I finally put a rubber slip-on butt pad on it. I haven't broke a stock yet but thanks for the heads up. To get the best accuracy out of mine I tighten the fore-arm screw just enough that I can still pass a cigarette paper between the barrel and fore-arm wood. With handloads from the "Ruger Only" section of the reloading manuals these little guns roar!

Tom and I live in the same area and often hunt together. For almost 25 years I did my hunting with a Browning BPS pump with rifled barrel that would group the right slugs into less than 2moa. But after 25 years that gun got a bit heavy so Tom talked me into a 20ga H&R Ultra Slug Hunter. Must be 2-3 lbs lighter than the BPS and just as accurate with the right slugs.

Now if only I could talk him into going somewhere rifles are allowed so we could use stalking rifles I'd have an excuse to start looking for one...

I had an ex wife like that.....never made it

My 1st center fire rifle was a .38-55 Stevens 44 1/2 with a heavy half-round, half-octagon barrel. It came with a bullet mold and a Winchester hand loading tool.

I have 2 Ruger NO 1's (.25-06 and .270). Both have beautiful wood.

The rifle I use most often these days is my Thompson Center Encore in .30-06. It is short and handy in the bush. With a 24" barrel it is the same overall length as my 20" Winchester M94.

I've never felt that I needed more fire-power than a single shot.

I have several Rugers I shoot from 223 to 416 Rigby. All shoot well. The Handi Rifle is indeed mostly overlooked. Except by bargain hunters. I picked one up last week with a super trigger and fast lock time in 270. Shoots very accurately.
The T-C is the American "Stalking rifle".