Vintage rifles have a certain appeal that new rifles lack.
With old-school craftsmanship, these wood-and-blued-steel rifles were once top gun of the deer woods.
Here are seven vintage deer rifles you wish you had.
7. Winchester Model 94 in 30-30 caliber
This rifle may have killed more deer than any other weapon in North America. While there are still current models are still made, they do have that cursed cross-bolt safety to keep lawyers happy. Go vintage before that monstrosity was added to an otherwise fine rifle.
6. Savage Model 99 Rifle
This rifle was well ahead of its time with a rotary magazine and the ability to fire projectiles other than round-nose ammunition required by tubular-magazine-fed rifles. There was also a takedown model for easy transportation and storage. This rifle also had a round counter so you knew in a glance how many rounds were left in the magazine. Absolutely brilliant!
5. Winchester Model 70 Bolt-Action Rifle
This highly precise rifle came in an age of highly accurate big-game hunting rifles. Ready to take on a scope, this beauty can touch a trophy way out there. This is especially true with the classic .30-06 caliber that reigned supreme in many areas.
4. Remington Autoloading Rifle
This semi-automatic rifle had enough firepower and a large enough caliber to take down any large game in quick order. In the world of quick shooting from short-to-medium range, this little number was hard to beat.
3. Ruger .44 Carbine
What could be a better brush rifle than the mighty .44 magnum cartridge in a fast shooting semi-automatic carbine? Sadly, they're hard to find on the used market these days.
2. Winchester 1895 Lever Action Rifle
Theodore Roosevelt's "big stick" brought down many large-game targets, including deer. Ole T.R. was fond of the big .405 Winchester caliber for African safari hunts. Overkill for a deer? Well, one shot is all you would ever need if went this route.
1. Marlin 1895 Lever-Action Rifle
A personal favorite of mine, the 1972 vintage Marlin 1895 is chambered in the hard-hitting .45-70 cartridge. In states that allow it, this rifle gives you pure muscle from short and medium ranges, and remains effective at 200 yards. That cartridge dropped buffalo with nothing but lead slugs at moderate velocities. With modern manufactured ammunition, this old cartridge will flatten any deer you'd ever come across.
Do you like articles about the outdoors? Click here to view more articles by Eric Nestor. You can follow him @ericthewoodsman on Twitter, The Classic Woodsman on Facebook, and @theclassicwoodsman on Instagram. You can view more Nestor Photography photos at Nestor Photography.
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