After checking with a panel of national gun experts, the author of an article that appeared in one of the deer hunting magazines listed the following as the top eight deer rifles of all time. As the author listed them admittedly in no particular order...

Winchester Model 1894
Winchester Model 70
Remington Model 700
Remington Model 742
Remington Model 760
Savage Model 99
Marlin Model 336
Ruger Model 77

I've always thought of myself as being more of a traditionalist and evidently it's true. I currently own four of the eight.

Mauser 98 and clones should be on the list..

Me, too.

The model 70 and ruger feature Mauser type actions

Hard to imagine Springfield 1903 not on that list.

The only one I question is the Ruger. I don’t think I ever saw a Ruger bolt rifle until I was in my thirties.

Growing up, when I thought of a “deer rifle” a Remington 700 BDL ( like Deniro carries in “ the deer hunter “ ) was a quintessential deer rifle. I knew so many people who had them....more than any other type of rifle combined.

Now, there is much more diversity in deer camp guns. Last camp I was in, I had a mark V weatherby, my partner had a browning A-bolt, there was a 2nd mark V , a model 70 and two model 700’s but vastly different guns.

I don’t hang out in deer camps much anymore but I started to see less and less 7600’s and BAR’s than I did in the late 90’s.


For whatever reason, I never thought of lever actions as first rate deer rifles but rather utility guns that could be used to make do as a hunting gun

I’m not sure about the 742 or 760. Nobody I know hunts with one.

Maybe it’s a location thing.

I don’t think they are as popular down here.

I had an uncle who had two....he was the only person I knew who had one. I wanted a 700 bdl but the river was $59 cheaper so that’s what I got, also because my uncle had one. Glad I got it in hindsight.


Besides me and my uncle I can only remember two times in camp where a hunter showed up with a ruger m77


They are great rifles , only downside was out of the box they had a terrible trigger.

It’s probably a location thing. I know the 742s and 760s were about all many used in the Northeast. Though some of the men I knew used them growing up also.

Winchester 94s and Remington ADLs and BDLs probably made up 75% of the rifles I saw growing up. A few Savage 99s, a few sporterized Springfields, and a mix of others. Oddly enough, I don’t recall any Model 70s.

Inspired by, but they are not clones. Yes as to the claw extractor, but the bolt shroud on the pre-64 M70 most definitely is not even remotely comparable in terms of safety from gas blowback. The Ruger 77 also is inspired by the M98, but not the same trigger and safety. The post-64 M70 "classic" offered now i.e. claw extractor is closer to the M98, but lighter in construction and a significant improvement in gas handling, but still not as robust as the M98. The Montana Rifle Company receiver is the one that really comes the closest other than true clones such as made by Mauser, Zastava, or CZ, or the M1903 and M1917 which were nearly identical copies.

I do not have time to do it today, but will put together some photos of the bolts and triggers side by side as I own all of them except for the Ruger M77, which was sold years ago.

Over they years in our camp, from what I remember:

Win - Model 70 (2), 94 (1)
Rem - 788 (2), 700 (4), 760 (1)
Wby - Mark V (1)
Sav - 99 (1), 340 (1)
Brwn - BAR (1)
Rug - 77 (1)
Sako - Not sure of model, it was a 7 Rem Mag around 1978.

Additional in the last 5 years:
Tikka (1), AR-15/6.8 (1), H&R (1), Ruger Amer (1)

They call the Remington 760 the "Pennsylvania Autoloader" for a reason. When I lived there 3 of every 5 deer hunters I saw in the field was using one.

My first deer rifle was a Ruger 308 stainless with a boat paddle. Ruger 77s were materially cheaper than a 700, A-Bolt or Model 70 30 years ago.

My wife's uncle who spent all his life living in Mississippi (short of the time he spent in Europe during WWII) hunted with a Remington 742. I could have probably purchased it from him when his health was failing him but didn't feel comfortable given the circumstances. I never asked him but wonder now if seeing the BAR during WWII is what caused him to choose an auto-loader.

Not sure if it's true but I've often heard the auto-loaders are not as accurate as a good bolt-action because they don't chamber the cartridge with the same consistency.

As for others on the list being more regional based, we have to keep in mind that hunters in other states had taken a lot of deer with most of these rifles by the time the deer population in many areas of Texas had reached good numbers. The youngest rifle on the list was not available until 1968 when deer numbers in East Texas were a fraction of what they are today. Texas deer hunters came to the table late when you think about it. Or to put it another way, most of these models had already earned their reputation when many Texans were just getting started chasing after deer.

While there are over 4 million deer in Texas today, the estimated deer population in all of Texas in 1938 was roughly 230,000. I can remember my grandfather telling me how you once had to go to the Big Thicket if you wanted the chance to take a deer in East Texas.

I think a case could be made for all but the 760/7600. I have hunted with hundreds of people over the years and only seen 1 in camp other than the one I use to own. Ironically both were in 35 Whelen.

As bad as I hate Savage I would replace the 760 with the Savage 110.

As said above, I do find it hard to believe that a Ruger 77 would beat out a 1903 in terms of most popular rifles. Good list though.

Only one I own is an 1894 that I inherited from my grandpa.

Agree on the 03. I have a couple but my go to shooting iron for a LONG time has been a 1917 Eddystone. Finally had to have it rebarreled a couple of years ago.

The Win 94 is, IMO, the most popular deer rifle of all time.

Model 94 is what my dad uses every year when we go deer hunting. It's a great, solid, beautiful, and reliable rifle. He loves it.

True at one time but I don’t think that’s the case any longer.

I also don’t think the .30-30 has taken more deer than any other cartridge anymore either. I think that has fallen by the wayside some time ago

The success of any product can often be judged by the numbers of those who have tried to copy it. There's no question the Model 94 has seen numerous gun makers do just that.

Then what has surpassed the 30-30?

Mostly rifles with scopes. But, for close work, nothing beats open sights.

.308, .270, or .243. We have a lot more hunters taking a lot more deer these days thanks to increased limits, increased use of feeders, more recreation $ available.