{"id":217,"date":"2013-12-18T17:18:20","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T18:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devserv.eu\/?p=217"},"modified":"2024-07-19T19:44:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T19:44:14","slug":"blue-collar-classics-6-hardworking-all-american-deer-rifles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/devserv.eu\/index.php\/2013\/12\/18\/blue-collar-classics-6-hardworking-all-american-deer-rifles\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue-Collar Classics: 6 Hardworking All-American Deer Rifles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The author’s favorite classic deer rifles, in a barn close to where he hunts. Travis Rathbone<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Unlike everybody else these days, it seems, I don’t long for a sub-half-minute, long-range bolt gun. Well, maybe a little. But what I really want are the guns in the yellowed photos at deer camp, where in the monochromes the old boys in knee pants cradle classic levers, and in the Polaroids the regular guys off for a week from the Alcoa plant carry hardworking pumps and autos.<\/p>\n

Turns out, these blue-collar classics<\/a> are still widely available, still priced right, and still solid deer guns. With today’s $500 bolts turning in clover\u00adleaf groups, bargain hunters no longer need to raid the used rack. And as yesteryear’s hunters walk their last trails, more widows and kids want to be rid of the old guns. The result is a wealth of modestly priced, classic deer rifles<\/a>, adorning the walls of local shops and the pages of online gun-auction sites.<\/p>\n

These aren’t collector’s items<\/a>. They’re working guns. Tools. Many aren’t accurate by today’s standards but are more than accurate enough if you believe that the real thrill of hunting is getting closer to the critters. Above all, they carry a connection to those who came before us. They burn with questions: whose hands, what hills, how many miles, how many bucks?\u2014a mystique that makes them far cooler than any plastic bolt.<\/p>\n

Here’s what I’ve got in my old toolbox.<\/p>\n

Classic Workhorse Deer-Camp Rifles<\/h2>\n
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From top to bottom: Remington Model 141; Savage 99; Winchester model 94; Remington Model 8.
\nRemington Model 8 and 81 Travis Rathbone<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Winchester Model 94, Pre-’64<\/h3>\n