Don't really hunt anymore but I have used a 303 Lee Enfield Mk V carbine as one of the first deer rifles for me. Action was like greased lightning. Saved all summer cutting grass in order to buy it for the princely sum of $75. I was 15, my Dad bought for me with my cash , and the year was 1976.

Wish I still had it, just for the shooting. Dropped deer and a couple of pigs with it too.

 

I don’t but an old friend of mine who lives down in Georgia uses an Enfield No. 5 “Jungle Carbine.” He buys up app of the Winchester Super-X 180-gr .303 ammo he can find as it isn’t very common anymore.

 

If I could lose some weight and gain some strength I would hunt with my Garand.

Just to be a B’Ass.

 

My son uses a Yugo M24/44 8mm bolt action. It is a K98/Mauser copy. As far as we can tell is is from 1944, or at least the late '40s.

He is very accurate with it, out to 200 yards - which is the longest rifle range we have easy access to. Seeing as all of our hunting so far has been in the woods of Vermont, that is fine!

 

When I was a teenager, I bought a 7mm Chilean Mauser. I wrote into the NRA and asked the question that rattles around the head of most kids: "Was my 7mm Mauser adequate for deer hunting?"

The answer was short and sweet: "You can only kill them dead!"

About the same time, my friend Gene who was my age, went to the farm his family purchased south of Chicago. Gene shot a deer with his Winchester .22 bolt action rifle. He skinned that deer, prepared the hide himself and fed his huge Catholic family with the meat. I remember seeing that tiny hole in the hide. For sure, you can "Only kill them dead!"

Was that illegal and unethical hunting? Yup! It does point out, however, that Humane harvesting of animals is all about bullet placement and not caliber.

Incidentally, I went to that farm with Gene and we "Hunted" with our .22 rifles. We flushed two Teal off of a stream that was barely 3 feet wide. Gene snap shot one of those birds and knocked it out of the sky with that Winchester! Again, not legal or ethical hunting, but what a shot!

Flash

 

my brother and i were each given 1917 enfield's for our first deer hunt in 1969. we lugged those around for years. i eventually had mine sported(i resent that decision). i still use it for deer, don't hunt much anymore, but... my brother has kept his original, it is a beautiful rifle, though he has carried lighter rifles now for hunting.

 

dbl post

 

My Grandpa used a Sporterized .303 Enfield for Deer Hunting.
I have always been a WWII buff and I hated the fact that that rifle had been sporterized!

 

My father in laws second favorite deer rifle was a scoped 1903 Springfield.
He passed away a few years back and left it to me.

 

I cut my teeth on a Springfield ‘03 bought from the first K Mart in our area back in 1962. It was brand new, never issued, and they tossed in a canvas ammo belt and 100 rds of WWII surplus ammo all for the princely sum of $36. I eventually restocked/scoped the gun years later. A great hunting rifle and I still have it in the safe.

 

Brought my Chicom SKS to deer camp a couple of times. It's plenty accurate with Federal Fusion and easy enough to carry through the thick brush. Really need to get Tech Sights on it though.

 

My friend hunts with a M1 Garand and takes deer with it every year .
Many years ago I ran into a guy that used a 1941 Johnson to hunt deer .
I tried to buy it off him but he said no way . He said it was his favorite deer rifle .
That was back in the 70’s.

 

Glad to see that there are some others out there who have used the .303 British. Before I got my own rifle, I used my Father's SMLE. It was a Long Branch issue. My older brother still has it.

 

When I was young and poor I used a Swedish 94 carbine I bought for 15 bucks. Next a 303 British Enfield Jungle Carbine also a fifteen dollar bargain Then my favorite 5 dollar purchase a 6.5 Arisaka that I eventually put on a 308 22 groove Springfield barrel that cost me 2 bucks.
The 6.5 had headspace problem or I would have kept the 6.5 barrel on..

 

Glad to see that there are some others out there who have used the .303 British. Before I got my own rifle, I used my Father's SMLE. It was a Long Branch issue. My older brother still has it.

Fullclip, My Dad also used a BSA Lee-Metford Sporter rifle in .303 once in a while, I still have that rifle in my collection.
Back in the 70's, I wrote back to BSA in the United Kingdom inquiring about that rifle, gave them the serial number of the rifle and asked if they had any records of that rifle.
2 months later I got a letter from them telling me when the rifle was made, who it was made for, and where it was shipped!
The rifle was made in 1899, for a British Officer and was going off to Africa.
BSA were pleasantly surprised the Rifle was in Hawaii, in good shape and in firing order and still being used.
It's buried in my Vault, I'll try to post a picture of it.

oceanwarrior

 

My buddy who was in the army in the early 90’s hunted with an M2. He shot lots of hogs with that rifle and was a very good shot with it.

 

Used a Norinco SKS scoped for deer hunting for two seasons. Worked well with soft tips for a six and four point .

 

Last deer I took, about 18 years ago, was with a scoped and sportized 7x57 Mauser from 1917. I don't know if it ever actually saw action, but began life as a military rifle for the Chilean army. I went back out a few days later, set up the total station, and from where I was parked and took the shot to the gut pile was 412 yards. Head shot, he dropped and kicked a few times, but didn't move 5 feet from point of impact.

I put a new Nikon scope on it a few years back, and would not hesitate to take it out again. Light, short, and the round will get the job done on deer and hog.

 

303 Enfield, I think it was no 4 no 1.

I used it for a few years then sold it. I like the sights and it shot well but back then it wasn’t “cool”.

 

Anybody use a Military Surplus rifle to hunt with?

Many do, I'm sure.

My grandfather hunted deer with a 'sporterized' 30-40 Krag. One of his brothers, and later his brother's son (my uncle), hunted deer with a sporterized Springfield 1903. Both were probably better and more reliable hunting arms than a lot of the bolt-trash being marketed today.

Gramp's custom Krag:

Many folks hunt deer and hogs with their M1 Garands. In fact, I know a couple of guys who haul their M1s to a remote deer camp up in Michigan's U.P. every season. They always fill their tags and, being out so deep in the boonies, their M1s certainly make them well-armed for 'wilderness survival' purposes.

I hunt deer with my most awesome '06 Mini-G 'hunter' carbine. Hoping to work in a hog hunt with it later this year.

For hunting purposes, former military rifles are actually more accurate for that task than most folks would think, which is in addition to their reliability and durability under 'hard-use' field conditions.

Using a 5-rd 'hunting clip,' the 'Mini-G above shot this sub-2" group at 100-yds - 220gn Hornady RN slugs over Varget in HXP brass (x5):

The ol' M1 - a 'hog-gitter' for sure!

 

I've been known to.

 

I use a Chinese SKS for hogs; cheap 125 grain softpoints (Silver Bear) knocks them down nicely.

 

I’ve used a Yugo M48, 24/47, Mosin M38, & M44.

Also used a CETME I built from mostly surplus parts.

Also used WASR AK but that’s not really surplus.

 

K31 in 7.5x55 Swiss
Love it!

 

I use my sporterized K98, have grown really fond of the 8mm.

 

A bud of mine has one and really likes it. Very accurate and that 8mm round will cleanly kill a lot of big critters.