What’s your beater rifle?

@fourfive8 you need to tell us more about that rifle. @Chukar is right, a gun like that needs its story to be told.
Why the penny? And what year is the penny?

The rifles I own are for use, so I’m not afraid to hunt hard with them. I had many years with a Winchester XTR featherweight in .270; that gun has a lot of carry time. More recently I’ve worn the camo pattern off of a Kimber mountain ascent, which has been an excellent mountain gun.
 
My frankengun remington 721. Started as a bone stock 300 h&h 721. New mcmillan stock, Williams bottom metal, talley scope mounts. By far my favorite rifle to hunt with and not so valuable that I'm worried to take it out
20190812_093849.jpg
 
My beater is one that has to be immune to the occasional incident in the high country after goats. A couple of tumbles off rocks has a few scars but I am not afraid to use it in these conditions. Not a big cartridge as this is not needed for these animals but the 6.5 Grendel Max is my own wildcat so I have a soft spot for it. A heavily modified Mark X mini mauser in a self made laminate stock.
I started out with a suppressor but its length was an issue so I made a muzzle weight to keep the balance the same as in this pic but found that a slight muzzle lightness was no impediment for off hand shooting so now it has neither and the handy 21 3/4 in length makes it a nice 6 1/2 lb to carry up to the steep places.
6.5 Grendel-Max.png
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Mekaniks said:
Mine is a post 64 (65’ prod) Winchester model 70 with a HS Presision Kevlar stock, 20” Douglass XX stainless barrel, all black Nitride coating. 3-9 Leupold VX-II in 2 piece Talley rings. Custom built in 338 Federal.
It’s lightweight enough to carry on a backpack, it small enough to pack in a small airplane or carry on a 4 wheeler, corrosion resistant enough to live on a boat in the saltwater, and enough horsepower to shoot anything I am after, accurate enough to get it done and not too much gun for for deer sized critters.
If the airlines loses it or it gets damaged beyond repair, I can replace it. It didn’t cost me a first born.
I have taken it to South Africa including the Kudu in my avatar, black and brown wildebeest, impala, springbok and jackel. Brown bear in Kodiak, caribou and deer all over Alaska.
That’s my “beater“

View attachment 331319
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That’s a pretty ideal setup. I went with a .308 because it was available and would still perform if chopped down to 20” but the .338 was my first choice.

Your rifle appears to be a well thought out combination that has obviously served you well.
 
Von Gruff said:
My beater is one that has to be immune to the occasional incident in the high country after goats. A couple of tumbles off rocks has a few scars but I am not afraid to use it in these conditions. Not a big cartridge as this is not needed for these animals but the 6.5 Grendel Max is my own wildcat so I have a soft spot for it. A heavily modified Mark X mini mauser in a self made laminate stock.
I started out with a suppressor but its length was an issue so I made a muzzle weight to keep the balance the same as in this pic but found that a slight muzzle lightness was no impediment for off hand shooting so now it has neither and the handy 21 3/4 in length makes it a nice 6 1/2 lb to carry up to the steep places.
View attachment 331355
View attachment 331357
Click to expand...

Of course your knock-about rifle sports a stock designed and made by you in your own custom chambering. What a neat guy you must be sir.

Perhaps I’m looking at that photo wrong but I don’t recognize the pile of animals your rifle is sitting on. What are those?
 
Mekaniks said:
Mine is a post 64 (65’ prod) Winchester model 70 with a HS Presision Kevlar stock, 20” Douglass XX stainless barrel, all black Nitride coating. 3-9 Leupold VX-II in 2 piece Talley rings. Custom built in 338 Federal.
It’s lightweight enough to carry on a backpack, it small enough to pack in a small airplane or carry on a 4 wheeler, corrosion resistant enough to live on a boat in the saltwater, and enough horsepower to shoot anything I am after, accurate enough to get it done and not too much gun for for deer sized critters.
If the airlines loses it or it gets damaged beyond repair, I can replace it. It didn’t cost me a first born.
I have taken it to South Africa including the Kudu in my avatar, black and brown wildebeest, impala, springbok and jackel. Brown bear in Kodiak, caribou and deer all over Alaska.
That’s my “beater“

View attachment 331319
Click to expand...

Mekaniks I'm surprised you'd use a 338 Federal on Kodiak bears. Seems a bit light. How did it work out? Bullets? Shot placement? You might talk me into using my "beater" 358 Winchester on a Kodiak.

received_518083875722376.jpeg
The 358 is the Ruger American on top. It's not so valuable that I'm afraid to use it. The 375 Ruger below is a lot more valuable but it's not "pretty " and its weather proof. I'm about to sink some money into the 375 to make it lighter. One reason I love the 358 is its lighter weight.
I'm seriously thinking of putting a front sight on the 358 with a small peep site mounted under the scope. That would make it almost perfect.
 
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Standard Velocity said:
Of course your knock-about rifle sports a stock designed and made by you in your own custom chambering. What a neat guy you must be sir.

Perhaps I’m looking at that photo wrong but I don’t recognize the pile of animals your rifle is sitting on. What are those?
Click to expand...
That is a few of the goats that use to live up there. Make great eating being lean meat but take a bit of effort to retrieve at times and get back to the truck.
 
My beater rifles or when the wx is dog shit, I carry a stainless Ruger 77 MK-II in 30-06 with a 3-9 Leupold scope on it with the paddle stock, or a stainless Weatherby MK V in 7mm Weatherby, with a Zeiss 4-12 scope. I'll post pictures later. :)
 
@Von Gruff Beautiful country to hunt in. How does your 6.5 Grendel Max differ from a factory 6.5 Grendel?
 
The term "beater" was unknown to me until a Canadian used the term on a business trip to Toronto years ago.
The named vehicle was several years old and was burning oil, the engine knocked, muffler was burned out, and one headlight did not work. Lord only knows the shape of the interior. This is the image I see when the term "beater" is used.

I have never owned or used a "beater" firearm or car.

Nuff said.
 
crs said:
The term "beater" was unknown to me until a Canadian used the term on a business trip to Toronto years ago.
The named vehicle was several years old and was burning oil, the engine knocked, muffler was burned out, and one headlight did not work. Lord only knows the shape of the interior. This is the image I see when the term "beater" is used.

I have never owned or used a "beater" firearm or car.

Nuff said.
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Well in the lower 48 a beater can exist anywhere between a functional tool which you don’t mind abusing a bit and the jalopy you’ve described.

I once worked with a cook who had upgraded from his culinary school knife kit to some nicer knives. He would use his perfectly serviceable Mercer (roughly equivalent to Wusthfof) to open #10 cans.
 
My beater rifle: Remington Model 710 in 7mm Mag. That rifle has seen better days.
 
AZDAVE said:
@Von Gruff Beautiful country to hunt in. How does your 6.5 Grendel Max differ from a factory 6.5 Grendel?
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I moved the shoulder forward by .05 and load long so I get 2700fps with the 123gn sst or 2950 with the 100gn ttsx so a good improvement over the standard Grendel and so much so that a friend who is in pest animal control bought the reamer and has chambered three barrels for his work.
The extra length of the cartridge was why the mini mauser needed some modification to the magazine to get the 2.405 length cartridge fitting in. I lengthened the magazine for an internal length of 2.470. This is the standard Grendel with 123gn a Max compared to my Grendel-Max with the same bullet although I have changed over to the SST with the same results.
6.5 Grendel and Grendel-Max.png

This was the reamer print I sent to Dave Manson.
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This was load testing at 200 yds so it is a very good little rifle
Best group at 200 yds.png
 
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