I Built the Ultimate Deer Rifle

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Over the years, my idea of the perfect deer rifle has evolved. When I was young, I had two whitetail rifles that, to me, were perfect. One was my Marlin 336 in .35 Remington, and the other was my first “fancy” rifle, a Ruger M77 in America’s caliber: .30/06. That M77, like me, was left-handed — which was how I shot until I learned I was right-eye dominant and switched.

Both the .35 Remington and the .30/06 are venerable cartridges, and both remain wildly effective on deer and other game. I still hunt with them when the opportunity presents itself, but neither are my top pick as the ultimate deer round. The same is true for those rifles I carried. I don’t own any rifle with the same sentimental value as that Marlin, but I can’t pretend that lever-action is the world’s best deer gun. As for the wood stocked M77, which is a classic in its own right, it can’t compete with today’s best rifles in terms of performance. In any event, I gifted it years ago to a left-handed hunter who admired its virtues.

Make Your Own Dream Gun

While there are many excellent factory rifles for deer and big game to choose from, advances in manufacturing have created another interesting possibility for the picky rifleman — assembling your own “perfect” hunting rig. Going this route isn’t for everyone — you need to be detail oriented and have access to some specialized tools — but it is easier than you might think.

This is what I did with this rifle. For one, it is fun to roll your own. But more than that, it allowed me to incorporate the features I want in my ultimate rifle for whitetails and mule deer with minimal compromise.

Assembling a rifle this way is doable because of the quantum jump in the quality of the machining of actions, stocks, and barrels we’ve seen over the last 20 years. The tolerances with these components are so tight that many have become plug-and-play. All you need to do is select the right bits and pieces, screw them together, and you’re off to the races. Compared to a custom gun made with the same items, doing this will save you a pile of money.

Snow’s Ultimate Deer Rifle Build

As I said, my notion of the perfect deer rifle has become more exacting since I first shouldered my old .35 Remington in northern Michigan’s cedar forests. Over the decades, I’ve hunted deer across the country and have come to realize that a do-it-all deer rifle has its work cut out for it. It needs to be able to maneuver through Maine’s dense timber while being capable of making a 400-yard shot across the Kansas prairie. It requires a scope that can deliver pinpoint shot placement in an Alabama beanfield, while being light enough to haul up a Montana mountainside. It should incorporate hardware like ARCA and Picatinny rails to take advantage of modern shooting techniques and accessories while still being well-balanced and handy for fast off-hand shooting. Because we’re not savages, it should be suppressed. And not to be too shallow, it should be blessed with drop-dead looks.

The rifle I’ve spec-ed out here strikes a great balance to check all these boxes. While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, to me it is a great expression of a state-of-the art rifle for deer and other game.

Impact Precision Medium Action NBK

The action, along with the barrel and stock, are the three pillars upon which an accurate rifle is built. Impact Precision is one of the most highly regarded names in the world of precision rifle competition and has racked up more wins than any other in the PRS. The NBK is the company’s hunting action. Unlike Impact’s match actions, the NBK has a split Picatinny rail, which cuts weight while allowing easier access to the ejection port, both desirable features in a deer gun.

To enhance accuracy, it has an integral recoil lug. Its reliability is bolstered by the fluting on the bolt, while the trigger hanger allows for easy field maintenance. The black nitride finish on the metal and the precisely cut EDM raceway give the action its signature smooth operation.

You can get the Impact action with a traditional 90-degree bolt lift, or the shorter 75-degree throw, which is what I did. It doesn’t affect the force required to cycle the action much, while allowing for better clearance between the bolt handle and your optic. For me, that tradeoff is more than worth it.

A final thing that drew me to this action is its medium length. I wanted to go with a 6.5 PRC for my ideal deer cartridge and a medium-length action lets me take full advantage of that round’s versatility by being able to handload it long without needing to step up to a bulkier long action. As a bonus, because of the many pre-fit barrels made for Impact actions I’m able to convert this rifle easily to a 7 PRC for elk or larger game – and medium-length actions and the 7 PRC go together like a Las Vegas bachelor party and regret.

6.5 PRC — Perfect Balance

Before getting to the rest of the build I wanted to expound on why I chose the 6.5 PRC. Engineered from the ground up to embody the principles of Modern Cartridge Design, it is an inherently accurate round optimized for heavy-for-caliber 6.5mm bullets weighing 140 grains or more. Loaded with quality target bullets it has excelled in long-range rifle competitions where the targets can be a mile or more distant. For hunting, the round can leverage the array of excellent game bullets to ethically take everything except for large, African dangerous game.

Depending on the rifle, it generates about 200 fps more at the muzzle than the popular (and by some reviled) 6.5 Creedmoor yet doesn’t generate excessive recoil that can degrade marksmanship and make calling a shot a fruitless task.

My initial load in this rifle uses the Sierra 145-grain Tipped Game King, which is part of the Barnes Harvest collection — created specifically for whitetail hunters. I’ve been pleased with the performance of the ammunition so far, particularly since the brand new Proof barrel needs another 50 or so rounds (I have 40 on it so far) before it really settles in.

But those initial 40 rounds show the rifle’s promise. The with 5-shot groups averaging .768 inches, and 20-shot groups at 1.25 and .94 inches the rifle is demonstrating excellent accuracy from the get-go. More significant are the mean radius (MR) values my two 20-shot groups have. The MR on the first 20 shots was .40 inches, which isn’t bad for a hunting rifle, but the MR on the second 20 shot group shrank down to .28 inches, which is outstanding. (When you analyze a 20-shot group the software calculates the mathematical center of the group. Mean Radius is the average distance from that center point that your shots impact. When a MR dips to .30 inches or below, you are dealing with excellent accuracy for hunting purposes.)

In addition to fine accuracy, the Sierra Tipped Game King delivers impressive terminal ballistics. I’ve killed a number of animals with this bullet over the years, most recently last fall when I used Barnes Harvest ammo to take down two Missouri whitetails. Each deer took a single shot through the chest, both bullets expanding violently and passing through the ribcage. In my book, that’s perfect terminal performance.

Manners Pro Hunter Adjustable Stock

I don’t think there’s a better all-around hunting stock than the Pro Hunter series from Manners Composite Stocks. They are lightweight, stiff, durable, comfortable to shoot, and incorporate smart features. I’m thinking specifically of the recessed Picatinny rail at the tip of the fore-end, which lets you mount a bipod and isn’t prone to snagging; the section of ARCA rail in front of the magazine well, so you can quickly clip into a tripod for a steady shot; and QD cups for attaching a sling, rather than swivel studs, which should be relegated to the trash heap of history.

The stock here is one of the first adjustable Pro Hunters which has a cheek piece that can be raised or lowered. It is a clever design in that it doesn’t add much weight to the stock while being easy to set to the desired height. For a more precision-oriented rifle, being able to tune comb height is a great quality.

The overall fit and design of Manner’s Pro Hunters keeps getting better too. The quality of the stippling is fabulous, and the shape of the grip, with its ambidextrous thumb rests, gives the shooter excellent control.

Proof Carbon Fiber Barrel

With suppressors becoming more common on hunting rifles we’re seeing a trend toward shorter barrels. That keeps the overall length of a rifle manageable though it usually comes at a small cost to muzzle velocity. Proof Research makes a carbon-fiber pre-fit barrel for Impact actions that measures 22 inches, which strikes a good compromise between length and velocity. Even with my suppressor attached, a direct-thread Thunder Beast Ultra 7, the rifle remains handy and balanced, while the Barnes factory ammo steps out at 2900 fps.

Proof’s track record for accuracy, combined with the barrel’s 2-pound weight, made it an easy pick for this project.

Hawkins 3.5 Medium Bottom Metal

One issue going with a medium length action is that not many people make bottom metal that will fit. Thankfully, Hawkins Precision, which manufactures some of the finest bottom metal and magazines in the business, does. Hawkins Hunter DBM bottom metal is one of my favorites, and they’ve recently come out with a medium-length 3.5-inch magazine. While it works great for the 6.5 PRC, the 3.5 Medium is really geared toward the 7 PRC. That magazine has enough internal space to accommodate handloaded 7 PRC rounds without the need to bump up to a long action.

Triggertech Diamond Trigger

Impact’s actions are designed to take Remington 700 pattern triggers, and Triggertech makes many great ones that fit the bill. The Diamond is their premiere offering and, like many other shooters, I’ve used it on a number of my precision rifle builds. It adjusts from 32 ounces (two pounds) down to four ounces. For a hunting rifle this can almost be too much of a good thing. I generally advocate a trigger pull weight of 2 to 2.5 pounds for a precision hunting rifle, as going lower increases the odds of a negligent discharge when it is cold and wet and you’re fumbling around with numb fingers.

I plan to swap the Diamond for their new Rough Diamond, which adjusts from 8 ounces up to 40 ounces, and is a better fit for a hunting rifle in my opinion.

Leupold Mark 4HD 4.5-18×52 FFP

Picking the optic turned out to be the most challenging decision of this build, because there are so many qualities in a scope to consider. Is the lowest magnification setting adequate for hunting in tight quarters? Does the reticle work well throughout the scope’s magnification range? How durable is the design, and doesn’t that come at the cost of excess weight? The list goes on.

For any rifle that might be used for longer shots I prefer a first focal plane system. And because I’ve grown so used to it (and genuinely think it is superior) I like a scope with mil adjustments and reference marks over MOA. That said, I don’t want something as bulky as the large scopes I put on my competition rifles.

After weighing all these considerations, the Leupold Mark 4HD 4.5-18×52 struck the best balance (that word again) for what I value in a quality hunting optic. It has good, clear glass. The 4.5- to 18-power magnification range is useful for all but the most close-up snap shots. The mil-based reticle has a lot of utility without being too cluttered. The turrets give good feedback, have large and clearly marked numbers, and incorporate one of the easiest zero-stop systems on the market.

The scope’s modest weight (27.5 ounces) in light of its configuration is another bonus in its favor.

Assembling the Custom 6.5 PRC

Three things you want to have when putting a rifle like this together are a torque wrench, action wrench, and barrel vise. The barrel vise is designed to grip the barrel firmly without marring the finish, while the action wrench allows you to torque the barrel on without damaging anything. The torque wrench, naturally, lets you tighten the barrel and action to the proper value, which most of the time is 75 foot-pounds or so.

One strong argument for going with components made by reputable brands is they are more likely to work together without causing you some unforeseen headache. With cheaper stocks, for instance, the inletting often isn’t precise, necessitating the use of a Dremel, epoxy, or both, to fit things together nicely. In a similar vein, you can’t assume proper head spacing with actions and barrels that aren’t manufactured to the highest level. As with most things in life you get what you pay for.

Final Thoughts on My Perfect Deer Gun

I’ll be shouldering this rifle this upcoming season, using it on mule deer, whitetails, and elk — and I’m confident it will live up to my lofty expectations. The components I selected have done a great job complementing each other. The scope, barrel, stock, action, and chambering are all working toward the same goal — which is a high-tech rifle that can handle tough shots under rough conditions and put game on the ground.

At just under nine pounds scoped, this rifle is portable enough to take into the mountains yet has enough heft to manage recoil well and be comfortable to shoot. The flat-bottomed fore-end sits on a support bag, which is as useful in a tripod stand as in the back country.

The ARCA rail in front of the magazine well is a game changer in my opinion. With the rifle clipped into a steady tripod, a shooter can make accurate shots at longer distances from any position, including standing. That alone will make you a more effective (and ethical) hunter.

Above all, I wanted to end up with a rifle that is accurate, durable, and versatile, and this build achieves all that. And with the ability to easily swap calibers, there’s really nothing this rifle can’t do.

 

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