Jim Carmichel’s Favorite Deer Rifles: Classic Calibers and Hunting Wisdom

Jim Carmichel’s 2003 Outdoor Life feature “My Favorite Deer Rifles” remains a touchstone for American hunters, blending personal anecdote with caliber debate that still resonates at the gun counter. The article opens with Carmichel’s childhood .25/35 WCF Winchester Model 94, a trade-run project gun that sparked a lifetime of rifle appreciation. Carmichel notes the .25/35 was one of the first cartridges loaded with smokeless powder, launching a 117-grain bullet at 2,300 fps, and that Winchester still lists .25/35 ammo for shooters who seek that vintage chambering today.

The .25 Caliber Debate: .250/3000 Savage and .257 Roberts

Carmichel dedicates significant attention to the .25-caliber class, specifically the .250/3000 Savage and .257 Roberts. He explains these rounds fire bullets in the 100- to 120-grain range at roughly 2,800 fps, delivering about 1,500 foot-pounds of energy at 100 yards. By contrast, a factory .270 with a 130-grain bullet tops 2,200 foot-pounds at the same distance. Despite the .270’s superior paper energy, Carmichel argues the .25s earn their reputation as “user-friendly” deer rifles because of their mild recoil—typically 9 foot-pounds or less in an 8-pound rifle—and flat-shooting trajectories that forgive range estimation errors. He emphasizes that a hunter’s ability to hit the target matters more than kinetic energy numbers, and that the .25 calibers’ manageable recoilans have reached agreement:** (this->)Щонетораз совет нород, своей других 0600>0.5, handoutsB/>