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bamaranger · September 12, 2015, 12:34 AM

First time I wandered afield to slay Bambi, a mere lad, I carried a Rem 14 pump in .30 Rem. I still have it, and not killed a deer with it yet! The Rem "candycane" pumps were a family favorite, .35 preferred.

Semis were not legal, and the pump reigned. When the rem 760 hit the market, the old candy canes were retired, and the newer pump became king. My great uncle declared the 30'06/180 RN the "best killer in the woods" and the family replied "yea, verily". And the new pumps could be easily scoped, and most of those old timers eyes were slipping a good bit by then too. Not just family, but everybody seemed to have an '06 pump, and the carbine version was the holy grail. I left while still young, but that's the way it was.

During my career, for a while, and I cannot put an accurate era to this, say early 1970's through mid eighties, the Rem pump in .308 was a bonafide LE rifle for the NPS and some other fed agencies. I can recall working a firing line in 1985 with I believe Border Patrol officers at FLETC using that rifle. The ammo was plastic cased, plastic slugged import (RWS?) ammo, as none of the ranges were approved for real rifle calibers. The plastic ammo was for safety issues, wild rounds skipping the berm and sailing off into Brunswick. My outfits policy on ammo was 150 gr SP's. The rifle had a following I believe due to its manual of arms being similar to the agency shotgun, the 870. I never saw one on duty (a pump rifle), but read the policy about the time it expired and the Mini14 was (briefly) adopted.

I had a pal with a Savage 170 (.30-30) , and I owned a Rem .22 pump, the Fieldmaster, that I shot so much I wore it out. That's it for me and pumps.

September 12, 2015, 12:34 AM	#23
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,312	pumps First time I wandered afield to slay Bambi, a mere lad, I carried a Rem 14 pump in .30 Rem. I still have it, and not killed a deer with it yet! The Rem "candycane" pumps were a family favorite, .35 preferred. Semis were not legal, and the pump reigned. When the rem 760 hit the market, the old candy canes were retired, and the newer pump became king. My great uncle declared the 30'06/180 RN the "best killer in the woods" and the family replied "yea, verily". And the new pumps could be easily scoped, and most of those old timers eyes were slipping a good bit by then too. Not just family, but everybody seemed to have an '06 pump, and the carbine version was the holy grail. I left while still young, but that's the way it was. During my career, for a while, and I cannot put an accurate era to this, say early 1970's through mid eighties, the Rem pump in .308 was a bonafide LE rifle for the NPS and some other fed agencies. I can recall working a firing line in 1985 with I believe Border Patrol officers at FLETC using that rifle. The ammo was plastic cased, plastic slugged import (RWS?) ammo, as none of the ranges were approved for real rifle calibers. The plastic ammo was for safety issues, wild rounds skipping the berm and sailing off into Brunswick. My outfits policy on ammo was 150 gr SP's. The rifle had a following I believe due to its manual of arms being similar to the agency shotgun, the 870. I never saw one on duty (a pump rifle), but read the policy about the time it expired and the Mini14 was (briefly) adopted. I had a pal with a Savage 170 (.30-30) , and I owned a Rem .22 pump, the Fieldmaster, that I shot so much I wore it out. That's it for me and pumps.