With the exception of impressed checkering, which was applied to the stock with a hot iron, the 1960s vintage Model 700 BDL is not a bad-looking rifle.

And after about 3,000 rounds fired in practice and afield, the rifle still shoots inside an inch with Remington's factory loaded 140-grain Core-Lokt Ultra bullet.

But the real stories of my old Model 700 are found in the scars on the stock, which tell of unforgettable adventures both near and far. That big one on the left side of its buttstock, just beneath the cheekpiece, was put there in the mountains of Idaho by an ornery nag who bucked me from the saddle and ejected my rifle from its scabbard. The big ding by the front sling swivel reminds me never to loan a rifle to a guide with slippery hands.

On the opposite side, a long dent reminds of one of the best deer hunts I've ever had, on the wind-swept plains of Alberta. That deep scratch along the bottom of the fore-end has me on my belly again, reliving the longest crawl I ever made and the longest shot I've ever nailed in the state of Wyoming. The small chunk of wood missing from the comb of the stock speaks of the time a deer hunt turned into a stalk of the biggest black bear I have taken.

Dozens of other stories are there, most of which would be quite boring to anyone but me. I know hunters who keep written diaries. I know others who capture their hunts on video. Battle scars on the stock of my old Model 700 are all I need to remind me of the things we have done and the places we have seen during the past 40 years.

LEGENDS: Marlin Model 36, 336
1936-present. From the original Model 36 through the 336 and its variants, the side ejection and solid top design made this lever-action rifle more suitable for scope mounting.

J. Scott Rupp

J. SCOTT RUPP
Rifles Inc. Strata
.25-06 Rem.
When the sun drops behind the Wyoming hills in November, it gets cold fast. But as I watched a big river-bottom whitetail sparring with smaller bucks and chasing does in a distant tree line, I had no trouble ignoring the chill. In the last moments of shooting light, just when it appeared the day would end unsuccessfully, three does led the big boy out into the open, and I got my chance.

Lying on a steep sidehill, with a boot edge dug into the soil to keep me from sliding downhill and the Rifles Inc. Strata .25-06 resting firmly atop a daypack, I made a quick adjustment to align the crosshairs and then squeezed the trigger. I heard the bullet hit home with a whup and watched the buck hop a low fence before toppling into the sagebrush on the other side.

The shot was 290 yards--my longest up to that point; the eight-pointer was my biggest whitetail; and the hunt took place in northeastern Wyoming, one of my favorite spots in all the world.

Not that it required all that to make the Strata my favorite deer gun. Built on a Remington Model 700 action with a 24-inch Lilja stainless barrel, it sports a handsome, custom-painted synthetic stock fitted with a hand-poured recoil pad. The action is incredibly smooth and the trigger is as crisp as a cracker, all thanks to Lex Webernick's tuning expertise.

As attractive as I find the rifle, its performance is what makes it so special. It will shoot into a little over half an inch at 100 with a variety of factory 115-grain loads, and with some it'll produce groups right at an inch at 200. Even more impressive is its first-shot accuracy. Right out of the case it places the first bullet exactly where it's supposed to go, every time.

And it handles like a dream. Whether I'm shooting off the bench, off shooting sticks or from field positions, the gun locks on target quickly and surely. Combine these traits with the excellent .25-06 chambering and you get an extremely shootable rifle that can kill any buck--whitetail or mulie, in the timber or on the prairie.

LEGENDS: Weatherby Mark V
1958-present. The gun that put the word "magnum" in our lexicon. Its Monte Carlo-style stock gives it a distinctive look.

LEGENDS: Ruger No. 1
1966-present. This single-shot captured hunters' hearts and minds with its elegant lines and wide range of chamberings.