Deer Guns & Loads Archives

28 01, 2026

Best Way to Clean and Store Your Hunting Rifle

Clay Hanback2026-01-28T15:20:36-05:00January 28th, 2026|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting, Hornady|0 Comments

Deer season is over, and now is the perfect time to give your rifle a thorough annual cleaning. Store your gun in a secure and rust-free environment and it will be in good working order when you break it out for a range session in a few months. Gun-Cleaning Gear To do the job right, you need to secure your rifle horizontally in a vise. A vise attached to a workbench at your house will work fine. Or you can purchase a portable gun vise from company that specializes in firearms-cleaning accessories Spend $40 or more for a universal gun-cleaning kit, which will include a three-piece bore rod and an assortment of jags, brushes, patches and other accessories for cleaning [...]

2 12, 2025

Is the .243 Enough Gun for Deer?

Clay Hanback2025-12-02T09:09:27-05:00December 2nd, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|2 Comments

This is an old picture of my first deer rifle, a Sako action in .243 fitted into a walnut stock handmade and checkered by my dad, a wood artist by trade. Topped with an old Weaver scope. I shot a lot of VA spikes and 4-pointers and a few does with it, though we didn’t kill many does back in the day when I was young and carried that rifle a lot. I handloaded and used 100-grain bullets, various brands. I remember that all the deer I shot in the lungs with the 100-grainers ran a pretty good ways through the woods, but they all died. I don’t recall ever losing one. Why don’t I use the .243 today? I [...]

9 11, 2025

.35 Remington: Thick-Woods Buck-Thumping Cartridge

Clay Hanback2025-11-09T11:55:53-05:00November 9th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, trijicon, whitetail deer|1 Comment

I bet most of you hunters under the age of 40 have never have heard of the .35 Remington, much less ever owned a rifle chambered for it. The cartridge gained popularity in the 1950s and ‘60s, when Marlin and Winchester chambered lever-actions for the .35 Rem. People who hunted thick woods, from northern Michigan to Maine to anywhere in the country where most shots are 100 yards and in, loved the hard-hitting cartridge that dropped deer on the spot. The niche round continued to be popular into the 1980s and ‘90s. I began hunting with the .35 Rem. in 2018, when Marlin, owned by the now-defunct Remington Arms Company at the time, chambered a new Model 336 lever for [...]

5 11, 2025

8 Muzzleloader Hunting Tips

Clay Hanback2025-10-26T10:16:40-04:00November 5th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|0 Comments

I’m hunting the early muzzleloader season in Virginia right now, which reminds me of these tips: Drop two 50-grain pellets of Triple Seven (or even three if you use a Remington Ultimate Muzzleloader like I do). Most modern muzzleloaders will shoot just fine with 100 grains. Insert your saboted bullet of choice at the muzzle, and start it down the bore with a short starter. With your ramrod, seat the bullet firmly all way down and on top of the powder, but don’t tamp it or beat it hard. You just want a good, firm seat. Once fully loaded, leave the ramrod in the barrel and mark it with a Sharpie. Check the “fully loaded” reference mark each time you [...]

1 09, 2025

How to Remove Rust from a Gun

Clay Hanback2025-08-26T11:40:18-04:00September 1st, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, trijicon|Comments Off on How to Remove Rust from a Gun

You know you should store all your handguns and rifles in a locked safe, or at least in a cool, dry place, with a dehumidifier running for good measure if there is a hint of moisture (as in a basement). But if you do pull out one of your guns and see a few spots of rust on the barrel or receiver, here’s an interesting way to remove it. From Range 365, which has a collection of great gun videos: The trick…is finding a penny minted before 1982, which were 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc. To start you need some light oil (good old 3-in-1 will do just fine), a medium brass-bristle cleaning brush, some paper towels, and [...]