Voting for this matchup has concluded, and the Remington 700 is the winner!

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October Madness is back! This year, we're picking the greatest deer rifle of all time. And by "we," we mean "you." Scroll down to the poll at the bottom of this article to cast your vote, and the rifle with the most votes by 11:59pm on Tuesday, October 1st will advance to the next round. If you'd like a little more information before casting your vote, check out the cheat sheets on each rifle below. And feel free to explain your vote in the comments (or why the other side is dead wrong).

Don’t forget to vote in the other matchups, which you can do here.

Remington 700

Cartridge Offerings

If you can think of a centerfire rifle cartridge, you can probably find a Remington 700 that shoots it. Some of the more popular ones include.

6.5mm Creedmoor

7mm-08 Remington

7mm Remington Magnum

.223 Remington

.243 Winchester

.25-06 Remington

.270 Winchester

.280 Remington

.30-06 Springfield

.300 Winchester Magnum

.308 Winchester

.338 Lapua Magnum

.458 Winchester Magnum

History

Ask any hunter to name the most famous bolt-action rifle of all time, and chances are they’ll say the Remington 700. The company claims that more 700s have been produced than any other bolt gun since the rifle’s introduction in 1962, and I don’t know anyone who would disagree.

The Remington 700 traces its roots all the way back to the M1917 Springfield, which was used extensively in World War I. The Remington Model 30 took its cues from this military rifle, and the Remington Model 721 was an updated version of the Model 30. But neither rifle did well commercially against Winchester’s Model 70, so Big Green went back to the drawing board. They came up with the Model 700, which was cheaper to make but still maintained tight tolerances and high quality.

The 700 was an immediate success, and its various configurations have been widely adopted by hunters as well as American military snipers, whose M24 and M40 rifles are based on the Model 700 design.

Features

The Model 700 has been offered in so many barrel, stock, and trigger configurations that it’s tough to summarize the rifle’s many potential features. Rifles boast capacities of three, four, and five rounds in blind internal box and hinged floorplate magazines, and many companies produce stocks that can accept detachable magazines.

The heart of the 700 is the action, which Remington has claimed is the strongest on the market thanks to its “three rings of steel” (bolt head, receiver, and barrel) that enclose the cartridge prior to firing. Other features of the action include dual opposing lugs, a c-clip extractor, and a plunger ejector. While various companies offer aftermarket triggers for the 700, Remington has partnered with Timney Triggers to provide upgraded versions of their factory triggers.

Availability

You can still purchase a factory-new Model 700 from Remington (now operated by the holding company RemArms). These are available in 14 variants featuring different barrel and stock options, and can be found in the $600 to $1200 range. Used Remington 700’s are ubiquitous–meaning, you could throw a dart blindfolded in a gun store and probably hit one. Many gun makers have also used the Remington 700 action footprint to produce stocks, triggers, receivers, and barrels, so finding aftermarket accessories for a 700 is a piece of cake.

Winchester 94

Cartridge Offerings

.30-30 Winchester (current production)

.38-55 Winchester (current production)

.450 Marlin (current production)

.32-40 Winchester

.25-35 Winchester

.32 Winchester Special

7-30 Waters

.307 Winchester

.356 Winchester

.375 Winchester

.357 Magnum

.44 Remington Magnum

.444 Marlin

.45 Colt

History

The Winchester Model 94 was another John Browning brainchild, and it has since become one of the most famous lever-action hunting rifles in American history. Its success was due partly to its excellent design, and partly due to its ability to fire the then brand-new smokeless powder cartridges. Smokeless powder could propel a bullet faster than black powder, and the 94 was the first rifle that could handle these higher-pressure cartridges, including the .38/55, the .32/40, and the .30/30.

Incredibly, the Model 94 has been in continuous production since its introduction. Winchester presented the 1,000,000th model to President Calvin Coolidge in 1927, and today the company has sold more than 7.5 million rifles.

As with several of the classic deer rifles in this competition, manufacturing changes make some 94’s more valuable than others. In this case, Winchester’s decision in 1964 to replace billet forged receivers with sintered ones and cut corners on smaller parts make pre-’64 rifles more desirable.

Features

The Model 94 has been offered in a variety of iterations, but original models featured a 26-inch round, octagon, or half-octagon barrel and could hold eight cartridges with one in the chamber. It weighed about 7.75 pounds, making it much lighter than the muzzleloading rifles of the time.

Firearms have come a long way in the last 130 years, but the 94’s classic lines have remained the same. Current production models are fitted with 20- or 24-inch round barrels with seven or eight-round tubular magazines, and weigh between 6.5 and 7.5 pounds. While some models incorporate modern advancements like recoil pads and are drilled and tapped for scope rails, Winchester still offers the classic carbine and rifle models. These also benefit from metallurgical advancements and adjustable rear buckhorn sights, but they retain the straight-gripped stock of the original.

Availability

As of this writing, Winchester lists five 94 models on its website, including the famous Carbine saddle gun along with the rifle-length Sporter. MSRP’s on these rifles range from about $1,200 to about $2,200.

Venturing onto the used market opens up an entirely different can of worms. Some of the most expensive guns ever sold have been highly collectible Model 94s, so if you’re interested in investing in firearms, that’s a potentially lucrative place to start. If you just want to own a 94 for the sake of owning it, and you don’t care too much about investment value, you can pick one up for as little as $900 (with some shopping around). But you’re more likely to pay at least $1,200–if not more.

October Madness

The Greatest Deer Rifle of All Time

Championship Round: Remington 700 vs. Winchester Model 70

Semi-Final: Remington 700 vs. Savage Model 99

Featured Gear

Semi-Final: Marlin Model 336 vs. Winchester Model 70

Savage Model 99 vs. Browning BAR

Remington 700 vs. Winchester 94

Winchester Model 70 vs. Remington 760/7600

Marlin Model 336 vs. Ruger No. 1