The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Medium Bore Rifles New Mountain Rifle: Caliber DilemaGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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In the market for a new rifle to take into the hills/mountains after Chamois, Bighorn, different Ibex, etc The issue: either its a new 300 Win Mag (ammo avialable around the world... in case of airlines losing it...) or, something a bit more potent like the 7mm RUM, 340 Weatherby or something like that. Opinions most welome Rifle will most probably be an HS Precision PHL Cheers, | ||
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Okay; get a .30-06 or .270. A mountain rifle needs to be light and heavy recoiling cartridges are hard to shoot well in light rifles. It doesn't take much flinching to negate any potential trajectory advantage of a magnum round and the old standards will kill medium game as far as anyone can hit. God help your shoulder if you choose to use a .340 Wby in a mountain rifle. | |||
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I have both a Remmy 700 Titanium and a Winny 300 RUM in a Stainless Classic and if I were to climb mountains after that type medium game I would be toting the 270, which has enough power to get the job done at reasonable ranges. If I were after something larger, like Elk and the ranges could be on the long side them perhaps I would elect to carry the extra 2-1/2 pounds all day. | |||
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Dugonberbulu: Listen and listen carefully. If you are going to be climbing you should take a really, really hard look at a stainless synthetic Ruger in .300 Ruger Compact Magnum. They only weigh 6 3/4 pounds out of the box, are less than 40 inches long and will drive the 180 grain bullet of your choice at around 2900 fps. Think light and handy. Dave DRSS Chapuis 9.3X74 Chapuis "Jungle" .375 FL Krieghoff 500/.416 NE Krieghoff 500 NE "Git as close as y can laddie an then git ten yards closer" "If the biggest, baddest animals on the planet are on the menu, and you'd rather pay a taxidermist than a mortician, consider the 500 NE as the last word in life insurance." Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading (8th Edition). | |||
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My vote is for a 6.5x284 or a 270 WSM. I have a couple pals who are serious mountain hunters and they use the following: 300 Win Mag, 7STW and 257 Weatherby. I guess there is really no perfect solution. All feel optics are more important than caliber with S&B and Swarovski the favorites. | |||
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270 WSM or Weatherby would cut it. Very moderate recoil so they can be made light, but great long-range ballistics with svelte 130 to 150gr bullets. | |||
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I have NEVER regretted chooseing a 700 Rem., chambered in 280 Rem. for my mountain rifle. I've taken a pile of big game with it. DM | |||
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Exactly right.   | |||
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Lived and hunted out west in Colorado for a number of years. What I have learned is that if you are going to get a heavy recoiling rifle, make sure it weighs more than 8lbs with scope or you will probably develop a finch. Conditioning is everything, if 2 or 3 pounds is taxing on you then go back and do some more conditioning. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for a light mountain rifle. I just don’t believe that they should be in a super magnum caliber. My mountain light rifle is less than 5lbs and with the muzzle break, recoils very little. For the game you mentioned, my vote is for the 270 or 270WSM. I am partial for to the 270WSM because that is what I have. "though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression." ---Thomas Jefferson | |||
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Well, I guess my Rem 700 in 270 isn't going to be relegated to the back of the shelf just yet then... Its served me very well of the years. But, having been thinking of going up a bit to flatten out the longer ranges, as some of the Ibex require it based on where they're found. Thanks all for your comments! Now, how do I still get myself a new toy  | |||
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+1 ----------------------------------------------------- Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Proverbs 26-4 National Rifle Association Life Member | |||
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When I think "mountain rifle", I think 25-06, 270, 280 Rem, 7mm-08, 308, 30-06 in a light "handy" package. It would never cross my mind to choose a RUM or a Weatherby. You need a 26" barrel to get all the velocity out of those calibers and that just isn't a handy rifle. | |||
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I have no personal experience, but I was looking for a light "mountain" rifle. I had settled on a Tikka T3 Lite in 308, but other calibers are available. Dave, how accurate are those Rugers? Peter. Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong; | |||
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Peter, I am not sure yet. So far, I have only had it to the range once to put it on paper. If shooting at 25 meters counts, it's very accurate. Next step is to shoot it across the chrony to see how it is doing and select a powder and bullet weight. Then, I will see how it is doing for accuracy. It has been pretty windy up here so finding a time to shoot across the chrony has been tough. I'll let you know. The Rugers I have had in the past have been quite accurate. Dave DRSS Chapuis 9.3X74 Chapuis "Jungle" .375 FL Krieghoff 500/.416 NE Krieghoff 500 NE "Git as close as y can laddie an then git ten yards closer" "If the biggest, baddest animals on the planet are on the menu, and you'd rather pay a taxidermist than a mortician, consider the 500 NE as the last word in life insurance." Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading (8th Edition). | |||
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I have spent my entire almost 65 years living in and hunting the mountains of BC and western Alberta. I also carried a rifle everyday for many years a a working tool while living alone and working in these mountains. I completely agree with the comments here and prefer handloaded rounds such as these, especially the .270Win. and .280Rem. to anything else and my many rifles, so chambered, wear good synthetic stocks, useable iron sights, medium power variables from Swarovski, Zeiss and Leupold and weigh about 7-7.5 lbs. ready to rock. I have lots of larger bore and magnum rifles, as well, but, one does not need these and the lighter ones are both effective and much handier. | |||
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Haven't been able to hit paper yet to tell!!!!!!!!!! | |||
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Since you indicate you already have a .270 Win., I see little reason to change calibers or chamberings. My .270 Win. gives me 2930 fps with a 150 gr. Partition handload and is boriningly accurate. I can totally depend on it. What's not to like? You already have yours and you know how it performs - that's very important. I estimate that mine weighs in the neighborhood of 8 - 8 1/4 lbs. with it's H-S Precision fiber glass stock but I'd much rather haul a couple of extra pounds with the knowledge that it will perform if I do my part. You will be spending a lot of money and these trips will not be "weekend warrior" types. Your gear/equipment will have to be dependable all of the time. Just my opinions for whatever they're worth. Bear in Fairbanks Unless you're the lead dog, the scenery never changes. I never thought that I'd live to see a President worse than Jimmy Carter. Well, I have. Gun control means using two hands. | |||
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I tend to agree with "Bear in Fairbanks", the .270 Win has no moss growing on it. It would certainly take easily all the animals you mentioned. If you want something larger to play with you might be wise to try the .300 Win first, the .340 Wby is a whole nother kettle of fish. I own and shoot both extensively and have for years. For those who have never handled heavy recoil, the .340 Wby can be a handfull. Good shooting. phurley | |||
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#dumptrump opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club Information on Ammoguide about the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR. 476AR, http://www.weaponsmith.com | |||
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I would put it in a McMillan Edge and rock on! Jason Z Alberts “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you." – Samuel Adams | |||
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Steyr Scout in .308. Stick with the IER low-power Leupold. Let the flames begin. Good hunting. | |||
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I love the 300WSM. Looks like a .308, no recoil like a .308. Shoots flatter. | |||
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If you have confidence in your shooting try a Merkel K1 single shot in 270 Winchester. (K3 may be the latest model). This rifle is light & accurate. | |||
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That would be my choice as well Mine is a Remington 700 Titanium in .270 Win and with Titanium Scope Mount and a Swarovski PV-N 3-12x50 sitting on it... deadly so far! http://titanium-gunworks.com/e...um-scope-mounts.html   Klaus | |||
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+1 My thought exactly | |||
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North American sheep aren't hard to kill. I know several hunters up north use a 25-284. I would concentrate on the weight issue first and then select something along the lines of a 6.5 or 270. Good luck! | |||
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Yup, that's a combo that works anywhere! Keep your plow and sword, know how to use both. | |||
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Give it some class and make it a 7x64  | |||
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There is nothing wrong with a 26 inch barrel on a mountain rifle. I have a couple of Weatherby ultra lightweights in 257 and 300 and they are easy to carry, very accurate, and the 257 is very easy to shoot (so is the 300, but it has a brake). That said, my all time favorite is a 700 Titanium in 260Rem. I only wish it was a 6.5-06. | |||
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Or, if you don't mind a single shot rifle, you can get either a falling block or a break action with a 28" barrel and still have a rifle only as long overall as one with a 24" bbl on a bolt gun. That nice long bbl will likely gain you about 100 or more fps velocity over the same cartridge in a 24" bbl and moderate the muzzle blast a bit more too. My favorite elk rifle is such a gun with a 26" bbl, chambered for 7x65R and it does a fine job with RWS H-Mantles. My rifle I would pick for a Chamois hunt is a similar rifle but with a 28" BBL chambered in 6.5x53-R. If I had to do a LOT of technical climbing on the hunt, I'd probably take something like a TCR-83 with a 24" '06 or .270 win chambering, though a .243 in the same rifle would work fine too. For a NA mtn. rifle ANY off-the-shelf LW .270 or .280 is also hard to beat for the money, as is a Ruger M77 RSI in your choice of chamberings. I have, and have used, all of the rifles mentioned in my post here, and find it danged hard to choose between any of them. All are good. Talk about living in a golden age of riflery, this HAS to be it.....!!! The one piece of advice I would give you for sure, is to keep your scope small and light. I don't care what kind of hunting you do, you will likely NEVER need a magnification higher than 8-X, and the longer the ranges you shoot at, the less you will need the weight and bulk of a variable scope. The more weight and size your scope has, the more it will unbalance a light rifle (make it top-heavy) and the more awkward it will be to hold steadily when you are in an awkward position and/or winded on a mountainside. Been there. Experienced that. Still a few thousand things you can build, buy, try. All can be fun, effective and educational. Good luck, and have fun. My country gal's just a moonshiner's daughter, but I love her still. | |||
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Yeah, stick with the .270 Winchester. Look at how Jack O'Connor rated the cartridge for a Mountain Rifle. I was considering doing the same and going for the .270 WSM, but it just seems that there really isn't that much performance difference between the 2 cartridges based on my own experiences when I had my Blaser .270 and a mates .270 WSM (Kimber). I don't own the Blaser anymore, I have actually gone for a 7mm WSM Kimber. She was only the Fish Mongers daughter. But she lay on the slab and said 'fillet' | |||
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+2 Aim for the exit hole | |||
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 Using AC'S long barrel single shot approach, an adequately throated 25-06 with a good 120 grain bullet seems to deal with weight, recoil, range and energy at a distance just fine, as would a similar rifle in 6mm Rem. and 110 grain bullet.JMHO!  rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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I'm not a big 270 fan, but it makes the most sense for the game species you are talking about. Flat shooting, hits hard enough for those critters. I went w/ a 280 for mine, just because I don't like the 270. Anything much bigger than that in a 6-7# rifle isn't going to be fun to practice with. My 280 is ready to hunt @ 7.2# w/ a 23"bbl. It delivers a 140grNP @ 3000fps, plenty flat shooting enough. For bigger game, 160grNP @ 2800fps is still pretty flat shooting w/ little recoil in a very handy rifle. Ammo availablity traveling abroad is going to be dicey at best for even something as common as the 270. I have never lost my ammo, that would likely mean my rifle is gone too. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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I am doing the same 6 to 7LB synthetic stocked rifle. But just to be different am cambering it in a 6.5-06. It obviously will nothing that a .270 or a .280 won't do. I just wanted something unique. | |||
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280 AI, you can also shoot 280 Rem. JD338 | |||
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Roger and Surestrike both have mentioned very viable options. The .25-06 would have been an even better choice back when I built my first one. At that time 130 grain .257" bullets were available to handloaders from Hi-Precision Bullets headquartered in Frank deHaas' home town in Iowa. I used an awfully lot of them, and for a cup 'n core bullet they were good stuff!! A 6.5-'06 might be an even better choice today because of the really good VLD bullets available. And, of course there are NO flies on the 6 m/m Remington either...it can be built even lighter and handier than the other two. My country gal's just a moonshiner's daughter, but I love her still. | |||
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I've never understood the hunter who worries about his rifle being several pounds too heavy, when he is 30 pounds over weight! AIU | |||
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I empathize with where you are coming from...and am not taking it personally anyway, as I am 6'3" and 215 pounds. Still, facts are facts. If the poor bugger is stuck in an office environment 50-60 hours per week to feed and maintain his family, plus 2 hours or more commute each day, realistically speaking he probably isn't going to suddenly lose that extra 30 pounds for hunting season. So, he will already have to tote an extra 30 pounds around with him in the field. Why make it an extra 33 pounds by also carrying a heavier rifle than he needs to have? Plus, if he is using his mountain rifle in an area where he has to do ANY technical climbing, it is just plain safer to have as small and as light a sufficient rifle as possible . Doesn't make any difference how lithe and fit one is if his rifle snags on a rock or something and he falls 100 feet or more down a mountain face. Even a 150 pound weight free-falling into a boulder field is going to likely be pretty messy. My country gal's just a moonshiner's daughter, but I love her still. | |||
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Because carrying 2# more in your hands is harder than carrying 30# more on your body. I personnaly don;t get anyone being 30# over wt, I also don't get the drive for a rifle much lighter than 7#. I do know I can carry my 7.2# 280 all day anywhere. My 10.5# 404j is a bit of a chore for long walks even on flat African ground.  LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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