Any recommendations for an appropriate calibre /make of rifle for hunting in Greenland in the winter.

look at this....several calibers available.

http://www.winchesterguns.com/prodinfo/catalog/detail.a...type_id=012&cat=001C

As i live wery close to Greenland and our climate is fairly similar i think you can use just about any rifle there but stainless sinthetic is ofcorse better!

All of my rifles are blued, wooden stock rifles exept my tikka wich has a sinthetic stock and ive had no prolems!

Just dont ower lubricate the rifle as it can jam if its too cold!

What do you plan to hunt there?

Regards Ben
Iceland

quote:

Originally posted by sako:
As i live wery close to Greenland and our climate is fairly similar i think you can use just about any rifle there but stainless sinthetic is ofcorse better!

All of my rifles are blued, wooden stock rifles exept my tikka wich has a sinthetic stock and ive had no prolems!

Just dont ower lubricate the rifle as it can jam if its too cold!
What do you plan to hunt there?

Regards Ben
Iceland

Sound advice for those that are unfamiliar with colder climates.

I am hoping to hunt musk ox and seals during a winter hunt.

I like stainless rifles for the corrosion resistance but am not fond of the SS color. I had the Black T finish applies to a couple of SS rifles and I like them much better.

quote:

Originally posted by MarkH:
I am hoping to hunt musk ox and seals during a winter hunt.

Mark, a synthetic stainless rifle in 30-06 will do anything you want in Greenland. Have a look on the Tikka site, there is a model there called the Tikka T3 Lite Stainless that would be a good choice. Good accuracy, dependable, easy to carry and affordable. When you click on that model just go to the bottom of the page and click on calibres, there is a very good selection of choices if the 30-06 doesn't appeal to you.

Mark...
Make sure if you are using a rifle with a Remington type plunger ejector, that it is not oiled. It happened on a couple of occations when lynx hunting that my friends Remington just would not kick out the empty brass. The plunger was frozen stiff, or more spesific...the oil was frozen so that the plunger was stuck.
Once it ment a lost lynx......

For bad weather hunting on the Norwegian west-coast and northern part of the country, the stainless/ synth combo is gaining popularity.

And the temperatures can be pretty low here as well in November

Arild

quote:

Originally posted by Arild Iversen:
Mark...
Make sure if you are using a rifle with a Remington type plunger ejector, that it is not oiled. It happened on a couple of occations when lynx hunting that my friends Remington just would not kick out the empty brass. The plunger was frozen stiff, or more spesific...the oil was frozen so that the plunger was stuck.
Once it ment a lost lynx......

For bad weather hunting on the Norwegian west-coast and northern part of the country, the stainless/ synth combo is gaining popularity.

And the temperatures can be pretty low here as well in November

Arild

Cold in Norway? Nawwwwwwwwwww

Cobra... cold enough that it´s good to snug in front of the fireplace with a good single malt after an outing in late fall/ winter

Coastal areas are not that bad, but inland can be wery cold and dry in long periods. Army service thaught me that among other tings .........

If there is anywhere you should perhaps NOT use a SS rifle, it would Greenland in winter. It will be so cold, that rust is not going to be an issue (no moisture in the air). So as long you leave the rifle outside at night (the sensible solution anyway), there is no rust to worry about. But there is the extreme cold, and that could be a good reason to choose a rifle in CM. True or not, some people believe SS gets brittle in very cold temperatures.

As to calibers: I have found bigger works better for Musk-Ox. A .375 H&H is a great choice. Smaller calibers will kill them as well, but not with the same authority. The Inuit usually shoot everything with calibers like .222 or .223. For the seal hunting, you'll need a rifle/caliber that is accurate enough to make headshots. If you don't hit the seal squarely in the head, you'll most likely loose it.

If you can read German, this webpage Groenlandjagd.ch has quite a bit of information about hunting in Greenland. Although this is commercial information for the largest Greenland outfitter, there is quite a bit of practical information that might be of help??

- mike

quote:

Originally posted by Arild Iversen:
Cobra... cold enough that it´s good to snug in front of the fireplace with a good single malt after an outing in late fall/ winter

Coastal areas are not that bad, but inland can be wery cold and dry in long periods. Army service thaught me that among other tings .........

Arild, just teasing. I feel sorry for the people living in warm climates, they don't have a reason to sit in front of a nice fireplace and enjoy a single malt.

quote:

Originally posted by cobra:
...I feel sorry for the people living in warm climates, they don't have a reason to sit in front of a nice fireplace and enjoy a single malt.

Appreciate your'lls "concern", but we do right well "down here" snuggling with Hot Wild Women and Cold Pabst Blue Ribbons!
---

Hey MarkH, I prefer Stainless and Synthetic myself. And no, I do not hunt in weather as cold as what you will be facing. Since SAKO just this year sold their "Exploding Rifles Line" and decided it was best to keep it a Big Secret, I really can't agree with buying their products. Brand loyalty to people who really don't care about their customers seems a bit odd to me.

What other rifles and calibers do you currently have?

What cartridge and bullet weight is typically used on a Musk Ox?

Hi Hot Core

At present I have a Sauer 202 in 0.308 win and a Browning 375 H+H.
I have considered another sauer they make the Alaska which has a phosphatised and Ilaflon coated exterior metal and action and a beech laminated stock. The calibres are 300 win mag and 300 weatherby.
Any thought???

quote:

Originally posted by mho:
If there is anywhere you should perhaps NOT use a SS rifle, it would Greenland in winter. It will be so cold, that rust is not going to be an issue (no moisture in the air). So as long you leave the rifle outside at night (the sensible solution anyway), there is no rust to worry about. But there is the extreme cold, and that could be a good reason to choose a rifle in CM. True or not, some people believe SS gets brittle in very cold temperatures.
As to calibers: I have found bigger works better for Musk-Ox. A .375 H&H is a great choice. Smaller calibers will kill them as well, but not with the same authority. The Inuit usually shoot everything with calibers like .222 or .223. For the seal hunting, you'll need a rifle/caliber that is accurate enough to make headshots. If you don't hit the seal squarely in the head, you'll most likely loose it.

If you can read German, this webpage Groenlandjagd.ch has quite a bit of information about hunting in Greenland. Although this is commercial information for the largest Greenland outfitter, there is quite a bit of practical information that might be of help??

- mike

Mike, that's an old wives tale. We've been using stainless up here since it came out with no problems, ditto the guys in Alaska. You can tote a 375 if you wish but you certainly do not need a magnum for musk ox.

I have a liitle history with metal and cold weather, ie: 1 year winter over at the South Pole.

No, there were no rifles or weapons on the station but we did have a lot of experience with materails failing due to extreme cold.

From my experiences there is not much concern on materials of steel until you reach -50 F, below that approaches what I call the grey area and that is from -50f to -85F. Most plastics fail miserably in the grey zone, but steels perform consistantly until you reach the colder edge. Below -85 F any material is a problem, and once you get below -90F just about all materials are subject to catastopic failures, when exposed to stress. I have seen both stainless and carbon steels, aluminum, plastics, and cast fail at these temperatures.

I don't know what the low temps are you are anticipating, but unless you are expecting below -50-60F I wouldn't get too wrapped around that axle. I would pay a lot more attention to the lubricants your planning on using, cause most are going to be a big problem, and your odds of lubricant freezing and/or slugging up are just about 100% at these temps.

In my experience try completely cleaning your rifle with Kersone down to soaking so its squeaky clean. Rub all of the kersone off with a rag so the parts are dry, then lubricate with:
Molykote Z, mil part # mil m/866a (ASG).

Pay close attention to the inside of your bolt particularrly your firing pin assembly.

This lube won't work on a assembly that needs continuos lubrication like a motor or a transmission, but will work on bearing shafts etc.

On last note: at these low temperatures there is virtually no humidity in the air, the air is too cold to hold any moisture. Your carbon steel rifle isn't going to be rusting in this conditions. The weather simply needs to be warmer and more humid to get rust started. If your worried on a blued steel gun, after you have done the kersone tratment above, take a heat gun ( a plumbers torch works also but watch your heat) and heat your rifled action up until the steel has sweated out all the moisure( water). While its still warm apply Johnson's past wax, and polish. This serves two purposes; protection and beauty

Edit: one other thought, most native Americans that hunt seal think the 243 Win is "the" caliber.

Here in alaska I use the Winchester Model 70-300WSM in Stainless with Fiberglass factory stock....I had it pillar bed, free floated, glass bedded the action. In exteme cold weather use the synthecis oils as lube.

quote:

Originally posted by MarkH:
...At present I have a Sauer 202 in 0.308 win and a Browning 375 H+H. I have considered another sauer they make the Alaska which has a phosphatised and Ilaflon coated exterior metal and action and a beech laminated stock. The calibres are 300 win mag and 300 weatherby.
Any thought???

Hey Mark, Looks like a fine start on a good Battery to me.

I have a lot of experience with the Parkerized rifles(Phosphate coating) and a couple rifles with a Teflon coating that has held up perfectly with heavy use.

The Teflon needs no lubricants at all and in fact, none will stick to what is on mine(by Z-Coat in Miami, FL about 18-20 years ago). The reason I know is because when I went to pick them up, the GunShop Owner reached out and grabbed a can of Spray Lube(force of habit) and gave one barrel a spray. As he looked at it, nothing was on it, the lube just fell off. We had agood laugh about that.

I particularly like the Phosphate coatings because they will absorb lube and hold it against the metal. Once a year I simply wipe them down with a Synthetic Grease and set them out in the sun. The sun pushes the Grease right into the Phosphate and it works great for me - Zero Rust with a lot of hunting in the rain.

I do the Synthetic Grease treatment with my Stainless rifles too, but of course there is always some remaining to wipe off.

I'm really glad the guys with the cold weather experience jumped in, cause what they said makes sense as I read it. It also allowed me to learn something too. But, there is also Zero Chance any of my firearms will be exposed to anything close to what you all are hunting in.
---

Concerning "thoughts" on what to get next, my recommendation would be to go with another rifle that works "the same as" your current favorite rifle. If you get a different rifle with the Safety in a different place or that operates differently, then that is one more thing which has the potential to create confusion if you spot a real Trophy.

It doesn't have to be the same exact brand, but that doesn't hurt a thing if you really like what you have.

Choosing between the 300WbyMag and the 300WinMag should be based on what you are able to get "easily" in your part of the world. Both are absolutely outstanding cartridges and you can not go wrong with either of them. If you prefer 200gr bullets, then I'd give a slight edge to the 300WbyMag simply because it has a bit more case volume for Slow Powders.

Mark,
I am a Koyukon Indian/Inupiat Eskimo and live in the interior of Alaska. I carry many rifles throughout the year and attest to one thing, maint. of any and all rifles regardless of being either CM or SS will require a quality lube. I use Break Free on all of them and have no problems whats so ever even in the winter. The biggest concern should not be over looked and I believe taping the end of your barrel with electrical tape to prevent snow from entering and causing some serious problems to you and your firearm. I like and favor SS, in Alaska as I boat quite often up until the first of Oct. SS is the way to go. My preferred meat gun is for the better part for large game whether moose or bear is my 45-70 BUT in the fall I carry my .375RUM with my reloads-no such thing as overgunned just dead.

quote:

Originally posted by MarkH:
Any recommendations for an appropriate calibre /make of rifle for hunting in Greenland in the winter.

Mark, How about one of these in the classic 30-06. Jay

http://www.remington.com/firearms/centerfire/700xcr.htm