When people talk about taking a backup rifle on a hunt are you really more concerned about failure of the rifle or the optics? I know anything can be broken when enough force is applied, but it seems to me that the scope would be the weak link in the chain. When you go on a hunt what do you take for backups in case of breakage?

Bob

Bob, I almost always take a backup rifle. I think I worry more about the scope, but a bad fall can break a stock or damage a bbl., bolt, etc. It's cheap insurance. Sometimes if I am hunting really different terrain, I'll take different rifles as well.
On a deer & elk hunt, my .338-06 for timber hunting & my #1 in 7mm Dakota for more open country.

I used to take a back up rifle but that's a kinda hassle. I take a back up scope that has been mounted on the rifle I am hunting with. And sighted in. When I take the back up scope off of the rifle, I leave the rings on it so its a simple switch if I have problems. If you use Weaver (style) bases and rings, there's no loss of zero swapping the scopes back and forth.
Actually, in 20 years of hunting the rough and remote of Colo and Wy, I can't recall any rifles nor scopes going south on me nor anybody else in my party. And that represents a lot of different brands of rifles and scopes.

Just got back from Ak the 4 of us had one back up stainless 30-06 along. It stayed in the case the whole trip. But you never know when something might go wrong. One back up for 4 guys was plenty.

I have two identical 7mmstw's and two identical 300ultramags with identical scopes on all.If one fails due to a fall or accident I simply use the other rifle of the same chambering.I have had to use a backup once due to a horse going wild and driving a rifle into a tree at full gallop.I did not trust the rifle after that and test firing it was not an option.

I always take a complete backup rifle with mounted scope. I had one experience where a scope mount broke a few years ago when I had no backup, never again.

I take a second scope in Talley rings ready to go. Have never had to use it though.

My backup is a .44 Super Blackhawk. Lives in my Saddlebags. I used it to kill a deer a woman hit with her car, first & only time I have needed a backup in 30 years.

I go same as p dog shooter, I take one backup rifle and everybody else that goes with just brings their one. Had to go to backup once, when somebody (I won't mention my brother's name) hadn't checked their OAL and couldn't chamber rounds in their rifle.

I figure it isn't much hassle to take a backup rifle and would rather just grab a different gun than swap scopes etc. Besides, other things go wrong sometimes (warped stocks, broken extractors, and such. I even heard of one guy getting so excited over a deer he yanked the bolt handle off the bolt! My stepfather was there and saw it).

It doesn't hurt to have one.

Red

I once went on a moose hunt with a parnter and we took three rifles. He saw a moose and shot it with his Savage .30-06 and could not eject the spent casing. Fortunately he hit it in the heart with the first shot and while he and the guide forced the case out after about 2 minutes of trying, the moose keeled over and died. (I was several hundred yards away and could not add any follow up or hand him my rifle for same.)

If he had missed, he would have needed that backup rifle.

He has shot many many rounds at the range using the same premium ammunition before AND after this incident with no repeat of the problem since.

It doesn’t matter what fails if it ends the hunt, but iron sights and a pre-zeroed scope should get you past dead optics. As for rifle failures, see ELKampMaster’s “CZ550 Firing Pin Mechanism Flaw??” thread on Big Bores. It’s a transplant of one I started on Gunsmithing, it’s got nearly 90 posts, and several knowledgable folks weigh in.

If my main rifle fails, I prefer to swap rifles and sort out the problem later, for two reasons. First, if I can’t fix it quickly, it probably needs to go to a smith. Second, if I have to make do with a rifle that failed, I tend to fixate on it and ruin my hunt. I’m a scoped bolt-gun guy, so my backup is usually a scoped Mauser 30-06. That gives me a rifle and sights that I’m used to, and if the supply mule runs off, I can probably find ammo for it.

It’s also wise to train up with different types of rifles and sights. On the hunt where my CZ 550 died, I did not bring a backup because Hawaiian Airlines only lets you travel with one rifle. I ended up using a stock 1895 Winchester in 30-06 with full buckhorn sights. It worked, but I had not shot an 1895 Winchester or anything else with buckhorns in years, and I did not feel as confident as I would have liked. I won't make that mistake again.

Hope this helps, Okie John.

I took a backup scope.....I assumed my PH or outfitter had a backup rifle.