I need a small, light mountain rifle for elk...

Another vote for the model 7. Mine is 18" barrel 308 that shoots 3/4" groups with 155 bergers. Bell and Carlson stock lightens it up even more, sometimes I forget I'm even carrying it.
 
If I had a large budget, I would get the Kimber 84M. It is a very light rifle that I wish it had a muzzle brake in the .270 I shot. I'm guessing it was under 6lbs with the Leupold FX scope that was on it. I still want one but in .308 with the muzzle brake. Now if you are like me and on a thinner budget, I would look hard at the Ruger American Compact versions in .308win. Or even the fullsize rifle in 30-06. Both rifles are very light weight for what they are and extremely accurate out of the box.
 
By no means do i want to derail the thread. However why would one need or even want a .308 with a muzzle break? They dont kick hardly at all?? Seems useless to me. Not to mention obnoxiously loud.
 
Northslope Nimrod said:
I appreciate having various options because I'm a lefty and its not easy to find exactly what you want in a bolt action. Options are good.

I should have also mentioned that I prefer a safety that pushes forward, like you find on the Remington 700. My muscle memory is used to that. I still fumble at times with my AR or a shotgun with a trigger housing safety, or one that pushes down as opposed to forward. (Make sense?)
Click to expand...

Being a Lefty your options on lightweight rifles is going to be severely limited. It looks like Ruger American, Tikka T3 Lite, and Browning Micro Midas will be your best options for having rifles stay less than 7.5 lbs by the time you add a scope, full magazine of ammunition, and sling. These rifles all have tang safeties and you should push them forward to take them off of safe, but they are not the same as the Remington safety. The three rifles I mentioned all start right at 6 lbs naked, anything Remington or Savage offers in left hand starts at 7 lbs and goes up from there.
 
To the guys bringing up the brake on a .308, look and see how light that rifle is. If I remember right, it's under 5lbs w/o optics. Say what you want, rifles that light are not fun to shoot with full power loads.
 
However why would one need or even want a .308 with a muzzle break? They dont kick hardly at all?? Seems useless to me. Not to mention obnoxiously loud.
Click to expand...

My first deer rifle was a Rem 600 in .308 Win. Recoil is a very personal thing. I wouldn't put it in the class of "don't hardly kick at all". There is no small difference, for most of us, between shooting a .308 in a 6lb carbine and shooting the exact same thing in a 9-10lb semi auto.

As to a brake making it too loud, my experience is that the fellow pulling the trigger doesn't notice it much.
:D
 
As to a brake making it too loud, my experience is that the fellow pulling the trigger doesn't notice it much.
Click to expand...
Yep. :D







...Unless you're in a stand of trees where there are a dozen surfaces nearby to reflect the pressure wave back to the shooter. Then a muzzle brake can be a bit annoying.

...But I still have a brake on two of my 'Elk rifles' that were built specifically for close-quarters / short-range environments. (.458 SOCOM [16" bbl] and .475 Tremor [14.5" bbl])
 
To the guys bringing up the brake on a .308, look and see how light that rifle is. If I remember right, it's under 5lbs w/o optics. Say what you want, rifles that light are not fun to shoot with full power loads.
Click to expand...

I had a Remington carbine with a 20" barrel in 308 and I thought it was a bear to shoot. And I like shooting the 45-70 I used to own and shooting my 54 caliber BP rifle. The recoil of the rifle was sharp. I also bought 308 military loads for cheap practice. That didn't work either. They kicked even harder and needed a sight change to hit the target. I sold the rifle. And I truly regret selling it. I should have bought dies and worked up some lighter loads. So yes recoil affects people in different ways.

I have an older remington model 7 with the walnut stock and 18.5" barrel in 7-08. Its a kitty cat to shoot. But you still get a jolt from it.

I always thought one of these in 7-08 with a small scope would be a good woods rifle. I would have to have a little longer recoil pad installed but if you are wearing a thick coat like I was every time I went to colorado to hunt you might be OK like it comes. It should be plenty of power for your under a 100 yards shots and out to 250 or so.

http://www.ruger.com/products/HawkeyeCompact/models.html
 
Stock fit matter A LOT!

and if you think a light .308 like a Rem 600 or model 7 is bad, try shooting the same model rifle in .350 Rem Mag! :eek:
:D
 
if you like the black and blue look,try a ruger #3 in 45-70 with top loads(2000fps+) with the 400gr jacketed bullet. i fired two and was going to fire the third but i could not bring myself to do it, i backed the load down to a 300gr bullet at 1600 fps. eastbank.
 
eastbank that was what I ended up doing with my 45-70. A 300gr remington hollow point at 1600fps. I killed a deer with it and then decided my 44 mag rifle would do the same thing so I sold the 45-70 marlin.

It just doesn't take much to kill a deer. I remember one Jack O'Conner story where he ran into a friend name Charlie Ren(SP?) hunting Big Horn sheep or Mountain Goats ( I don't remember for certain) with an old 30-30. Jack was surprised by the rifle choice and Charlie replied "knocking them over is easy, its finding them that's so damn hard". A good point in my book.

If I had been smart enough to keep that remington carbine in 308 I would have loaded some 30-30 170gr bullets to a start velocity of 24-2500 fps and had a darn good 200 yard load. About twice as far as I need for the way I hunt.
 
if you like the black and blue look,try a ruger #3 in 45-70 with top loads(2000fps+) with the 400gr jacketed bullet.
Click to expand...

I got my No.3 over 30 years ago, used, and it came with a nice thick ventilated recoil pad attached. It also came with 50rnds loaded by the previous owner in a box clearly labeled "Ruger No.3 ONLY! NOT FOR BLACKPOWDER GUNS!"

350gr Hornady RN, 2200fps (I chronographed it). This has been my "go to" ammo whenever I had a visitor shooter who wanted to shoot "something that Kicked".:eek: :rolleyes:

I still have 18 of them left. To date, no one has ever asked for a second shot. :D

One of my friends, who has Sharps and Winchesters, won't shoot my No.3, even with FACTORY 405gr loads! Too light, too much kick, he says.

Light rifle, powerful round = significant recoil. You pay for what you get, one way, or another.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top