Need a new rifle and need some recommendations

If you like the Browning you will love the Benelli Argo

not as nice looking but greater reliability IMO

at my range I see too many browning bars have problems to want to hunt bear with it honestly

the Sauer 303 got the best hunting semi-auto trigger on the market. that with a thumbholestock is ridicoulusly easy to shoot great with
 
Will give this a try from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:
www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cmf?adfg=hunting.firearms

The summery is choose a caliber you can handle, many Alaska Big Game Guides prefer the hunter who is comfortable with is rifle and can hit the vital Lung/Heart area at 200 yards with his .270 - 308 - 3006 than the big caliber magnum hunter who is more likely to miss or worse wound the animal.
Large calibers give a good kick and a muzzel break is hard on the ears.

In short....BIG BORE can never replace a good shot placement.
 
The summery is choose a caliber you can handle, many Alaska Big Game Guides prefer the hunter who is comfortable with is rifle and can hit the vital Lung/Heart area at 200 yards with his .270 - 308 - 3006 than the big caliber magnum hunter who is more likely to miss or worse wound the animal.
Large calibers give a good kick and a muzzel break is hard on the ears.

In short....BIG BORE can never replace a good shot placement.
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I both agree and disagree. For BIG game, you should use the most powerful cartridge that you can hit with.

I don't agree that a powerful cartridge automatically precludes good shot placement. If you're going to hunt bison, you should make it your business to learn to shoot a powerful rifle well.
 
natman

Sorry I could not connect the page but it´s easy too find at www.google.com under Alaska Department of Fish and Game - Hunting - Equipment - Firearms and Ammunition.

Not many can handle the big calibors .300, .338, .357 or .416 magnums and shoot accurately and there is really no need!
I have no qualms useing my 308 with a 180gr. Norma Alaska on Big Game
 
I can only speak for the .338 Win Mag, but I would change "not many" to "anyone with a will and a little discipline".Problems start when someone buys a new rifle, bangs away just long enough to get themselves buffaloed, and heads off on their big adventure. Serious shooters take the time and ammo to know their rifle and shoot it well. I'm not exceptional. I shoot a relatively light.338 very well. Most anyone can if they want to and are willing to put in the time. I hope to make it to Alaska to hunt, and when I do, I'll be packing my 338 with some good 250's.
 
Bison?

How about a Sharps rifle in .45-70? With a 500 grain soft lead bullet going about 1,000 fps, the "buffalo hunters" killed bison by the tens of thousands. According to popular lore, shooting from a running horse at running herds.

Just learn to shoot from the back of a galloping horse and get real close.
 
well how about a 338-06 it's just under a 338 win mag ad far as muzzle velocity gos if your reloding it takes less poder and is easyer on the shoulder down side is you will have to reload because the fatery stuff is expensive
 
I've hunted bison only once so I'm not an expert. I crawled across the South Dakota prairie to get within 125 yards of a big female and toppled the animal with one shot through the head at butt of the ear. The animal died instantly. My rifle? Remington .308 carbine shooting 180 grain core-lokt ammo. I've used this same hunting outfit for a moose & caribou hunt in Saskatchewan yet experienced no problems at all regarding killing power or penetration through the chest organs. The local Cree people hunt moose with their 30-30 carbines.

It's been my experience that proper shot placement results in an animal downed rather quickly. Armor-plated animals do not exist except in the imaginations of the few who read too many magazine articles about magnum rifles.

Jack
 
toppled the animal with one shot through the head at butt of the ear.
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You can kill darn near anything with anything with a head shot.

In any discussion about "is cartridge X enough for animal Y?", a reply of "Yes, as long as you use a head shot." really means "No, it's not enough.".
 
In North America, unless its for Bear defense, I would stick with a .308 or .30-06 personally. Alot tamer on the shoulder and wallet.
 
Quote:
toppled the animal with one shot through the head at butt of the ear.
You can kill darn near anything with anything with a head shot.
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In any discussion about "is cartridge X enough for animal Y?", a reply of "Yes, as long as you use a head shot." really means "No, it's not enough.".
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You must have missed the part where he stated that his .308 performed well on chest shots on moose and caribou also.
 
Personally, I find that the 350 Rem Mag, 35 Whelen, 338 RCM or similar would be a best fit, but 300 WSM, 300 win mag, 338 federal or 45-70 would be more versatile.
 
You must have missed the part where he stated that his .308 performed well on chest shots on moose and caribou also.
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No, I just didn't consider it relevant to the point at hand, which was headshots.

Look, it's entirely possible to kill BIG game with a 308. However, if you are going to buy a new rifle from scratch for the express purpose of hunting elk and bison, there's no point in trying to stretch a deer cartridge into service.
 
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Look, it's entirely possible to kill BIG game with a 308. However, if you are going to buy a new rifle from scratch for the express purpose of hunting elk and bison, there's no point in trying to stretch a deer cartridge into service.
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I agree somewhat, but everyones circumstances are different. What about a recoil sensitive individual? What about someone who has semi auto 308's and wants a bolt gun to hunt with (me). What if they arent rich and want to shoot more often? (granted if they can afford a hunt like this they can probably afford to shoot)
 
gtriple

I do not still have the 300 win mag or the Weatherby. Both went away with sales/trades in the past. I will be purchasing a new rifle for these hunts. I plan on doing elk hunts yearly for the foreseeable future, so that would really be the priority.
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Said what you don't have, but didn't say what you do have!

Well anyway...Sounds like you have a great excuse to buy a new rifle :)

I like the recommendation for a 338WM. I was there at the same decision point some years ago you are at now.

I reload. So solved the same problem by adding a 9.3x62 instead of the 338.
 
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