What is the ultimate mountain rifle and caliber

The ultimate sheep and goat hunting rifle?

  • Weatherby Mark V Ultra light weight

    Votes: 4 8.2%

  • Remington Titanium

    Votes: 16 32.7%

  • Winchester Model 70 Stainless/Featherweight

    Votes: 12 24.5%

  • Any thing goes

    Votes: 17 34.7%
  • Total voters
    49
Shooting with a high heart rate doesn't require a heavy rifle, just lots of practice (note name). ;)

Heck I can't shoot without a heart rate of at least 160!!! :) :)
 
Hsmith,

You're obviously ke-rect about the wind.

& H&H,

Can't wait till I can get to AK where my Gore-Tex fails, my stock warps & steel rusts. :p

Seriously & do b'lieve I'd have to break down for a bit more all-weather rifle than I use.

Spoiled by CO weather all-in-all. We do get some nasty stuff here, but not the humidity.
 
Labgrade,
I've got to the point over the years that if it ain't stainless or at least coated and synthetic I don't carry it for a serious hunting rifle.

I have just had to much hell with wood stocks in wet cold/ dry hot/ hot humid/ back to dry cold weather. My .375 has not shifted zero ever in it's life and it goes from arctic hell to S.E moisture to texas heat to Africa and back to Elk country in Co nearly every year.

And yes Gore-Tex will become about as water proof as a cotton sock after about 10 days in serious rain and mud.
 
Biathlonman,

Your skill and experiance are a great factor. But you are shooting paper targets competing against other guys who have been jacking up theri heartrates so its all relative. Here we're talking about somebody who is trying to humanely put a live hoofed critter out of its misery, an absolute either/or proposition.

Plus there is the curiosity of wondering how a 50 or 60 year old who just shot a lightweight magnum rifle is going to go through six weeks of shoulder rehab before he can safely climb down off the mountain. :p

So regardless of the common sense of multiplying the last ounce by 20,000 steps if you ever see Meek out hunting mountain goats he will be carrying a regular weight rifle. :rolleyes:
 
Meek,
I would assume that your posterior would need more reheab than your shoulder. Of all the above mentioned caliber/rifle choices mentioned not one delivers more than a mild love tap and that is before we introduce adrenaline. Recoil starts at the .400 mag level, anything else is an angel fart.

I assure you in sheep country your posterior, legs, heart and lungs take a heck of alot more of a beating than your shoulder.
;)


That's my hairy chested testosterone soaked message for the day and I'm sticking with it by golly.:cool:
 
Hokay. Here's the scenario: You're way up and way out in the huff'n'puff country. You see your sheep/goat/elk/yeti and take aim.

You find your oh-so-light rifle has a severe case of wobble-about. What to do?

In our minds, let us return to the gunstore, okay?

Which of those rifles has the most weight forward of the receiver? (Assume they're rigged to roughly equal weight, within a few ounces.) A bit muzzle-heavy becomes a highly desirable condition.

Weight bias to the front--and I'm not talking extremism, here--helps you steady the rifle a bit when you take aim, offhand. I don't know about any of you, but I've been in many situations where it was either shoot offhand or forget the whole deal and go home.

This is one reason I like the Ti. Mr. Rem "made weight" by having a very light receiver with a fairly standard 22" barrel.

I'm ignorant as to the comparative handling of the others.

Art
 
Remington Titanium....

That is actually a really good setup for mountain. Longer barrel than most other rifles of the same weight - good velocity for longer shots and extremely lightweight! <drool> now if only I can convince the wife that I "need" one.
 
Savage 116 weather warrior. Its got a compact (almost a bull) barrel, its light, its weather proof.

Oh and its the rifle I use for just about everything.
 
Art
Generally speaking we do not wind up "jump shooting" sheep or goats. There tends to be a severe lack of brush/cover in sheep country. Usually it's one of those long drawn out spot, hike, spot some more, hike up hill for all of it, get as close as you can set up wait for the right shot situations. And many times the terrain forces us to reach out a bit on the shot.

While your point may have some validity I think it should cheek up properly as well which also helps with the wobbles. Your going to carry that rifle a heck of a lot more than your going to shoot it and in some steep country at high altitude. So the light part is a neccsesity in my opinon.

I think that a rifle in the 6-7lb range is plenty light enough. it's the 9 or 10 pounders that get cumbersome in my opinon.

And of course you never know when your going to have to snap shoot that goat of a life time so obviously your gun should point and shoot.
 
I assure you in sheep country your posterior, legs, heart and lungs take a heck of alot more of a beating than your shoulder.
Click to expand...
You'd be surprised how slow and careful I walk. :D

A standard weight Ruger Model 77 in nonmagnum sizes weighs about 7 pounds plus the scope as does a Savage Model 110. Ultra light knocks off about a pound. I'll just walk a little slower and not worry about that pound and go with Jack O'Conner's .270 Win rather than a magnum. Plus I'd carry a walking stick to use as a prop if need be, another 8 ounces.

Normal gym workout on the weight machines is 20,000 to 30,000 pounds so 24 ounces won't kill me. ;)
 
I recently handled the Remington Model 7 in Short Mag. It felt very good in my hands. Though I have never and probably never will hunt mountian sheep, it struck my mind this rifle would be a perfect match.
 
AS did the model 70 in .300wsm the first time I picked it up. I believe that these new Short mags may have a real nich in this application.
 
I believe there is a need for 'jump shooting' in mountain hunting.
True, you may spot your Ram from a great distance but during a stalk, which could take several hours, you might be (an should be) out of sight of the sheep and they do move. I'm sure not the first hunter to come over a rise and find the sheep where they weren't supposed to be fleeing in every which direction.
Yike's!, Which one? SHOOT NOW! Shooooot!

Having hunted sheep and goats, I can surely write that they are not always in those open ground Jack O'Connor type hunts. At the first sign of hunting season they often descend into the sub-alpine thickets and burns. There they are as uncanny as whitetails.

I'll be packing my full size 300 thanks.
 
Most of my hunting career has been below 7,000 feet; the vast majority below 4,000.

I went on an elk hunt in Colorado some 18 years ago. We camped at 10,500; I hunted over a "hill" top to 11,000. (Well, only 500 feet above camp ain't more than a hill.) "There ain't any air in the air, up there!"

A couple of miles with Ol' Pet up there seemed as long as a dozen or so, down below.

:D, Art
 
It is, Art, it is.

Getting the rear portion of my M7 stock hollowed out for a helium balloon. That'll cut down on weight & with the back section cut out to allow the balloon to "free-float," it'll be one great recoil pad too.

:p
 
Here's my options

Here's one for my practical side:

Tikka T3 Lite Stainless Synthetic, 270WSM, topped by a Leupold Vari-XIII Silver locked on 7 or 8X. The rifle is only 6lbs, 3oz. unloaded and unscoped - once fully dressed, it should be just right at around 8lbs. A tack-driver, I would not worry about it letting me down at the moment of truth.


Here's one for my old-fashioned side:

Pre-64 Model 70 in 300 H&H, fitted with a fixed 6X optical device. I would load it with 165-grainers sizzling out of the barrel at a hair over 3,000f/s. I don't think any sheep would scoff at this little setup.


Here's one for my NEXT HUNT!:

Vintage 1920's Jeffery Mauser in .333 Nitro Express, fitted with a nostalgic 2.5X Lyman "Alaskan". In the sleek 3-round magazine, 250-gr jacketed semi-spitzers from Hawk would be waiting to be propelled sheepbound at a good 2,600f/s.
 
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