Dad was a Bren gunner in the 1st. Div. through Sicily and Italy and long after the War he proclaimed that to be his favourite weapon by far..
Hunting Rig with a Bull Barrel (1.25" straight contour)
- Thread starter saltbait
- Start date
Dad was a Bren gunner in the 1st. Div. through Sicily and Italy and long after the War he proclaimed that to be his favourite weapon by far..
Very good point
Guys with sharps have done it for 150 years and hawked ML were not light. 
My go to rifle is a Ruger 77V in 280. these are not the easiest or best hunting guns for long walks, but they work and put the bullet wher it should be. If you are in coulees or Rockies then I would look for something much lighter. Your choice.
My go to rifle is a Ruger 77V in 280. these are not the easiest or best hunting guns for long walks, but they work and put the bullet wher it should be. If you are in coulees or Rockies then I would look for something much lighter. Your choice.
- Location
- Nova Scotia
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
Nowarning has it right with the "bean field" thing and only if every shot you envision can be a supported rest situation. Moving or free hand shots become very difficult to almost impossible . If you want to get feel for what freehand shooting is like with a heavy barrel before you spend the money, find an old industrial crow bar and head out across your hunting area, after carrying that thing for a while try to "freehand" hold it up steady on an imaginary target for a minute or so. If you need to hit something in the eye at 100 yrds and have a rest, the heavy barrel will work wonderfuly but if you need to hit a "trotting along" 200 inch WT at 400 yrds the last thing I would want is a heavy barrel.
I know where your going with this thought process but it's been done and tried by many people before us and there is a reason why millions of hunting rifles are manufactured and sold in the configuration they are...likewise there is a reason target rifles are manufactured in the configuration they are...while a slight overlap (the eye shot at 100 yrds) is possible,quite simply they both work best in their own world.
I know where your going with this thought process but it's been done and tried by many people before us and there is a reason why millions of hunting rifles are manufactured and sold in the configuration they are...likewise there is a reason target rifles are manufactured in the configuration they are...while a slight overlap (the eye shot at 100 yrds) is possible,quite simply they both work best in their own world.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
The problem you'll encounter with this approach is that the rifle will not only be heavy for typical big game hunting, it will also be poorly balanced. I have a 20 pound target rifle that interests me not in the least when it comes hiking around looking for game. Cutting the 28" barrel down to 20" wouldn't change my point of view one bit. If you intend to use a full diameter barrel, you might as well have some weight in the stock to help with balance, not that you'll be shooting this thing off hand anyway. If your chambering is for an overbore cartridge, barrel lengths of less than 24" can adversely impact the ballistics you anticipate; if you're going with something more along the lines of a .308, a short barrel is somewhat more appropriate. Your gunsmith might have a computer program that allows him to calculate the optimal balance based on barrel length and stock length and weight. There's nothing wrong with spending big money on one rifle that you can use for a broad range of shooting applications. But the heavier the rifle is, the less you can conveniently do with it, whereas a lighter rifle gives up little on the target, provided you're not shooting competitively, or firing multiple rounds without allowing the barrel to cool. In a big game hunting scenario where a shot or two does the deed, nothing is gained by choosing the heavy barrel.
So how can you hunt with this rig once it's made? You can shoot from a blind or a stand over bait. You can shoot from a prone position taken some distance away from a treeline as deer emerge to feed in the field. Or if you have the skills and the support equipment, you can give long range game shooting a try.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Are you planning on hunting from a fixed blind or walking? In this South Shore country I'd rather have a sore ass than a 25lb rifle trying to get through the bush. If you're sitting over apples or a large field you could get away with it but it would be a pretty specialized rig.
Id say balance and ergonomics are more of a pointing issue then bull barrel or not.
Eh physical abilities aside its up to preference.
They all go bang, it depends how well you can use it.
Your fine, rock your HB rifle and enjoy the long distance game taking ! its a hoot !
