Mountain hunting caliber

c-fbmi said:
Well gentlemen I have shot many sheep and a few goats on some relatively ugly real estate. After many, many back pack hunts for them I can tell you my priority became weight. I can shoot sub MOA groups with 375s and 340 Wbys and 458s and 470 NEs so recoil is completely irrelevant to me. Most of my sheep and goat hunting was in country shared by a very healthy population of grizzlies so when I decided to build a specific mountain hunting rifle I decided I wanted a rifle cartridge effective enough for grizzly that may be very close and aggressive. So I built this...............



It is a Remington Titanium in 300 WSM with a Brown Precision Kevlar 14 oz stock and a few other lightening parts. With the Leupold Vari X II 3-9 compact it weighs 5 lbs 15 oz. It loves 150 gn Barnes TTSX bullets so it fills my criteria for the odd problem bear I may encounter and gives me the ballistics I was seeking in a mountain rifle. As can be seen in the photo it has been blooded with the type of critter it was designed to hunt. It is also 100% weather impervious and I don't have to worry about rust or scratches. After 40 years of mountain hunting I believe I have come up with the perfect rifle and cartridge...........but of course that is JMHO.
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For the reloader, that's a damn suitable rig I don't think anyone can argue with......
 
Slamfire said:
Take out the brisket, or double lung it? ;)

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Shoulder..... all day every day...... at least if it isn't drt, it is disabled and a finishing shot may be executed... :)
 
c-fbmi said:
Well gentlemen I have shot many sheep and a few goats on some relatively ugly real estate. After many, many back pack hunts for them I can tell you my priority became weight. I can shoot sub MOA groups with 375s and 340 Wbys and 458s and 470 NEs so recoil is completely irrelevant to me. Most of my sheep and goat hunting was in country shared by a very healthy population of grizzlies so when I decided to build a specific mountain hunting rifle I decided I wanted a rifle cartridge effective enough for grizzly that may be very close and aggressive. So I built this...............



It is a Remington Titanium in 300 WSM with a Brown Precision Kevlar 14 oz stock and a few other lightening parts. With the Leupold Vari X II 3-9 compact it weighs 5 lbs 15 oz. It loves 150 gn Barnes TTSX bullets so it fills my criteria for the odd problem bear I may encounter and gives me the ballistics I was seeking in a mountain rifle. As can be seen in the photo it has been blooded with the type of critter it was designed to hunt. It is also 100% weather impervious and I don't have to worry about rust or scratches. After 40 years of mountain hunting I believe I have come up with the perfect rifle and cartridge...........but of course that is JMHO.
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5 lbs 15 oz! I like the design. Very impressive.
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You're from Calgary and I'm from Elkford so you most likely will be hunting the Rockies on the other side of the mountains from here. If you've been in them here you will likely have seen ALL the grizzlies in them. They are not extinct as the environmentalists would have you think. They have also learned to come into the sound of a shot for a free meal. My rifle is usually a 300 Magnum of some sort shooting a 180gr Nosler Partition @ 3000 fps +. In the last year there were a few hunters mauled by bears in the area. A 300 WSM, Winchester or Weatherby...whatever flavour you prefer, gives you a peace of mind a bit. They shoot flat and hit hard if you can handle a 6.5 lbs 300s recoil they are the cats ass...IMO
 
I have taken one bighorn and one stones sheep with my 338 win mag using 210 ttsx, I have hunted them with a 7 rem mag using 160 accubonds, a 270 win using 140 accubonds. My 338 is a kimber Montana that I have put an unknown amount of rounds thru, there has been lots of factory round practice and lots of load development once I started hand loading. The 7 mag was a model 700 with a heavy Boyd's stock, after a couple of seasons with that gun it got sold. The 270 is a kimber classic select that is very nice to carry. I just picked up a used m70 featherweight stainless in 300wsm that I might keep and make into a mountain rifle, I too like the ballistics of the 150 ttsx. All the sheep areas I hunt have grizzlies so I like my 338 and if I get lucky I might even get a grizzly LEH here in B.C. A light rifle is nice on the way up but you'll really appreciate a light rifle when you come out loaded with a sheep, I have never worked so hard stumbling thru the brush.
 
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Not a lot of guys can't handle a 300 WM. My son has a Tikka Battue that weighs about 6 lbs, and recoil is really not bad at all. The thing is, unless you go out and practice, practice, practice at longer ranges, a 7-08, 243 or 6mm/6.5 will be more than sufficient. Very few casual hunters can hit consistently beyond 300 yards. I would have put my HK G3, open sights, in my hands, against 95% of belted magnums I came across in the field, and I proved my point many, many times.
 
After going through a few Kimber Montanas I think I've settled on one in .270 win. I didn't choose it because of the chambering however. It's just the most accurate one I've come across. It's light enough, handles well, shoots flat and has enough power for most most jobs.
 
taz1977 said:
What would be a good caliber for mountain hunting big Horn sheep and other game I'm thinking about getting into mountain hunting more any information will be great thank you
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taz1977 said:
That's what I was thinking lighter the gun the better for caring up there
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taz1977 said:
I'm thinking more and more on building a rifle just for the mountain so I can get it as light as I can
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taz1977 said:
I have a .300 wsm in Browning xbolt my try to lighten that one up some
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KodiakHntr said:
The OP asked for a lightweight rifle, for the mountains. Kimber Montana 7/08 makes an ideal lightweight mountain rifle.
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Superbrad said:
KJ..... the OP didn't ask for a lightweight mountain rifle (likely because that comes up about 4 times a week)..... he asked for a caliber.......
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My bad, but you can see how that request got washed out a bit along the way....

So, as to caliber, 0.284. As to a rifle, should the OP be interested in a rifle suggestion, kimber makes a rather nice short action, the 84m. Think bullets first, then figure out what cartridge you want to use to propel it, then figure out your platform.

As to the rest of your post Brad, I don't disagree. Recoil tolerance is pretty subjective. Lots of folks out there shoot some boomers really well, but Joe Average generally doesn't....
 
Lots of good choices listed above. My choice would include: 270, 7x57, 7mm STW, 7x64, 300 wby, and since I have one an 8x68S.
 
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