Old School Meets New School- Sheep/ Mountain Rifle

that is gorgeous country Whelanlad. I am going to do Tahr in NZ one day for sure. Perhaps with my kids when they get old enough. My buddy is considering a Tahr tag on our Nepal hunt in October. I am only doing a blue sheep this time as I want to try and get a really good one and may need lots of time.

Love being in the hills. Great pics and great rifle. Thanks for that.

I love my 26 Nosler mountain gun. This "classic" rifle I am building is meant to compliment it and not replace it. The 26 Nosler out of a 26" barrel hits very hard and my gun is very accurate. I killed an Ibex that another hunter had wounded at 644 yards with it in Kyrgyzstan (normally I would not shoot that far unless at wounded game) and a Tur in Azerbaijian at just over 500 yards. The tur my feet were being held so I didnt fall off the cliff and it was as close as we could get. Those mountains in Azerbaijan are pretty scary in some spots. Lots of other game has fallen to that rifle as well.

But I am thinking about a horsepack Dall hunt in 2-3 years and maybe this rifle will be ready for that. Would be really cool to do a Dall ram the classic way with the classic gun.
 
That Would be cool indeed. Horse back, canvas tent, a classic rifle… you will need a classic knife to match!!
 
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I have a kimber classic select in 270 win. It's about as good as it gets along with the M70 supergrade in a modern made factory rifle with the classic style. I've taken my little kimber sheep hunting once, it is very well balanced and a joy to carry. I say go 270 win or 30-06 for a caliber and build it on a good mauser action. I like the Richard's microfit stock in the early posts, looks beautiful.
 
DGY said:
That Would be cool indeed. Horse back, canvas tent, a classic rifle… you will need a classic knife to match!!
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Update on this thread.
I bought 2 1947 WInchester Model 70 actions.

I have chosen to work with SC Gun Works https://scgunworks.ca/rifle/

We are doing a .270 Winchester. We ordered a Krieger barrel and we are working on securing the wood now. Lots of decisions. I might do a blog/thread on this project. I will keep posting some updates here for those that are interested.

Oh yah and......I booked the hunt. September 2024 with Mac Watson's horseback outfit in the Yukon. Dall Sheep/Grizzly bear combo.

So the I am moving forward with my 40th bday present to myself....the classic sheep hunt with the classic sheep rifle.
 
So, the hunt will be North of $25,000. Good choice on the 270 work. Fair to ask what the rifle will likely take to finish?

If you prefer not to answer, I certainly understand.

Best of luck in both endeavors.
Ted
 
AR15meister said:
Update on this thread.
I bought 2 1947 WInchester Model 70 actions.

I have chosen to work with SC Gun Works https://scgunworks.ca/rifle/

We are doing a .270 Winchester. We ordered a Krieger barrel and we are working on securing the wood now. Lots of decisions. I might do a blog/thread on this project. I will keep posting some updates here for those that are interested.

Oh yah and......I booked the hunt. September 2024 with Mac Watson's horseback outfit in the Yukon. Dall Sheep/Grizzly bear combo.

So the I am moving forward with my 40th bday present to myself....the classic sheep hunt with the classic sheep rifle.
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That would be my dream hunt. Envious.
I would take my Brno Effect single shot in 308 as a primary for sheep and my CZ 557 Synthetic in 8x57 as inclement weather backup. If on a Griz hunt, I would up the ante with my 45-70 Henry lever.
 
Why not? said:
So, the hunt will be North of $25,000. Good choice on the 270 work. Fair to ask what the rifle will likely take to finish?

If you prefer not to answer, I certainly understand.

Best of luck in both endeavors.
Ted
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I am not really sure. We aren't going to go crazy with engraving, etc. I will keep you guys all in the loop. Its a cool project and I think some here will enjoy seeing it take shape.
 
AR15meister said:
Boys/Girls,

I am thinking of doing a custom wood stocked rifle.

.....

Wanted some input from anyone who has done it or dreamed of doing it.

I am doing a 21 day Stone sheep/moose/goat/caribou BC 'safari' in August and will take my good old Christensen this time ......
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My knees already hurt. But that would be a heckuv'an experience.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
My knees already hurt. But that would be a heckuv'an experience.
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I find that after a few days of hard climbing, it's more painful to go down the hill than up it! I'd have to the the "sideways descent". There ain't a rifle light enough for me to carry in the mountains for 21 days though! I'd probably take a 26" .28 Nosler and sight in for a grand just to make up for my laziness :)
 
mikeyb said:
I find that after a few days of hard climbing, it's more painful to go down the hill than up it! I'd have to the the "sideways descent". There ain't a rifle light enough for me to carry in the mountains for 21 days though! I'd probably take a 26" .28 Nosler and sight in for a grand just to make up for my laziness :)
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MY current mountain gun is a 26" 26 Nosler Ridgeline. I am carrying it this year in Nepal for blue sheep. wicked gun!

Shot a stone ram with it this past summer ( and a goat and a caribou!).
 
An American classic cartridge to pair with your 270 Win, on your other action could be a 35 Whelen for larger game (moose. elk, grizzly, eland, etc.), and has the benefit of loaded ammo for you. I also like the suggestion of the 338 Win Mag, but my preference for paired rifles is with same parent cases, such as the 270 and 35 Whelen. Not sure of OP's opinion on this matter from the thread.

While my rifles may not quite be of the the classic mountain rifle design, for pairing, I went with the 280 Rem and 338-06 in laminated stocks for warmth of wood, and stability. The 338-06 was good while Weatherby made ammo for it,and then they discontinued it. All is good again, as Nosler has picked it up and building ammo for it now. Not much I cannot do in North America with this pairing, using 150 and 225 gr bullets respectively!
(In European flavour, I paired the 6.5x55 with a 9.3x62; but again, not mountain rifles, but wood/blued Sako's! LOL and just for those who may have noticed, I know that they do not share the same parent case...just loved the history and performance of both)
 
Update.

After a busy fall and a wild sheep hunt in Nepal where I shot a 12 year old blue sheep ram at 15,200ft and then walked solo to Mount Everest over 6 days and then a ton of business trips and some time down south avoiding the cold I have started to get back on top of this rifle build.

Stelios at SC Gunworks in ON commissioned a custom ultralight scope mount which we had made and I ordered and received a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18 "Sheep Hunter" Scope with a Plex reticle and the ballistic turret.

We have purchased a custom trigger from Jewell.

Tonight I am visiting his shop to go over some details for the rifle and to finalize our selection for the wood blank.

At this point my build is envisioned as a classic American but fundamentally minimalist design. Weight savings and sleekness with spectacular wood. The only real jewelry/adornment I am considering is an engraved grip cap. For the engraving I am considering either one of the 4 rams from North America (possibly the Desert Bighorn as an homage to Jack O'Connor's favourite game animal to hunt) or some sort of predator (leopard or Arizona diamondback rattler?)

We also plan to incorporate some of inlaid kingman turqoise as an homage to my favourite state in the USA where I have a winter home, Arizona. Also, Jack O'Connor's home state.

Unlike O'Connor's rifle, I am going to put a pad on the butt end, likely a vintage style orange/red one. I can guarantee this rifle encountering hard use in the mountains of North America and Asia and therefore want something that wont slip when leaned against a tree, truck, rock, etc.

Stay tuned for some pics, we are going to photograph some of the process.

I was at the Sheep Show convention in Reno NV this past winter and spoke with the President of the Wild Sheep foundation, of which I am a life member, about (amongst other topics) this build and the dall sheep hunt. They have asked me to write an article about the process and the hunt for Wild Sheep magazine.

I also visited with the people from the Jack O'Connor Hunting Heritage and Education Center in Lewiston Idaho. They had his old #2 rifle there at the sheep show. I got to check it out for about an hour with them and told them about my plans. It was really cool.

That same night at the bar I bumped into Shane Mahoney and enjoyed a drink with him. We chatted and he offered to look over my article prior to sending it off. I was a little bit drunk so hopefully I remember that correctly..... What an amazing experience. If you are a sheep hunter, that show is so cool.

I also did something (which may have been a little foolhardy) and tentatively booked a Desert Bighorn hunt in Sonora with one of my good outfitter friends, Guinn Outfitting, who I hunted Rocky Bighorns with back in 2020 (we were unsuccessful). I will hear back on that soon based on the availability of tags in the area I want to hunt. This hunt would be for January 2024 and if the rifle is ready I will bring it on this hunt as well, which means 2 sheep hunts in 2024 (I am taking 2023 off to save money and avoid wife issues .......unless something comes up that I cant refuse). I am going to break this to Stelios tonight when I see him to drop some stuff off and tell him we need the gun ready and sighted in by XMAS.....LOL. !

I am glad to share this with you fellow enthusiasts. My wife can only hear about this rifle and my crazy mountain/hunting adventures so many times.
 
Cool update, and well timed.

I had been re-reading some of the LW/Sheep build threads I had saved from years past just over the last few days gathering ideas for a Backcountry type build. Chances are if I didn’t have an ‘06 I’d be running a .270Win for my hunting purposes.

I’ve watched some of the online portions of Sheep Week, mostly the Governor's tag (?) that goes for stupid $$, but I get all the proceeds into back into Sheep conservation, so kudos for them doing that.

Looking forward to updates and photos of this build as you progress.
 
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