the sheep are getting rifles??? Oh snap we screwed...
Sheep hunting Rifles
- Thread starter izakaman
- Start date
the sheep are getting rifles??? Oh snap we screwed...
I would say find the rifle you like first and then decide on the cartridge. The WSM chambering doesn't necessarily mean the rifle is lighter, some manufacturers use the same action regardless of cartridge length and just move the bolt stop. In some rifles you can hold one more in the magazine with the standard magnum versus the WSM. Not knocking the WSM here, just saying take a look.
I hunt sheep for a week or two most years, not this year because my wife's having another baby during sheep season, and if I'm hunting bighorns in Southern BC I use a 270 Win in a Winchester 70 fwt. In Northern BC I carry a 300 H&H or 300 Win and it's not because of bears. I like to have the extra power for elk, moose etc that you inevitably encounter during sheep hunts up North, it's what makes me a terrible sheep hunter and has severely limited my success on sheep. I'll abandon sheep hunting at the drop of a hat and go chasing caribou or goats or whatever else. I haven't taken a moose during a sheep hunt but I would. I always head out with every intention of hunting sheep but I'm easily distracted. The extra power of a 300 is nice for this kind of hunting, you never know, you might bump into the trophy of a lifetime up there and it might not be a sheep. Within reason I've never worried much about rifle weight, more that it shoots well, operates reliably.
Husqvarna barreled action, 270 Winchester, in a Brown Precision Pound'r stock, Leupold 2-7X28.
Just a bit less than seven pounds with sling and five in the magazine. Still enough for everything you will find in the mountains, and a pretty easy carry.... even for an old guy!
Ted
very very nice rifle and it will work great for any conditions .... still have it?
I just weighed My Penrod 7X57 and it weighs 7lbs 13ozs. I would guess Eleanor O'Connor's "fwt" 7X57 weighed more. So I should be able to handle it.
very very nice lefty rifle
did you had the same on 264?
Phil
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Here is a better picture. No the 264 was not mine.
very nice thanks.
Sheep Hunting Rifles
I live in Hinton, Alberta, and hunt sheep every fall. I've hunted 'em from horses, driven quads to the boundary of a wilderness area where I hunted them fast and light and I have carried 55 lb's of gear on a 7 day back pack hunt on multiple occasions. I haven't tried the black ops parachute thing yet, who knows maybe some day.
I own a Sako Finnlight in 270 WSM that shoots lights out, collection also includes several Kimbers (84's, 8400's),a Remington stainless 700's, several Sako L579's and Browning Safaris. The latest adds to the safe include a Model 70 Jack O'connor and a Weatherby S2. I'm a mauser nut (except for the Sako's and Wby of course). My fast and light gear is (Kuiu, Sitka, Western Mountaineering, and Mountain Hard Wear). My horse gear consists of canvas pyramid tents and wood burning stoves and cots...hey you are on a horse live it up, eat well, sleep well (best way to hunt sheep btw). Now that you know my experience level and gear choices let me ask you a question...
How are you planning to hunt for sheep? Do you plan on going out once in your lifetime, or more often? Do you prefer wood stocks or plastic? How many times are you planning to shoot at the sheep before you kill it (follow up shots)? And how much friggin' money do you want to spend?
You can drop $5 K on a custom, or $650 on a Ruger American rifle, with weaver mounts and a Leupold Rifleman 3x9 scope. If you want to stick to factory offerings and want a reliable rifle that shoots well, and isn't a lot of moola go with a model 700 Remington stainless, a Tikka T3 Stainless lightweight or a Weatherby S2 stainless in a moderate recoiling calibre like .260 rem, .270 win, 7x57, 7mm-08,.284 win,.280 rem,.308 win, or .30.06. If you want to spend more, Skip the Kimber's. I'm on my 5th, three have been real duds, and I mean duds from extractor problems to crap accuracy (3" groups at 100 with premium factory). Look at Sako A7, Sako 85's (nothing personal to your Ruger and Browning x-bolt guys, I just don't like them), and if you want to spend quite a bit look at Nosler 48, Weatherby Mark V ultra light weights, and HS precision. After that have someone build you a gun with an action of your choice, a good barrel i.e. Ron Smith and a decent stock MacMillan, and trigger, etc.
We have our fair share of grizzlies here in the high country. I see them every year, but they typically stay away (its high country, they can see you and you can see them unless you are bushwhacking to a different drainage and can't stay on a contour to get there). Now if you run into a sow with cubs at close range you're done for it any way so toss her the salt and pepper shaker out of your back pack and hope she goes for the back of your neck first. Message is, pack what you want don't worry about bears.
Personally I would stay away from a .300 WSM unless you buy a gun with the right size action, by this I mean don't buy a Winchester Featherweight or any other gun where the manufacturer uses a long or magnum sized action on a short action cartridge. Buy a gun with the action specifically sized for a short mag so you can reduce the weight of the gun through the appropriate sized action. Also, short Actions are stiffer, and therefore the accuracy should be better. For all those guys out there that say a long action allows you to seat bullets out farther I have yet to see it. Manufacturers building short mags on long actions are typically putting blocks in the magazines, and shortening the followers, cheap short cuts.
I wouldn't buy a WSM if you like to reload (as I do). Reason being, is that the only powder that seems to get the velocities that factory ammo produce is the new Hodgon Superformance stuff (If you can git it). They can be tricky to hand load to as well. Load data is still a bit iffy in some of the manuals.
I've shot my fair share of bighorns, all with a .270 Winchester loaded with IMR 4350 and 140 Accubonds or 130 Nosler Partitions. Every sheep hit, dropped immediately or got up and ran dowhill 40 yards before falling over.
Personally I like a rifle around the 7.75 to 8.25 lb mark with a slightly heavier contour barrel (weight includes a sling, ammo, scope and mounts). They point better in my opinion, especially when you are winded (like in sheep country). The .270 is great for felt recoil (pretty light in comparison to a .300 Win mag) and the light recoil allows you to watch the bullet hit at moderate ranges i.e. 300 yards. I will admit a lighter gun is nice to carry though (but not nice to shoot especially in magnum calibers) it's all a matter of preference. In 2001 I packed a 7mm Rem Mag on a back pack hunt. That gun was in the 9 1/2 lb range. It was too heavy, and I wanted the extra pound and a quarter of food in comparison to the extra pound of weight that was on that 7 mm. After that I went to a 7 pound blind magazine model 700 stainless with a pencil barrel and killed a 180 B&C Ram. It was nice to pack and the rifle has a place in my heart as the plastic stock saved me from slipping over a ledge to an imminent broken back.
You never asked about optics, but I prefer a Leupold 4.5 - 14 x with AO for all my sheep guns. Price is up there, but the eye relief and power range are super nice for zapping a sheep on an opposite rock outcrop 400 yards out. The eye relief on the Leupold is especially nice when you shoot uphill on a steep angle, the more distance you can put between the top of your eye brow and the scope bell the better. I've seen guys with .06's shooting on steep uphill angles get cut wide open on scopes that have 3.5" of eye relief (your usual B & L 3200/4200 for example). Now back to all the keyboard quarterbacks...
The NOZ
I live in Hinton, Alberta, and hunt sheep every fall. I've hunted 'em from horses, driven quads to the boundary of a wilderness area where I hunted them fast and light and I have carried 55 lb's of gear on a 7 day back pack hunt on multiple occasions. I haven't tried the black ops parachute thing yet, who knows maybe some day.
I own a Sako Finnlight in 270 WSM that shoots lights out, collection also includes several Kimbers (84's, 8400's),a Remington stainless 700's, several Sako L579's and Browning Safaris. The latest adds to the safe include a Model 70 Jack O'connor and a Weatherby S2. I'm a mauser nut (except for the Sako's and Wby of course). My fast and light gear is (Kuiu, Sitka, Western Mountaineering, and Mountain Hard Wear). My horse gear consists of canvas pyramid tents and wood burning stoves and cots...hey you are on a horse live it up, eat well, sleep well (best way to hunt sheep btw). Now that you know my experience level and gear choices let me ask you a question...
How are you planning to hunt for sheep? Do you plan on going out once in your lifetime, or more often? Do you prefer wood stocks or plastic? How many times are you planning to shoot at the sheep before you kill it (follow up shots)? And how much friggin' money do you want to spend?
You can drop $5 K on a custom, or $650 on a Ruger American rifle, with weaver mounts and a Leupold Rifleman 3x9 scope. If you want to stick to factory offerings and want a reliable rifle that shoots well, and isn't a lot of moola go with a model 700 Remington stainless, a Tikka T3 Stainless lightweight or a Weatherby S2 stainless in a moderate recoiling calibre like .260 rem, .270 win, 7x57, 7mm-08,.284 win,.280 rem,.308 win, or .30.06. If you want to spend more, Skip the Kimber's. I'm on my 5th, three have been real duds, and I mean duds from extractor problems to crap accuracy (3" groups at 100 with premium factory). Look at Sako A7, Sako 85's (nothing personal to your Ruger and Browning x-bolt guys, I just don't like them), and if you want to spend quite a bit look at Nosler 48, Weatherby Mark V ultra light weights, and HS precision. After that have someone build you a gun with an action of your choice, a good barrel i.e. Ron Smith and a decent stock MacMillan, and trigger, etc.
We have our fair share of grizzlies here in the high country. I see them every year, but they typically stay away (its high country, they can see you and you can see them unless you are bushwhacking to a different drainage and can't stay on a contour to get there). Now if you run into a sow with cubs at close range you're done for it any way so toss her the salt and pepper shaker out of your back pack and hope she goes for the back of your neck first. Message is, pack what you want don't worry about bears.
Personally I would stay away from a .300 WSM unless you buy a gun with the right size action, by this I mean don't buy a Winchester Featherweight or any other gun where the manufacturer uses a long or magnum sized action on a short action cartridge. Buy a gun with the action specifically sized for a short mag so you can reduce the weight of the gun through the appropriate sized action. Also, short Actions are stiffer, and therefore the accuracy should be better. For all those guys out there that say a long action allows you to seat bullets out farther I have yet to see it. Manufacturers building short mags on long actions are typically putting blocks in the magazines, and shortening the followers, cheap short cuts.
I wouldn't buy a WSM if you like to reload (as I do). Reason being, is that the only powder that seems to get the velocities that factory ammo produce is the new Hodgon Superformance stuff (If you can git it). They can be tricky to hand load to as well. Load data is still a bit iffy in some of the manuals.
I've shot my fair share of bighorns, all with a .270 Winchester loaded with IMR 4350 and 140 Accubonds or 130 Nosler Partitions. Every sheep hit, dropped immediately or got up and ran dowhill 40 yards before falling over.
Personally I like a rifle around the 7.75 to 8.25 lb mark with a slightly heavier contour barrel (weight includes a sling, ammo, scope and mounts). They point better in my opinion, especially when you are winded (like in sheep country). The .270 is great for felt recoil (pretty light in comparison to a .300 Win mag) and the light recoil allows you to watch the bullet hit at moderate ranges i.e. 300 yards. I will admit a lighter gun is nice to carry though (but not nice to shoot especially in magnum calibers) it's all a matter of preference. In 2001 I packed a 7mm Rem Mag on a back pack hunt. That gun was in the 9 1/2 lb range. It was too heavy, and I wanted the extra pound and a quarter of food in comparison to the extra pound of weight that was on that 7 mm. After that I went to a 7 pound blind magazine model 700 stainless with a pencil barrel and killed a 180 B&C Ram. It was nice to pack and the rifle has a place in my heart as the plastic stock saved me from slipping over a ledge to an imminent broken back.
You never asked about optics, but I prefer a Leupold 4.5 - 14 x with AO for all my sheep guns. Price is up there, but the eye relief and power range are super nice for zapping a sheep on an opposite rock outcrop 400 yards out. The eye relief on the Leupold is especially nice when you shoot uphill on a steep angle, the more distance you can put between the top of your eye brow and the scope bell the better. I've seen guys with .06's shooting on steep uphill angles get cut wide open on scopes that have 3.5" of eye relief (your usual B & L 3200/4200 for example). Now back to all the keyboard quarterbacks...
The NOZ
Yes Chuck, that is a nice rifle.
And Noz, excellent post! I agree with everything you said. Even though at 64 yrs old and with a bad back, its not like I'm going hunting up in the mountains like I did in my youth, lol.
As you mentioned, the 7mm-08 is a superb cartridge (I'm sorry I sold both of mine), with lots of downrange killing energy.. more so past 300 yds than its parent, the .308
And the .270? .. well, its my current favourite. I call the .270 a 7mm-06 ... its everything that a 7mm-08 is, but with flatter trajectory and more punch .. but with less recoil than a magnum.
And Noz, excellent post! I agree with everything you said. Even though at 64 yrs old and with a bad back, its not like I'm going hunting up in the mountains like I did in my youth, lol.
As you mentioned, the 7mm-08 is a superb cartridge (I'm sorry I sold both of mine), with lots of downrange killing energy.. more so past 300 yds than its parent, the .308
And the .270? .. well, its my current favourite. I call the .270 a 7mm-06 ... its everything that a 7mm-08 is, but with flatter trajectory and more punch .. but with less recoil than a magnum.
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No question that lighter guns are nicer to carry but I agree that a bit of weight can be your friend. Most of my sheep rifles are in that 7-7.5 pound range scoped although I'm not a huge fan of heavy recoiling rifles for the mountains. I'm just having a 6.5 Creedmoor built right now that will likely hit right around that 7 pound mark scoped and it should be awfully easy on the shoulder. Too many people are too afraid of light guns with lots of recoil and shoot them poorly in my opinion. I did carry an 11 pound muzzleloader for two full seasons once in search of bighorns.....back when I was younger and dumber....lol That's why I feel I'm qualified to talk about just how awkward rifle weight really can be....lol
Some good advice in your post.
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for a good time great to see a nice rifle on the right side lol .....
LittleBoyLefty
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Republic of Alberta
Noz140,
Welcome to CGN! Sounds like you've been chasing Bighorns for a few years now. If ya get a chance, maybe throw up some pictures from your adventures over in the hunting section. I know a few fellas and myself who love seeing pics from sheep trips, 'successful' or otherwise.
At the risk of being one of your keyboard quarterbacks, one correction, if I may... The WSM M70s are not long/magnum actions. Winchester built a short magnum action specifically for their new, at the time, cartridges. Some other manufactures, as you're obviously aware, do use one action length for all chamberings. Whether 223Rem or 338WM. Tikka being one example.
Again... pictures and stories, please!
Welcome to CGN! Sounds like you've been chasing Bighorns for a few years now. If ya get a chance, maybe throw up some pictures from your adventures over in the hunting section. I know a few fellas and myself who love seeing pics from sheep trips, 'successful' or otherwise.
At the risk of being one of your keyboard quarterbacks, one correction, if I may... The WSM M70s are not long/magnum actions. Winchester built a short magnum action specifically for their new, at the time, cartridges. Some other manufactures, as you're obviously aware, do use one action length for all chamberings. Whether 223Rem or 338WM. Tikka being one example.
Again... pictures and stories, please!
LittleBoyLefty
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Republic of Alberta
Great post. Had to bold the piece about the food - no truer words ever spoken.
Wow, I feel like I just attended a university lecture titled "sheep hunting with professor Noz". That was a great post, I think that might be one of the best I've ever read on this forum. I really loved the part about eye relief on scopes and shooting up hill. I could just see a scope mashing my glasses into my eye and messing my face up pretty bad.
I'm going north, thats kinda why i was leaning towards something heavier, to have options.
