the ultimate Yukon rifle ... your thoughts

AP said:
probably most of the guys contributing to this thread could pull up in an "off-road" golf cart and ask their "caddy" what "gub" do you recommend for this shot....and pull one from their "bag"
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you may be surprised by some of them, and i know some that even carried their share of meat when they were hunting. we are not that snob over here ....
 
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SuperCub said:
If I lived there, I could see the use of a 270Win (or close similar) and a 375Magnum (or close similar).
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Lets consider what "close similar" means.

270Win or close similar ... 25/06, 260, 6.5x55, 270Win, 7/08, 7x57, 7Mag, 280, .308, 30/06, 303Brit, 8x57 etc, etc.

375Magnum or close similar .... 338WM, 338/06, 35Whelen, 358NM, 9.3x62, 9.3x72, 375 H&H/Ruger/CT.
 
If your going to talk little guns that thump than this is all you need.

T/C Contender Carbine 14" SSK Ind 375JDJ this barrel/cartridge configuration with a slightly different load has taken multiple elephants in Africa.

TC_Contender_14_inch_375JDJ.JPG
 
c-fbmi said:
How come this thread keeps getting derailed with bear defence posts..................JEEEEZZZZZEEEEE. 12 gauge is a pi$$ poor sheep rifle............
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Oh friend...

Until you've sat in your blind as the fog lifts slowly above the edge of the talus field, and felt your breath quicken and pulse rise as a magnificent flock of bighorns bank to the wind, bow their horned heads and cup their hooves to commit to your decoy spread, you'll never appreciate just how fine a choice a 12 gauge is in the mountains where sheep make their homes!
 
Well, in your recent post medvedqc, you said the 338 is out of the picture. If you look across the international border so close to your territory, the 338 Win Mag is the most popular rifle cartridge in that state.

Maybe the 356/358/35 Whelen should be looked at instead? Yes the 30-06 is certainly a better all around hunting rifle. But when we are talking about the big bears of North America perhaps rifles with a bigger hole in the end are more fitting for this deadly task?? The Whelen would have a slight edge over the other two IMHO. In 1988 the province of BC was seriously considering procuring the Remington 7600 pump gun in 35 Whelen for their COs to deal with the problem big bears of that province. That being said, if you can find the goodies for it even the harder to find 350 Remington Magnum would be a fine ballistic near equal match to the Whelen.

In either four chamberings I would start with premium 220 gr bullets and go upwards in bullet weight. If I lived in your wonderful wilderness country I would sacrifice trajectory for slightly bigger and heavier bullets.

my two bits only
 
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bigborefan said:
You are under-estimating the 9.3 X 62 by several hundred ft-lbs at the muzzle - try 4000 to 4300 ft-lbs and you'll be closer to reality when using the best powders.
Not from books based on old and worn equipment, or traditional powders, but new rifles manufactured to easily handle 64,000 psi and the latest best powders, like RL-17.
Then, and then only, if you load the Ruger with a 270 TSX and the 9.3 with a 286 Partition, some surprises await the the uninformed.

Bob

www.bigbores.ca
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I see a new caliber emerging, the "9.3x62 CGN", identical to the 9.3x62 but only available here. It will surpass the 378 Wby in energy and the 338 Lapua in ballistics............... with proper components of course. :)
 
What about the 9.3x300wm wildcat that c-fbmi worked up a while ago? 9.3x62 performance with a flatter trajectory and a bit more oomph. I know it's a wildcat and you can't get ammo at the local store, but since someone already mentioned the 375C.T. I thought it should be in the discussion. Seems kinda perfect to me.
 
In 1988 the province of BC was seriously considering procuring the Remington 7600 pump gun in 35 Whelen for their COs to deal with the problem big bears of that province. That being said, if you can find the goodies for it even the harder to find 350 Remington Magnum would be a fine ballistic near equal match to the Whelen.
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I got invited to "shoot" whitetail at a "hunting" ranch run by a very polite Hochgeboren German gentleman. I will underscore that this was "shooting" NOT hunting. No time to visit a range to get a little practice to ensure zero so I took the only rifle I know I can ALWAYS trust to hold zero - a 7600 35 Whelen with a Scopechief IV 1.5-4.5 with some 200 gr handloads. The rifle (banged around in a soft case) and I arrived to be informed that I was to be assigned a guide and also I was to demonstrate my ability to hit a target at 100yds in the morning.

In the morning at the range I and the 2 other "shooters" there to demonstrate our prowess were assigned targets - the other two guys pulled out very nice Sauer's (200's I think) with Zeiss scopes as big as 1.5l Coke bottles and proceeded to shoot their 3+ shots. When I took the pump out of the case I could see the approving gaze of my German host immediately turn to a wince as he could barely keep himself from sneering. However he politely asked me to "take a try" ... my "guide" on the other hand who was obviously born "well below the salt" (like me) couldn't get the grin off his face!!

So anyway I "tried" three shots and off went the guide to retrieve the targets ... I could see he was careful to make a show of keeping my target separate which wasn't necessary as the larger holes were obvious. Anyway the whelen managed 2 shots touching and a third less than 3/4 inch out. I could see the other two targets showed nicely formed patterns hovering around 6 inches. My guide was ecstatic!! And almost bouncing with joy - I think he was even happier than me - but of course I hid my pleasant surprise!!!. Business as usual right? The pump was clearly a rifle we could both easily afford and and he could relate to.....

To the point -- these Remington pumps perform VERY well!! And I think they are underestimated or dismissed by many! Mine never seems to change zero and even with that old ScopeChief seems to deliver time after time! I can screw up a lot of shots by myself - and do - but I certainly cant blame this rifle for lousy shooting. I have a lot of rifles (a sign of misspent youth) including a 350Rem Mag that I like very much as well. But the 7600 35 Whelen is VERY hard to beat for putting effective hunting bullets on a target.
 
c-fbmi said:
If one kept his shots inside 300 mtrs, which could easily be done here, then the Mod 7 KS in 350 RM would make a great all around rifle/cartridge combo for the Yukon..........ammo availability aside. But this whole thread is a moot point when most of the people I know, have a rifle for every different animal that may be hunted here and every conceivable landscape. A very good case could be made for any cartridge from 30-06 and up, so it's all a matter of personal choice..........regardless of caliber/cartridge the all have pluses and negatives, bigger and faster means more recoil, bigger and slower means poorer trajectories, smaller doesn't make bison criteria...........Ah hell, never wanted to own only one rifle anyway, but if I had to it would still be the 300 or 340 Wby. The 300 Wby with 200 gn bullets is no slouch either..............
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Pretty much this. Who the heck only wants to use one rifle? One rifle won't be ideal for every conceivable situation.

I've never hunted the Yukon. I'd imagine the ideal rifle would be similar to an ideal Alberta foothills/mountain rifle. That is, something that works up close in the timber, but also has legs for the open country. Something suitable for big game up to moose (bison in the Yukon) and something one feels comfortable with in grizzly county. Weight may play a factor if you hunt on foot as well.

So the ideal rifle could be anything from .30-06 ish up with decent ballistics, optics and fairly light weight. Anything more specific than that is personal preference. I think I would take a light .300 Mag for the mountains and I'd use my .375 Ruger for the valleys.
 
^That's a really great story AP! It's nice to know that some of us have similar tastes. Now I don't own a 35 Whelen, but there is a 356 Winchester collecting dust in my gun cabinet. From time to time, the Remington pump action rifle get mentioned here on CGN. Most often in a favorable light regarding practical hunting scenarios.

Cheers......

Edit: I have a hardcover book written by Colonel Crossman regarding America's involvement in the Olympic shooting sports. In one, once centrefire event, the running boar, two rifles dominated here; the Anschutz bolt action repeater in 22 Hornet and the Remington 760 pump rifle in 222. True facts from yesteryears ago.
 
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bigborefan said:
You are under-estimating the 9.3 X 62 by several hundred ft-lbs at the muzzle - try 4000 to 4300 ft-lbs and you'll be closer to reality when using the best powders.
Not from books based on old and worn equipment, or traditional powders, but new rifles manufactured to easily handle 64,000 psi and the latest best powders, like RL-17.
Then, and then only, if you load the Ruger with a 270 TSX and the 9.3 with a 286 Partition, some surprises await the the uninformed.

Bob

www.bigbores.ca
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Although you are right that he underestimated the 9.3; the two cartridges loaded to equal pressures with suitable powders will show the Ruger to have significantly more horsepower. Case capacity does not lie.
 
Brutus said:
Well, in your recent post medvedqc, you said the 338 is out of the picture. If you look across the international border so close to your territory, the 338 Win Mag is the most popular rifle cartridge in that state.

Maybe the 356/358/35 Whelen should be looked at instead? Yes the 30-06 is certainly a better all around hunting rifle. But when we are talking about the big bears of North America perhaps rifles with a bigger hole in the end are more fitting for this deadly task?? The Whelen would have a slight edge over the other two IMHO. In 1988 the province of BC was seriously considering procuring the Remington 7600 pump gun in 35 Whelen for their COs to deal with the problem big bears of that province. That being said, if you can find the goodies for it even the harder to find 350 Remington Magnum would be a fine ballistic near equal match to the Whelen.

In either four chamberings I would start with premium 220 gr bullets and go upwards in bullet weight. If I lived in your wonderful wilderness country I would sacrifice trajectory for slightly bigger and heavier bullets.

my two bits only
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Brutus,

i have no dog in the fight i have mostly any calibers mentionned in the discussion and had the 338 win mag ...

the search is not for me and not concentrated on big bears but on on most of the game we have here including wild bison.

in all the discussion here some really focused on bears: i explained the story and he wanted a bigger caliber but that not much for bears as the 30-06 worked ...

now back on the 350 remington magnum i collected over the years info, tools and components for this wonderful caliber i even have a stock for a rifle that is not born yet...

at the end my friend will choose and there is a lot of chance that it will be a 338 win mag ...

and i agree on your last sentence at 100% that is why i like 220 grains on 30-06 or the 286-290 grains for the 9,3x62 or 300 for my 375 ruger all in partition ...

the 338 win mag was offered in 300 grains in the old days and maybe was a good answer for the alaskans, i think there is still a lot of yukoners that like it not me but i may be wrong for sure.
 
Silverado said:
Oh friend...

Until you've sat in your blind as the fog lifts slowly above the edge of the talus field, and felt your breath quicken and pulse rise as a magnificent flock of bighorns bank to the wind, bow their horned heads and cup their hooves to commit to your decoy spread, you'll never appreciate just how fine a choice a 12 gauge is in the mountains where sheep make their homes!
Click to expand...


A most interesting mental picture........................if only............
 
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