Now I want to collect my Special Olympics "participation trophy."
In 1985 when I pitched up at Elmendorf AFB, I had in tow a .340 WbyMag Fibermark. It was the first factory rifle with a fiberglass stock, an early McMillan with black wrinkle paint covering it. That was special ! So I put away my wood-stocked .30-06, .375 H&H, .458 WinMag and .460 WbyMag rifles. I did find a Brown Precision stock for an (ugh) 7mm RemMag for sheep hunting. By 1986 I was dragging the .340 WbyMag to Kodiak in August-September for deer, and for use as a noise-maker to scare off the Kodiak bear that pressed his nose on my tent on a moonless night. In November of that same year that I first became a RHAK, I did a solo, fly-in caribou hunt on the AK Peninsula, landing at Danny's Dune (where Danny crashed a Piper Cherokee) near Shotsky Creek, for a five-day, four-night stay. My biggest 'bou I shot at 350 yards with the .340 WbyMag, it went down at the shot, but was still trying to get up until I shot him a second time. Two other smaller bou's were DRT at closer ranges with one shot each. I didn't bother to fill my fourth tag, as survival issues set in after that.
A featherweight .375 H&H (6.75 lbs dry weight) made a dandy black bear rifle for Prince William Sound. No. 3 Douglas stainless on a Pre-'64 M70 action in a Brown Pounder stock, a recipe for success.
My second trip to Kodiak was with a Whitworth Mk X re-chambered to .375 Weatherby Magnum, and sunk into a Brown Precision stock, ugly as I could make it. It cut deer in half with greater authority, made it easier to haul them out of the ravines or off the hillsides when the deer was cut in two amidships. Angled shooting tended to result in spine hits. I had a bear tag for Jap Bay that year but King Kong of Kodiak eluded me, though I actually made a run at him from a mile away, until he vanished into the alders at 300 yards. Was it my BO or was it the noise of my heavy breathing or bad breath ? What a disappointment.
I used a .458 WinMag for cow moose on a Fort Rich drawing permit. After I did that the General decided to make it bow hunting only for next year.
I love the .458 WinMag best of all, for Alaska or anywhere. Prefer the 404-gr Shock Hammer at 2500 fps MV. That is a better sheep rifle than Mr. Chadwick's .404 Jeffery, taker of the Chadwick Ram, greatest North American trophy ever. I have a 23" barreled M70 Classic that weighs about 7.5 pounds bare/empty/dry. The perfect Alaskan Sheep Rifle.
That would be my "one caliber" rifle but I would have at least a half dozen rifles so chambered in various formats walnut and blue, synthetic and stainless, bolt-action and single-shot. Bare/dry/unloaded rifle weights of 7 to 9 pounds, barrel lengths from 17" to 25" are OK with me. The 17"-barreled .458 WinMag can do +5000 ft-lbs KE with 400-grainer quite easily, even works in a sub-3.4" magazine box length.
Ron aka "Rip" for Riflecrank Internationale Permanente NRA Life Benefactor and Beneficiary .458 Winchester Magnum, Magnanimous in Victory THE WALKING DEAD does so remind me of Democrap voters. Donkeypox.
Arguing on these forums is like running in the special Olympics Even if you win You are still retarded
+1.
Originally Posted by mainer_in_ak
Back for resupply. Been too warm. Fking blackflies everywhere, low moose population.
Lotta gibberish in this here thread so pay attention: 375 h&h is a piss-poor do-all for Alaska.
Most are too long and heavy for hunting in the mountains. Winter caribou by dog team, too bulky. Too much recoil for extended shooting sessions, sharpening your skills for the longish, treeless alaska shots. Not ideal hoofing mountains.
A 9.3x62 would be much better "all-rounder". But very limited choices for lighter bullets for extended range practice. Still too heavy for the Mountains. In light guns, too much recoil. Still too much bullet for 30 mph winds/treeless alaska winter caribou.
.338 calibers: About ideal one-gun. Scores of high bc 225 grainers that buck winds very well. Low enough recoil that you can get decent practice in light-weight guns.
Anchoring shots on moose, where the big bulls need to be on the dry bank, not seconds later in a muskeg swamp or in the river, to be blasted into a wood pile up, lots of good 250 grainers. I run the 275 grain a-frames, which are a great moose bullet for big bulls called to the river.
308/30-06. Very few available 220 grainers like the .338's. At 225 grains, the 338's are just getting warmed up.
For anchoring big bulls on the dry bank and bear protection in spring/summer:
I have a massive pile of 30 caliber 220 grain partitions, and those fkn things costed more than 300 grain 9.3 a-frames, or 250 grain a-frames, or 275 grain a-frames. Currently, there are none in stock, anywhere.
180 grainers: good for extended range practice with tolerable recoil, great for mountains, winter caribou, spring bear, calling in wolves etc.
For youth guns and mountain rifles, the 308 winchester edges out the 30-06.
With lever revolution powder, the 308 winchester gives an easy 2700 fps with 180 grainers, 2600 fps with 200 grainers, and 2480 fps from 220 grain partitions. All with minimal recoil from a 6 lb. mountain rifle.
Below 308 winchester/30-06: no fkn thank you. Not really an "all-rounder"
Lightweight 338 win mag, 338-06, 338 rcm or 338 rpm (that new weatherby), about the most ideal Alaskan calibers ever made.
What's usually kicking round my dog sled or canoe as general purpose stuff:
338 is hard to beat, the caliber....in '06 to WM brass will do plenty. A 225 Partition will do about all that needs doing, and a 200 BT/AB is on tap for smaller animals at good ranges, a tad flatter.
That said, a 9.3 would not disappoint on shots to say 200-250 yds. You sacrifice some range going to these heavier larger bullets, in the common rounds like x62. IIRC, the 250 is in the AB, and a 286 will handle most anything fairly hit, but more dope is required.
I see folks leaving Alaska all the time cause momma wants to be close to the grandkids. Ph uck all that noise..
Lucky for me, my grand kids live here in Alaska.
NRA LIFE MEMBER GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS ESPECIALLY THE SNIPERS! "Suppose you were an idiot And suppose you were a member of Congress... But I repeat myself." -Mark Twain
.35 Whelen with 225s or 250s; or .30-06 w/ 200s or 220s. Maybe a 9.3x62.
For a good soft-recoiling option, go with a .378 Roy.
Last edited by High_Noon; 08/16/23.
l told my pap and mam I was going to be a mountain man; acted like they was gut-shot. Make your life go here. Here's where the peoples is. Mother Gue, I says, the Rocky Mountains is the marrow of the world, and by God, I was right. - Del Gue
ya, it good for 1MMHH (1 mile moose head hunting) if it's done right !
I used the 470 Nitro Express case as an inspiration, improved the body and maxed the case length for ease of extraction of a fired round in a Remington 700 long action
duplicating the velocity of the 338 Chey Tac in a Rem 700 hunting rifle is most appealing to me
275 gr Badlands Superbulldozer 2 hunting bullets with a G1 bc at .880 (.451 G7) at 3300 fps makes for an extreme long range killing machine
Y'know what's super cool about my 338 Headhunter wildcat ?
Nobody else in the universe has one, dis my baby !
life's too short to hunt with generic, boring guns, cartridges & bullets at rock throwing distances !
"The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants".
l told my pap and mam I was going to be a mountain man; acted like they was gut-shot. Make your life go here. Here's where the peoples is. Mother Gue, I says, the Rocky Mountains is the marrow of the world, and by God, I was right. - Del Gue
As Major Plaster describes it, The Magnificent 300 Winchester Magnum. I harvested everything in Alaska that I was interested in taking with a 30-06 decades ago, but graduated when reading Plaster on modern military and police sniping. I still love my pre-64 Winchester 30-06, and stilllove my customized Browning Stainless Stalker Alaska Special 338 WinMag, but in the open Alaskan country above 3000' where Itend to spend my time these days, The customized Tikka T-3 in 300 WinMag with 3x10 Shepherd is my carry rifle. I shoot 200 grain Accubonds pushed by 67.3 grains of IMR 4350. Apparently, those are pretty popular bullets. Haven't seen them in 3 years. Nosler tells me to watch for them soon. I'm seeing 180 grainers of late.........