Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats high rugged country plus sheep guns

kutenay I thik I could come to BC and borrow one of your rifles and never miss a beat, like I had brought one of my own.

I swear we shopped at the same store.

Except I have none of those lovely BRNO Mausers.

Kimber Montana 7mm WSM, 6x Leupold.

I bet that works, too!

Well they did, until someone discovered the 6.5s

No flies on the JOC, mild recoil, flat, accurate, deadly, cheap ammo, everywhere......sounds boring huh? Yep...

I love boring rifles...

I chose my Tikka 6.5x55 & Vortex HS-LR 4-16x44 for my Utah once in a lifetime Desert Bighorn tag...weighs 8# 14 oz empty...that's heavier than I wanted to carry..Utah's high desert @ 7000' where this Ram was taken is rough & steep enough for any sheep hunter...Ram taken 9/28/13..scores 142" & 7 1/2 yrs old...no....didn't shoot it off a quad....hiked my azz off...

I did a Rem 660, into a light 284 Win, rock tube, forget the contour . 630 at the muzzle, 23 inch tube, in a handlaid glass stock thats 30 oz with a big pachy decel pad on it.

Has talley rings, and will eventually wear a fixed 6x with CDS and or dots.

Jeff sounds like that will work anywhere.

You envision a really lightweight sheep rifle for long shots with a 6.5-20X scope ?
Got to ask if you have ever spent much time on sheep mountains.
I have. They are very rough places. That's why the sheep live there. Helps them stay off of the local predator's lunch menus.....
I'd consider something that can take being dropped on the rocks w/o loosing zero or it's ability to function. The best I know of are the synthetic stocked rifles with fixed magnification scopes, like Leupold's 4X and 6X scopes. Make sure the mounts are very tough as well.
Lightweight rifles have a tendency to be hard to shoot well. I've learned over the years that if they are much under 7 lbs. emnpty, I don't shoot them under field conditions nearly as well as I do the heavier guns with a muzzle heavy balance.
I happen to have a very light "sheep rifle" that weighs about 6 3/4's lbs. empty and w/o it's shooting sling. It is chambered for a wildcat, the .25-284 that is based on the .284 Winchester case. I haven't the slightest doubt it can handle any sheep I'd choose to shoot to at least 400 yds. quite well.
That brings up another point. I would be far more worried about wounding a sheep with a bad hit, than missing one altogether. Wound one where they live and you will be in for a very tough time trying to find him. Wounded animals in that kind of country will take you to places you will never choose to visit, trust me. E

you can wound em with a heavy rifle too. Wounding is a failure of the shooter, not the gun.

One more model for a rugged country sheep rifle would be Phil Shoemakers old FN Mauser '06 with 2.5x or 3x Leupold scope and fiberglass stock. Probably not the lightest, heaviest, shortest, or coolest........however, it worked.

I know this is the custom rifles forum and I'm not familiar with all of Oregon's sheep units but sheep are sheep so it's gonna be rugged country without too many escalators. Spend the money on a gym membership and a summer full of 5am workouts and scouting trips instead of a new rifle with a Hubble mounted on top. Failing that any of the afore mentioned rifles will work.

Pick a rifle that loaded all up goes 7-8# and then start making hills with a 60# pack on. It'll weight twice that coming out if your lucky. A cartridge from .243-375 will do, and a 6x or 2.5-8x has killed more than a couple animals....

I have spent much of my 67+ years living in the mountains of BC, where I was born and Alberta, where my family also pioneered in the late-middle 19thC. Some of my solo stints living among wild game were three months without a break and my longest periods were 5 to 5.5 months.

During my almost 50 years of owning and using rifles, I have now owned about 150, am down to only 30 now and "holding"; these include about every higher end and limited production sporting rifles made, from Europe, Britain, and the USA as well as customs from Biesen, Dakota, VERY fine German and "name"English makers.

I often carried a rifle, several hours per day, every day for months and I will flatly state that the above quote is THE most useful advice you have received here so far. I have a custom 6 lb. superb 7-08 and I have 9+ lb. pristine P-64 Alaskans in Mickys with Swaro, Talleys and all the "goodies" and to be honest, ANY of my rifles WILL and DO work just fine from Blacktail Deer on Vancouver Is. to RM Elk in the Muskwa, Gatho or Tuchodi and having been to and even lived in the bush in these places, I have found that my FITNESS and overall health is what REALLY counts...at my age, this is even more crucial to a successful hunt and a clean kill on the animal you dream of as, I hope, we all consider THE most important issue here.

I have sustained some major injuries and in the past year+, the severe damage to my legs, spine and even hand bones and nerves has finally caught up to me. Being an ornery,stubborn and determined old squareheaded geezer, I ain't gonna give up quite yet, so, working with my MD, once a BC logger, who understands bush guys, injuries and is also my age, I am doing bleachers and with some Oxycodone, careful exercises at home and NO "martial arts" yippedee-do-dah, I am probably going to be able to hunt northern BC for a few years yet...and, I will just take whatever rifle I have loads ready for.

It IS fun to speculate as to WHAT EXACTLY the PERFECT "mountain rifle" really is, but, one of the most successful hunters I know, a relative of mine, former "pro"hockey player, early 50s, big, VERY tough and feisty, FIT, has taken several Kootenay Elk that are HUGE 6x6s. a 7x8 and a 9x7, two fine RMG Billies, several Black Bears, a few Moose, lots of deer and three Grizzlies, all with a single, 1981 "tang" Ruger .338WM. I had this as one of a slightly customized matched pair, but, sold it to my brother who traded it to my cousin here.

He HAS lots of guns, is worth well over a few million through his successful business, but, he likes this old, 9.5 lb. rifle, loads Federal factory NP ammo and he "get's 'er done", so, there you go, there are many possible, workable options here.

As others have said your blueprint sounds heavy and awkward.
I drew a Oregon bighorn tag a couple years ago and used a Remington Ti 270, with a Leupold 3-9 compact.
My tag was in the high desert and it was 90deg. everyday and was happy for the ultralight combo as I was packing a lot of water everyday and climbing close to 2000' daily.
The Kimber in 270, 25-06, 280 imp... with a Leupold 6x36, 6x42,3-9... would be perfect.
Oh and 270 bullets do not bounce off, not matter what they tell you here!

This.
.270 WSM. Satern 4 taper fluted barrel, Stiller Predator short action, Jewell trigger, Manners MCS-SL carbon fiber stock. NF compact 2.5-10 scope. Weight just over 8 lbs. The photo was at 631 yards. This rifle is a tack driver.