Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada caliber advice

Sell it and buy a factory rifle. I agree that doing this is cheaper and faster. I don't know how much money you wish to spend, but anything Sako or Tikka is good. 308s are nice. Another vote here to ditch the Remington.

P.S. You might want to chat with someone at your gun club, or someone that you trust rather than ask for advice here. A one on one conversation is always better.

I don't know anything about the 375 ultramag. but I have always wanted a 350 rem. mag

lucky for me,I don't belong to a gun club. I started the post because I thought it would be interesting to hear peoples opinions. I've already talked to a gunsmith, whos advice I think highly of. But don't let that stop anyone else from sharing theirs

Oh...

I'll chime in with the folks saying a custom is too high priced.

There are so many nice factory rifles around, it is not what it was years ago.

The guys I goat hunt with in b.c are all into 300 win mags with 180 gr bullets
Or larger. So last season that's what I used, had red neck make me a custom
Model 70 lh with zeiss 4x14x42 weights about 8.3 lbs. shots can b long, I would rather carry a little more weight if I am shooting 200---500 I could not get close enough to the goat I wanted, but he was the size of horse with a lot of hair,lol
Also check in with however u r hunting with about the right cal. And bullet weight.
Shoot straight have fun

Where is your goat hunt? If guided, by who?

While not a typical goat round, it would work; and it and the 600 pushed one another from just quirky to exceptional. Much shorter and lighter yet they will throw the same weight of bullet as fast as a .300 magnum.

Chamber it in 6.5X284 and get the best of both worlds -- long slippery High BC bullets, and a case capacity roughly equivalent to a 30-06 in a short action.

Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. As they say, a fool and is money are soon parted. Good luck with your 'custom'. Bless your little heart.

I was in a hurry last time I looked or would have been the first to reply and would have recommended the plain vanilla .308 in a goat rifle model 600. It has versatility and power.

The 7-08 would be tempting. IMO goats require some of the most conscious bullet placement of any critter so the slight loss of oomph with 7-08 wouldn't matter much and the reduced recoil is always nice. 350 Rem magnum is likely the most fun if you reload!

If you are who I think you are, I believe your family has a legacy of doing the machine work yourself. I killed a record book goat not far from where you live.

My model 600 in .243 is a pleasure to carry and shoot more than my bigger/longer rifles.

My family does have a legacy of gun building, but due to my ignorance, I am left to having people build me guns since my father and uncle passed away.
Okanagan, what region did you get your goat in?

Region 8, LEH draw many years ago. Don't think that they give out any LEH permits in that area any more.

.308 is often a bit lighter weight than a 7-08 or smaller bores because if the rifle has the same outside barrel diameter and contour, the larger caliber bore removes more metal from the inside and produces a thinner walled tube. Not much difference but an ounce or few.

6.5x55 in tikka or Winchester.

forslund;
Top of the morning to you sir, I trust this finds you well.

As I mentioned when you arrived here, I knew your father and uncle well enough to have lost to them at more than one shoot in Oliver.

Shooting the breeze with them was one of the highlights of those shoots. For the life of me I can't recall which one was more talkative - one was though...

I still recall getting the skinny on the then new idea of pillar bedding and how the proverbial "light went on" after talking to him. Loved the Suburban with the safari rack too!

On your question, I've never shot a goat but have hunted them on the Stikine back in the '80's. We barely made it back from that little adventure, but from it I'd say as waterproof a build as possible might be in order.

Family up at Telegraph Creek at the time shot a couple goats with 7mm Mag handloads I'd brewed up - I'm going to say 154gr Hornady Spires? The report back was that goats were quite "moose like" in their ability to absorb lead and still not get the fact they should lay down and die already.

Based upon that I'd want something that shoots a decent all copper bullet as accurately as possible as one might be wanting to put in a few longish finishers should your goat be a slow learner?

Anyway sir, I'm cognizant my post wasn't much real world help, just wanted to stop by and say hello and thanks for twigging some very pleasant memories for me this Okanagan morning.

Dwayne

The funny thing about goats is that although they are deep, they are not very thick. They are built like a sunfish with feet. Consequently, a bullet which expands fairly readily might be better on a broadside shot. Having said that, goats are tough. We would be tough too if we spent all our time climbing up and down cliffs.
I'm applying for a goat again this year in my favourite east Kootenay area and we'll see how it goes. The cartridge I'll use this year is yet to be decided. GD

Goats are tough. They seem to be impervious to kinetic shock. But, I've had clients who killed them with everything from a .243 Remington to a .416 Rigby. Although, the slower calibers in the .30-06 class seem to work the best.

If you're recoil sensitive, I'd go with something like that. If you're not recoil sensitive, then something along the lines of a .338 Winchester Magnum or .375 H&H magnum work well.

However, I once had a client who shot his mountain goat thirteen times with a .338 Winchester and I had to finish it with my .375 Holland and Holland. Even still, that billy absorbed two 300 grain Nosler Partition bullets at a distance of about 15 feet, after being hit with thirteen 225 grain .338 bullets.

There's been a few other notably resilient billies that clients have killed. They're amazingly tough animals.