Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Mountain Rifle Recommendation

+1......

Couldn't agree more. A Montana in 7-08 or 308 would be a much better start...

I seem to remember you had Kevin Weaver lighten yours up? Do you recall what all he did? Thanks.

Ironic, ain't it?

Anything up to approx 7.5lbs (w/scope) is a pretty good mtn rifle for the hills. I have done it with lighter and heavier. I have a 7.5lb 7 Saum that is a dream to shoot off a pack and those 162s buck wind rather well.

You can't refute my opinion so you automatically turn to personal attacks. Speaks volumes doesn't it?

An 8 pound to 8.5 pound rifle is pretty easy to round up. Most any Winchester or Remington in a common cartridge is gonna be in that range with a good kevlar stock.

My 30/06 with a Pacific research stock 3.5X10 Vxiii scope in Dual dovetails with five shells using a PacNor 23" barrel is just a hair over 8 pounds. Certainly not a feather weight, but much easier for me to shoot and hold steady then those lighter rifles I've tried out. I begin to struggle when the air is thin, the heart is racing and the rifle is 7 pounds or less.

I would not be driven to ultra light weight rifles at the expense of a steady solid hold. I have the same issue with Archery. Most new 3-3.5lb bows are very hard to hold steady compared to the 4.5 Pound models of 10 years ago.

With your criteria I'll add another voice for the Tikka 3 Lite (in .308). My sons and grandsons now own three of the Tikka 3 lites and if I were in the market that's what I would buy. The rifle weighs near 6 1/2 lbs. empty without scope etc. Quite light weight without breaking the bank for another few ounces, slick action, shoots well out of the box and my family of hunters like the detachable magazine. Get better rings than come with the rifle.

I'd lean to .308 to achieve the sweet spot of light weight, plenty for elk and acceptable recoil, especially with 150 grain Barnes bullets. The .308 is in a shorter action so should be a bit lighter than long actions and calibers smaller than .30 though the web site does not say that.

Unless something has changed in the last 5 years...

One of the complaints about the T3 is that there is one action size, from 223 to 300Win.

Surprised here but I think you are correct that there is only one action size. I misread the Tikka database that shows action/magazine and thought that short, medium, long etc. referred to action rather than to the magazine. Duh

Go for the 06 in 30 caliber, no advantage to the .308.

Save your money and call Melvin Forbes. The .284 he builds will last your lifetime, and outshoot most benchrest rifles. Paired with a 3.00" magazine, the .284 will drive 140gr bullets at 3000fps.

Another option is the savage ultra light in 6.5x284 or 6.5 creedmoor. My friend has the 6.5 creedmoor and it's extremely accurate.

For rough country backpacking consider a take down rifle.

There are a few break-open single shots that can serve as travel rifles. A couple versions are even available as a cased set with a quick detachable scope and mount. The Franz Jager break-action Merkel K3 Stutzen and the very similar Blaser K95 Stutzen, both made in Germany, come to mind. From U.S. manufacturers we have the H&R/NEF Hand-Rifle and Thompson/Center Encore and G2 Contender break-open actions.

Put a pair of 5 pound boots on and get back to me.

K

Reality is you're clueless about mountain hunting and should refrain from revealing that so openly.

Tanner

How much do those weigh?

http://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Rifles/youth.asp

Look it up.

Weight 7 lbs.

I have a Merkel K1, not a Stutzen (don't know why anybody would want the extra weight of a full-length stock), with a 24" barrel. a 12-ounce scope in the provided mounts brings the weight to 6-3/4 pounds. It's a .308 Winchester and very accurate, and packs pretty nicely in rough country, especially for a rifle with a fancy walnut stock.

Never claimed to be an expert. Far from it. But you know what they say about opinions and ass holes.

What's the Kimber 280ai come in at with a scope for weight? I seem to recall my Kimber 7wsm being 7.5 with a 6x.