You see a pretty good cross section of rifles here in the guiding industry. Ruger definitely leads the pack. The takeover started with the cheap 338 Win Mags sold by Longs Drugs in Anchorage for years. A lot of older guides still use them. The State of Alaska also used a fleet of them for bear guns for a lot of years. They were rivaled or maybe overtaken by the SS Classic 375 H&H Winchesters. These were a great gun, no experience yet with the current production ones. But the old ones still command a premium here. Their downsides were: long and heavy, occasionally had feeding issues and rarely the bolt handles would slip, rendering them useless in the field. With light gunsmithing they were arguably as good as you could get. When Ruger introduced the 357 Ruger in a SS/synthetic, short, and reliable rifle, they basically made the perfect Alaska gun. There's not really far to go from there. A reliable and rugged, short and handy, powerful and accurate, and not least of all - affordable- rifle pretty much takes the prize. Now that Hornady is producing the very good Outfitter line of ammo with a bullet that doesn't disintegrate, there is not much to improve upon for working guides. If you like rifles or want to stand out from the crowd is about the only real reason for something different.
As a remote pilot I see a lot of rifles come though. It used to be primarily Rugers and Kimbers for resident hunters but now you see a lot of budget rifles (Ruger American, Savage Axis, etc...) and a surprising number of custom rifles. Generally geared toward the long-range movement. Mostly these are mountain style but quite often tactical.
Guides tend to be a bit more conservative (maybe cheaper, maybe just stick with what works) in choices. Many are not interested in guns and just want the best value tool. Today, Ruger provides this, and they lead the pack but not by a huge margin. The older Classic series SS Winchesters are probably second but hard to say. A few Remingtons, but very few. M700s rival Weatherbys for least liked action by guides. I even know those who will not let a client bring a Remington due to bad past experiences with accidental discharges. Browning A-bolts are surprisingly common, with X-bolts beginning to show up regularly. The X-bolt appears to be a pretty good improvement over the A-bolt and seems like a great gun to me. Quite a few Kimbers too, both in Montana and Talkeetna variety, with a few Mountain Accents with hardcore mountain guides. The Kimbers don't seem as prolific as they were 10 years ago, I think some folks got tired of not being able to get a second round in the chamber. Still quite a few Pre-64 M70s around. This was THE classis Alaskan guide rifle (actually voted as the official Alaska State Rifle) and those who appreciate the panache use them still. The Mauser variants, mostly Mk Xs, were once very prolific, but are still seen occasionally. Husqvarnas and BSAs were/are generally notable in that they are very uncommon but those that use them love them and are well versed in rifles. CZ's and BRNOs are slightly more common, but nothing like the proliferation in Africa. I assume this is due to a higher price, lack of SS, and being a bit heavy and long for dragging though the alders all day.
Surprisingly, you don't see a lot of the new plastic budget guns in guides' hands. With some being made in 375R and 338 now I would not be surprised to see that change. However, though most guides are on a limited budget, they realize that their rifle is an important tool, and that buying bottom shelf is perhaps not the best idea. Again, Ruger M77s represent that step up in durability with not a great price increase. It's really hard to wear a Ruger M77 out.
Marlin Guide guns are VERY common, though mostly as bear protection, i.e. fishing guides, those hunting heavy timber for bear, etc.... With the new Ruger ones coming out this is likely to only increase. If you only need a rifle for under 100yds they are tough to beat. Short, reliable, fast into action, lots of firepower, and powerful to boot. Still a few Winchester 71s and 86s, in 348, 45-70, and wildcats, and a very few M95s. Most of these are the excellent Browning models although there are still some original in use. Surprisingly I've only ever seen one BLR in the field and it was a resident hunter, not guide. A SS takedown 358win would be a great general-purpose guide rifle. You used to see some carrying M99s but that is pretty well a thing of the past. Great guns but long in the tooth and other than the rare
I'm sure I forgot a few but that is a basic summary of what I have seen in the past 25 years of guiding and flying hunters around the State.
My personal choice is just that. I did put my money where my mouth is and bought a 375 Ruger as soon as they came out. I'm on my second one due to theft, not wear. This rifle really can't be improved on much in my opinion and is the one I have used the most. However, it gets loaned out a lot to new guides and clients, so I don't carry it as much myself as I used to. The smart thing to do would be to buy another one and just have a pair. However, I do like rifles and trying other things so I carry a Browning 71 475 Turnbull and old tang safety m77 Ruger with a stainless 35 Whelen barrel more than my 375 Ruger lately. The 475 is a better tool for close and fast, the Whelen just happens to work great and I like it. My Whelen was built on an action that a friend found in a bag of wet and rusty parts at the dump. Did I mention its hard to wear (or over-abuse) a m77?
Very cool post! Seems right on.
The first rifle I carried guiding was the Hawkeye Alaskan, matte stainless that I switched out the hogue over molded it came with for a sleeker standard Ruger synthetic stock. I liked it pretty well and used it a few years but my goodness did I find that 375 ruger unpleasant to shoot and listen to! !
Like you said as well, I’m on the gun nut side of the spectrum so I’ve enjoyed carrying different rifles afield
