Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting What rifle do you carry?

Any SA Kimber Montana with Talley LW rings and Leupold VX3 2.5-8x36. I have a 300WSM, 6.5 Creedmoor and recently a Hunter in 308.

Fieldcraft 6.5 CM w/ 10x SWFA or a 700 6.5x47 Lapua w/ 10x SWFA.

For almost 15 years I carried a skeletized Remington model 7 with 22” barrel 284 Winchester. A wildcat composite stock, Talley lightweights and a leupold 6x36 put the total weight at 5.5 lbs. Then a few years ago I rebarreled to 22” 6.5 CM and replaced stock with an MPI thumbhole with t-bar forend modified by Rick Stienhour. That put the total weight at 5.7lbs.

Kimber Montana with a Lilja 84M modified contour in 308Win. Just a little bit more weight makes it perfect for me. Leupold 6x42 on top. Going to kill a ram with it this year...

Fieldcraft in 6.5 Creedmoor, SWFA 3-9, talley rings

It depends...

This one unless weather will be especially bad. Barrett Fieldcraft 6.5 Creedmoor

A LH Forbes 30-06.

Kimber Montana in 7-08 or Barrett FC in 6.5 Creedmoor, depending on my mood. Both are topped with a SWFA SS 3-9x.

I've also been known to sport a Tikka T3x in 308 with a SWFA 6X MQ scope, on a Tikka Picatinny rail, shooting 155 scenars over 46.5 gr of Varget.

That's when hunting with my son and best friend who are 308 aficionados.

Although, the Barrett Fieldcraft in 6.5 creedmoor has spoiled me to just about anything else.

I haven’t been on a real “backpack” hunt yet, hoping to do that on my first western hunt this year or next. But most of my hunting does involve going several miles into public land. My go-to has become my Remington Model 7 with a Weaver 2-7x. Rifle and scope are about 7lb 2oz currently. I’m looking at getting a lighter stock that’ll bring me down to about 6.5lbs though. The gun is a real shooter.

for the last 10 years i have carried a Ruger #1 S.S. laminated stock with a custom 257 Weatherby mag. chambered barrel,Nightforce 4 1/2-14 x56 scope and a harris bi-pod,yes this rifle may be a little heavy but its very accurate out to 700 yards . i have walked alot of miles with this rifle but when you get a rifle you trust, shoot well and kills animals fast its just hard to take any other rifle with.

Most of the time this one.

308 with a bartlein barrel and 2-10x32 nightforce.

A plain factory Rem 700 in 270 Win which I put into one of Rick's McMillan mountain rifle stocks. I will shave ounces elsewhere, not on rifles and optics.

For summer backpacking and grizzly hunting its gonna be this one:
(Kimber 84M with slightly heavier Lilja 84m barrel cut to 16.5" chambered in 6.5 CM, with weaver 3-10):

Its still sub 6 pounds suppressed and 147s even at only 2550 fps from the 16" barrel still bring the heat out as far as I would plan to shoot a 5.2 pound rifle.

A 375 ruger guide gun if going slower with a partner or a light 308 or 30-06 if going real quick on my own.

I'm young, strong, and dumb. So I carry whatever tickles my fancy.

An ultra light something or other in .30-06 is in my future though.

-Jake

Rem 700 Mountain SS, 22" 7mm08, Stocked in a Wildcat (stock finished at 19.8 oz.). Rifle is 5 lbs 7 oz bare, 6 lbs 3 oz scoped.

Centershot: About 40 years ago I "made" my own "Mountain Rifle"!
Back then the great folks at Browns Precision Rifle Stocks were about the only ones making fiberglass stocks.
Anyway I bought a brand new Remington 700 in caliber 308 Winchester put it in the "ADL" style lightweight stock, adjusted the trigger added a Leupold 3.5x10 scope and the resulting Rifle has served me VERY well on high country Hunts ever since.
I have kill't Black Bear, Mountain Goats, Elk and a few low country Deer with this rig.
Been dreaming of taking it on a Bighorn Sheep Hunt but alas no tags have I drawn.
I opted for the 30 caliber instead of anything smaller because all the Hunts I had planned were into Bear country - and now here in SW Montana the Grizzlies are very thoroughly scattered about!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

700 KS Mountain, 30.06, 2.5-8 BC Leupold in Talleys, Uncle Mike's mountain sling.