Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mountain Rifles

It's been a long, hot summer here in the South, and I've spent the last five or so months reading about sheep and sheep hunting - sort of a vicarious escape. That reading has caused me to reflect a bit on how ideas of a proper mountain rifle have changed over the past fifty or so years. Over on the .270 thread, one of the posts goes like this:



JOC thought an 8 pound rifle with a 22 inch barrel was about ideal. Elgin Gates and Herb Klein, contemporaries of JOC, hunted the mountains of Asia with .300 Weatherby's, most likely in the 9.5 or 10 pound range when factoring in walnut stocks, 26 inch barrels, and steel scopes/mounts. A couple of decades later, Richard Sands hunted the same area with a .300-378 Weatherby, again probably in the same weight range, if not a shade lighter due to the synthetic stock. Robert Anderson's "Wind, Dust, and Snow II" is filled with great pictures and stories of many of Sands', as well as others', hunts - all with rifles that a lot of folks wouldn't even consider hauling up a 15,000 foot mountain range today. And some of these hunters continued to carry them even when light weight and synthetic were becoming more prevalent.

Today, however, we have rifle companies turning out "mountain rifles" with pencil thin or carbon wrapped barrels, all mounted in carbon fiber stocks that result rifles coming in at sub 5.5 - or even sub 5 - pounds. Even with a somewhat heavier scope it still puts the rifle in the sub 7 pound category. I wonder if guys like Gates and Klein would have actually used any of these truly featherwight rigs or just gone ahead and used what they always did. Whichever way they went, the certainly would have had their reasons.

Now obviously they aren't here to ask, so any answer is pure speclation; but y'all are. For those of you who, like Comerade, are sheep/goat hunters through and through, what is your preference - total weight all up, barrel length, etc. - and why? I'm just curious.

Thanks.

RM

I took a 7lb Blaser K95 to the Alps on an expensive hunt (for me) for chamois and mouflon.

I cursed it when I was in the aim on both trophies. Even with a good rest and with normal breathing the cross hairs jumped with every heart beat.

I'd rather a bit more weight than less. I came back and built up a 8.5lb sako bolt gun which I much prefer. Alpine hunting is not really tough though.

I guess that my hunt’n rifle weight is near perfect. When carrying , I wish it were a pound or two less, when shooting (from the bench) a pound or two more! memtb

Wise words..... I feel exactly the same about my .280.

Dave

Elgin Gates= Don Jr. Many of those guys have custom gunwerks or proof research rifles. I have seen some very, very rich people with Griffin and Howe Springfield sporters with SB 6X. These were those who had old money and used daddy's rifle.

I think that its hard to beat a Fieldcraft or a Nula with a good set of mounts and a bombproof scope. It may not be pretty but it is dependable and extremely accurate.

Speaking of Don Jr., check out his mtn rifle. I'm guessing 12-15#'s.

DF

My “mountain rifle”, for the sake of the discussion, weighs in at under 7 lbs. In the end the lightweight does not really bother me. I bought it from another member some years back. I have nothing against the gun at all. But, I would not have set out to build such a lightweight rig. I do really like it.

For the majority of my hunting I have used an array of 280’s that have ranged between 6 lb 10 oz to 8.5 lbs. I never considered the heaviest to be heavy nor the lightest to be light. I just never thought about the weight.

Since we are all testosterone laden men, who’s to say what’s heavy?

I've been carrying a sub-7 lb MR for so long the thought of packing an 8 lb+ rifle makes my knees hurt..........

To save weight, I just knock off the beer and fried spuds for a month before. Rifle is 7 #...I lose eight or ten...rifle don't weigh nothin'.

For me right around 7# is just right. Not too heavy and enough weight to hold steady. It's getting harder to do tho because my optics keep getting heavier.

I like the MR "mainly" for a "stalking rifle". Fast to get on target in the woods, easy to hit with "off hand" or "standing on your hind legs", ha. I like a sporter weight for "all around", and if I'm in the prairie, the heavier the better as that wind 'blew me and my MR 280AI" all over the place. I missed 5 pronghorn bucks that AM, and finally got a nice one that was chasing a doe 100yds the "other side" of a snow fence! I was able to sneak up and "crawl in, wrapping up in the boards" to get still. I missed him running at 100, he curved away and I was able to hold on his front and he ran into the bullet, and thread one up his left flank into the goodies. Around 200 yds, they are fast! ha He was 15 1/2" deep hooks. Stolen, along with 20ys worth of assorted trophies a few years back. The MR was perfect for my early/late muley hunt up in the hills behind the antelope ( Laramie area). I passed on a huge body/small antlered buck right at dark that evening. He was about 50yds away, "perfect" stalking range...for me, ha.

Honestly, my T3 with a 3x9 Elite 3200 is too light for me.
Most field shooting is offhand and right now, a tree to lean on
is a luxury. And I wobble, a lot, any lighter and it wouldn't work.

I have been thinking of epoxying a few wheelweights in the forearm,
then whatever the butt needs to balance.

Same here. Most of my shots are offhand, kneeling or resting against a tree from offhand or kneeling while still hunting or tracking in the woods. Too light of a rifle sucks for this, as well as one that is poorly balanced/too light in the muzzle.

We've had these conversations time and time again. Opinions based on experience vary widely. But I've noticed that, as Stika Deer says, "nobody goes on a mountain hunt and then decides they need a heavier rifle."
Me, I've gotten away from the light(er) rifles. I must have a rifle that settles down in a hurry for a running shot, or I loose any opportunity to take the shot. E

I hate that, and it's nothing the shooter can control.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^^^^^^ memtb

7# for my 2.5-10x42 scoped 7mm RM with a 24" #1 taper is just about where it needs to be. All over again it would probably be a #2 taper, but I don't shoot that far and glad that it isn't chambered in a more powerful cartridge. A similar build is a 7mm-08 crf and I like that one even better. A lighter rifle carried three ridges back sure beats a nine pounder back in camp.

It might have been O'Connor who noted that a rifle is lighter when someone else is carrying it for you. A heavy rifle may seem more stable to shoot after that long climb, but it has also worn you out more.

Light is nice, so long as the barrel has enough weight to it. It's quite nice to carry a short but fat barrel, and it will settle down and shoot when needed.