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Mule Deer
Would that 9mm x 72R be a 358 calibar?
I have to agree with 44MC, I love that Merkel!

Texczech,

It's approximately .358 caliber. She bough the gun at the Wisdom, Montana gun show maybe 20 years ago (which often has tables out in the streets, because Wisdom is so small) from a guy who thought it was a 9.3x72R. He even included a partial box of RWS factory 9.3x72R ammo. several of which he'd fired in the gun.

But after we got home and I started planning to handload for it, I decided to slug the rifle barrel, because old German rifles are often one-offs that have somewhat varying bores. It turned out to be close enough to .35 caliber to use Speer 180 flat-noses designed primarily for the .35 Remington--which actually made handloading considerably easier!

Yeah, I like the Merkel a lot too, and don't hunt with it as much as it deserves. But that could be said about a lot of my rifles--because I have a lot of rifles!

Thanks John.
I always thought a drilling would be a good all around gun. A Merkel is definitely a "retirement" gun in the future.

I'm enjoying this thread immensely. Even though I'm in a position financially to partake in some "western mountain hunting", for lack of a better term, being of sound mind but not-so-sound body anymore means that train done left the station. It doesn't mean I can't experience it vicariously through y'all!

It often struck me that a lot of the rifles I see Eastern Nimrods toting in the deer woods these days would be equally effective farther afield- lots of seven pound-ish, scoped, relatively flat shooting fusils de chasse. Could it be that a century of hunting literature accented by a couple decades of internet omniscience had the effect of homogenizing tastes in rifles across the board, to a fairly large extent?

Easy question to answer. Pre-64 Winchester Featherweight 270 in Bansner fiberglass blind magazine stock, Leupold 6x scope in S&K steel rings. Load it with 130 Partitions and practice, practice, practice!

I have a similar rifle, pre 64 fwt 270 in a mcmillan compact edge, dual dovetails and 3.5x10 leupold. It covers a lot of my needs off!

I have not tried all of the rifles mentioned here, but of the ones I have owned and hunted with, the Kimber Montana has been my favorite.
Nothing too fancy, but it is built right IMO for carrying in the mountains.

my vote would be for a Marlin 336 or Glenfield 30....same thing.

About 6 1/2 pounds with a full tube and a 4 x on top. Easy to carry. Heck, we carry them 99% more than we shoot them on a hunt.

As long as you shoot the thing beforehand and know the trajectory, you are good to 300 yards or a bit more..

Yeah, every time I get the itch to do that I pull out an old drop differential chart that I put together using an online ballistics program. With 140, 150, and 160 grain bullets, the difference in drop between the 7x57 and .280 (7x57's twin) is a litle over an inch at 300 yards, about my limit. Even if I stretch it to 400 the difference is about three inches. Even the difference between the 7x57 and the .280AI isn't substantial, so I always just tuck the idea away.

The 7x64 has charisma, the 7x57 has panache. Can't lose either way.

John:

How does that kiplauf shoot? They're known for being pretty accurate.

Thanks

Mike

Well I’m only slightly depressed- I weighed the old 300 Weatherby Vanguard I’ve been lugging around the Rockies hunting elk and it is under 10 lbs with sling & Zeiss 3-15x50 in Talleys. But at 9.98 lbs it is hardly a Mtn Rifle in the classic sense. My backup is still 8.6 lbs and that is about as light a rifle as I point well so it’s probably good I’m not a sheep hunter. Elk on foot & packing them out normally on our backs does make the rifle heavy at the end of the day but I’m confident it will hit where aimed.

Mike,

The kipplauf shoots pretty well, though I admit not trying a zillion different loads to see exactly how small it will group. Started with the 150-grain Nosler Accubond and Varget years ago when I bought the rifle, and it groups three in about 3/4".

I've been toting various permutations of faux-ti remingtons for a while now, and a sub-7lb rifle sure beats 8.5lb+. Currently have a 280AI Pacnor ultralight 23" in a flipflop padded ti stock, a factory model 7 barreled 243 on a ti action in a Remington/Mcmillan FS stock, and a 7-08 factory mtn rifle barrel on a CM action in an Edge.

"Mountain Rifles" seem most relevant when the hunt involves one man and one trip out with the animal. Backpack elk or moose may allow a heavier rifle as that extra weight gets averaged over 3 or more packouts, unless packing moose or elk in an area ripe with grizzly and the rifle is with for every leg of every trip.

Evolution has seen all of my talley lightweights swapped for leupold DD, for a few ounces added. So far I've resisted a transition to SWFA 6x, though I have a few to try. Tough to walk away from a 10oz leupold on a mountain rifle.

I remember as a kid reading how rifles with two-piece stocks just wouldn't shoot very well, especially break-actions. I guess things have improved in the last 50+ or so years.

Rem Ti with a 280 mountain rifle barrel punched to Ackley
Nightforce SHV 3-10X42

I plan on replacing the Talley's with Leupold Backcountry cross slot rings and mount.

https://imgur.com/EqEou1V

In my experience that's pretty much BS, unless you're talking benchrest accuracy. Aside from several very accurate Ruger No. 1s, I once owned a Savage 99 in .300 Savage that would shoot cloverleaves with Federal factory ammo. But I suspect the improved quality of bullets, along with better factory ammo and handling techniques, may have helped considerably.

Beer and fried spuds is half the reason I hunt Big Game!


good point though.

Damn, that Blaser costs more than my old pickup truck

Offshore

My first pickup cost $200--more than a new Remington 700 cost at the time.

Everything is relative.

My Adirondack (6.5) at 5lbs 10ozs with scope/Talleys has been making it difficult to choose one of my other rifles while deer hunting the mountains of WV. It just feels too comfortable between the hands, slung, and shooting small groups is a +