|
|
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 151
Campfire Member
|
OP
Campfire Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 151 |
I am going to buy a dedicated elk rifle. I prefer wood with a blued barrel or a stainless barrel but am concerned that hunting in snow could cause problems. What do you prefer on your elk rifles for hunting in snowy country? Would be best advised to go with stainless/synthetic? Will a wood/blued combination give me a lot of headaches out on a hunt with regard to upkeep? I don't have any experience hunting in snow.
Thanks.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,803
Campfire Regular
|
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,803 |
My dedicated elk rifle from 1971 to 2003 was a blued barrel and action and walnut stock. I killed 29 elk with that rifle. It started out as a .30-06, then was converted to .30 Gibbs in about 1977. I also used it on two back pack mountain goat hunts, two Montana moose hunts, and an Alaskan peninsula Caribou hunt.
These hunts were in all types of Colorado and Montana weather and included at least 12 horse pack-in hunts in a leather saddle scabbard. This rifle saw it's share of Montana blizzards.
There are places where the bluing has worn off from carrying and from rubbing in the leather scabbard, but I always kept the metal lightly oiled and the muzzle taped, so there aren't any rust spots. I originally finished the stock with Tru oil, and would give it a coat of stock wax before each trip out.
My dedicated elk rifle now is a blued Weatherby Vanguard in .300 Wby with a AA Fancy walnut stock. I also have a foul weather elk rifle in 7mm Rem mag that is a stainless barrel and action in a factory Remington plastic stock. So far my stainless 7mm has seen more elk hunting than my blue .300.
SAVE 200 ELK, KILL A WOLF
NRA Endowment Life Member
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 5,197
Campfire Tracker
|
|
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 5,197 |
Kurt, Bet your not parting with that old Gibbs anytime soon...when they get that many miles on them its like they're a part of you..
Luck....is the residue of design... ![[Linked Image]](http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp311/patrickgsinclair/96zvyt.gif)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 6,974 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
|
|
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 6,974 Likes: 1 |
264Guy:
I have hunted in the Western U.S. with wood/blue rifles starting in 1963 and never had a problem with rust.
I spent a year using a blue/synthetic rifle in the jungle, including during monsoon, and never had any problems. We were pretty anal about keeping our rifles clean and well oiled and pretty much never saw the inside of a warm building.
I've been on five Alaska hunts and on every one the barrel got a little patina on it. I didn't have any problems in the field. I noticed the rust only after the hunt was over. My guess is that moisture condensed on the cold barrel upon entering a warm building, like maybe an airport terminal.
I'm tired of re-blueing barrels so I recently bought a T/C Icon Weathershield. It's ugly but it's accurate, and reliable, and it's not going to rust.
KC
Wind in my hair, Sun on my face, I gazed at the wide open spaces, And I was at home.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,803
Campfire Regular
|
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,803 |
Kurt, Bet your not parting with that old Gibbs anytime soon...when they get that many miles on them its like they're a part of you.. Yeah, Pat, the old Gibbs served me well for a long time. Unfortunately, that '03 bull was probably the last for the Gibbs. The following year I had an overload fire forming some brass, and swelled the chamber. To fix it, the gunsmith had to cut about an inch off the barrel and re-cut the chamber. It just didn't perform the same after that. The bright side was, it gave me an excuse to build the .300 Weatherby.
SAVE 200 ELK, KILL A WOLF
NRA Endowment Life Member
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 9,009
Campfire Outfitter
|
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 9,009 |
Are you day hunting, where you go home each night and can clean and dry your rifle, or will you be sleeping out for 10-15 days straight?
You'll be fine with either, but if it were me, and I could only have one, I'd go with SS/Syn because, however unlikely of it actually happening, you're more likely to bust a wood stock over a plastic one. That being said, I love my blued/wood .35 Whelen!
Wade
"Let's Roll!" - Todd Beamer 9/11/01.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 378
Campfire Member
|
|
Campfire Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 378 |
Been hunting with a blue/walnut Rem 700 since 1978. Killed approx 45 animals (mule deer, whitetails, elk). Have hunted in all kinds of weather. Two years ago was a weeklong pack trip in WY. No rust ever. Only problem is that rifling is getting thin. Its replacement is a Win 70 LH 300WSM that I just bought. Have been thinking about a new tube for that Remmy though in 338-06.
John
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,085
Campfire Regular
|
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,085 |
They all work, but if your going to buy a new one it's hard to find a reason not to buy stainless/synthetic IMO.
I have and use both, but my "go to" rifles these days are SS/SYN.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 151
Campfire Member
|
|
OP
Campfire Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 151 |
I have a Remington 700 Classic in .264. I could easily find another one in a great caliber like 30-06, 35 whelen, 7mag or 350 Rem Mag for elk and I know I would feel "comfortable" with the rifle because I love the stock dimensions of the Classics. I was just concerned that I might have a little trouble keeping up with a blued rifle in snowy/rainy weather.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 104
Campfire Member
|
|
Campfire Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 104 |
Mines a Stainless .375 Ruger Alaskan with the Hogue stock replaced with the standard Ruger synthetic stock. Weighs just 7-3/4 lbs and put's Hornady 300 RNs into 3/4" at 100. Scope is a fixed Leupold 2-1/2 power.
If you want to anger a conservative, 'Lie to him'; if you want to anger a liberal, 'Tell him the truth'!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 12,651
Campfire Outfitter
|
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 12,651 |
264guy �
Wood and blue will work fine. I recommend floating the barrel, though. Take the action off and thoroughly wax the stock and action, then reassemble.
I�ve hunted Colorado elk since 1982, always with blued steel and with the exception of one year when I hunted with my Ruger �canoe paddle� .300 WM, wooden stocks. A little moisture doesn�t hurt. Rain is much worse than snow.
That said, I bought the �canoe paddle� Ruger for bad weather. That was probably just an excuse, though, as I had wanted a .300 WM for years.
Last edited by Coyote_Hunter; 02/25/10.
Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!
No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.
A good .30-06 is a 99% solution.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,597
Campfire Regular
|
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,597 |
For elk in the Rockies or SW I would not worry about using a wood/blue rifle. The climate is dry enough that even if it snows, it's still dry. That may not make sense, but that's my experience, having lived in Colorado.
If you're talking a dedicated elk rifle for the Pacific Northwest then stainless might become a better option.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 20,260 Likes: 17
Campfire Ranger
|
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 20,260 Likes: 17 |
I have a bunch of dedicated "elk" rifles that I mainly shoot rock chucks and bunnies with anymore. The only SS/SY rifle I own is a 340 Wby, the rest are all wood/blue. I have never had a problem with rust or stock swelling, but I don't hunt rain forests. I hunt in plenty of falling snow though and have never felt handicapped.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 8,460 Likes: 2
Campfire Outfitter
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 8,460 Likes: 2 |
Looks like you have several people saying "no problem with wood or blued metal." That has not been my experience.
In about 1987 I bought a blued Ruger 77 with a wood stock in .300 win mag to hunt elk with. Elk season 1989 I spent in the coast range of SW Oregon. I verified sight in on Nov 9. On Nov 11 I hunted hard. It rained over 4 inches that day and I spent most of it thrashing through a huckleberry, blackberry, and dog hair fir jungle of a canyon that'd been clearcut in the 50s and was "grown up a bit." Returning home, I learned that my grandmother had seen some "big deer" and right at dusk I was able to see them in binocs ... not deer, elk. At daylight on Nov 12 I was 150 yard from the herd laying over the top of a big douglas fir stump with a beautiful, steady rest. When a legal bull stepped out of the bunch so I had clear shot, I put the crosshairs behind his shoulder and torched off a shot lobbing a 180 grain protected point partition towards his heart. All hell broke loose, elk went every which direction. All but one which was laying there flat as a fritter. It was dead so fast because it had a broken neck.
Why do I know the dates so well? That was my first elk and it came on my birthday! Cool birthday present, don't you think?
Because the rest had been so steady, that shot placement bothered me. A couple days later I went to the range to check my sights. I was off 12 MOA horizontally. Since we'd paced off the shot at 150 yards, and the hit was 18 inches from the aim point, it all makes sense. I just got lucky. If the elk had been facing the other way I'd have made a serious gut shot.
Rather than change the sights, since I didn't expect to be hunting with that rifle for a while, I left it, but re-checked the sights occasionally. Eventually the stock dried and the point of impact returned to the point of aim.
That was an illuminating moment. I won't hunt with a one piece wood stock again except in the very driest of conditions and even then only with frequent (daily) re-verification of sight-in.
Aside from my muzzleloader which doesn't shoot very good to begin with, I shoot laminates and synthetics only on guns that see wet weather. I prefer stainless, I will use blued metal, I like plain wood just fine on a lever action or single shot with a 2 piece stock, but I won't do plain wood on bolt action guns with a one piece stock.
Tom
Last edited by T_O_M; 02/26/10.
Anyone who thinks there's two sides to everything hasn't met a M�bius strip.
Here be dragons ...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 534
Campfire Regular
|
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 534 |
Interesting thread. I couldn't bear the thought of putting a big ugly black plastic thing on the custom Mauser I'm building, so I bought an unfinished Fajen walnut stock for it. It just seems to be a more appropriate match for the rifle.
But I do hunt in the PNW, in the rain. I hunt from home, so I can clean and dry things every night, but I guess my question would be what kind of finish should I put on the stock to keep the weather issues under control? I was liking the idea of some kind of oil/pine tar finish rather than a shiny hard varnish that just gets all scratched up. What kind of floating job should I be thinking of?
??
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,335
Campfire Tracker
|
|
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,335 |
Looks like you have several people saying "no problem with wood or blued metal." That has not been my experience.
In about 1987 I bought a blued Ruger 77 with a wood stock in .300 win mag to hunt elk with. Elk season 1989 I spent in the coast range of SW Oregon. I verified sight in on Nov 9. On Nov 11 I hunted hard. It rained over 4 inches that day and I spent most of it thrashing through a huckleberry, blackberry, and dog hair fir jungle of a canyon that'd been clearcut in the 50s and was "grown up a bit." Returning home, I learned that my grandmother had seen some "big deer" and right at dusk I was able to see them in binocs ... not deer, elk. At daylight on Nov 12 I was 150 yard from the herd laying over the top of a big douglas fir stump with a beautiful, steady rest. When a legal bull stepped out of the bunch so I had clear shot, I put the crosshairs behind his shoulder and torched off a shot lobbing a 180 grain protected point partition towards his heart. All hell broke loose, elk went every which direction. All but one which was laying there flat as a fritter. It was dead so fast because it had a broken neck.
Why do I know the dates so well? That was my first elk and it came on my birthday! Cool birthday present, don't you think?
Because the rest had been so steady, that shot placement bothered me. A couple days later I went to the range to check my sights. I was off 12 MOA horizontally. Since we'd paced off the shot at 150 yards, and the hit was 18 inches from the aim point, it all makes sense. I just got lucky. If the elk had been facing the other way I'd have made a serious gut shot.
Rather than change the sights, since I didn't expect to be hunting with that rifle for a while, I left it, but re-checked the sights occasionally. Eventually the stock dried and the point of impact returned to the point of aim.
That was an illuminating moment. I won't hunt with a one piece wood stock again except in the very driest of conditions and even then only with frequent (daily) re-verification of sight-in.
Aside from my muzzleloader which doesn't shoot very good to begin with, I shoot laminates and synthetics only on guns that see wet weather. I prefer stainless, I will use blued metal, I like plain wood just fine on a lever action or single shot with a 2 piece stock, but I won't do plain wood on bolt action guns with a one piece stock.
Tom Of course such things are easily prevented..
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 8,460 Likes: 2
Campfire Outfitter
|
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 8,460 Likes: 2 |
Of course such things are easily prevented.. Ok, confound me with your wisdom. I'm waiting ...
Anyone who thinks there's two sides to everything hasn't met a M�bius strip.
Here be dragons ...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 32,312
Campfire 'Bwana
|
|
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 32,312 |
264guy, I hunt a very wet climate and didn't start buying big game rifles until 10 years ago, and so I've always bought stainless with some sort of synthetic stock (laminate, fiberglass, plastic). Ignoring cosmetics and finish durability for a moment, from a purely functional standpoint, synthetic or laminate stocks are more stable than walnut, on average. TOM's story is a good illustration of this. I love the look and feel of blues steel and walnut, and should you go that route others here can give great advice on how to modify (float and bed) and seal up that stock for maximum function. Plus, if it were mine, I'd do all that and then put it in the shower for an hour, wait a day, then verify the sight-in.... Or, do what I do. Buy stainless in a synthetic stock of some type and remove an entire realm of maintenance and worry from your mind.  FWIW, if you like the feel of wood in your hands (har har), laminate works great. They tend to be a bit heavy though. Fiberglass is the "best" stock material- like a McMillan or M700 Ti takeoff stock. Plastic is the "worst" material, tending to be more flexible than we'd like to see, but I can report that the plastic stock on my M700 XCR is a model of stability and repeatability and so on, so... they can work too. All IMHO and IME, and good luck with whatever you choose!
The CENTER will hold.
Reality, Patriotism,Trump: you can only pick two
FÜCK PUTIN!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,335
Campfire Tracker
|
|
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,335 |
Of course such things are easily prevented.. Ok, confound me with your wisdom. I'm waiting ... Pillars and some bedding, free float style..revolutionary [bleep] for sure
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 18,881
Campfire Ranger
|
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 18,881 |
I've never had anything rust or corrode from snow. Rain, maybe. Sweat and dust, yes.
Frankly, even carrying a semi auto pistol inside my waistband w/o a holster during the hot summer months where the gun would get soaking wet, I found that wiping it down with a reasonably fresh silicon rage works wonders. May take the bluing down after a few years, but none of mine rusted.
Since I insist on hunting with a fouled bore, I prefer stainless, but have never had any of carbon steel barrels corrode.
I like synthetic stocks if they are lighter, especially in the butt section, than wood. Saves weight and moves the balance point forward which allows me to shoot better.
Last of all, while I dearly love nice wood, I hate seeing my nice walnut stocks getting beat up in the places where I hunt. So, that's another reason to use synthetic stocks. However, if I ever hunt under more civilized conditions, I may have to get a nicely stocked rifle just for that. E
|
|
|
|
|
594 members (16penny, 10gaugeman, 1936M71, 17Hunter, 163bc, 1234, 69 invisible),
2,072
guests, and
1,197
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Forums81
Topics1,192,827
Posts18,496,581
Members73,979
| |
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023
|
|
|
|
