Guys,

I'm hoping to spend a summer in AK in a few years with my family. (objective is to get there in early June and stay through early August).

This plan is still in its infancy, but I'd like to do a good bit of hunting while up there. Species still TBD, based on season and, of course, budget....

I'd like to bring a single rifle for most of my hunting. Question is.... should that be a 358 Win or 45-70? I'd make either be stainless, for certain.

is the 358 Win in BLR ample for all game in AK like I assume, or do I need to destroy a shoulder with a 45-70. As you may guess, I'm leaning towards the 358 win, but dont wanna end up feeling undergunned on the outside chance I get a chance to hunt something as big as a brown bear (the seasons and budget may rule this option out anyhow....).

Final item: I've never owned a BLR, so I'm not that familiar with their workings. Are they sufficiently reliable for AK conditions? Of particular concern is the inner-workings and corrosion resistance. I certainly dont intend to swamp the thing in salt spray, but I figure it's a question worth asking.

Any feedback you offer will be well recieved. Thanks in advance.

shane

Early August means you won't be hunting much. Don't know where you'll be, but considering the dates I can't imagine not running a stainless bolt action. Also can't imagine needing anything more than say a 308 for ease of ammo.

I was hoping to hunt carribou for certain, and I'd like to add something like goat, sheep, moose or black bear to the list if possible.

Brown bear is definately a stretch, but I dont want to limit myself based on caliber alone....

If the opportunity was right, I might send the wife + kids back home early, and I could stay some additional time to include one of those "wish list" hunts.

Hunting Alaska definately fits into that "lifetime dream" category. To make it happen, I'm expecting to take a sabbatical from work. If I can make this happen, its one fewer thing I can regret on my death bed someday.

shane

You ain't gonna hunt goat, sheep or brown bear with out a guide unless you are an Alaskan resident or of second degree kindred and hunting with that person

You could hunt black bears and possibly caribou but you won't be able to drive to any areas that hold caribou, unless you hunt the 40 mile herd and that is a registration hunt which can be closed the day after it opens. Not a lot of areas open for moose in August either and the one's that are, get pounded by the locals. Your best bet for either a caribou or moose is to wait until September and do a fly in.

I'd also recommend bring a bolt action rifle, 30-06 will do the trick and ammo for it is very easy to find up here. Good luck.

I have a BLR in 308 and a 45-70 Marlin XLR. I like both. However the BLR is as accurate as a bolt gun, fast handling.
Do you reload? If so the BLR in 358 using Noslar partitions or Barnes TSX bullets in a 225 gr should handle a bear in a bad situation, especially with the quick handling BLR. Under 100-150 yards the 45-70 should work, but the 358 will give you more range like 200-250 yards, especially if you are going after caribou, goat or sheep. It should also work ok on moose from what I have read.

Not having ever been to Alaska my opinion is probably worth about what it costs, but.... if I were going somewhere like that I'd probably take a stainless/synthetic bolt gun in .308 or .30-06, especially if it were the only rifle I were taking. Having some experience with BLR's in various configurations and quite a bit of experience with my Guide Gun and several others (all in .45-70) I would go with the Guide Gun over the two levergun choices you offer. BLR's are a bit too delicate for my taste, especially as the only rifle under possibly adverse conditions. I've never seen a Guide Gun that, after sand/mud/foreign matter disasters, I couldn't have up and running before the next morning with just a few simple tools and no replacement parts. I can't say the same about some of the BLR's I've had to fix. Good luck with your dream. Go for it.

The other guys pegged it, get yourself a stainless/plastic 30-06 do a fly out Caribou hunt, take a black bear tag. Start doing your homework now on the fly out, I'm sure plenty of people here can give you some direction. Little early for moose, tough hunt anyway unless you are ready to handle some heavy packs. If you don't plan ahead even the fly out part can get tough to get booked.

What part of Ak are you looking to go to? That's like saying you plan on spending the Summer in Canada. Depending on where you go, there might not be any seasons open at that time.

Either would work on moose, deer, bu, but I'd also lean towards a stainless bolt gun myself.

Shane,

I don't know dick about hunting Alaska so I'll not comment there... I have owned both a Marlin 45/70 GG and a .358 BLR. Both were good guns.

For what you say you want to hunt, if you stick with the lever-gun idea, I'd instead go with a BLR in .325 WSM. 22" barrel, light and handy, get the pistol-grip version IMHO. Anyway I have one of those too. Load that bad boy with 200-gn TSX's and have a very versatile setup. Can't speak to it's durabilty/reliability in AK but my Marlins and BLR's have always been reliable guns in general.

Reading between the lines here are you wanting the lever for it's firepower as a defensive "camp gun"? I can dig that; not saying it makes sense ( the AK guys will know better) but when I bought my 45/70 GG I was hoping to do a canoe or raft float with my family in AK and the idea was that the 45/70 would be a great camp gun.

Reason being, a bolt gun makes more sense IMHO as a hunting gun, generally speaking. Perhaps even as a camp gun.

I think you need to rethink your plan. My wife and I went caribou hunting in late August. I could walk around in shorts and no shirt some days. The day we left I had on everything I had brought with me. The flies were terrible at the airport.
Big piles of meat oozing blood and covered with flies.
After a short time your meat was covered with maggots. I took them off with a fillet knife. Try September if you can.
whelennut

jwbga,
If I were you I would decide what I was going to hunt first and then pick the rifle based on that. Then I would buy it and start getting used to it NOW. Don't wait until the last minute and then try to learn how to operate and maintain it. Have Fun deciding.
whelennut

I'd say at this point, forget about the gun question, and focus on learning about hunting Alaska. The gun question will work itself out. Getting learned up on what hunting AK is, and isn't is 100 times more important than choosing a gun.

Given your time frame, I'd say forget the gun and concentrate on fishing poles.

BTW, I wouldn't go with either of your choices.

Bingo

Rethink your plan but the .358 will do anything that needs doing.

I've only shot deer with mine. It's impressive.

Klikitarik is a great .358-in-AK resource, bet he'll chime in soon.

My mistake. Apparently .358s suck.

funny , I was just reading not to long ago how Larry has a hard time keeping 120 tsx's out of his 7-08 in a moose. Guess those .358 bullets must hit the ground right as they come out of the end of the barrel.

I used to think my 350 rigby was the be all, do all Alaskan rifle, then I hunted Montague for a week. The rifle was simply too heavy for hunting hard for a week. After the trip the rifle was promptly replaced with a Ruger 350 rem mag, shorter action, 2" shorter barrel, about 2#'s lighter. It is still a very good rifle, but it is not a light rifle.

Then I borrowed my wifes ruger M77 ul .308 (originally my rifle) for a hunt. The dots all lined up, light done right is where it's at, and if you can't kill it with a .308, or a 7-08, a bigger caliber isn't going to make you a better shot.

I would not consider a 225 gr @ 2500 fps the ideal combo for hunting caribou. The original poster doesn't even own either gun in question, so doesn't have to handicap himself.

Done right for minimal coin, rem 700 sps ss 7-08, lop 2" off the barrel, top with leupy 6X42 in talley lw's.

Done better, kimber montana 7-08, same glass and ring/bases.

I'd hunt anything Alaska has with a 308 or it's ilk, not to be confused with elk for the lawyers reading this....

My vote would also be for fishing in August, if only to get a feel for Alaska before going hunting.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. For certain, I have alot to learn before I execute this trip, and much to plan as well.

I reload all my rifle ammo, and like leverguns in general. My leaning towards the 358 was because it'd give me an excuse to own a takedown stainless BLR (which I've always thought looked like nice guns) and I have ample 308 brass on hand, which can be easily formed into 358 brass.

To your points, though... my primary focus should be finding out what is in season and reliably huntable in the given time frame. The way the funding is showing up for this trip (sssssllllloooooowwwwwllllyyyyy), it may be 2045 before I can afford it anyhow.....

and I certainly intend to spent alot of time up there fishing.

shane

I've killed both moose and caribou with both the 358 and the 7mm-08, and both work quite well within their range. Of the two, I take the 7 more frequently as a better all-arounder, but the 308 would probably be an even better choice for an all-around round in a compact rifle. (A recent caribou hunt, however, did not impress me that the 120 TSX can paddle upstream with the weightier 140 - which I've never recovered in many caribou kills [in the XFB version]. I recovered a 120 in one of five animals I killed and it wasn't much impressive in expansion.) Then again, where bigger, toothy critters might be part of the equation I'd rather have the extra finger room which a standard long action offers so the '06 would be quite logical. Qualms would be few with nothing fancier than a boat paddle M77 stainless in 30-06...for me anyway.

FWIW, I have and like the Marlin stainless Guide Gun. However, when I hunt wit the 45-70 I prefer to use a #1. My Guide gun makes a camp and boat gun which ideally doesn't involve much killing, not that it couldn't. But 30 cals are very well suited to much use in Alaska. Prepare yourself rather than arm yourself for the rather improbable dire "what-if" situations.

Thanks for the feedback. Seems like excellent advice.

I'm gonna have to do a test on one of those big interior moose this year with a 140 tsx out of the 7-08 , anybody wanna catch it for me on the other side?

Don't worry, the hide will catch it for you!

I shoot a 7mm-08 too, and I just love that thing. I dont think I've missed a darned thing with it. Its just an awesome round.

And I wouldnt wait on the far side to catch that tsx!

Watch your back. I know of at least one 140 XFB as well as a couple 160 Failsafes that didn't stop in varied mooses, as well as many of those XFBs which sailed on through a good number of caribou. They might still be in low orbit somewhere. I would definitely be careful about shooting an animal for which I had only one tag or ticket if I was using monos and the critters cam in pairs. I have taken two animals with them (and other bullets) on several occasions. In at least one case, I could have probably taken at least one more with a single bullet.

Regarding the 358 Winchester, if all you had was a 225 TSX at 2350 f/s muzzle velocity and limited your shots to 250 yards, what would you not hunt with it?

Not much. It worked as well on this one at a bit more than 250 (with the 225 XFB) as it has on several other occasions on moose and browny at more civil yardages. The scribes who dissed the round in the beginning were full of "stuff". (Of course, they did lack many of the fine bullets for the caliber that we now have.)

I have a .45-70 Marlin GG and I have shot my last two 8 point white tails with a .308 Sav 99 lever. That being said, I have always thought that if I ever hunted AK, the .300WBY would be my one "do it all" rifle. Good luck.

Those saying just go and get your feet wet so to speak are giving the best advice. Hunting or fishing either seems like it should be a sole purpose trip. Things are so expensive in Alaska it is hard to do both. Some float trip options could work for a combo of hunting and fishing, but this would need to be the primary objective. It would require an outfitter or at least a plane shuttle and pick up.

Rifle choice, your favorite beater rifle.

Years ago I used the Browning in a .300 Win mag and it did all I needed. I was a trim 160 lbs in those days. However, to go again I would take my .338 Win mag and never look back. Your .358 caliber will do the trick in spades you betcha with the proper bullet choice.

Hunting Alaska is more about "where" you'll hunt, and "how" you'll get there than about what you'll kill it with. Big country, and it can be very difficult to get to "where" the game is. A Moose is the easiest big game animal I've killed. All sorts of calibers will do the trick. Getting them out is the hard part.

I definately wouldn't want to do one solo. In fact, I don't want to be part of anymore Moose hunts if I can help it!

I'd be thinking more along the lines of quads, boats and planes than calibers.


Don't want to discourage you, but hunting in Alaska can often be more of an expedition than a hunt. At least compared to hunting the lower 48. Go for it, just get your bases covered before you head out.

One other thing. On my 2nd Alaska hunt I was going to use a 45-70. Common sense prevailed and it's well it did. I shot a Moose at about 45 yards. That would have been right in the 45-70's wheel house. But, the Grizzly I shot was right at about 300 yards. Last day, getting dark and if I wanted one, that was the shot. I wouldn't have taken that shot with a 45-70. My 300 Weatherby killed him with 1 shot.

Just things to consider for a non-resident.

For the time of year you describe, I'd invest in fishing, and photography gear. You could conceivably hunt black bear, and caribou, but it would be a waste of time, and game. The hides on the black bear won't be worth a hoot. The only 'bou you could hunt that time of year, are on a fly out, and in the summer, you'll likely lose the meat, before you even get picked up. Fish, take pictures, and have fun!

Jeff

Id go with the 358 Win it plenty an with the right ammo longer ranged.