Any suggestions on rifle and caliber for hunting the high country?

I have no experience with hunting sheep and know only what I’ve read, but the consensus seems to be a rifle and sight as light as practicable, and a cartridge that’s suitable for long ranges, but moderate caliber (6mm/6.5mm, i.e., 0.243/0.264). Everyone who has a 6.5 Creedmoor seems to love it (and I’m about to find out myself), but there are other options in that range.

Lumber Adirondack in 6.5CM

A sheep rifle needs to be as lightweight as you can shoot well. An ultralight rifle may be easy to carry, but you're there to kill a sheep, not sight-see. Don't go overboard on lightweight.

As for caliber, 6mms or quarter bores seem a tad light for a big Dall or Bighorn. I'd step up to 6.5 or 7mm. .280 would probably be my first choice if buying a new gun explicitly for sheep.

And I'd get it in the Winchester Model 70 Extreme Weather SS. About 6 3/4 lbs naked. I also would not hesitate to take my old boat paddle Ruger M77 MKII in .270, though I'd have to log quite a few range hours getting comfortable shooting out to 400 yards with it.

Have no experience with hunting sheep myself. I worked with a guy that had lots of money and did a lot of sheep hunting over many years. He liked lighter weight rifles in 270 Win.

I also suggest a light weight rifle in 270 Win. And then study up on the ballistics in rarified atmosphere. If at all possible, sight-in your rifle at elevation (8000' to 10000') and practice shooting at extreme up-hill and down-hill.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: arlen,

I'd use a rifle caliber that is comfortable to shoot, but you also want one that will drop the sheep quickly. You don't want them to fall down the side of a mountain.

I bought a Tikka T3 Light Stainless for a mule deer hunt last year. I've been very impressed. The plastic magazine, and bolt shroud are the only thing I'm not super happy about. I got a 30.06 as I like to consolidate calibers. But they come in all the popular calibers.

Went along on two successful MT mtn goat hunts...A .270 Win with 150 Nosler partitions used on both goats.

Shots were at 60-70 yds and 300 yds. Could have used a handgun on goat #1. On #2 the wind was probably 40 mph, but luckily in our face. The dichotomy between the two hunts was striking. #1 was a short, pleasant hunt. #2 was like the Corregidor death march but with snow. NO fun.

Only bighorn I've seen killed was with a 7 rem mag at 100 yds.

I'd agree to not go too light. I have a 6.5 pound .280 Rem and it's tough to shoot accurately...one has to be careful with HOW you hold it, rest it, etc. BUT a JOY to carry.
I'd go .280 Rem/.280 AI, 7 rem mag, or even one of the hot 6.5 's with heavier bullets.

I'm a sheep hunting addict.

If you are looking for a sheep rifle, look at kimber.

My sheep rifle is a kimber Montana in 308, I went with a 308 because I also hunt goats and I hunt in bear country. I use a leupold 2.5-8x36 and it's pretty much perfect. One thing I'll mention is when hunting rams, you need to think about your backpack and boots as much as your rifle. Another thing is your fitness.

The Adirondack in 6.5 would be a killer setup with a nightforce shv 2.5-10.

W

270 is an excellent choice for sheep hunting, I shot 4 with a 270 3 dalls and 1 stone. My buddies that hunt lots of sheep use all sorts of different calibers, 6.5cm, 270, 25-06 and I use the 308. Sheep aren't that tough and there's no reason to bother with magnums for them, you donned tommake sure to anchor them with the first shot though, the last thing you want is tonhit one and have him panic and sprint away and fall off a cliff or into a crack where you can't recover it.

As I said earlier, my current rifle for sheep and black tails in places like kodiak or afognak island is a kimber Montana 308 with a leupold 2.5-8x36. If I were buying a rifle just for sheep I'd take a long look at the kimber mountain ascent, again if this were just for sheep, I'd seriously consider getting it in 280ai.

When you're out there, you can expect long hikes with lots of vertical gain, one of the best things I ever did for my sheep hunting was to invest in a kifaru backpack, you can get away with a good but not custom rifle but there's no getting around the fact that you'll be packing in at least 50lbs and carrying it around all week then potentially packing out 100+lbs if you're successful.

Last sheep hunt I did I ended up hiking well over 100 miles in the week I was out so things like boots, packs, clothing, tents are all things that need serious consideration. I mentioned fitness earlier and that's a huge thing. You need to be able to carry heavy loads up and down mountains for days on end but you probably know that already.

Anyways, sheep hunting is my #1 hobby and I can talk about it all day long.

Where do you plan to hunt?

quote:

Originally posted by ubelongoutside:
The plastic magazine, and bolt shroud are the only thing I'm not super happy about.

Not to drift away from the original question, but are you familiar with Mountain Tactical that offers many aftermarket parts for Tikka rifles? They sell a nice metal bolt shroud, and I see that now they’re advertising aluminum magazines on a preorder basis. I went with the service to convert the bottom metal of my Tikkas to use AICS or MDT magazines.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by ubelongoutside:
The plastic magazine, and bolt shroud are the only thing I'm not super happy about.

Not to drift away from the original question, but are you familiar with Mountain Tactical that offers many aftermarket parts for Tikka rifles? They sell a nice metal bolt shroud, and I see that now they’re advertising aluminum magazines on a preorder basis. I went with the service to convert the bottom metal of my Tikkas to use AICS or MDT magazines.

The new T3X addresses the bolt shroud but Tikka has to cut somewhere in order to maintain price. They have gone up considerably in the last few years and are now approaching Sako money if you factor in cost of new bottom metal/magazines and msot people opt for anew stock at that point. Exceeding the price in which you can buy a factory built Sako for.

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:

The new T3X addresses the bolt shroud but Tikka has to cut somewhere in order to maintain price. They have gone up considerably in the last few years and are now approaching Sako money if you factor in cost of new bottom metal/magazines and msot people opt for anew stock at that point. Exceeding the price in which you can buy a factory built Sako for.

Good Point! I remember back in the day when I worked with a gunshop at the shows how many people would come up with SKS's with 30rd mags, stocks and so many accessories wanting to trade for an AK. The SKS's with all the junk ended up costing 1/2 again as much as if they'd have bought the AK in the first place.

I don't want to demean Tikka's in particular but you DO need to think about what you really want in the end before you start doing expensive upgrades. You could buy a Tikka CTR and add an aftermarket stock and end up spending MORE than if you'd have just bought a Tikka TAC A1 in the first place. Think about what you want to end up with before starting off with the cheapest starting point, it may be more expensive by the end.......

Another think I'd add and I think NewMexican would agree is that the Kimber Montana is a good fundamental place to start. They sometimes need a bit of TLC to get shooting great but minor bedding etc isn't that expensive to have done. And you start out with a good Stainless action and very lightweight and STIFF stock. Potential mods aren't going to add significantly to the price of the final rifle like they will for some other rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by newmexican:


The Adirondack in 6.5 would be a killer setup with a nightforce shv 2.5-10.

W

I envisioned a Leupy 2-12

I have a Weatherby Alaskan in .270wby. I am not looking to sell but might consider it, but won't be cheap.
An unfired one like this is a true Hen's tooth. Has not been made for years and don't think there were many made.

Would be perfect for sheep, imho.

Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
I have a Weatherby Alaskan in .270wby. I am not looking to sell but might consider it, but won't be cheap.
An unfired one like this is a true Hen's tooth. Has not been made for years and don't think there were many made.

Would be perfect for sheep, imho.

Good luck.

How much does it weigh? Weatherby still makes the ultra lightweight which is an awesome gun, and a new one called the altitude which seems similar to the ultra lightweight. If you don't want to spend so much, the vanguard back country is a lot of fun for the money.

barrett also has the new fieldcraft rifle which would make a great sheep gun, I almost got one (and I still might) but I ended up going with the kimber because I preferred the crf and 3 position safety of the kimber to the 2 position safety and push feed of the Barrett.

If you do t want to drop kimber or weatherby $$$ you could check out the savage lightweight hunter which can be had for around 600 bucks and the Remington 700 mountain rifle. My good friend has been living here in Alaska since 2000 and shot a sheep every year, for the past few years he's been shooting a Remington 700 mountain rifle in 25-06 and he absolutely loves it, in fact, I may end up buying one eventually.

All that being said, I think kimber is hard to beat for the $$$ when looking for a sheep gun. recently there were a bunch of montanas on gun broker for 1099.00 while the mountain ascent can be had for about 1700.00 and the Adirondack for about 1500.00. I really think kimber beats out pretty much every competitor for sheep/goat guns. The triggers are great and the stocks are as nice as any of the mccmillland I've owned.

I recently had the chance to shoot a NULA which was a very cool gun but I could buy 2 limbers (with scopes too) for the cost of a NULA and I also don't like the idea of waiting a year for my gun.

Finally I'll just give you a short list of off the shelf guns I'd consider acceptable for a solid sheep gun. As you can see I'm pretty deep into sheep hunting.

-kimber Montana/adirondack/mountain ascent
-sako finnlight
-tikka t3x
-Remington 700 mountain
-weatherby vanguard back country
-weatherby vanguard wilderness
-Christensen arms ridgeline
-Barrett fieldcraft
-weatherby ultra lightweight/altitude

Lots of choices. As for caliber, pretty much anything works on sheep but 7/08, 25-06, 270, 308, 30-06 are all common choices in sheep camp.

I am from the keep it simple stupid department and I do believe that Murphy was an optimist. I would second NMexican on using good gear, footwear, pack , tent etc. Weight on sheep hunts is the difference between getting to the sheep or just watching from afar. There are a lot of good rifles out there and one could make suggestions until the cows come to roost. I have had a horrible experience with drop style magazine rifles as I lost one on a hunt and did not have a spare due to weight and space requirements. Remember Murphy, if you cant live without it don't take it and the more gadgets you have to get the job done the more chances you have of losing or depending on a lost component. Sometime less is more and if you do not need it do not take it. Keep it simple and keep it light....Big

I'd take a 7mm, light with a shorter barrel. For me that would be a 284 Winchester or 7mm-08, both at 20" and lightweight.

Yes, with the 284 take your own ammo, the corner store may not have it in stock.