Best Caliber for sheep hunting

[double rifle newbie]

I'm no expert and will be watching this thread as a sheep and goat gun is in my future as well... But to throw something new and different out here.. I've been drooling over the Kimber Adirondack in a 6.5 Creedmoor... Just wish it had a couple more inches of barrel length. What I really want is for them to wake up and chamber the Mountain Ascent in the Creedmoor, same weight and a 22" barrel vs. the 18" on Adirondack. I'll give em a year and see what comes. I would love to put the sleek and light weight Z3 3-9 x 36 scope on it but for 500 yards I would go with a Z5 3.5-18 or the Zeiss 3-15 that Kimber sells with matching camo. Thinking I'd also drop the bucks for the one piece aluminum Talley rings.

The Creedmoor is a legit 500 yard caliber with recoil akin to a 243. At 500 yards it delivers 1200 Foot Pounds at still over 2000 fps, that should take down a sheep cleanly and not hurt to bad to shoot in the lightest weight production bolt gun available.

But I have never hunted sheep nor high mountains... I just know that at altitude those ounces can feel like pounds so I want a light weight gun that can do the job. I'm sure there are many other great options with marginally more weight and much more power.

I agree that a .243, as well as the 6.5 CM are excellent for the type of hunting you are describing. I picked up a 6.5 CM Tikka Superlight stainless synthetic to be my sheep/goat/ibex/mouflon/etc specific gun. could i take my 30/06, or my 338 WM? yes i definitely could. but i didnt have anything in my gun collection between .223 and 30/06 so the Tilka fills that gap. lightweight, flat shooting, and hits hard enough at distance for what i plan on using it for. my humble opinion, gentlemen

 

[DLSJR]

Sheep are not difficult to kill, so any reasonable caliber that’s flat shooting and accurate for you will work well. I’ve shot 4 rams, 3 Dalls and 1 Desert, with a variety of 270, 300 Winchester and 264 Winchester. Ranges have been from around 100-250 yards. The next sheep hunt I go on, I’ll probably shoot my 264 again, it’s very accurate and flat, driving a 127 grain Barnes LRX at 3,220 fps. But if a hard physical hunt I’ll probably fall back on my 270 since it’s a couple pounds lighter to carry.

It’s hard to argue against a 270 as a sheep rifle since it’s a classic chambering that’s flat, hits hard and is easy to shoot. The only reason I shot 1 Dall with a 300 mag is I was on a sheep/grizzly hunt so wanted more punch for a grizzly than my 270 has.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I'm no expert and will be watching this thread as a sheep and goat gun is in my future as well... But to throw something new and different out here.. I've been drooling over the Kimber Adirondack in a 6.5 Creedmoor... Just wish it had a couple more inches of barrel length. What I really want is for them to wake up and chamber the Mountain Ascent in the Creedmoor, same weight and a 22" barrel vs. the 18" on Adirondack. I'll give em a year and see what comes. I would love to put the sleek and light weight Z3 3-9 x 36 scope on it but for 500 yards I would go with a Z5 3.5-18 or the Zeiss 3-15 that Kimber sells with matching camo. Thinking I'd also drop the bucks for the one piece aluminum Talley rings.

The Creedmoor is a legit 500 yard caliber with recoil akin to a 243. At 500 yards it delivers 1200 Foot Pounds at still over 2000 fps, that should take down a sheep cleanly and not hurt to bad to shoot in the lightest weight production bolt gun available.

But I have never hunted sheep nor high mountains... I just know that at altitude those ounces can feel like pounds so I want a light weight gun that can do the job. I'm sure there are many other great options with marginally more weight and much more power.

@Action Bob
Git yersef a nice lightweight 257 Weatherby and load it with 100gn TTSX at 3,600fps. Shoots as flat as a shit carters hat and wallop a long ways out. My 25 is 2 inches high at 100yds spot on at 300 and only 8 inches low at 400.
If you get a manbun I will definitely talk to @ Just Gina and have her make you a pink tutu and fluffy moccasins to hunt in. That should cure your thoughts of a manbun.
You could just get a mountain ascent in 280AI tho.
Bob

 

[ActionBob]

@Action Bob
Git yersef a nice lightweight 257 Weatherby and load it with 100gn TTSX at 3,600fps. Shoots as flat as a shit carters hat and wallop a long ways out. My 25 is 2 inches high at 100yds spot on at 300 and only 8 inches low at 400.
If you get a manbun I will definitely talk to @ Just Gina and have her make you a pink tutu and fluffy moccasins to hunt in. That should cure your thoughts of a manbun.
You could just get a mountain ascent in 280AI tho.
Bob

Wow Bob that was back in 2015!

I actually bought a Kimber Mountain Accent in 300 WSM and used it on my Mountain Goat hunt.

Topped with Swarovski Z3 3-9x36 it is as light weight as about anything you could buy off the shelf other than that Adirondack. Shooting a 200 grain bullet I'd feel comfortable taking a grizzly or a moose with it

 

[CBH Australia]

@Action Bob
Git yersef a nice lightweight 257 Weatherby and load it with 100gn TTSX at 3,600fps. Shoots as flat as a shit carters hat and wallop a long ways out. My 25 is 2 inches high at 100yds spot on at 300 and only 8 inches low at 400.
If you get a manbun I will definitely talk to @ Just Gina and have her make you a pink tutu and fluffy moccasins to hunt in. That should cure your thoughts of a manbun.
You could just get a mountain ascent in 280AI tho.
Bob

Bob, once again you are promoting the .25 calibre. You know the Creedmoor Crowd will argue their 6.5 has moor merit and a flatter trajectory right?

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Bob, once again you are promoting the .25 calibre. You know the Creedmoor Crowd will argue their 6.5 has moor merit and a flatter trajectory right?

@CBH Australia
Chris even Ron Spomer says the humble almost 100 year old 25-06 shoots flatter and hits harder than the 6.5 manbun. The new fangled man bun does NORTHING the old 25-06 can't do better.
Just goes to show sometimes old is better.
Pity is the older I get the more shit I become in some things.
I was talking to an old bloke at a retirement home the other day. At 96 years old he said he could do as much as he could at 20 years old.
I told him that's bloody amazing.

He replied not really, just goes to show how useless I was when I was 20.
HA HA HA HA HA HA
Bob

 

[poco]

My old M70 .270 lightweight @ 7.5 lbs , scoped & loaded
has served me well , I agree anything from 25-06 to a 300 H&H will knock the fuzz out of a sheep

 

[Nevada Mike]

Nice ram!

 

[K95]

I have 3 barrels for my K 95 Blaser that I use for mountain hunting. A 257 Weatherby firing a 100 gr TTSX at 3600 fps. A 270 Weatherby with a TSX 129 gr at 3400 fps and last a 28 Nosler with a 160 gr Accubond at 3300 fps . Lately I have been working with a 135 gr mono Atomic 29 at 3450 fps. All of these will kill sheep size game at extended ranges though I like to get as close as I can. Considering any sheep hunting these days cost a bucket load of money I would probably consider the 28 Nosler.
Ken