Mountain rifle combination - Request for opinions

[geoff rath]

agreed on a slinh, and tht looks impressive; I'll follow up for sure. Thanks, muchly

 

[vancewalker007]

4lbs 13oz

That looks like a Kimber Subalpine. Should be a nice shooter.

 

[sheephunterab]

Yes that's what it is....scary light for sure

 

[vancewalker007]

Yes that's what it is....scary light for sure

Not crazy about that camo, I'd go with the green stock in the 280 AI. Always wanted to play with a 280 AI. I need less rifles to feed though.

 

[Nosler guy]

Without knowing more about your hunting style or method I will have to make some assumptions. First of all I assume you are not carrying a heavy pack on this hunt so you are just concerned about the rifle, the gear in your pockets and a small pack for water and snacks. If that is the case you probably don't need a new rifle you need a new sling. IMHO the sling in the attached link is the best sling for a hunting rifle on the market. My family members and I have used this sling for year including last year safari and I can confidently say this is the best sling I have ever used.

http://www.specialtyoutdoorproducts.com/

This sling is currently sold on Amazon for $35 and that's a lot cheaper than a new rifle and scope.

Being able to distribute your rifles weight across both shoulders and have both hands free to climb a mountain makes all the difference in the world.

Have used a similar sling for about 30 years, spreads the weight, frees up the hands, the one we use can be adjusted to four or five different positions or styles - makes it so even heavier rifles are not nearly the burden they can be with a conventional sling

When I pair it up with my light weight set up, a full day hunting in steep or rough terrain isn't nearly as difficult as most guys make it out to be. I've been using a Remington 700 Titanuim - chambered in 7mm SAUM with a Ziess 2.5 - 10 X 42. With a full magazine, it's just a hair over 6 lbs and still nicely balanced - a pleasure to carry. It spits out 150 gr. Nosler Partions into tight groups with more than enough energy to take most mountain game. In my opinion, about as good a setup as you can get without spending a lot of bucks

 

[sheephunterab]

Not crazy about that camo, I'd go with the green stock in the 280 AI. Always wanted to play with a 280 AI. I need less rifles to feed though.

Less rifles...that's crazy talk!

 

[sheephunterab]

When I pair it up with my light weight set up, a full day hunting in steep or rough terrain isn't nearly as difficult as most guys make it out to be.

It's when you add a 65 pound pack and go 10 days straight that the little things start to matter.

 

[Say Man]

It's when you add a 65 pound pack and go 10 days straight that the little things start to matter.

Yeah, I did my first goat hunt with a 338 because that is what I had. I got back from that trip and bought a weatherby mark V in their light weight mountain rifle in 280 (about 2.5 lbs. lighter). A person can lose weight in the mountains but a rifle will never lose weight with the exception of hopefully losing some lead. If you do lose that lead though hopefully you are coming out loaded heavy where 65 lbs is considered light. The question was brought up earlier about losing weight around the waist or in the equipment. Obvious answer is both but more weight in the equipment just makes the travel that much harder and if you haven't lost that last few pounds before the hunt you will probably lose it during. I know I do.

 

[Hunting Sailor]

Thanks for the additional information and opinions.

I got back late last night from a family biltong hunt in the hills of the Eastern Cape, between Somerset East and Bedford area.

We got a few animals, one of the guys got a really nice Steenbok of opportunity, will almost make RW.
Between the four hunters we got, 1 Kudu, 2 Blesbok, 5 Impala, 1 Springbok, 1 Warthog, 1 Steenbok.

Back to the subject:
I totally agree with the two weight losses. Waist weight and equipment weight, very different and loosing on both make a more pleasurable hunting experience.

I looked into the Rapid Z system of Zeiss, but feel it is very "busy" in the scope, (from looking at pictures on the net of how it works) I will have to use it before I make say anything else.
RZ6 on the other hand really got me interested. I will have to look more into that.

The sling suggested above is also something I'll look into.
Many of the hill sides are covered with low thorn trees, so the rifle has to come of the shoulders quite often to go through, or underneath the branches that hooks onto any and everything, but also have patches with open steep ground.
So an extra help on the sling makes sense.

The rangefinder and binoculars makes a world of difference. I use a good 8x32 that doesn't weigh that much and a small (light) rangefinder. I like that combo as opposed to the heavier binocular with rangefinder I've used in the past.
I cannot justify getting many top of the line items for the amount of time I use them, but a great set of binoculars is a priority for me.

The thread turned into other equipment as well which is great and has been helpful.
I'm about to head back out to sea again for a while and will contemplate and study this thread and all the thoughts and info again, and again and again... ;-)

Once again, thanks for all the input.

//Gus

 

[sheephunterab]

I looked into the Rapid Z system of Zeiss, but feel it is very "busy" in the scope, (from looking at pictures on the net of how it works) I will have to use it before I make say anything else.


//Gus

No doubt if you've never used one it could seem that way but after using one for a bit, you feel lost without the additional haskmarks.

 

[Say Man]

No doubt if you've never used one it could seem that way but after using one for a bit, you feel lost without the additional haskmarks.

Have never used one but I know a lot of people who have tried them and wouldn't use anything else now. I have a compact Leupold (2-8x) on my mountain rifle that works for me and is under 12 oz. in weight and has never let me down. Most would consider it too small but like I said it has never let me down in the mountains and it's a few oz. lighter than most scopes. Save weight where you can because you will feel every ounce that you carry.

 

[Hunting Sailor]

"The 7 x 64mm is a very efficient cartridge and more than capable to do what you need.

Ammo will also be cheaper here in SA"

@IvW which ammo do you use for the 7x64?
Factory or handload? Make, weight and speed would be of interest.

Thanks for the input.

//Gus

 

[geoff rath]

Interesting to see the 7X64 coming into play; another one of Wm Brenneke's greatly underestimated cartridges, the other being the 9.3X64. . Some rate that one on a par with the the 375H&H. The great advantage of hunting now of course, is the quality of the projectiles.

 

[CAustin]

Might is suggest the Ruger M77 Compact. 16" barrel in 308. It was made to fit in your backpack rifle pouch! If I remember correctly it weighs 5.8 pounds. I use this in box stands when deer hunting!

 

[IvW]

"The 7 x 64mm is a very efficient cartridge and more than capable to do what you need.

Ammo will also be cheaper here in SA"

@IvW which ammo do you use for the 7x64?
Factory or handload? Make, weight and speed would be of interest.

Thanks for the input.

//Gus

I got a lot of RWS ammo with the rifle 173 grains not sure what the speed is though and also some Blaser ammo. Have had no problems so far.

I have got some 170 grain Rhino bullets that I will be reloading specifically for larger plains game in the Bushveld.

 

[IvW]

View attachment 191029

Might is suggest the Ruger M77 Compact. 16" barrel in 308. It was made to fit in your backpack rifle pouch! If I remember correctly it weighs 5.8 pounds. I use this in box stands when deer hunting!

Perfect for deer hunting from a stand but, I would not use such a short barrel in 308 Win for shots out to 400 m when Kudu are involved.

 

[Saul]

6.5 Creedmoor is the ultimate goat medicine.

I have a friend who has a stainless steel Remington model 700 in a laminate stock. His is in .300 wsm and it is a handy little gun that he uses for elk and mountain lion. Very handy rifle and a good shooter.

You cannot go wrong with Swarovski optics. Their iluminated scopes are great if you have terrible eyes like me.n

 

[geoff rath]

Agreed on the eyes, Saul; I understand that my cornea implants are from Zeiss...

 

[Milehighshooter]

Those guys at Leupold keep things a changing and it appears they have ditched the old 3x9x33 and now have a 2.5-8x36mm in the VX-3 line, and its only 11 ounces, so that saves you 3/4 to a pound compared to some larger scale scopes and about 1/4 lb on the VX-5 2-10s and VX-6 2-12s. A 2.5-8 should be plenty on most African shots.

I like the Sako rifles, I have loaded for a Tikka T3 in 300 WSM and I own a Sako A7, which is very similar to the Tikka. The only issue I had was getting hand loaded bullets on the lands and still fit in the Box Mag. If you just shoot factory stuff this isn't be a problem. Sako factory barrels are really really good. The basic A7 weighs 6 lbs 6 ounces so plus the scope that's around 7 lbs 2 ounces, not a Melvin Forbes weight rifle, but still pretty light.

Vance, its still there! In fact they list 2, oddly. One is the VX-2 3-9x33 Ultralight, the other is VX-2 Ultralight 3-9x33..... different price, not sure what the difference is.

https://www.leupold.com/hunting-shooting/scopes/rimfireultralight-riflescopes/

 

[Milehighshooter]

You know I forgot about Kimber! Even their standard models are very light.

Are they available in RSA though? I figured Tikka was.

Its easy to forget not all of our members are in the USA and can go buy pretty much anything and everything you can think of like us Americans are used to.