modern mountain man rifle

Yes the 45-70 can be loaded way down for smaller game. Like a 300 grain lead bullet at about 1000 FPS. Take the little Lee loader that requires no press to use. The 22 would be a must and if I could only take one gun it would be a 22. It is so easy to carry plenty of ammo.
 
Hard to beat a bolt action .30-06 for all around versatility.

The Lee Loader works real well. Work up some accurate loads for a 100 gr and a 180 gr bullet, and you're good for about anything.
 
if truely able to be a mountian man and have pack animals then i would want the following:

Thompson Contender with the following barrels-

.22 LR/L/S
30-30
12 GA
30-06

I would have THESE barrels, as a Mnt Man for two reasons, one, they are very common ammo calibers/gauge all over north america and can be found at most small gas stations and stores anywhere there is a town or small community. Two, if you have some sort of major catastophy up in the hills and your ammo is lost and you are in need, many times usable ammo can be found at trailheads, campsights, old cabins or mining sights, the list goes on. you could even to run into other folks that could trade for or give you some ammo.

---- Eric
 
If I had a packmule, I wouldn't have spare barrels I'd have a few spare guns. TC barrels are as expensive as a Savage Stevens rifle or Marlin lever anyway.
 
PeterPHWS said:
There has been a similar post to this....my answer is the same as before....I would take a 12G/30-06/22LR Drilling with a demountable scope.
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I agree completely with this trio. There is really no game that you can't take with these three.

If I *had* to choose one, I'd buck the trend here and say 22lr. Small game fills the pot every time and you can carry a ton of ammo -- and being able to carry ammo is a big deal if your away for a long time.

That said, I think it's hard to argue that a 12G is the best single all around game gun.
 
7mm-08 bolt action with iron sights AND a nice scope. 60 rds of ammo.

Before your journey, go to your favorite shooting spot a few times to sight in and get familiar with the gun.

You can't go wrong. Anywhere, anytime.

Pack a Ruger GP-100 4" SS .357 as a sidekick and you are ready for anything.

BTW, I own neither firearm.
 
12 ga, or .22 for me. Maybe one of them M6 scout setups. I figure I could fare well with one of them.
 
I think a modern Mountain Man would be well served by a Remington 700 in 30-06 with a 3X9X40 scope up top. Not too much walking that it won't handle as long as the shooter does their part :)
 
For Canada the gun of choice has been a no brainer for 90 years ,the SMLE sporter.
A .303 Enfield is cheap incredibly durable ,the no4 has good iron sights ,it holds 10 Canada legal rounds,99% of other rifles are only legal for 5. It is light and handy especially when the full length military stock has been cut down like so many have. It is ubicutious and .303 is the 30-06 of Canada ,they have it at my favourite gas station this time of year.
They are very fast actions and while not quite mauser accurate are still a real long range rifle bullet.

The original scout rifle Jeff Cooper designed was inspired by the .303. He said the least important part of a scout was the forward mounted scope so long as it has good iron sights because it was supposed to be an intermediate range handy rifle.

You can get one for 100$ or if you are clever and shop around you can find a Parker hale custom no4 for well under 500$. It is like a fine English safari rifle built on the Enfield action with walnut stock ,custom PH barrel and a butter smooth action drilled for a PH scope mount. It has a 5 round flush mag but the 10 rounders fit fine.
Right now most Enfield collectors regard them as little more than a slightly less incompetent bubba rifle so they are very cheap. I learned to shoot on one and have always liked them. The bubbad No4 is a better SHTF rifle though because it can still be loaded with stripper clips but a PH no4 with good handloads is at least close to 1 MOA.
 
.30-30, .44mag, and shot gun might cut it back East, but out West those rounds are underpowered for larger game and longer distances. Early mountain men found this out and traded their small caliber eastern rifles for big ol' .50, .54, and .56 caliber rounds.

You could use a .45-70 at shorter ranges (I do), but for an all-around gun you need something with decent energy out at 200-300 yards.
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Just because you're going to the mountains doesn't mean that you are necessarily elk hunting. And a .30-30 is fully capable of killing elk anyway. It's killed a lot of elk.

The small-caliber muzzleloaders are not nearly the same thing as a .30-30. Don't you know that was the giant killer in its day? Deer and elk and bears aren't any tougher than they were then. Yeah, there are bigger cartridges, but ...

If I'm going to be a modern mountain man, I'm going to carry a gun that I can repair with common hand tools, and I'm going to carry a gun that I can find ammunition for anywhere. So a .30-30 might just be it. .30-30, Marlin or Winchester, and .38 S&W Special revolver. If the place sells ammunition, it will have those two calibers on the shelf. Both guns, with a minimum of care, will outlast my son.
 
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Unsub said:
For Canada the gun of choice has been a no brainer for 90 years ,the SMLE sporter.
A .303 Enfield is cheap incredibly durable ,the no4 has good iron sights ,it holds 10 Canada legal rounds,99% of other rifles are only legal for 5. It is light and handy especially when the full length military stock has been cut down like so many have. It is ubicutious and .303 is the 30-06 of Canada ,they have it at my favourite gas station this time of year.
They are very fast actions and while not quite mauser accurate are still a real long range rifle bullet.

The original scout rifle Jeff Cooper designed was inspired by the .303. He said the least important part of a scout was the forward mounted scope so long as it has good iron sights because it was supposed to be an intermediate range handy rifle.

You can get one for 100$ or if you are clever and shop around you can find a Parker hale custom no4 for well under 500$. It is like a fine English safari rifle built on the Enfield action with walnut stock ,custom PH barrel and a butter smooth action drilled for a PH scope mount. It has a 5 round flush mag but the 10 rounders fit fine.
Right now most Enfield collectors regard them as little more than a slightly less incompetent bubba rifle so they are very cheap. I learned to shoot on one and have always liked them. The bubbad No4 is a better SHTF rifle though because it can still be loaded with stripper clips but a PH no4 with good handloads is at least close to 1 MOA.
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And there is another very excellent choice. Trying to talk myself out of buying the one my buddy has, cause I really don't need another rifle to feed. But it's such a good one...
 
Rotte is on the right track. For western Canada, You need to be able to handle the occasional beastie, and they get bigger as you head north. I'm convinced that most any northern game can be taken with the .30-06, and for sure with either a 7mm mag. or .300 mag. I can tell you from experience that a 300 win. mag. can handle the biggest North Americe has to offer.
That being said, I would choose either a Remington 700 or Winchester model 70, those being arguably the two most popular bolt action rifles made. Parts should be easy to find if needed. For caliber, I lean towards the .30-06 for all around availability, but I do love the 7MM magnum. Hmmmm.

I also agree with Unsub to a degree. My Grandpa provided for his family with a Ross M1910 in .303 and I used a No. 4 for years, as did my father. I learned quick in Alaska that the .303 was a bit underpowered for those beasts, so I defected :). Honestly, though, in all my years stomping around western Canada, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, the .30-06 has always been available right next to the .303
 
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LIke the .303, the Mosin-Nagant 7.62x54r, is a battle rifle made to suffer harsh treatment. It is durable, muscular, and simple to operate. The M44 is carbine length.

It is, unless things have changed dramatically, the least expensive reliable rifle/round currently available. FMJ is still cheap, SP is available at low-end competitive prices.

You going to be mountain man as a life-style? Not sure a major caliber is where you should put your pack weight.

Good luck.



Kis
 
I didn't read the whole thread,but the first all around rifle that comes to mind,would be a Winchester '94 30-30.

...second choice would be a Remington 700 in 30'06
 
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Agreed, I'd take my Marlin Guide Gun in 45-70. For small game the GG can safely chamber and shoot .410 shotgun shells. Yes there is some donuting of the shot pattern and you have to dig out the case, but it works. I have taken several grouse this way while out moose hunting over the last few years.
 
sixgunner455 said:
If I'm going to be a modern mountain man, I'm going to carry a gun that I can repair with common hand tools, and I'm going to carry a gun that I can find ammunition for anywhere. So a .30-30 might just be it. .30-30, Marlin or Winchester, and .38 S&W Special revolver. If the place sells ammunition, it will have those two calibers on the shelf. Both guns, with a minimum of care, will outlast my son.
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In the availability of ammo department, anywhere that stocks 30-30 will stock 30-06 so why sell yourself short?
 
To actually live in the mountains mountain-man style, a Marlin lever in .30-30 or .45-70 would be my choice, no question. Either caliber would work, but I think I'd ultimately have to go with the .45-70.
 
Alright, first of all, forget the .22 rimfires. Mountain men trapped their small game, they didn't shoot it.

There's two rifles I'd pick from, and I'd be happy with either.
First is a Remington 700 BDL in .30'06. 22" barrel, iron sites (in case your scope goes lenes up in the middle of nowhere, you still have sights), and a very popular and capable caliber. This is probably the more practical of my two choices.

The other would be the much mentioned .45-70, although, after feeling them up in the gun shop, I like the 22" 1895 better than the 1895G because of the pistol grip. I also don't think 3 1/2" makes that much difference in packability. Now there's always two complaints with the .45-70: ft-lbs of energy and trajectory making it a short range cartridge.
The .45-70 doesn't wound by hitting at mach 5. Lower velocity means lower ft-lbs, and that simply cannot be used to compare rounds of different caliber. Sure, it doesn't have much in the way of kinetic energy at 200 yards, or 300, but it will outpenetrate all of the mentioned rounds at that range. The .45-70 plows a big hole in game, at low velocity. This is a good thing because it doesn't destroy the amount of meat a faster projectile will.
The second thing, the trajectory making it short range and supposedly "needing" a long range rifle. The .45-70 is a very accurate cartridge. It's a matter of knowing the trajectory and your holdovers/scope adjustments for a given range. OK, the flaw is that it is not a lazy man's rifle. But if you want to be a mountain man, you can't be lazy in anything. Also, a long range rifle is NOT "needed". Granted long shots make up for hunting skill, but let me remind you that ALL of this game that is supposed to "demand" a long range shot has been historically, and is currently, successfully hunted with bows. A 40 yard shot with traditional archery gear is a long shot. If you can get that close with a bow, you can get within 100 or 150 yards for a shot with a .45-70 (or 12 ga slugs for that matter).
 
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