modern mountain man rifle

Either a .45-70 Marlin lever action or any reputable .30-06 bolt action.

LtCol. Jeff Cooper USMC once noted that he took 6 brown bears using the .30-06. The .30-06 also has an envious history of taking down enemy soldiers during war.

The .45-70 will take down anything on the North American continent. A lever action has a nice 'mountain man' flare.
 
30-30 would work fine for me. A lot of elk were taken with a Winchester 32sp in the old days.
 
Check out Castner's Cutthroats for a fascinating glimpse of WW2 Alaska history and a few words on the "Modern Mountain Rifle"

Different Documentaries have varying details, but overall most of them carried a bolt action 30-06, or a Garand and a .22 Pistol. As I recall the .22 was most frequently a High Standard. '06 was a variety of sporting rifles, and '03's.

They had very little Military issue equipment, wore no uniforms, and were pretty much entirely self sufficient.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9pktxDuUk0 (pt.1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn9DPuKE9II&feature=related (pt.2)
 
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My choices, Marlin lever action rifle and a S&W 329PD. Both 44 magnum. One ammo two options.
 
Marlin lever in .44 Mag for me too.

If it was continental USA, I may go with .357 magnum, but we're discussing Canada the bigger bore makes more sense.
 
Last Winter, heavy snow stayed 3-4 months. I was glad I was shooting military caliber .30s, i.e., .308 and 7.62x54r. One hundred and fifty-two hundred yards wouldn't have done it for me with the deer in open fields, digging for food. Hard to stalk on flat ground with no cover.

But, with logic that escapes even me, this Spring I bought a 1974 Win model 94 in 30-30. Love the rifle, but it drops 7.5 inches from 100 to 200 yards. That's a bunch of drop, especially for iron sights.

YMMV.




Kis
 
Already mentioned by others, but I second a Thompson Contender with various calibered barrels. Or can't go wrong with a Marlin 30-30. Personally if I knew in advance I as going, and was going for an extended time I would lighten my load of other stuff and take along a rifle, shotgun, and handgun......of course a good blade or two, and a hawk/axe.
 
Several people have chosen the venerable .30-30 as their mountain gun. This round has similar ballistics to the 7.62x39 (SKS, AK-47) round. The 7.62 actually edges out the .30-30, especially at ranges over 100 yards.The ballistic coefficient of the .30-30 is not as good as 7.62 (flat nose vs. conical). For those who chose the .30-30, did you consider a 7.62x39 rifle/carbine? If so, why did you go with a lever action .30-30 vs a semi-auto AK-47?
 
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I would love a Marlin 30-30 but not as my only rifle. They are just so sweet.

The .308 bolt and .22 pistol sounds ideal!
 
Any good lever gun in .30-30 or .45-70. Check out the Hornady Leverevolution ammo it gives both considerably better ballistics. My go to gun normally is a .30-06 bolt gun, but since a mountain rifle may need to be used for defense againt big critters I'd opt for a lever gun.
 
The AK was born in that environment, I can't imagine what else I'd rather trust as far as a semi auto. Or much else for that matter.
 
let me just restate that. if you where going to actually be a mountain man in western canada what ONE rifle would you bring. you are going to live off the land and need a do it all rifle. you have grizzley and black bear, moose, elk, ram, wolf. so i generally dont think you would want a ak,ar or any assault type rifle for that matter. youu have dense forrest and wide open valleys and mountain range. missing your game means you dont eat.originally i was going to pick a marlin guide gun in 45-70 or 450.(which i still like) but im wondering if a high powered bolt gun say 300 win mag would be more suited to that paticular area and game you would be facing.
 
I have to agree on the .308. Seems to be the perfect all around cartridge to me, although 30-30 is great as well.

P7080143.jpg
 
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