modern mountain man rifle

I remember Jeremiah Johnson being freaking happy to find Hatchet Jack's .50 cal Hawken. What would that relate to in comparison to any of these super bullets?
 
Unsub has it down.
I live in area that the OP has listed in his scenario, and am just getting into
firearms. Just took my PAL license so I can buy firearms in Canada.
From talking with many hunters in these parts (Kamloops, interior of British
Columbia between the Rocky mountains and the Coastal Mountains), black
bear and grizzly country, it gets down to a choice of 3 different rifles.

Lee Enfield or Parker Hale (basically the same from what I've been told) in
.303, a bolt action .30-06 or a bolt action .308 seem to be the preferred
choices in these parts.

Myself, being new to this, I just bought a Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun
that I'm going to play with for awhile, but will most likely end up with a
good .30-06 or a Lee Enfield .303

Cheers

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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maybe so, but how often do mountain men die in charging animal attacks? My dad was a prospector for years in the mountains of BC, and after the first year, he didn't even bother taking his rifle anymore (a 1950's remington 721 in 30-06) because he couldn't be bothered packing it around the mountains. It's probably a 5.5-6 pound rifle, and even then he didn't find the utility worth the weight. At times he brought it in to base camp, IIRC, to supplement the helicoptered-in food Cominco used to give him. But he only hiked it around for the first year, and never needed it for defense or felt endangered without it.

Also, at that time, there were probably more big wild animals even than there would be today. So my feeling is that stopping wild animal charges is probably not a top priority for a bush rifle.

I've already voted for .357 lever, but I could see upping it to .44 mag, for no particular reason but I suppose there might be a slight advantange on bigger stuff - although I don't think I'd have much use for a whole 1200 pound grizzly carcass. I just don't think I have the skill to process and preserve that amount of meat and material! I would be going for small black bears, mountain goats and sheep, small deer...that's where the good eating would be, I think.
 
its not if it will happen, but what you would prefer the outcome to be. you are now being charged by a upset bear, you have the choice of a 30-06 or a 338; what are you going to choose.
 
Bear meat tastes terrible anyway ,although they make great rugs ,hats etc.

There are some nice cast loads for the .303 and I am really into trying out some 7.62/39 55 grain bullets as a varmint load. The 7.62 is the same 3.11 bore so they do work.
 
but im sure mountain men often came up short because all they had was front loaders. you would probably put more food on the plate if you werent limited buy an improper choice of mountain rifle.i have to figure that say a 30-06 is a better choice than a 30-30 as far as being good at shorter ranges but haveing an advantage of being able to take game at ranges over 300yds.? also remember in jerimiha johnson, although hatchet jacks hawken where a good rifle that "kilt the bar that kilt him" he still was kilt as he put it in the movie.
 
he who say said:
its not if it will happen, but what you would prefer the outcome to be. you are now being charged by a upset bear, you have the choice of a 30-06 or a 338; what are you going to choose.
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But I am not being charged by a bear...

I mean that's like saying since there are some hydroelectric dams up there, that you should always wear a lifejacket. After all, it's not if the dam will fail, but what would you prefer the outcome to be? You have the choice of wearing one or not, what are you going to choose?

Also, you should always wear a crash helmet, because rocks can fall from upper ridges on occasion. After all, it's not when a rock will hit you in the head...

Finally, some bear meat tastes great! It's like lean pork.
 
Maybe you'd be better off with a .22LR, .22mag, or .17 hmr. The ammo is lighter and cheaper -- you could carry more.

If you are just surviving up in the mountains a .17hmr will bring home lots of small game: rabbit, squirrel, beaver, grouse, etc....

I'm thinking you could still snare small game as well. You could also use a .17hmr to collect pelts: fox, coyote, otter, beaver, martin.

I wouldn't use it for big game. Really though, if you do end up killing an elk or deer, how much of it could you actually use? I suppose if you killed an elk in late fall/winter you could keep much of it frozen 'til spring. And dry yet more.

But with a .17hmr you could stay mobile and collect fresh game on a more regular basis.

Is it too late to change my vote to .17HMR? :(
 
I guess we aint the only ones diggin' the ole 45-70.

I went to Sportsmans Warehouse last night, not ONE box of 45-70 was left. Nuthin'. Nada. Zilch. I kinda expected the battle rifle calibers, etc. to be hit hard, but the 45-70?

ugh! Guess I better get some dies and bullets next trip home...
 
Western Canada is a great place. A common round like a 30-06 with 180 gr bullets is good for everything you'll need. Practice and know your rifle. You must become proficient and be very confident in your ability.
 
Runs With Scissors said:
I guess we aint the only ones diggin' the ole 45-70.

I went to Sportsmans Warehouse last night, not ONE box of 45-70 was left. Nuthin'. Nada. Zilch. I kinda expected the battle rifle calibers, etc. to be hit hard, but the 45-70?

ugh! Guess I better get some dies and bullets next trip home...
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The 45-70 is the original battle rifle:D
There were a few oddball rimfire cartridges. that were used for muzzle loading musket conversions. But the first us breech loading U.S. military rifle built from the ground up to use cartridges was a 45-70.
Roy
 
Speaking for myself and guns that I own. Im not in very good shape anymore. Trekking through mountains would most likely kill me. Id pick my lightweight Nylon 66.
 
dipbait said:
Speaking for myself and guns that I own. Im not in very good shape anymore. Trekking through mountains would most likely kill me. Id pick my lightweight Nylon 66.
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:thumbup: Still got my Nylon 66. I love that little rifle.

Did you know that it was designed to be single loaded? If you roll the rifle to the left, you can drop a round into the recess so it lays on the bolt. Pull the bolt and it drops in. Because there is no bolt hold-open, it chambers the round. Give it a try. I'm surprised more .22's didn't use this feature after the 66 was designed.
 
my choice is the ultralight arms in 300 winmag, kills like the hammer of god, shoots flat, get 60 rounds and a set of lee reloader tongs for it some primers powder and bullets and you could shoot this rifle a long time, you cold pull 3006 bullets if you had to, weight is about 5.75 lbs empty with scope. a long barreled .22 pistol would make for the small game category 500 rounds .22 and you could keep yourself fed.

alex
 
For me, it would be a Lever action Rifle chambered in .45-70. Back at the end of the great buffalo slaughter the .45-70 government with a 500 grain bullet was considered a great cartrage for buffalo and they were rutinely taken out around 200 to 300 yards with it. Lighter bullets were okay for light buffalo but if you wanted to go after the 2500 pounds ones you used a 500 grain bullet.

If it worked for game that big I figure a Moose, Elk or bear (chest, or leg shot) wouldn't stand a chance.

Heber
 
Scout2.jpg

Scout1.jpg

My Custom Remington SCOUT inn 30-06 or..
220464700_735421723_0.jpg

My Marlin 336 SCOUT or one of my Fav FALs
FAL.jpg
 
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