If you built a mountain rifle?

[addicted]

If you built a mountain rifle for the northwest. Durability, weight, dependability, and capability for various game are points i think would be thought of in the process. Reguardless of price.

i was thinking
kimber 84 montana(5lb 4oz, mauser action, synthetic, stainless....covers some of the criteria)
.338 federal(plenty big enough to wack anything in north america and slow enough not to blow up a smaller animal. lots of bullet choices)
Schmidt and Bender Classic Variable Power 4-16x50 A9 Riflescope(good power variation and great light transmission for low light, very dependable)
DNZ one peice mount/rings

So whats your fantasy mountain rifle? dont hold back lol.

[jdb]

a mountain rifle to cover everything in the northwest? are we talking factory or custom? regardless I'd think I'd go with a remington model 7 in 300 wsm for glass I'd go with a vxIII 3.5x10 not sure on the mounts. 

[grousetracker]

weatherby accumark,mc millan stock ,timney trigger,schilling barrel sleeve with christensen arms carbon wrap,4x16x56mm in 30mm swarovski scope,bueller mounts and rings in 7mm wby mag. i already built it and it weighs 2 oz. over 8pounds.

[sako223]

My first choice would be a Sauer 202 .300 WM possibly a Highland @ under 6 lbs. and a Swarovski or Zeiss scope. I like the Swaro glass but the Zeiss reticle is better.
 Second choice Sako Finnlight in .300 WM over 6 lbs. Probably a Zeiss 3.5-10 with Z600 or 800 reticle. I had one in .30-06 and sold it.

[GEARHEAD]

I built one two years ago and love it, mission was to find a hard hitting fullsize, weather ristant, light weight gun that was also a tac driver. i have 2100 into this gun, but if i did it from the start oh what a bunch of money i would have saved, if i only knew now what i didn't know then. heres what i did.
i bought a stainless remington 700 in 300 wsm., i replaced the stock, sending the rifle to a company in Montana called Lone Wolf rifle stocks. i chose their stock called the summit, super light weight and full size, had them bed it for me too. in the meantime, i got aluminum rings from tactical precision, and for a scope i put a leupold 2.5x8 with bdc reticle.  the gun weighs almost two pounds less than stadard weight guns and shoots sub minute, so far a 3.5 group at 475 yards, with can ya believe it factory federals accubonds.

[norsepeak]

I just went with a S.S. Tikka T3 lite.  Gonna give it a try unmodified to start and then go from there.  Dropped a Leupold VX3 4.5-14x40 CDS on it with Leupold rings.  Gun is light and comfortable, stainless, synthetic and it's in 7mag.  Gonna give it a trial run in August in Ak for Dall's sheep.

[JackOfAllTrades]

A true mountain rifle?  I think that there are differences for the ultimate Elk, or Griz/Blackie, or Deer, or Billie, or Ram rifle..

For Billies/Rams I want something light. Total weight at less than 7.5lbs. 270winAI would be plenty fine. Two schools of thought here are all weather SS, or virtually disposable, as a rifle in this environment can take a serious beating. For the latter a Marlin XL7 would be quite adequate.  The Savage Weather Warrior 116FCSS in the same cal. Both with Leupold glass. VX3 in 4-12x50. Both have light accurate barrels.

For Elk/Bear, although light is nice, the terrain isn't usually quite as steep or high as goat country. A little more weight is OK. I'm a Ruger fan but I don't really like the SS77II series. I'd prefer the older R77 tang safey series with the factory varmint trigger or a Timney. Shillen or comparable SS fluted barrel. Ruger scope mounts are second to none. Leupold VX3 glass again. 338winmag or something like a 338Lapua or the 358Norma or the 358 Shooting Times Alaskan.  Leupold glass. VX3 in 4-12x50.  I could go with an older Browning A-bolt or Win70 too. Newer Tikka?

I bet most reading this thread are thinking Bolt gun.. Elk/Bear, I'd love to have a Marlin XLR in 444marlin. Keep the iron sights or put a ghost ring sight on the rear. I love wood furnature, but I'd like a composite grip on the lever gun. I would also like the extended magazine tube for two more rounds.

While the Weatherby's, Kimbers, or other high dollar actions are precious, If I'm building a combination of action and aftermarket barrel/trigger, I see no need to buy a high dollar rifle just to dismantle it.  European glass is also great, but I'd be fine with Leupold.

-Steve

[DOUBLELUNG]

Remington 700P LTR in .308, Jewell aftermarket trigger,  Burris 4-16X50mm Black Diamond scope w/ ballistic mdot reticle.  Heavier for sure than typical "mountain rifles", but when I put that much effort into getting a shot, I want it super accurate, dependable, rugged and reliable.

[carpsniperg2]

I just went with a S.S. Tikka T3 lite.  Gonna give it a try unmodified to start and then go from there.  Dropped a Leupold VX3 4.5-14x40 CDS on it with Leupold rings.  Gun is light and comfortable, stainless, synthetic and it's in 7mag.  Gonna give it a trial run in August in Ak for Dall's sheep.

good choice, love the sako tika lines i would of went to the 300 wsm or 300 win mag but 7mm will cover the animals around here

[norsepeak]

I wanted 7wsm, but they didn't offer that caliber...it's a very lite gun, can't wait to break her in

[mazama]

Ruger 284win,20inch barrel turned down,fiberglass stock,magazine cut out feedramp shortened,can seat bullets way out Leopold 3x9 gun about 25yrs old,also have a 338win mag lightweight with same options,also 350Rem mag short barrel leightweight.

[Bofire]

New Nosler 48. .280
Carl

[woodswalker]

Start with a Stainless Winchester Model 70 classic, short action, featherweight barrel contour, chambered in .358-284AI set that in a Kifaru stock with a Leupold compact scope in lightweight rings and party on.  enough power there to step on most anything you will see in the mountains...and enough reach that you wont want to go after it...

[jackelope]

it surprises me how many scopes for these mountain rifles you guys are building are 50 and 56mm objectives and huge power...mountain rifles are all about light weight, and i gotta believe you're only stacking on unnecessary weight with the giant optics. compact all the way for a mountain gun. there's a burris 3-9x32 compact i've been eyeing that would work into a lite rifle build nicely...
as far as rifle goes, that browning a-bolt Ti is a good rig and the weight is right too.
p.s. addicted, i hope the kimber copy you get shoots...some do and some don't...especially the lite ones.

[actionshooter]

To me a true mountain rifle is around  6 1/2# ready to go.
 I've built one thats a bit over, 7.3#.
  Its a lightened action Win 70 action, milled every ounce possible out of it. Fluted stainless barrel in .300WM, Mcmillian lightweight stock, Talley one piece ring/ base.
Lupy Varix3  4.5-14x40 standard.  I'm thining about re-barreling this one into .264 win mag.

My 2nd rifle is a Browning Titanum in 7wsm, another Lupy VX3 4.5-14x40 in Talleys. This one for sale as I really don't care for it.

 My current lightweight project is a Kimber Montana in 7WSM, I'll use the tlleys again and I haven't decided on optics yet, but I'm gonna lean toward a true lightweight scope, maybe a fixed 6x, still thinking about it.

 

I wanted 7wsm, but they didn't offer that caliber...it's a very lite gun, can't wait to break her in

I wanted one in 7wsm and was pretty bummed when I found out they never chambered that round. As far as I'm concerned the 7wsm is an awesome caliber that never really caught on.