Need advice - mountain calibre for single shot rifle

[Opposite Pole]

Hi guys,

I need to buy a single shot rifle. It seems that my life and gun cabinet are incomplete without one. This is a very serious situation I have put up with for far too long and can no longer tolerate. (Yes yes, good evening everyone, my name is Jakub and I’m a rifleholic…)

At the moment I’m looking at Blaser K95, Krieghoff Hubertus and Merkel K3/4. I wanted the gorgeous Johann Fanzoj KB-1 but it is too pricey.

I’m going to order the gun with several barrels and need advice. I’ll be getting a rimmed 5.6 of some flavour as well as 30R Blaser and perhaps a 9.3x74R, though I’m unsure about that one at this stage.

Now, a handy lightweight stalking rifle like that seems like the perfect gun to take mountain hunting and as such I need a mountain calibre. Trouble is I have no experience hunting mountain game such as Chamois or Sheep or Goats so would appreciate any advice. What kind of distances are they usually shot at? Are these tough animals that require heavier bullets? What calibers should I be looking at? Perhaps the 30R Blaser will cover it for me? Ballistically it’s somewhere in between 30-06 and 300WM. I’m a handloader so ammo availability is not a concern. Due to legislative stupidity it will be far better for me to buy the gun with all the barrels at once rather than buy additional ones later. Also what type of scope would you put on such rifle for mountain hunting?

Any help/comments will be appreciated.

 

[IvW]

7x65R, fitted with 2.5-15x56 Lynx scope with a SA hunters reticle, I would go with a custom Verney Carron or at the least a Custom on a Ruger nr 1 action

 

[CAustin]

300 WM would be my choice. I’ve taken everything basically from a porcupine to an Eland with a Ruger Model 1 in 309 WM

 

[Buckdog]

+1 on the 300 win mag will reach out and touch anything on the mountain a long ways especially with a nice Schmidt & Bender scope on it. Sheep die relatively easy goats can be stuburn critters. Rifle model that all on your personal taste. Swarovski makes nice glass but not as rugged or quite as nice of glass as the S&B.

 

[Opposite Pole]

Thing is though handloaded 30R Blaser is within 100ft/s of 300WM so that’s not far off duplicating it. For me that’s too close to get both.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

For a mountain rifle , you need a very flat shooting caliber. I would suggest a 7mm 08 Remington Magnum. Scope should be a Leupold . I had good experience with Leupold scopes

 

[Mekaniks]

I say that a .308 or 7mm-08

 

[bruce moulds]

chamois, sheep and goats.
potentially needing a longer point blank range.
in a single shot rifle.
the game size will respond to a 7mm very well, and recoil of that allows for reasonable precision in shooting.
the 7 mag and 280 rem are pretty close to each other, but are not rimmed.
modern single shots do not need rimmed as much, probably not at all.
however the 7x65 rimmed comes in with the 280 rem.
these smaller game need a +/- 2.5" point blank range, rather than the +/- 3" suited to larger game.
a 140 gn 7mm bullet at around 3000 fps will give the above suggested point blank of 250 yds aim dead on.
if you really want to reach out, particularly with heavier bullets, something like a 7mm stw will offer a point blank 0f 300 to 350 yards depending on bullet wt.
a 140 gn 7mm bullet at 3400 fps is flat shooting, and a 160 at 3,200 is not far behind.
until you get used to rifles like this, most misses are over the top.
bullets that fast need to stand up to high speed impact if you get a close shot, yet open up well at longer ranges.
nosler partitions just blow their noses off at these speeds.
bruce.

 

[IvW]

For a mountain rifle , you need a very flat shooting caliber. I would suggest a 7mm 08 Remington Magnum. Scope should be a Leupold . I had good experience with Leupold scopes

Pressures are too high and no rim, he wants a break open gun. 7x65R or 6.5x57R or even 7x57R, low pressure rimmed what more you need?

If you cannot hit it with a 7x65R chances are you wont with any magnum of sorts.....

 

[stug]

I have a Blaser K95 in 7x65R topped with a Leupold VX 6 2-12x42. The last two deer I've shot have been at 360 and 390 yds.
I'm shooting a 162 amax at 2750fps. I've shot a 3.5" group at 550yds and hit a 5litre oil container at 940yds with it.
With the K95 or similar you don't need to worry about loading down as the tilting block is very strong.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

My lightweight mountain rifle is a titanium 270 Win. That would be my number 1 recommendation to you, followed by 7x57.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

Pressures are too high and no rim, he wants a break open gun. 7x65R or 6.5x57R or even 7x57R, low pressure rimmed what more you need?

If you cannot hit it with a 7x65R chances are you wont with any magnum of sorts.....

I must be very honest , IvW. I have no experience with the 7×65R. I do have experience with 7 × 57 mm Mauser and 7mm 08 Remington

 

[Red Leg]

Agree with others above. The classic cartridge for such a rifle is the 7x65r. It will handily deal with anything on a mountain in Europe or North America. The trajectory is in the .270 / .280 class which means with the right bullet it is very flat indeed. In 30R Blaser you would already have a “magnum” in 30 cal where a fast 180 gr bullet is the solution (PG, boar or stag - though the 7mm will handle that too). Put a quality Leica, Zeiss, or Swarovski scope on that 7mm barrel, grab your range finding binos and don’t look back.

The three rifles you mention are of comparable quality. I would pick the one that subjectively feels best to you. I have become a bit of a Blaser acolyte, and have yet to hear of a K95 that wasn’t a sub-MOA rifle.

 

[bruce moulds]

if you are serious about a single shot mountain rifle, check out soroka rifles website.
bruce.

 

[steve white]

303 savage--nobody will borrow ammunition from you...

 

[IvW]

303 savage--nobody will borrow ammunition from you...

You wont have any to borrow anyway.....

 

[Opposite Pole]

if you are serious about a single shot mountain rifle, check out soroka rifles website.
bruce.

These are very nice rifles but getting one to Europe would be a major PITA and after customs and taxes would get rather $$$.

Some time ago there was a lovely raising block rifle been sold through this forum but it’s just considerably cheaper, easier and faster to buy a rifle that’s on this side of the pond.

One of the benefits of the break action rifles I mentioned vs falling/raising block ones is the ability to swap the barrels meaning for a more universal package. Merkel and Blaser are tilting block design making them very strong. Apparently you could take the barrel off, slide the block in and bang the firing pin with a hammer and provided you were able to hang on to the barrel it could safely be fired that way as the lock on it is strong enough. These two are not traditional break action rifles though Krieghoff one is.

 

[Opposite Pole]

What magnification range would you go for on the scope?

 

[sgt_zim]

The higher the elevation, the flatter the trajectory for any given bullet.

I'd favor one of the .284s, 280 Rem or higher, for this scenario. I think it probably doesn't matter which one it is as long as you can shoot it accurately.

I'm also inclined to 160 gr bullets for this application, especially if you anticipate going further than 300 yards. They will hold velocity, KE, and momentum better than 140s at extended distances.

 

[9.3x57 Freak]

Personally I would go for a K95. Regarding the caliber there are to many options a light/speedy 6.5x57R and a .30R Blaser for the bigger games? Always liked the 7x57R, could also be handloaded w a lighter/heavier bullet for smaller/bigger game.
Choose a rimmed one that is easily accessible where you live.