Need advice - mountain calibre for single shot rifle

[Joker12]

Regardless of the rifle you choose it would be very difficult to improve on the 270 Win for cartridge choice.

 

[Opposite Pole]

I had actually ordered the gun last Thursday. I settled on 5.6x50R Mag, 30R Blaser and 9.3x74R barrels. I went with 30R Blaser over 7x65R as I already load .30 cal, so it’ll be one less lot of projectiles to stock. Since it’ll be approximately a nine-month wait and they had a synthetic stocked one on the shelf, I bought it as an interim solution. I must say I rather like it. Not sure about the calibre though, this one is chambered in 8x57JRS. Undoubtedly adequate for all of my current hunting needs, but, in theory, at least, it’s not really exceptional at anything, so I’m fairly sure I’ll be selling it when the one I ordered comes in. Then again, who knows, plenty of hunting ahead for it to prove its worth.

 

[K95]

@Opposite Pole.
What about a 26 nosler for your long range sheep rifle.
Bob

Hi Opposite Pole
I can help you with information on the Blaser rifle. I’ve had one for a long time and over the years have accumulated 6 Barrels for it. Some of those have been rechambered. I wouldn’t be worried about using rimmed cartridges as rimless work perfectly in the Blaser and you have a much larger range of calibers to choose from. Calibers I have are
220 Wilson arrow
257 Weatherby
270 Weatherby
28 Nosler
300 Weatherby
338 Rum
All wear 6xi Swarvoski scopes 1.7-10x 42 in Blaser saddle mounts. Brilliant optics. The K95 weights around 5 1/2 lbs and shoots like a target rifle. My 257 will group 5 shots in a 12 mm group at 200 yds.
If I wanted a caliber for shooting mountain game like sheep, goat, caribou etc l would be looking at the 270 Weatherby or 7 mm Rem mag. The 28 Nosler of mine would work well to pushing a 160 gr at 3300 fps. Please to help with any questions you may have.
Ken

 

[mark-hunter]

7x65R or 6.5x57R , 7x57R for break action single shot rifle.

 

[K95]

I had actually ordered the gun last Thursday. I settled on 5.6x50R Mag, 30R Blaser and 9.3x74R barrels. I went with 30R Blaser over 7x65R as I already load .30 cal, so it’ll be one less lot of projectiles to stock. Since it’ll be approximately a nine-month wait and they had a synthetic stocked one on the shelf, I bought it as an interim solution. I must say I rather like it. Not sure about the calibre though, this one is chambered in 8x57JRS. Undoubtedly adequate for all of my current hunting needs, but, in theory, at least, it’s not really exceptional at anything, so I’m fairly sure I’ll be selling it when the one I ordered comes in. Then again, who knows, plenty of hunting ahead for it to prove its worth.

I guess everyone is different in what they want. Rimmed cartridges are always loaded back and it’s hard to match rimless cartridges even with reloads.
I had the 5.6 x 50 mag originally but cases are expensive at $4 each then and like rocking horse poo to find. I had mine rechambered to the Wilson arrow. Here in Australia 30 Blaser cases are as rare as 5.6 x 50. I would have much preferred it’s equivalent the 30-06 or more horse power in the 300 win mag or 300 Weatherby, and the 9.3 x 62 is much easier to find and cheaper out performing the 9.3 x 74. If you were after more range and power you could always do what I have done, rechambering the 9.3 x 62 to the 375 equivalent the 9.3 x 64 Breneke. Good luck in selling the 8 x 57 JRS.
Cheers Ken

 

[Probono]

My light mountain rifle is a Kimber in 6.5 rem. But I also hunt with a Ruger model #3 in 30-40. it carrys lighter than it is and balances great. the 30-40 handloads are faster than factory '06 so the combo is a long range gun, shoots under 1.0 with 10 shots at 100.

 

[Dr Ray]

I would suggest a 7mm Remington magnum.

 

[leslie hetrick]

i have a TC encore(300.00) single shoot with a syn stock in .308 thats pretty light and shoots what it likes into nice inch groups at 100 yards, it came in a trade with other firearms and laid around for close to a year till i got around to shooting it, shooting GI hard ball with a 2-7x leupold it held 2 inch groups at 100 yards from the bench.

 

[BC.Pat]

I went thru this process awhile back of selecting a "mountain" caliber in a light rifle.
A few things to keep in mind,
1) Barrel twist rates, many long range VLD hunting bullets at VERY selective on twist rates in barrel selection. Not all rifle manufactures have twist rates that may be compatible in the the bullet you wish to use. Bullets are evolving and manufacture twist rates are playing catch up ( see discussions in F class shooting in this regard)
2) Availability of components, is the brass readily available are there multiple manufactures of your desired caliber ? Bullet availability, some of the long range hunting projectiles are difficult to source. Production runs can be intermittent and sell out quickly. ( some of these can be applied to powder too)
To obtain the best accuracy out you selected caliber you will need to consider load development.

3) Barrel life, some of the racehorse calibers (28 Nosler) have a limited barrel life due to throat erosion.
My 6.5x284 Norma projects (two) will have peak performance between 800 ~1200 rounds. And can be fussy to load for, not all calibers are forgiving to load for.

Just some thoughts I thru around when I went thru the process. I personally believe that the more you invest in the selection the happier you will be.

I started with in order ; game, probable distance, caliber (diameter), ballistic coefficient of projectiles, weight of projectile , and finally velocity.

Hope this helps

Pat

 

[Opposite Pole]

I guess everyone is different in what they want. Rimmed cartridges are always loaded back and it’s hard to match rimless cartridges even with reloads.
I had the 5.6 x 50 mag originally but cases are expensive at $4 each then and like rocking horse poo to find. I had mine rechambered to the Wilson arrow. Here in Australia 30 Blaser cases are as rare as 5.6 x 50. I would have much preferred it’s equivalent the 30-06 or more horse power in the 300 win mag or 300 Weatherby, and the 9.3 x 62 is much easier to find and cheaper out performing the 9.3 x 74. If you were after more range and power you could always do what I have done, rechambering the 9.3 x 62 to the 375 equivalent the 9.3 x 64 Breneke. Good luck in selling the 8 x 57 JRS.
Cheers Ken

I'm in Europe at the moment and 5.6x50R and 30R Blaser cases as well as loaded ammo seem to be available from most stores. Dies are a different story though. I'll see how I go with 30R Blaser at a longer distance. If it doesn't work out I'll get another barrel. I did some Quick load simulates and it looks like with a 165gr Sierra TGK I can download it nicely to the whereabouts of 308Win/30-06 velocities with reasonable fill rate using RS52 powder, and by swapping to RS60 I can get around 3000fps without pushing the pressures. Naturally this is all theoretical, software data. It also assumes our friends over in the US of A stop buying out all reloading supplies and Sierra manages to send some over.

Regarding the 8x57JRS, it actually seems to be quite popular here with most hunting stores carrying a selection of ammo. It also seems to be popular in single shot rifles and all the stores that had kipplaufs in stock - Blaser, Merkel and Haenel had them in this chambering with some also having 308win option. All the other calibers were special order, weird, I know. Now, I fully get that calling any single shot rifle popular is a bit of a stretch and that come parting time I’ll probably have to have it out for sale for a couple of weeks or perhaps months but that’s ok. In OZ most people have never heard of 8x57JRS so it would be a different story.

One question though, can you swap barrels between different receivers with K95? I think I wouldn’t mind hanging on to the synthetic stock but it would only make sense if I could exchange the barrels between them.

 

[Opposite Pole]

I had the 5.6 x 50 mag originally but cases are expensive at $4 each then and like rocking horse poo to find.

I just found some S&B (average quality brass) in Czech Republic for around 0.88AUD a piece, in Poland they cost a bit more, around a dollar a piece.

 

[K95]

I just found some S&B (average quality brass) in Czech Republic for around 0.88AUD a piece, in Poland they cost a bit more, around a dollar a piece.

S&B cases are very good and well worth the cost.

 

[Opposite Pole]

S&B cases are very good and well worth the cost.

I find RWS, Lapua and Norma more consistent but S&B is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[K95]

I find RWS, Lapua and Norma more consistent but S&B is nothing to sneeze at.

I help test and shoot all the new firearms coming into the country from the importers for the magazine reviews. We use a variety of different ammunition including some hand loads. S&B more often then not is the most consistent and accurate.

 

[Amphibious]

I've hunted mule deer (12+) Big Horn Sheep (1) and mountain goats (4) in BC the last decade or so. 308win, 6.5x47, and 25-284 are what I use/used. Pretty much settled on the 6.5x47, although a fast .25 wacks them well.

270win is a reliable standard in the mountains with lots of history. 280ai has an ever growing following.

Lots of people here recommending some rather hefty rifles and optics. Are you driven to the tops on these 'mountain' hunts, or is someone else carrying your gear?

 

[JanP]

7x75R SE von Hofe, a necked down 9,3x74R-case with tons of speed and power. With 7mm you have a lot of choice for high BC-bullets

 

[K95]

I have always found that either in the Alaskan ranges or the New Zealand tops a 300 yard shot is a long way. Calibers like the 270 Weatherby or 7 mm mags fill the bill nicely. The only exception is if there is a good chance of running into a mountain grizzly, a 30 mag might be a suitable compromise.

 

[K95]

I have always found that either in the Alaskan ranges or the New Zealand tops a 300 yard shot is a long way. Calibers like the 270 Weatherby or 7 mm mags fill the bill nicely. The only exception is if there is a good chance of running into a mountain grizzly, a 30 mag might be a suitable compromise.

Hi Bob
I have been reading about guys wanting single shot rifles for mountain hunting and appropriate calibers. They are asking about reliability, weight, accuracy, all important and valid questions. For the life of me I carn’t understand everyone recommending rimmed cartridges for break action single shots. If these were posted 60 years ago I could understand. Most high grade SS rifles hail from a European heritage were their cartridges have worked for the past 100 years and there is no real reason to change. A shot out of a tree stand
( hochsitz ) or driven hunt is usually at very close range. European guides want their clients with in 150 meters which is a long shot. A rimmed 8 x 57 or 6.5 x 55 is more than enough and can be stretched considerably further. Don’t get me wrong I’m not against European cartridges, in fact they where my preferred calibers for over 20 years. Cartridges like the 5.6 x 57, 7 x 64, 6.5 x 68 and it’s big brother the 8 x 68, 9.3 x 64 were all calibers I used through Africa and Alaska in a Mauser 66s. If any one is going to the expense of buying one of these single shot rifles please choose your calibers to best suit the game you are after. There was a gent from New Zealand after one. A 257 Weatherby will handle anything in those mountains. A 100 gr TTSX at 3600 fps shoots like a laser beam. Superbly accurate in the K 95 out of a trim rifle with a bare weight 5.5 lbs. I had a PBC cap made for my Swarvoski Z6i 1.7-10 x 42 and it will put all its Bullets from 200 to 500 yards at point of aim into a 1.7” circle. People comment on barrels burning out in flat shooting magnums, but if it’s your purpose trophy hunting or meat rifle and you don’t take it to the range every weekend it will last you a life time. Reliability, the K 95 is so simple, there’s nothing to go wrong. I have hunted with my K 95 for over 25 yrs with temperatures of 40c plus In the top end of Australia to -30c in Mongolia all with a wooden stock. Rain , hail ,sunshine, dust and snow and it’s never once let me down. For some one not familiar with the K 95 it’s a big decision but for someone who has used one for half a lifetime I would recommend one in a heartbeat.

 

[PerH]

7x65R is difficult to beat as a option for mountain use.

But another good one is the 8x65RS the Brenneke built also.

7mm STW was ex King Juan Carlos favorite for a kipp mountain rifle also.

 

[WAB]

I would think that a K95 in .257 WBY would be ideal unless grizzlies are a concern.