Best Alaska Hunting Rifle (Kodiak: insurance, costs, most dangerous)

[Rich88]

Is The Guy Shooting It Steady Enough To Take A Black Bear With It?

[AK76]

Here are 741 opinions regarding this topic; Poll: Your "all around" AK hunting rifle-caliber?

My personal choices are the .30-06' and the .338WM, but I do own others.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by AK76

Here are 741 opinions regarding this topic; Poll: Your "all around" AK hunting rifle-caliber?

My personal choices are the .30-06' and the .338WM, but I do own others.

Unfortunately the poll puts all Alaskan big game into one group. Just as one would have a different tool for different jobs, I prefer different firearms based upon the game I am hunting. I understand the poll was asking for the best "all around" firearm, but I think it should have been more specific to be more accurate.

It comes down to how much energy (in foot pounds) can you deliver to your target at whatever range it happens to be. For example, I would have no qualms about shooting a moose or caribou with a .3006 if they were within 150 yards. However, if they were further away, I would opt for a .300WM or .338WM.

If I were to hunt brown bear, then I would want something very large, like my old Remington .458WM plus a backup.

In every case, I would try to place 2,000+ foot pounds of energy at my target, at whatever range it happened to be.

[RayinAK]

I forgot the shooting range by Anchorage where F&G conducted a poll a few years ago. The poll's participants were hunters getting ready for hunting from the Spring to the Fall, and the results were about identical to the poll shown on the link above except as follows: While the poll above is about "your all around Alaska hunting rifle caliber," the one conducted at the shooting range was only about the rifle calibers the hunters were preparing for hunting.

The result from the poll conducted by F&G was as follows (greater number of rifles first, down to fewer): .30-06, .300WM, .338WM, 7mm Magnum... the .375 was number 5 or 6 down the list, and then all kinds of rifle calibers I don't remember. I should have kept the article (Appeared in one of the NRA magazines about eight years ago).

As for me, my all around big game hunting caliber is the .338WM. The only other caliber I use is for grouse, loaded with either .22 Short (in a youth rifle), or .22LR on a S&W semi-auto pistol with a red-dot sight.

[clearwateralaskaoutfitter]

300 WSM is perfect Alaska rifle.

[RDawg]

Originally Posted by tomcat6369

My dream hunt would be a moose. I have hunted in Eastern Washington for big mule deer and used 30-06 bolt action and that was just fine. I think the deer in washington are bigger then most up there but moose are damn big! And bears.....

I took my last two moose with .45-70 and 7.62x39, respectively. It's all about shot placement, IMHO.

[Haolejohn]

Originally Posted by RDawg

I took my last two moose with .45-70 and 7.62x39, respectively. It's all about shot placement, IMHO.

RDawg, what unit you in?

[212david51]

Alaska has some big game but it also has hunters besides humans. Very big bears, mountain lions and wolves. You may be out hunting and find out they are hunting you. You need a gun that can stop the big bears but not one that is so big and cumbersome that you can not swing it fast. The 30-06 is a minimum round. There are a lot of excellent rounds out there available in a number of guns. Do not go weigh down with a lot of junk. You do not need a bipod. You do not need a 12-20 power scope, you do not need a big lens night scope. A good 2-6 power scope is all you need, do not go taking super long shots. I have a nice German Heym in 375 H & H magnum. More than capable for anything in Alaska. I like it because unlike most American guns, it has a single set trigger. Use it normally like an American gun and you have about 8 pounds of trigger pull. Push it forward and set it then it is a hair trigger, all you have to do is touch it. That helps greatly with accuracy. You do not see it on Americans guns because they have concerns about lawsuits. I would also recommend stainless steel and a synthetic stock over a blued barrel and wood stock.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by 212david51

Alaska has some big game but it also has hunters besides humans. Very big bears, mountain lions and wolves. You may be out hunting and find out they are hunting you. You need a gun that can stop the big bears but not one that is so big and cumbersome that you can not swing it fast. The 30-06 is a minimum round. There are a lot of excellent rounds out there available in a number of guns. Do not go weigh down with a lot of junk. You do not need a bipod. You do not need a 12-20 power scope, you do not need a big lens night scope. A good 2-6 power scope is all you need, do not go taking super long shots. I have a nice German Heym in 375 H & H magnum. More than capable for anything in Alaska. I like it because unlike most American guns, it has a single set trigger. Use it normally like an American gun and you have about 8 pounds of trigger pull. Push it forward and set it then it is a hair trigger, all you have to do is touch it. That helps greatly with accuracy. You do not see it on Americans guns because they have concerns about lawsuits. I would also recommend stainless steel and a synthetic stock over a blued barrel and wood stock.

This is an old thread, but there is nothing wrong with continuing it just before the moose season in Alaska. Anyway, I use a couple of "The Alaskan" (.338WM), one made of stainless steel and a synthetic stock, topped with a Leupold Vary-X III 2.5-8x scope, and for the last two years have used a Ruger Hawkeye African that came from the factory without a muzzle brake, and a 22" barrel plus express sights. I replaced the beautiful walnut stock with a McMillan that was shortened to my LOP, and this LOP includes a decelerator recoil pad. The scope is a Leupold that has a #4 reticle and an illuminated dot right in the center. It's a tad too long for this rifle (3-9 x 40mm), but its still very nice. The finish of this rifle is a sort of matte gray (like the finish on a M-16), and the bolt is that way too.

Stainless steel may be easier to maintain since it does not rust as easily as the Hawkeye, but what I do is to clean and lightly lubricate this rifle more often than the stainless steel one. The ammo I use with both rifles is factory plus my handholds with 225-grain TTSX as an all around bullet. This season I may try the Switch 210-grain tipped Scirocco, but that's a maybe.

[curiousgeorge5]

Originally Posted by RDawg

I took my last two moose with .45-70 and 7.62x39, respectively. It's all about shot placement, IMHO.

The .45-70 varies in power, IIRC. Some loads are not especially powerful. Others are.


What kind of pill was the 39 pushing?