Sheep Rifles

Everybody has their opinion of the perfect sheep rifle. Light trim accurate.

A mature dall ram is about the same size and weight as a mature person so you don't need a monster magnum.
Many sheep hunters use 243s or 257 Roberts for their sheep rifles. The most important concern is that you can accurately use your rifle out to 300 yards minimum. Jack O'Connor wrote books about use of 7X57 and 270 winchester and you can bet that these are two of the most popular sheep rifles made. This is especially true of custom rifles. The 7X57 and 270 are classic calibers that harken back to the old days of filson wool hunting clothes and eddie bauer down vests. Both guns recoil less than most.
I have set up a stevens 200 with leupold 4X scope in 270 Winchester for my son. He is 14 years old and he can control it well without much for kicking. He plans on playing football this year so I probably will sheep hunt solo which is what I prefer anyways. I figure we will get a lot of sheep hunting in when he is in college and seeks to go back as late as possible.
One of mentors for sheep hunting which were Tom Butler who is a contractor of Chitina River Construction of Kenny Lake who has a world class trophy room of one of the best collections of monster rams in the world out on the Old Edgerton highway and has probably started more sheep loonies out in the Kenny Lake and Copper Basin than any other person. Really stressed that you need to have a rifle that if you absolutely need it can send a pill out to 500 yards with accuracy in the worst conditions. He shoots a customized model 70 winchester in 330 dakota that he practices with religiously. It is treated like a family friend and he takes it out and shoots outside his living room when he gets a notion too. It probably weighs nearly 10lbs in fighting trim but Tom is a big guy and feels that he can lighten other things without loosing the accuracy that comes with his rifle.
I have hunted for nearly 30 years with a model 70 300 Winchester with a very old 4X leupold with a target dot. I have shot that rifle probably 3000 times. It was customized by Red who now lives in Chickaloon Alaska. He used to operate Red's Gunsmithing in Anchorage and he did work for Great Northern Guns off Tudor Road. It has different magazine wells is fully bedded with upward pressure and carries 5 300 win mag shells without one in the chamber. It gets about 2 in at 200 yards to this day and thats where I want it and where you should work to measure whether or not your gun fills the bill for accuracy. It weighs about 9 lbs with a bell and Carlson synthetic stock. It kicks about like most 270s with muscle and accuracy to work easily around 300 to 350 yards which is my self-prescribed range limits.
I have also hunted with a Vanguard Deluxe in 300 Winchester Magnum for this time period as well. The Vanguard was purchased with my first Dividend. The AK first PFD was $1000 and then they were much smaller for a long time after that. It is topped with another 4 X leupold which is a good scope that doesn't shift. I have used this rifle extensively as well and have shot several good dall rams with this rifle in the Alaska and Wrangell Mountains.
It weighs about 8lbs with scope and carries well.


I would like to say that there are two different directions that people take with sheep rifles.
1)People who are sheep loonies who really aren't into rifles and see the rifle as a tool that they use like a sleeping bag or an ice axe. My cousin is one of these. He likes browning rifles and used to exclusively hunt a 338 Win Browning BAR for all of his sheep hunts. It was heavy but it recoiled less than most and he had great followup shot potential. He was more worried about his other gear.
Many people hunt sheep with tikka T3s in 300 Shorty or with Kimber 8400 Montanas of the same caliber. They shoot their rifles the least amount possible and generally don't get into the minutae details.
A lot of the Kenny Lakers, a community which I come from that is composed of many sheep hunters use 30/06 Ruger 77 lightweights with the paddle stock and leupold 3X9X40 VX2 scopes. This follows the KISS principles of sheep hunting. Get one rifle that can be used for everything.
2) The other group really makes it a point to have a rifle specifically set for sheep. You develop a specific handload and shoot all year long. Some of these people still use the tikkas and Kimbers but you find custom rigs in this group as well. The rifle is seen as a friend and you want your friend to eat well and perform well too.
The people who have Rifles Inc or Mel Forbes NULA custom rifles are many times in the rifle loonies who are also sheep loonies. Many times they have the barrel cool times and ballistic range tables memorized so they can shoot regularly.

I am going to end it here but I will continue on my notions of sheep rifles again in another posting.

Sincerely,

Thomas