Your Ideal Dark Timber Elk Rifle

tjones said:

Same as open country rifle with the scope turned down to 3.

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Well yea...but partypooper ; )

Ben Long said:

BTW Ben2's Ruger needs more dings and scratches in the stock.

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First time I took that rifle for a walk, I dropped it. Twice.

It has some love taps and a few scars, but I refinished it this summer using the old British stockmaker's technique of soaking alkanet root in boiled linseed oil for a month, then applying between 20 & 25 coats with finish sandings of 1500 grit & 0000 steel wool. A couple of the dings are still on the comb, reminding me that I shouldn't worry too much about the stock. I like a rifle with a few scars, but there's no need to be gauche about it.

Gotta agree with tjones and mttw.
My old ugly synthetic stocked Mtn Rifle 7mm mag topped with a straight 6 leupold has put many elk in the freezer.
Doesn't matter if it was shot in Crazy Mtns. doghair lodgepole or on across a short grazed state section on the Upper Madison.

That being said, I would entertain my 7x57 Ruger International #1 accompanying me in the lodgepole shitholes............. If I ever hunt there again

If close, moving shots were common, I think it would be hard to beat a Remington 7600 in .30-06 or .35 whelen. I'd probably put a 1-4, or 2-7 on it.

Winchester model 94 30-30 open sights for dark timber close rapid shots

tjones said:

Same as open country rifle with the scope turned down to 3.

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This is what I do also. Turns my RUM into a killer timber rifle. mtmuley

I was always partial to scout rifles for this sort of thing and used both the Burris 2.75x and the Leupold 2.5x scout scopes (back when they were the only ones on the market), preferring the latter. The low magnification, long eye relief scout scope does seem strange and uncomfortable at first until you get used to it. Once you do, though, it is really fast on target. You shoot with both eyes open and the low mag allows your eyes to still work together. At the same time, you still retain all your peripheral vision and the scope doesn't blot out a large portion of your forward field of view, kinda handy in the timber. Back in the day I got to where I could dial the scope down to a 100-yard zero and hit straight away flying clay pigeons (yes, we shot in a gully with a steep hillside as a backstop) with about a 50/50 success rate. Yet 2.5x was still sufficient to accurately place longer shots out to maximum point blank easily enough with the standard .30-cal cartridges. Proper eye relief is important with scouts and one problem with the variable power scouts is that eye relief changes along with the magnification settings. My wife still hunts with my old .30/06 scout rifle and her 2-7x Hi-Lux pretty much just stays set on 4x.

Some years ago I got blinded in the right eye in a work accident, so the scout scopes don't really gain me much anymore. FWIW, now I usually just keep my standard eye relief 3-9x Leupold on 3x for fast close range shots. If something's far enough away to need more magnification, you usually have plenty of time to dial it up.

Jasher said:

Winchester model 94 30-30 open sights for dark timber close rapid shots

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Good choice!

I hold no illusions about shooting through brush and branches with slow bullets in a heavy lever action. It's not what I'd want for climbing over downed timber on steep mountain sides. And I certainly wouldn't want open sights in the dark timber. The shooting avenues can be extremely narrow where quality optics are essential. YMMV.

I'm a dedicated spruce-fir forest hunter where nearly all my elk kills have been at less than 70 yards, with many under 50 yards. For me the ideal dark timber rifle would be lightweight, short and easily maneuverable to allow for fast, accurate shots. For my next elk rifle I'm leaning toward the Kimber Adirondak in .308 or 6.5 CM with the matching Zeiss Conquest 2-10x42 Forest. The Adirondak comes with an 18" threaded barrel that I'd pair with my SilencerCo Omega .300 suppressor. The suppressor should tame the noise, blast, recoil and muzzle rise to help with quick follow up shots. Total package would weigh right at seven pounds and total length about the same as most unsuppressed bolt action elk rifles.

I've got my opinion of what I'd like in fact have about that right now. But it's simply a preference, nothing more! If I wanted the hunt elk in black timber and all I had was a 12ga Long Tom with a 34" barrel, I'd make it work.

Marlin 1895 in 45-70 with a leupold variable power scout scope. 405gr handloads.

Remington pump rifle in 9.3x62. Quick detach scope mounts with a lower powered scop backed up by irons and a ghost ring. Like this.

1_pointer said:

Remington pump rifle in 9.3x62. Quick detach scope mounts with a lower powered scop backed up by irons and a ghost ring. Like this.

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...slick