whats a good LIGHT WEIGHT ELK RIFLE

[rlphvac]

I found out about the light thing. I put a Leupold VX#3 on my 30.06 after taking off a Barska factory scope. My friend has the same gun & Barska 3x9 scope. At almost dark we were watching deer up over the hill & I compared the 2 scopes & I couldn't believe the difference

 

[rlphvac]

Have you or anyone you know of converted a Mauser to a different caliber ? I just got a 8MM K98 Mauser & was thinking of converting it to a larger caliber just looking for ideas

 

[Grumpy]

http://www.douglasbarrels.net/pricelist/

http://www.shilen.com/pricesRifleBarrels.html

http://pac-nor.com/services/

https://www.mcgowenbarrel.com/rebarelling-services/

http://www.ershawbarrels.com/scb-barrel-installation.php

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

https://bellandcarlson.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_ID=1038

high quality scopes, (Leopold, Nikon, Zeiss, Steiner ) proper install procedures and the better quality scope mounts goes a long way toward reducing problems
you don,t need to buy the most expensive mounts or rings but a decent quality mount is critical.
IVE never yet had a properly installed weaver style base and rings fail, loc-tite on clean de-greased, and properly tightened, screw threads helps

a 150/400 watt gun makes soldering much easier

BTW red loc-tite is a thermally sensitive bonding agent,
if you need to remove scope mount screws, or any screw locked in place with this thread binding agent, that were locked in place with red loc-tite simply hold a high wattage soldering iron firmly against the screw head for at least 2 minutes before you try to remove it, this allows heat to travel through the screw and melt the bonding plastic based locking agent

https://shop.brownells.com/optics/r...MI-fyIgLi12QIVmbXACh3gcQOeEAQYASABEgJTs_D_BwE

https://shop.brownells.com/optics-m...MI-fyIgLi12QIVmbXACh3gcQOeEAQYASABEgJTs_D_BwE
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...head-scope-ring-base-screw-kit-prod41830.aspx
torx head screws tend to be better strength and quality,

Ive seen lots of cheap mounts fail
theres plenty of good gunsmiths and shops, the problem is that quality work is rather expensive and most people find its cheaper to sell and old rifle and buy new than modify an existing rifle by swapping barrels or having it re-chambered,
or rebored, etc.
ID also point out that a properly loaded 8mm Mauser if its accurate, will kill anything in north America just fine
Ive had several rifles rebarreled and when your done the price is ALWAYS more than you will have paid if you sold the current rifle and found a good deal on a used or new rifle in the caliber of your choice, but that being said,if you spent 30 plus years hunting with a favorite rifle investing several hundred dollars in a new barrels not to much to ask to continue its faithful services
I posted this previously

if you've got a good job where you can afford to blow some cash on toys and your into heavy caliber rifles...well I had a dream of building the ultimate elk hammering rifle back several years ago.., so I decided to build exactly what I wanted...at that time
was a custom combo I put together , I ordered a spare fibermark weatherby synthetic stock for my 340 wby rifle and a 378 wby barreled action,
(because you could not order the weatherby 378 with that stock, it makes the rifle too light and recoil even more noticeable) and after doing some rather extensive bedding, modifications, because of the additional recoil lug on the 378wby barreled action, and strengthening the stock work with two large pillar bed inserts and drilling the stock wrist area from the butt too the rear of the action so I could insert custom bent section of 5/8" thread rod coated with a great deal of epoxy bedding compound to both add a bit of weight and rigidity to the stock, and adding two 1/4" thread rod sections to the forearm area with a good deal more bedding compound behind the forward barrel mount, recoil lug to the bedding in the stocks forward in-letting and modifying it to fit the extra recoil lug the 378 wby action has, plus two cross bolts epoxied into the stock , one on both ends of the action bedding ,and adding a 2.5x Leopold scope, and a thick recoil pad I had one really powerful rifle that weighted about 9.75 lbs .I own several wby markV rifles and every one of them shot a bit better groups once I rebedded then with the receivers & barrels supported for about 3" forward of the receivers and the barrels free floated a bit off the stock forearm at least enough off the forearm to slide a dollar bill up to with-in 3" of the receiver
the rifles a bit heavy, at about 10 lbs plus with the scope, but you really appreciate the weight as any lighter would just make the recoil even more noticeable.
Ive easily got about $1900 in this rifle,(in 1990 dollars) before the scope or scope mounts, bi-pod or sling were added. but thats a screaming bargain compared to the $3000 weatherby wanted for a similar custom synthetic stocked, and bedded, 378 wby when I inquired at that time.

http://www.nosler.com/nosler-load-data/378-weatherby-magnum/
Now its both extremely accurate ( 1"-1.2" 3 shot groups off the bench at 100 yards are common) and...yes it kicks like a mule,...felt recoil exceeds my 458 mag, but if you absolutely want to knock an elk or any other large game silly this tends to get their attention!
theres absolutely no need for this level of power to be used on ELK or MOOSE, but if your into powerful long range rifles its both impressive and very effective.
its one of those times where you get almost too much of a good thing, it absolutely hammers elk with hornady 300 grain boat tail bullets, loaded to 2900fps !!
yes it shoots really flat, and it punches thru the 1/4" steel gong at 500 yards at one local range so I can,t shoot at that gong any longer.
But the facts are that in skilled hands , and used within a reasonable range, any caliber from about a 270 Winchester-up thru a 338 win mag is going to prove to be very effective,on elk If you can precisely place your shots, and know your games anatomy.
but if your willing to accept the harder recoil levels a 378 wby has and use top quality bullets and practice a good deal with the rifle,you can just about ignore problems involving lack of penetration, or excessive drop, at anything approaching reasonable ranges, that may be an issue with lesser calibers, now you still need to precisely place your shots,and know your rifles trajectory, but busting thru an ELKs shoulder is hardly going to slow a 378 WBYs 300 grain bullet. enough to destroy the projectiles effectiveness..
Its also not a rifle your going to shoot from the prone position without getting the recoil levels far up past the comfort levels or point you'll want to do that more than absolutely necessary.
]firing from a sitting or standing position's not too bad with a sling, being properly used , but you'll darn sure know when its gone off!
I doubt you'll fire more than 10-12 shots before your shoulder starts to bruise,and your common sense tells you to stop shooting!
but when your hunting its a non-issue because you'll seldom fire more than once or twice.
its also the reason you'll occasionally see barely used 378 wby,416 wby and 460 wby rifles for sale at decent prices that have been rarely used.
you can fire a 300grain bullet at about 2870fps,very easily,with zero pressure indications and long brass life, making enough energy to hunt African dangerous game and it shoots almost as flat as a 7mm mag for most of 500 yards
if your used to absorbing heavier recoil, the 378 wby makes an impressive , and expensive tool, but Ive found the 250 grain bullets in a 340 wby do everything you can reasonably expect from an ELK rifle with less recoil.[/color]
if you play with a recoil calculator a 375 h&h will generally have about 35-40 ft lbs of recoil, the 378 wby closer to 56-58 ft lbs, but MUCH FASTER

http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

for anyone whose interested,
the 378 wby kicks like a mule
and while it works great as an ELK rifle,
it has not proven to be any more effective than my 340 wby,
so I only hunt elk with it when I get the odd masochistic urge,
to let it beat me half silly.
had to laugh, thinking back...the first time I tried to sight in my 378 wby (no muzzle brake)the only spare scope I had was a 30 plus year old weaver 4x , I bore sited it then went to the range and set up a target at 25 yards the first two shots were virtually touching , I looked thru the scope to fire a third shot and it looked a bit blurry , I really did not pay a good deal of attention to that little detail until I found the front and internal lenses on the bench after the third shot

http://www.harrisbipods.com/HB25CS.html

most of my elk were shot from a sitting position with this bi-pod at over 100 yard but under 250 yards, or at very close range shooting off hand (usually under 60 yards)

NOW I PREFER THE STRENGTH AND DURABILITY OF A SYNTHETIC STOCK
but if your into FANCY FLASHY WOOD AND LAZER ENGRAVING ,WEATHERBY HAS THOSE STOCKS AVAILABLE ALSO

http://www.norma.cc/content.asp?Typ...=4&Rubrik=Calibers&Title=378+Weatherby+Magnum

http://www.chuckhawks.com/378weatherby.htm

http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_ ... licID=4180

378 Weatherby Magnum

In 1952, Roy Weatherby designed this cartridge. He began with the 416 Rigby case, added a "magnum" belt and his patent "double-radius" shoulder, and necked the case to accept 0.375-inch bullets. In order to assure ignition of powder charges exceeding 100 grains, he asked Federal to develop a new primer. The result was the Federal 215 "Magnum" primer, now familiar to handloaders. Weatherby personally field-tested his 378 during an African Safari in 1953. He used the, then new, Schultz & Larsen rifle, especially developed to his specifications. During that hunt, he took a bull elephant with one shot. With best loads, the 378 Weatherby exceeds 375 H&H performance by fully 300 fps. With pointed, efficient bullets, trajectory is similar to best 270 Winchester loads; hence, the 378 can deliver staggering doses of energy to targets at extreme ranges. For example, it can deliver more energy at 500 yards than the 30-06 develops at the muzzle! Such performance has a price..heavy recoil. Few shooters will ever learn to handle the recoil generated by this chambering in a rifle of normal weight. Addition of a muzzle brake is practically a necessity for most shooters. As with any other such chambering, hunters are well advised to consider using only bullets of best possible construction, to assure adequate weight retention so that penetration will not be compromised significantly, should the bullet happen to strike heavy bone going in. Obviously, this cartridge is more powerful than necessary, except for hunting in Africa.

 

[rlphvac]

Thanks Grumpy maybe I'll just have an old Mauser in the collection

 

[rlphvac]

Hey Grumpy Cabelas has a Leupold VX3 scope on sale for a good price ($100.00 mail in rebate) but they don't have a 3x9 the closest they have is a 2x7 is this a big difference I originally wanted a 2.5 x 10 but they don't make that one either. Choice # 2 is a Redfield revolution 3x9 what do you think?

 

[Grumpy]

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Leupold-reg-VX-Riflescopes/748758.uts

http://www.cabelas.com/product/leupold-reg-vx-3-cds-riflescopes/731240.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=/catalog/search.cmd?form_state=searchForm&N=0&fsch=true&Ntk=AllProducts&Ntt=leuopold%2Bscopes&x=10&y=6&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=leuopold+scopes


ANY LEUPOLD VX3
2X7, magnification
or
3.5 x 10 magnification
scope
IS GOING TO BE A DARN GOOD CHOICE
if you really think youll get shots over 350 yards the 3.5 x 10 magnification is a very valid choice but Id bet less than 15% of the deer and elk actually killed , vs about 50% plus, being described by hunters and magazine article writers explaining their exploits and marksmanship are shot at over 300 yards in reality.
I've been with Ron when he shot most of his elk and without fail, when Ron told about those hunts, the yardage they got hit at seemed to get a few extra yards longer every season.
and he was hardly unique on that lack of ability to judge yardage or have a great memory!
I think thats one reason so many guys swear a 270 win or 7mm shoot as flat as a lazer , of they sight in at 3" high at 100 yards with a 7mm rem and a 160 grain or a 270 with a 140 grain
since Ive repeatedly seen guys swear a deer standing at 330 yards was out at "AT LEAST 550 yards" theres little reason to doubt why the rumors of exceptionally flat trajectory abound
http://www.hornady.com/ballistics-resource/ballistics-calculator

 

[Grumpy]

I found this rather interesting, I think the light weight rifle scope combo is,
what a few guys are looking for.a rifle like that would certainly provide most guys with a very good hunting rifle for most applications.

I would have used this scope, with the 50mm lense and find matching ring heights
https://www.nikonsportoptics.com/en/nikon-products/riflescopes/prostaff-3-9x50-matte-nikoplex.html



https://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com...roductDetail/Rifles/prod99999048588/cat100003

Id select a caliber 270 not the 308 ,
yeah the combo of a bit longer action and better scope adds a few ounces,
but I think the minimal weight increase is a minor inconvenience and the better scope and 270 win would perform better.