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  1. #1
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    Default Hunting With Heavy/Bull Barreled rifles.

    Seeing as the Hunting Rifles thread has been really quiet lately and so as not to hijack Kwik-Solv's post, I decided to start this thread.

    Below are quotes from Wesley and Shooty concerning this:

    I can’t ever see myself carrying a heavy barreled rifle in the veld again. Ever!
    If you have a heavy rifle with Bull.Varmint Barrel. The best is to use a sling that has stretch in it. As when you carry then the rifle feels way less heavy.
    For 30 years, I only used normal hunting weight rifles for hunting and 4 of my five hunting rifles are still "proper", standard weight, hunting rifles. However, lately I have also done a lot of hunting with a bull-barreled Howa in 6.5CM. There was a time when I was quite vocal about my dislike of heavy barreled rifles for hunting. Messor is partly responsible for changing my mind on this. Although he is probably two decades younger than I am, I started thinking that if he could lug around a heavy barreled .308 on his hunts, I could probably do the same. So, instead of just dismissing the idea, I started to think about it.

    On a November buffalo hunt in Mozambique, I had carried a heavy .416 rem mag, without a sling, in extreme heat and in tough terrain and while I missed a sling I never found the experience unbearable. Also, a few of our clients used target type rifles for hunting and while several complained bitterly about hauling along these rifles, others seemed to manage just fine. Around this time I was invited to attend a long range shooting/hunting course conducted by an American shooting instructor on the reserve where I work. As I did not have a suitable rifle for this, I bought a heavy barreled Howa in 6.5 Creedmoor. After doing the course, I decided, I would be able to use the rifle both on the range and while hunting. The Howa turned out to be almost annoyingly accurate, it shot ½moa groups with factory ammo and with just about all reloads I tried. It did well on gongs out to 900 meters. As a target rifle it was impressive. Having used a 6.5x55 extensively for hunting and considering that the 6.5 Creedmoor has exactly the same ballistics from a 24" barrel as my 6.5x55 had from a 22" barrel, I already knew how the Creedmoor would perform on game. But how would it handle as a hunting rifle?

    It turns out that, fitted with a quality synthetic sling, it was not difficult to carry, even when walking 10 -15 km in challenging terrain. Although this rifle wear a tactical/target type scope it handles well enough for general hunting, including offhand shooting. Where the weight does start to tell is when I need to do some quick shooting at a moving target towards the end of a long day. I would not recommend it as a bushveld rifle, partly due to the scope, but for hunting in open to semi open terrain it does well.

    One thing to keep in mind is that a heavy barreled rifle starts out heavy, unlike a standard hunting rifle, and everything you bolt onto it increases that weight and the handling. You are obviously going to have to put a scope on it, and on this type of rifle it is probably going to be a fairly heavy scope, but think carefully about other paraphernalia. Adding a suppressor, a bipod, a sunshade for the scope and a heavy aftermarket stock or chassis often makes the difference between a heavy but usable rifle and one that makes you wish that you left the bloody thing at home or had hired a gun bearer.

    And put a decent sling on it. We have a few hunters who arrive here every year with sling-less rifles because they have attended courses or frequented websites where they were told that a real man does not put a sling on his rifle because a real man needs to have his rifle in his hands the entire time. This makes sense when hunting dangerous game or when you are in really thick brush but for most hunting it is just stupid. By hunting with a rifle sans a sling you will most likely end up carrying the rifle balanced on your shoulder with your hand holding the barrel and the muzzle pointing at the person in front of you. This person will probably be your guide/ph and he is probably not going to take kindly to staring down the muzzle of your rifle every times he looks back.

    So, a properly set up heavy/bull barreled rifle can be used very effectively for hunting even if it is not perfect for the job.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Hunting With Heavy/Bull Barreled rifles.

    I have also hunted for years with a standard hunting rifle, Sako 7x64mm. It served me well.

    Last year i purchased a Tikka 6.5 Creedmoor Super Varmint bull barrel, waited a whole year for license....story for another day. What an awesome rifle though, it shoots 1/4 MOA what ever i use. Factory or reloads. I recently fitted it to a Gun Warrior Gen 6 chassis. The idea was for it to be a plinking/PRS rifle or if i was to hunt with it to swap back to the factory stock. However i enjoy the chassis setup so much and because it shoots so damn accurate, i will now be using it for hunting with the chassis. Yes it is heavy but i think the performance will negate it.

    This brings me to your statement of getting a decent sling. I am miles away from any decent gun shops and do most of my purchasing online. Do you have any recommendations for slings, keeping in mind that i need QD couplings.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Hunting With Heavy/Bull Barreled rifles.

    Quote Originally Posted by aimpoint View Post

    This brings me to your statement of getting a decent sling. I am miles away from any decent gun shops and do most of my purchasing online. Do you have any recommendations for slings, keeping in mind that i need QD couplings.
    I use Slogan Outdoor's Ultraflex slings.

    It is the best sling I have ever tried. I got mine from the USA but I know that Ultraflex slings were sold at Huntex a couple of years ago, so there should be a local agent.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Hunting With Heavy/Bull Barreled rifles.

    Quote Originally Posted by aimpoint View Post
    I have also hunted for years with a standard hunting rifle, Sako 7x64mm. It served me well.

    Last year i purchased a Tikka 6.5 Creedmoor Super Varmint bull barrel, waited a whole year for license....story for another day. What an awesome rifle though, it shoots 1/4 MOA what ever i use. Factory or reloads. I recently fitted it to a Gun Warrior Gen 6 chassis. The idea was for it to be a plinking/PRS rifle or if i was to hunt with it to swap back to the factory stock. However i enjoy the chassis setup so much and because it shoots so damn accurate, i will now be using it for hunting with the chassis. Yes it is heavy but i think the performance will negate it.

    This brings me to your statement of getting a decent sling. I am miles away from any decent gun shops and do most of my purchasing online. Do you have any recommendations for slings, keeping in mind that i need QD couplings.
    Is your Tikka 22 or 20 inch barrel? I just bought the 20inch in 308.

    My thinking is to try and save a little weigh with the shorter barrel and with a suppressor not getting stuck on trees.

  5. #5

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    It is the best sling I have ever tried. I got mine from the USA but I know that Ultraflex slings were sold at Huntex a couple of years ago, so there should be a local agent.

    Thank you if will have a look at them. The guys at gun warrior suggested i look at Tab Gear, the biathlon, also in USA but they currently don’t have stock.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by boondog View Post
    Is your Tikka 22 or 20 inch barrel? I just bought the 20inch in 308.

    My thinking is to try and save a little weigh with the shorter barrel and with a suppressor not getting stuck on trees.
    24 inch, really long and the sus-tac suppressor is not a reflex therefore even longer. Probably not really suited for bushveld hunting, although the caliber itself isn’t.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Hunting With Heavy/Bull Barreled rifles.

    always carried a heavy rifle. never really gave it a 2nd thought. used a remington varmint 308 for many years. then a Tikka continental 6.5 heavy with a 660mm barrel. this year I got a Tikka ctr 308 heavy. Loaded with a scope maybe 14 to 18 pounds. Same as a G3 or FAL; I hunt with those too.

    The ctr will get its 1st hunt in the morning. Winter front will push through this afternoon. Hunting will be good.

    Never used a sling. They just get snagged on stuff.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Hunting With Heavy/Bull Barreled rifles.

    Quote Originally Posted by TStone View Post
    I use Slogan Outdoor's Ultraflex slings.

    It is the best sling I have ever tried. I got mine from the USA but I know that Ultraflex slings were sold at Huntex a couple of years ago, so there should be a local agent.
    Not available Locally
    The guys comes and sells specially at huntex.
    I bought some last year
    The guy s

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Hunting With Heavy/Bull Barreled rifles.

    My Ruger No1 in .280Rem completely changed my outlook on what I should take to the bushveld. As much as I like the reduced weight, I appreciate the reduced length. I’ve also let go of the idea that my hunting rifle should be capable of shooting strings of bug-holes. Sub MOA is more than adequate at the ranges I like to hunt. My hunting and marksmanship skills impact the outcome to a far greater degree. I will admit though, the feeling you get from a bug-hole capable rifle, often a heavy barreled version, is very satisfying and fills one with confidence, maybe falsely so.

    My go to bolt action rifle is a CZ550 in 7x57. I hope to pass this on to my wife and replace it with a Tikka hunter in 7mm08 with a 22” barrel when they come available. When Eland are on the menu, a CZ550 in 9.3x62 will go along. With a “moderate” scope, ideally something like 3-15x44 with a 30mm tube is about as heavy as I would like to carry.

    We are planning to hunt the Kalahari at some stage(Oryx at longer ranges across dunes), comes to mind. For that I plan on using a Tikka T3 300wsm with a heavy barrel, but I would imagine that we won’t be walking after those buck. Most likely it would be shooting off a bakkie or from an elevated vantage point, voorsit style.

    Have you guys tested at all if you are more or less accurate shooting offhand at say 100m with a lighter vs heavier rifle?

    To refer back the the OP, I think it is easier for a target style rifle to fill a hunting role, than the other way round, but I am allergic to shifting spanners and prefer a dedicated tool for every specific job. That said, if you could have only one rifle for all applications, what would it be? I just can’t solve this conundrum for myself. Let’s hope times never get that bad...

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Hunting With Heavy/Bull Barreled rifles.

    I carry heavy rifles regularly, its no big deal to me. I admit that I am not partaking in before sun up to after sunset across the Andes in search of Ibex hunts which drain every last ounce of energy out a man, but a hunting/varminting type rifle with bull barrel is not that much heavier a rifle in terms of human strength than a average off the shelf rifle.

    Most modern hunters do so little"hunt" on spaces that are far to small to claim fatigue as result of a kg more weight. My .458 and my .204 are both about as heavy as can be without intentional weight adding and I still have good hunting days that are nowhere near deducted from by rifles weight, though I am apt to be heard muttering that the rifle is getting heavy.
    How heavy is a 6 -7 kg rifle really?
    A 10 kg back pack is light.
    A heavy rifle is heavier than a light rifle, but its far from a heavy object and a sling makes it even less heavy.

    I must how ever say that when I take the Ruger .223 A/A out for some use I do really enjoy its toy like status.

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