Most of us have too many rifles. I have some that I don't shoot once in a year's time, maybe even two. Yet, for the business of guiding, I use two, a 30-06 and a .375 H&H. For arguments sake, I considered that I could have only one. Not a closet full to choose from, but only a single rifle to take with me and use for all Alaskan game, from the SE Panhandle to the North Slope, for spring rain and winter cold and all between.

This is just the question several guides and myself discussed on cold winter night over a dinner of moose and warmed over hunting stories.

The Criteria

Price was not an object. The consensus was that each would be willing to spend the money for the ONE rifle that would cover all our needs. Other rifles in our closets would be relegated to objects of amusement and used at times when the stakes are less.

The first consideration was caliber. It had to be adequate for the largest game we would encounter. Here in Alaska that would be the Brown Bear, or Polar Bear, if it ever emerges from the protection of the Marine Mammals Act. It also had to be a cartridge that was common enough to get almost anywhere here in Alaska. It would do a guide no good to have a wildcat or exotic he could not get when needed.

Second, is that the rifle be as durable a tool as possible. It must be corrosion resistant. The stock must endure every weather condition yet maintain a zero and hold up under the abuse of horse packing, falling off a mountain, dragging through the rivers and strapped to airplanes. All the parts must be able to be maintained without the use of specific tools and function flawlessly.

As you can see this rifle is a true tool. Its beauty would be in its function rather than cosmetic. No Fleur Delis or rosewood caps. No secret pockets or "store in the stock" accessories. Just downright, basic function, for use in a combat situation, day in and day out, minimum care and maximum output.

Caliber

There was really no doubt as to the appropriateness of the .375 H&H with a .300 grain bullet. First, this cartridge is universal. It can be had in almost any village store or town in Alaska. This is a criterion that I cannot stress enough. If you cannot get it, you cannot shoot it. It has the power to dispatch our largest animal at both long range and in the close quarters of an alder patch. (see related article on proper bullet selection) The mildly tapered case allows for easy extraction and function in the most adverse conditions. It also has a fairly flat trajectory out to 300 yd. It works well on sheep to brown bear.

We discussed a few other calibers for academic's sake. Among these were the .416 Rem, .458 Win, .338 Win, and .460 Weatherby. All but the .460 Weatherby are commonly used here in Alaska but all failed on the most important criteria. Ammunition availability! The .416 Rem may bear looking at sometime down the road when its popularity increases but for the moment, and I see this to be a very long moment, the .375 H&H remains the most practical.

Just a few notes on each as to why they did not make the cut. The .460 Weatherby, aside from having virtually unavailable ammo was deemed to be too powerful for practical use. I have personally not fired one but have a friend who modified one for bear protection. He reduced the barrel to 20 inches, so that it could be handled in close quarters. This man weighs 280 lbs. and after shooting one box of ammo, sold the gun. Too much recoil!! I'm sure the recoil is not so sever with a full length barrel but it is the most powerful production gun on the market, or so says Weatherby. Another consideration is ammo construction. Weatherby's come with a sharp shouldered case. Under some circumstances this could lead to feed and extraction problems. Maybe not frequently, but more so than a tapered case like the .375 H&H.

Next, is bullet construction. When the U.S. Forest Service conducted tests on most of the available weapons that might be used for bear protection, including the .44 mag and 12 gauge, they used factory ammo. At the time, bonded core bullets were not available from the factory. As a result the .460 bullets fragmented at close range (15 yd.). It is likely that pursuing a bear in the alders would bring the hunter much closer. You simply cannot afford bullet failure at this range and high velocity projectiles are most prone to this.

The .416 Rem is a very attractive alternative and the ONLY reason this rifle did not take top honors is that it is not popular enough to have readily available ammo. It has a good trajectory, plenty of power and the good bullets are available from the factory. I only wish that this rifle were used by more.

The .458 Win. is probably the best for close in bear protection. You can get 500-grain bullets, or larger, in bonded core construction and it will certainly lay a bear low. What it fails at is trajectory. It falls off like a bowling ball and simply will not give a wide enough margin on that escaping sheep at 300 yd.

The .338 Win. is the rifle that I recommend to hunters as a "one rifle compromise" for all game in Alaska. As you know, my first choice is the .375 H&H, but hunters coming up for game may be under a different set of circumstances. First, they may not be accustomed to the higher recoil of the .375 H&H. Second, they may not want to purchase an extra rifle that might not be used in their other hunting. The rifle has good trajectory, bullets, and is reasonably available but the cartridge lacks the power for extremely close bear encounters.

Action

Stainless steel was the only choice in material. It resists corrosion, it resists corrosion, and it resists corrosion. It all that needs to be said. If you are uncomfortable with the color there are several commercial treatments to change it, or give it a few shots of camo spray paint. I do this to my whole rifle and scope. It looks good and is practical.

I am particularly fond of the classic Winchester type action with the claw extractor. The bolt can be disassembled with no tools and the feeding of cartridges is positive. What we determined was that this would be a good action to start with, then modify.

The first modification is for more ammo capacity. I would like to see five in the magazine and one in the chamber. As you may know, it is common practice to hunt in the field with no round in the chamber unless shooting is imminent or highly likely. This is primarily for safety reasons, especially with clients. The problem with the positive feed action arises when you are required to insert the final, or sixth cartridge, into the chamber. In order to do that you need an extractor that is tapered. This allows you to depress the rounds in the magazine while sliding the last cartridge into the chamber. The tapered extractor will go over the round and it will seat properly. On some Mauser type actions the extractors are not tapered and this procedure cannot be accomplished.

One caveat on the practice of placing the last round in the chamber. Famous hunters, such as John Taylor, have viewed this practice as highly unsafe. Not for the reason of mechanical function of the rifle but for the mechanical function of the hunter's brain. There may be a tendency to overlook putting the last round in during the "heat of battle." This could prove fatal. He is probably right.

I recall one young hunter I had stalked a caribou with. After firing and missing the first shot with his .300 Win., he jammed the next round. I handed him my .375 H&H, and he succeeded in missing again. When I asked him what went wrong with the first shot he claimed the gun had misfired and the round did not go off. I handed him the warm brass from his .300 Win. Guess it does happen sometimes. So it may be safer to take the first round off the top and forget about supplying the last round from your pocket.

Therefore we would like a rifle with a drop magazine (not floor plate) that will hold at least five or possibly six .375 H&H rounds and the extractor must be tapered.

I like a blind magazine. This is a magazine that requires feeding and extraction from the action end. It does not have a drop floor plate. The reason for this is that I have never seen a truly bomb proof system for locking the floor plate and under adverse conditions there is the likelihood the plate may come open, dumping your ammo. If this occurs during that belly crawl in the alders after a brown bear it may not be the only floor plate that needs dropping.

During the discussion of floor plates one of the guides expressed his liking for them, claiming it made taking the extra rounds out at the end of the day easier. He also said that he put three pieces of duct tape over the floor plate to keep it from opening. If you go to all that trouble you might just as well do without it and eliminate the problem.

On top of the receiver, I would like to see integral scope mounts. V-block type mounts that are actually part of the receiver. Ruger and Sako make them this way. Screws are nonexistent so will never come loose on this type of mount.

As part of the rear mount a peep sight should be included. Brno made some of these many years ago but I have not seen them on any current rifles. Their sight would flip up from the integral mount and had adjustments for windage and elevation. This system kept it out of the way when a scope was mounted but was immediately available when the scope was off the gun. Warne also makes an integral peep mount but they do not make one that fits the classic M70 because of short hole spacing on the rear of the receiver. It also does not fold down and it appears that changing the front sight to a lower profile is required. I have seen some beautiful and clever mounts for peep sights that occupied the rear scope mount, but these sights were separate items and usually stored in a pistol grip pocket. My first thought on this is that it's going to get dropped in the tundra and disappear in the mud the first time you need it. If it's not attached you are likely to loose it.

The peep sight should be bored out to "ghost ring" size for use in low light and to facilitate rapid sight acquisition. I like the peep over others (like the ramp) because the eye has a natural tendency to center what you are looking at. With ramp sights, as with a shotgun, you may over shoot on a quick, close-in shot at a charging bear since you may be concentrating more on the animal than sight alignment. If you are using the peep, on the other hand, the fact that you are shouldering the gun will force your eye to look through the hole. Most military guns have a peep, which should be some testimonial to this type of sight.

I have my favorites in triggers. I like the Arnold Jewel triggers for my target/benchrest/varmint rifles as well as for my 30-06, which is set up like a sniper rifle. For factory triggers none is better than the Remington. But in this case we are not dealing with what is best for crispness, pull and creep but rather what will work under the worst of conditions. My vote for this goes to the Winchester trigger. It is a simple but effective design. It lacks in small moving parts and can be adjusted easily. I believe it will require the least amount of maintenance.

Before I leave the action completely there is one important thing that always seems to be overlooked by rifle manufacturers. That is the trigger guard. Most are beautiful and flow with the lines of the gun but are just too small to accommodate large or glove fingers. Some Anchutz rifles and some shotguns have large, flaring trigger guards. These seem to be the most effective for a year round rifle. The military even changes trigger guards on some weapons for winter use. You need to be able to shoot and operate your weapon with mittens, gloves, and the claw like hands of the nearly frozen hunter.

To this same point I would like to see the size of the bolt end to be increased to that of biathlon rifles. These rifles are designed for rapid function with gloved hands in cold weather. What joy is there in the design of a butter knife bolt handle when you are being charged by a bear and need to operate it with hands that cannot even grasp your zipper?

Barrel

Stainless, again, is the only material to consider. Paint it if you don't like the color. There are also several qualities of barrels, like factory, match and select match. Though the match barrels are smoother and will foul less I don't think that it is significant enough to include in a .375 rifle. A guide shoots more often in the off-season, to practice, than he will ever shoot during a hunt. Any barrel will likely last him his entire career and have plenty of life left when he gives it to his son. There are two other treatments being discussed these days, mostly among the accuracy shooters. The first is cryo, or freezing the metal of barrel and/or action to -300 F. This supposedly stress relieves the metal and increases the accuracy. The next is the exposure to some type of gas (proprietary by the manufacturer) similar to the nitriding process used on aircraft engine cylinders. This hardens the surface and decreases fouling and extends barrel life. I am waiting for the jury on both process but reports look good. Should it be included in a guide rifle? I don't think so. I will consider it for my benchrest and target rifles but believe the cost/benefit ratio for a working rifle to be too high and not necessary.

I like a barrel length of 20-21 inches. This is for two reasons. First, you will definitely want a short rifle barrel when you have to go into the alders after a bear. Second, it is far easier to carry on a day to day basis. You may have to adjust your load to keep the same velocity if this is important to you.

I also like heavy barrels because they usually shoot better, but in this application,the reason is, they settle in for the shot quicker. I recall one hunter from Europe with a light Mauser take five shots at a dall sheep, after we had climbed to our shooting position. Still feeling the fatigue of the climb and not having the time to relax before shooting the shots were going all over the place. I knew the rifle shot well because we had tested it the day before. After running out of ammo and not having time to reload I handed him my big, fat heavy barreled, sniper type 30-06. One shot!! I almost had to fight him to get my rifle back. It was not that my rifle was more accurate, though it was, it was that the weight allowed him to settle in for the shot. I know they are a pain to carry, but I liken it to the days of my bicycle racing where most riders installed titanium components and drilled hole in things to make them lighter. It did, of course, but most overlooked the extra donuts they were carrying around under their jerseys. Drop a few pounds, lift some weights and carry the tool that will do the job!

Install a barrel band for the rare time that you will use a sling. I like the barrel band rather than the stock mounted attachment because there is a chance that a hand can get to close to it during a shot and injury results. I know you never do this and I have not either but I have seen it done so why not eliminate any potential problems? I never carry my rifle with a sling though I keep one in my pack. A guide is never without his pack except for the last stage of a stalk so the sling is available if you want to use it. I also don't want the sling (quick detach) when I am in the brush. Murphy's law dictates that it will get caught when you most need it. The one advantage to using a sling is that when it does get caught in the alders and the bear walks away with most of your leg you will have a handy tourniquet.

Stock

We need something that will maintain the rifle's "zero" in all weather conditions and be tough as nails. Synthetic is the only answer and is becoming the industry standard. They don't warp, shrink or require maintenance, but not all are created equal. Some are foam core, kevlar, fiberglass, or other materials given manufacturers names. One thing to avoid is the foam core. It is fine for meeting weight limits for target rifles but does not have the strength and stiffness you may need during the rigors of guiding. You usually get what you pay for so look at them closely.

Another thing I want is a solid bedding system. I use aluminum pillar bedding in most of my rifles. There are aluminum V-shaped bedding blocks and pillars in several stocks on the market. These are solid and you can remove the action, clean and reinstall it without worry of zero change.

Free float the barrel and allow at least an eighth of inch all around the barrel. Sliding a dollar bill under the barrel won't cut it. Try one of your rifles on the bench with the front support near the end of the stock, then put some pressure on it from various angles. You will see that most stock have some flex and if the stock contacts the barrel it will prohibit free vibration and may change your point of impact.

I also like the straight, classic style stock fit so that it accommodate your heavily clothed shoulder and a pistol grip that fits your hand comfortably. I paint wing walk compound, used on the top of aircraft floats for traction, on the pistol grip and forend area. I am not sure that this has much benefit but I am trying to cover all bases and have not had any regrets for putting it there.

That just about covers the rifle itself. It is what we, who work with them all season, think works best. As an extra I like a scope on my rifle in quick release mounts. That scope, is a 1-4x, set to one power until I need four power. There may be those who don't want the scope and are comfortable with the peep sight. I can live with either.

Ammo

This is often the most overlooked component of the hunting rifle. Many figure that factory ammo is fine. It is, for most situations, but we are not looking for most, we are looking for the most dire circumstance.

It is a serious error to equate velocity with performance without consideration to bullet construction. Many bullets will come apart when the velocity is too high. They may have great ballistics coefficients and look smooth and shiny complete with boattails and attractive plastic tips but do they perform at extremely close ranges and hold together? Most fail miserably. You need unfailing performance. Never skimp on bullets.

I know of two that come out at the top of the heap. The one I have used for years, is the Grizzly 300 grain, bonded core bullet. I have never had a recovered bullet with less than 96% weight retention and the shape was always picture perfect, and I have shot every animal in Alaska with them. They perform as well on Dall sheep as on Brown bear. Joe Abrams, who is the Grizzly bullet guru, is now retired. I talked with him just a few days ago, looking for some remaining stock. He had none! Question! Whose bullet do I go with now? Answer! The original bonded core bullet maker Bill Steigers of Bitterroot Bullets. Joe and Bill have collaborated over the years when no really fine bonded core bullets were available, except theirs. I have placed an order with Bill for his 300 grain/.375 bullets and some 180 grain/.308 bullets. It takes a while to produce these bullets and they do cost but are worth it. I will continue to use the Grizzlies until my supply runs out and hope that Bill will have gotten the others into production by then. You can reach Bill at Bitterroot Bullets, POB 412, Lewiston, ID 83501-0412, (208)-743-5635.

Perhaps you have not heard of these bullets. One reason might be that of the makers. Both Joe and Bill do not give their bullets away to gun writers, therefore don't get the publicity they deserve. As you know, magazines are advertising driven and the advertiser who puts the money into the publication gets the press. I recall Joe saying that if his customers have to wait and pay for bullets, then the writers could stand in line with the rest, and pay for them when they get to the counter. Just like his customers. Bill is the same way. Neither has gotten rich and probably won't, but I like the attitude and I love the bullets.

I cannot emphasis this bullet issue enough. Don't go with a bullet that won't perform at close range. Your life and your clients life could depend on it.