Pronghorn19
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If you watch this show like I do, what would your preferred firearm be? Most of these people seem like they only have one gun on them at all times, what would your choice be?
Your choice "Life Below Zero"
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WardenWolf
member
The #1 thing to consider here is that you need a rifle that will work well when it's cold. For this reason alone, I would tend to favor Russian designs like the Mosin Nagant and AK variants such as the VEPR .308 or Romanian PSL. That these designs also have some of the best reliability in general is another plus.
Let's be honest here: most of the equipment on the market is not designed for that kind of environment. In extremely cold environments, you can have actions lock up completely due to parts shrinkage or simply by freezing shut. You can even have parts fracture due to the cold making the metal brittle. You need a rifle you can count on for that NOT to happen.
Let's be honest here: most of the equipment on the market is not designed for that kind of environment. In extremely cold environments, you can have actions lock up completely due to parts shrinkage or simply by freezing shut. You can even have parts fracture due to the cold making the metal brittle. You need a rifle you can count on for that NOT to happen.
I've noticed on the other "Alaskan" type shows, there are a lot of AR platform rifles in use.
That's probably what I would chose to use. Carry lots of ammo, good round for most game, accurate and a spare parts kit would be a pretty easy thing to pack along with you.
That's probably what I would chose to use. Carry lots of ammo, good round for most game, accurate and a spare parts kit would be a pretty easy thing to pack along with you.
In the NW arctic, all kinds of firearms get used. Everything from Mosin Nagants to AR's to Mini-14's.
For most big game or defensive uses, I'd probably just take a stainless bolt action .30'06 with bullets on the heavy side and call it good.
I'd also take a shotgun if I were going there again. Went there with just a .22 for small game last time but for Ptarmigan in the snow, even just a single barrel 20 gauge shotgun is far superior.
For most big game or defensive uses, I'd probably just take a stainless bolt action .30'06 with bullets on the heavy side and call it good.
I'd also take a shotgun if I were going there again. Went there with just a .22 for small game last time but for Ptarmigan in the snow, even just a single barrel 20 gauge shotgun is far superior.
caribou
Member
For hunting in the ice pack it in the Ocean or dead cold of winter, bolt action rifles prevail 10-1 Mosin Nagants, Winchester M-70's, Rem M-700 and Savages are more the norm, then the surplus rifles come in.
Untill a year ago, the wife and I both used MosinNagants, as she ha had an extensive collection, and Im an avid shooter, we meshed well with that choice.
Fact is, AR platforms below zero tend to suck. Outstanding accuracy, but often a single shot ordeal. Even clean, the aluminum and steel tend to distor enough to drag the bolt and not lock up. The more popular Mini-14 has a reputaion for reliabilty, but not accuracy, same for AK's. Those are the poplular .223's with guys that hunt for a living.
Its best to find an exceedingly accurate and reliable and tough rifle for the open distances we have here on the Tundra, and the M-39 is the best tool we have found for that role. A great weight for mild recoil, a plenty powerfull enough of a cartridge, a side mounted sling, great for riding a snow go with the rifle slung across your chest ( crash and roll, not break your back or accumulate snow while you ride) wood protecting our hands from being burned or frozen to the barrel and are tough as nails.
Reminton 870's, Mossberg 500s top the 12 gauge list here and Ruger 10/.22's are the most often encounterd .22s but , again, I still preferrd a bolt action, even with a .22lr
Untill a year ago, the wife and I both used MosinNagants, as she ha had an extensive collection, and Im an avid shooter, we meshed well with that choice.
Fact is, AR platforms below zero tend to suck. Outstanding accuracy, but often a single shot ordeal. Even clean, the aluminum and steel tend to distor enough to drag the bolt and not lock up. The more popular Mini-14 has a reputaion for reliabilty, but not accuracy, same for AK's. Those are the poplular .223's with guys that hunt for a living.
Its best to find an exceedingly accurate and reliable and tough rifle for the open distances we have here on the Tundra, and the M-39 is the best tool we have found for that role. A great weight for mild recoil, a plenty powerfull enough of a cartridge, a side mounted sling, great for riding a snow go with the rifle slung across your chest ( crash and roll, not break your back or accumulate snow while you ride) wood protecting our hands from being burned or frozen to the barrel and are tough as nails.
Reminton 870's, Mossberg 500s top the 12 gauge list here and Ruger 10/.22's are the most often encounterd .22s but , again, I still preferrd a bolt action, even with a .22lr
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Readyrod
Member
Hey caribou have you changed your preference away from the MosinNagant?
That's not what I've seen on the show. Most of the time there's an assortment based on what is being hunted. Only in this season with the new guy living all by himself in the one room on the lake have I seen just the one rifle.
I can't see living off of Alaska as practical with just one firearm.
Lex Luthier
Member
Probably a sidearm in that parka somewhere. My choices would be my Uzi, Beretta 72, and the Sig P229 in the top of my pack JIC. All 9mm.
Schutzen
Member
Sub-Zero Firearm Performance
Many of the problems people have with firearms in sub-freezing temperatures are a result of improper or incorrect lubrication/lubricants. M-16's will perform in artic conditions, but are not really suitable for civilian use. By civilian use I mean your primary threat is not other humans, but heavy bodied wild animals. The 5.56mm is not really a bear rifle.
If you are really concerned with sub-zero firearms usage read about the Finnish Army during WWII. They were masters of artic warfare. They made their own lubricants using glycerin an alcohol.
Many of the problems people have with firearms in sub-freezing temperatures are a result of improper or incorrect lubrication/lubricants. M-16's will perform in artic conditions, but are not really suitable for civilian use. By civilian use I mean your primary threat is not other humans, but heavy bodied wild animals. The 5.56mm is not really a bear rifle.
If you are really concerned with sub-zero firearms usage read about the Finnish Army during WWII. They were masters of artic warfare. They made their own lubricants using glycerin an alcohol.
AABEN
Member
Yes but AR can be in a 308 also. I do like the bolt Savages.I have 12 bolt guns from 22 up to 30.06. I like the 243 for around here and the 223. I would think a 41 M 44 M 45 LC Are a larger hand gun would be better up there. Cross the chest holster would be my way of caring it.
scaatylobo
Member
at VERY least 3
3 long guns if possible [ not on a hump ] and might start with a large caliber,47-70 or 450 magnum in levergun.
Then a .22 or .22 mag for small game.Dont want to ruin all the meat.
Then a shotgun ,most likely a 12 bore and that would be a Rem 870 with at least 2 barrels.1 for slugs [ 18" ] and the other for birds.
And hell yes to a hand gun at ALL times,very least would be .357,but doubt that I would go smaller than a Ruger SA or DA/SA model
3 long guns if possible [ not on a hump ] and might start with a large caliber,47-70 or 450 magnum in levergun.
Then a .22 or .22 mag for small game.Dont want to ruin all the meat.
Then a shotgun ,most likely a 12 bore and that would be a Rem 870 with at least 2 barrels.1 for slugs [ 18" ] and the other for birds.
And hell yes to a hand gun at ALL times,very least would be .357,but doubt that I would go smaller than a Ruger SA or DA/SA model
Jlr2267
Member
12 Ga pump
22 bolt or lever
30-06 or Mosin carbine
22 bolt or lever
30-06 or Mosin carbine
theotherwaldo
Member
Finn M-39
Bolt-action .22
Bolt-action 12 guage.
-I've found that bolt-actions can get along with a minimum of lube. Auto-loaders and pumps ar a bit more finicky.
Bolt-action .22
Bolt-action 12 guage.
-I've found that bolt-actions can get along with a minimum of lube. Auto-loaders and pumps ar a bit more finicky.
Yes they are. There is another thread going about it. He goes into great detail about the show.
caribou
Member
Well, as the wife says on the show and in real life "I have a gun for every occasion" and generally people do. Takeing a spare rifle on a long hunt is very normal as well.
The best example was during our Spring Flood hunt, little single shot Marlin was "the schizz" after the sights on the winchester 94 were found near useless, and it was 'the gun' of those 4 days...
We have a lot of vets here, the military "way out" is very popular for young men and a few womn, and still, the Bolt rifles in deep cold are most popular. That dosent mean the AR's are totally useless, just not in vouge.
The 3rd scout batallion, Eskimo Scouts, I belive, still issues M-14's for range and reliabilty here.
Pistols are VERY popular among women here, as they cut fish or pick berries,.357, 44mag, ect.... carrying a Rifle for Bear protection isnt as easy as the guys, as most guys around here carry a Rifle for the best Bear pistol ~~LOL!!~~ alotta guys carry pistols while traveling , but not hunting. while "in camp" Bear protection is usually a 12 gauge.
The best example was during our Spring Flood hunt, little single shot Marlin was "the schizz" after the sights on the winchester 94 were found near useless, and it was 'the gun' of those 4 days...
We have a lot of vets here, the military "way out" is very popular for young men and a few womn, and still, the Bolt rifles in deep cold are most popular. That dosent mean the AR's are totally useless, just not in vouge.
The 3rd scout batallion, Eskimo Scouts, I belive, still issues M-14's for range and reliabilty here.
Pistols are VERY popular among women here, as they cut fish or pick berries,.357, 44mag, ect.... carrying a Rifle for Bear protection isnt as easy as the guys, as most guys around here carry a Rifle for the best Bear pistol ~~LOL!!~~ alotta guys carry pistols while traveling , but not hunting. while "in camp" Bear protection is usually a 12 gauge.
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jim in Anchorage
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What in the world would you be shooting in wilderness Alaska with a 9mm Uzi?
DM~
Member
I do watch the show, but i've also been there and done that, over the 25 years i was in Alaska too...
I've spent plenty of time hunting in the Artic and my drilling did just fine. Many times i've spent extended amounts of time, living out of a tent in the winter and i've never even one time, had my drilling fail to work "perfectly" and i've used it to keep myself fed most of those times.
The other firearm i ALWAYS had with me is, my S&W M-29, although most times it was left back at my camp. "Sometimes" i'd have my High Standard Victor along too.
DM
caribou
Member
A Drilling? Thats way cool, DM! got some details? calibers. maker? One of theose kinds Im facinated with, yet have never even shot.
Once, as a kid, a neighbor had one with the crate and all accessories, he took it out of a Stuka Dive bomber that was dumped at the end of a runway, after the war. VERY interesting, indeed....
Often a pistol is the 'back up gun' folks will take along, and a fella can do alot 100 yards and less, and thats very doable.
Once, as a kid, a neighbor had one with the crate and all accessories, he took it out of a Stuka Dive bomber that was dumped at the end of a runway, after the war. VERY interesting, indeed....
Often a pistol is the 'back up gun' folks will take along, and a fella can do alot 100 yards and less, and thats very doable.
DM~
Member
My "go to gun" is a Krieghoff Semper, 16 - 16 x 8x57jrs, proofed in Oct. 1935...
It takes down for easy transport,
and with one of the "quite accurate" Krieghoff insert RF bbls slid in, it makes a VERY versatile weapon!
With the claw mounts, it's easy to snap a scope in place for the long shots and with 200 Nosler Partitions loaded to 2,550fps, it's quite accurate
At 7 pounds, it's a joy to carry, and over the years, it's put a huge pile of meat on my table and in my freezer and been totally reliable...
DM
It takes down for easy transport,
and with one of the "quite accurate" Krieghoff insert RF bbls slid in, it makes a VERY versatile weapon!
With the claw mounts, it's easy to snap a scope in place for the long shots and with 200 Nosler Partitions loaded to 2,550fps, it's quite accurate
At 7 pounds, it's a joy to carry, and over the years, it's put a huge pile of meat on my table and in my freezer and been totally reliable...
DM
351 WINCHESTER
Member
That is a very nice drilling. Funny thing, every drilling I've ever seen was 16 ga.
caribou
Member
Wow, DM~~ "Drilling Man"~~ 
Thats almost too nice to hunt with, and ist not just some single shot, if you need a second shot, its right there....
Fantastic Drilling....... makin' me fire up an "internet search" for some more Drilling rreading, makes my day! Sunday, a great day to read read read
Thats almost too nice to hunt with, and ist not just some single shot, if you need a second shot, its right there....
Fantastic Drilling....... makin' me fire up an "internet search" for some more Drilling rreading, makes my day! Sunday, a great day to read read read
r1derbike
Member
Wow!
Nice! That longun and accessories mean you could assemble it, and use its zippered case as a sleeping bag!
Nice! That longun and accessories mean you could assemble it, and use its zippered case as a sleeping bag!
Whooo boy. umm.... Not sure I'm an authority on the matter, having never lived in Alaska, but I'm going to guess that list is completely impractical for wilderness survival pretty much anywhere, and especially in sub-zero temperatures of the Alaskan wilderness.
I do have a question for Caribou- any thoughts on the use of a lever gun in the freezing cold? Do they, being manually operated, do as well as the bolt actions?
If so, I could see something like a Ruger Redhawk .44mag and Marlin 1894 in .44mag combo. One type of ammo to carry, a powerful pistol, and an even more powerful rifle.
With a carbine length barrel, Buffalo Bore is getting 1900-2000fpa with a 240gr slug. That's no 45-70, but it is a no-kiddin' serious kind of loading.
I'll add that a 45-70, .444, or .450 lever gun might also be tempting. Of course, the downside would be that compared to a Mosin, they would be more expensive, harder to find ammo, and lack the range which could actually be useful out there. hrm... maybe I answered my own question.
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