Gun Models and Calibres for Artic Conditions

[Hunter John]

I hear those were jam-o-matics, but my uncle has one in 308 Win and it seems to be fine.

When not maintained properly you are correct otherwise they work fine.Having said that would I trust my life to one against a polar bear in -30 weather? prolly not. I would prefer a bolt in any of the calibers already suggested.Or a 12 guage pump with slugs.

[huntaway]

An old reliable bolt action is what I would take and in 30-06.
Condensation is your enemy in the North. Once your rifle is cold keep it that way.

HA

[Bluebulldog]

Surprised KiloCharlie has not chimed in, he is in Yukon and is very knowledgable on guns for up north.

He can't type...he's using both hands to keep the skeeters and blacklies away.

[JF Sabou]

A good Browning XBolt or Abolt in 7mm mag, 300mag or WSM and up.
A Stainless Stalker would be a great partner up there or anywhere!

[Goosesniper]

I like 45/70.

[SongDog]

Buy yourself a good bolt action 30.06 or .308. I would stay away from anything that is plastic. Like trigger guards, Bolt strouds, cheap stocks.



I would lean towards a nice Ruger MKII, Remington M700, Winchester M70 etc. Mostly the older guns, Stainless would be a good idea as well.



I seen a thread on another forum, Two local guys from Nunavut going Polar bear hunting, One has a .243 and other a .270 LOL

[Goosesniper]

Harpoon.

[Alleycat]

G'day, my first post but figured I could relate since I lived In Iqaluit for three years.
In regards to what folks used for hunting two things surprised me.
First was how guns were cared for , in general they are not. I've witnessed the locals crawling into their boat which was left on the beach (winter storage) root around in the cargo hold and pull out a shotgun and when they worked the action an empty case flew out , lol. It's just a different mind set up there. It's nothing to see a what was a nice Rem 700 just bouncing around in the back of a kamatic, jammed in or tied onto a snowmobile running board, etc etc
Second thing was the use of light calibers, .223's .222's and .22-250 are common and used on pretty much everything. The only time the locals told me they needed something larger like a .338 etc was when they were shooting Narwhal.

Anyway in my opinion a good pump 12gauge and a bolt action in .308, .30-06 etc and you're good to go.

[Fox]

G'day, my first post but figured I could relate since I lived In Iqaluit for three years.
In regards to what folks used for hunting two things surprised me.
First was how guns were cared for , in general they are not. I've witnessed the locals crawling into their boat which was left on the beach (winter storage) root around in the cargo hold and pull out a shotgun and when they worked the action an empty case flew out , lol. It's just a different mind set up there. It's nothing to see a what was a nice Rem 700 just bouncing around in the back of a kamatic, jammed in or tied onto a snowmobile running board, etc etc
Second thing was the use of light calibers, .223's .222's and .22-250 are common and used on pretty much everything. The only time the locals told me they needed something larger like a .338 etc was when they were shooting Narwhal.

Anyway in my opinion a good pump 12gauge and a bolt action in .308, .30-06 etc and you're good to go.

I read that too, .223 for caribou, I guess cheaper ammo and less weight is big up there.

[Bluebulldog]

I hear those were jam-o-matics, but my uncle has one in 308 Win and it seems to be fine.

There were a number of years Remington made them, that if you got the longer caliber ( 30-06, 270) if the gun got even slightly fouled, it restricted the gas port, and they didn't get enough pressure coming back to cycle the extra length, ( which in the shorter calibers like .308, wasn't needed).