I want to hope that there is a certain amount of arms which we can call optimal for the battle tactics with the mountain ungulates.
Carbine
It's clear that mountain rifle should have to be light but suits for the precision shooting. One of the best multiply shotguns, of the serial production, belong to the American company Christensen Arms. It's main advantages is carbon fiber tension barrel. The barrel lining is made from match-grade 416R stainless steel and reinforced with carbon fiber. Such reinforced barrel serves on 25% longer than the steel one. Thanks to high density and low low coefficient of thermal expansion the barrels with the length 550-650 mm, provide the shot grouping in a half a minute of arc. The rifle consists of the best parts: the bolt group of Remington 700, the trigger mechanism by Jewel, can be regulated in wide limits. All these guns have fixed magazine for three cartridges. In addition you can equip it by a schnell. One more feature of these shotguns is the light carbon bed which doesn’t absorb moisture and has size which suits for any weather conditions. These rifles can have different calibres but the serial production is from 270 WSM to 338 Lap Mag and 416 RemMag. The average weight is from 2,3 kg to 2,7 kg. It's has such light weight because the barrel box and the bolt are produced from titanium.
If we talk about the usage of titanium alloy in the hunting weapon industry we should have to say some words about the Johann Fanzoj Company. Three years ago they showed the hunting rifles fully produced from the titanium alloy. It happend on the Arms & Hunting Show. These weapon is made with the help of the most safe and secure system Mauser 98 Mag. They’ve been specially designed for the mountain hunting and are unrealistically light. The weight of any rifle is less than 3 kg. But it’s a piece production, that’s why the COGS and the price of such carbine is very high. However, you need to keep in mind, that mechanical processing of titanium alloys needs special skills and tools. The titanium parts are not afraid of corrosion. One of the first titanium rifles had been tested on Pamir. It flawlessly worked in the conditions of winter highlands and the hunter got the mountain goat from six hundred meters distance.
I don't shy to recommend the multiply gun Semrprio, produced by the German company Krieghoff for the mountain hunts. It appeared on the weapon market in 2007. Its revolutionary construction was designed by the young gunsmith Wolfgang Schmidt. I used it on the corral huntings and shot in the shooting range. I tested that gun in the Muller’s shooting center ( not far from Ulm) and shot in the so called shooting movie and three hundred meters shooting gallery too. I and other participants of the testing were surprised by its shot grouping after testing it on the distance three hundred meters. The best shooters could make five hits in 20 mm. It means 0,3 minutes of arc. It was the sniper's level! Those results seemed unbelievable because the gun's barrels were not long than 550 mm. We used RWS cartridges, with the new caliber 30-06 Spring and bullets Target Elite Plus with the weight 10,9 gr. But none of the cartridges can compensate the barrel’s disadvantages. That testing showed us the perfectness of those rifle's barrels. It's not a surprise because they are produced by a famous company Anschuetz. It specializes in the arms barrels production.
The company Anschuetz embraced the hunting weapon market in 2011. The first model, they presented, was the rifled long barrel gun 1780 which was produced in serious European calibers: .308 Win, .30-06 Spring, 8Х57 IS, 9,3Х62. They fully used their experience in the production of barrels, bolt systems and trigger’s mechanisms. Taking into account the economic situation the goal was to corner the market of budget weapon. They have succeeded in it and hunters liked their rifles. They had refined the bolt locking scheme when lugs entered the grooves of the breech of the barrel. It helped to relieved the stamped receiver and to make it from aluminium alloy. All barrels have the same size 560 mm. New guns have closed trigger systems with allow to regulate the trigger tension in the wide range. The walnut is used for the production of four model of that carbine. Its weight suits for the mountain huntings and is 3,2 kg.
The theme of this article is hunting weapon that's why I couldn't but mention the young Russian company ORSIS. It produces weapons for tactical, sporting and hunting purposes. The company has their own production of rifled long barrels and use Amerian 416R stainless steel. They have two models of multiply hunting carbines, and one of them Orsis Alpine is designed for mountain hunts. The carbine is made for the cartridges which provides the flat flight path of the bullet. The magazine capacity is three cartridges plus one more in the barrel. Free-floating barrel of the moderate length relieved by flutes which allow to increase cooling speed. The rifle has a sliding bolt which lock the chamber on two lugs when you turn it to 90 degrees. The brand trigger mechanism is in the closed box and has the trigger tension regulation. All metal part are made from steel with increased corrosion resistance. Weapons stock produced from arms laminate and you can chose from one of three discreet shades. The construction of the upper sling anabka is designed not only for the belt but for bracing of light bipods with the regulated height. The stamped receiver allow to set brackets for the optic sight.
We also need to mention hunting rifles with the sliding bolt produced by the Gottfried Prechtl company from Birkenau, Germany. The main direction of that company is the production of high-precision sports weapons on the base of Mauser 98 system. Being a high class shooter Mr. Prechtl added some technological components and changes to the classical Mauser design. The designers place a bet not on simplifying of the technology and reducing the cost price but on improving the reliability and accuracy of mechanisms and providing absolute safety of the shooter.
The hole diameter in the shutter for the striker had been narrowed from 2 to 1.7 mm because of the gas pressure. It increases when you shoot by modern cartridges. It means that the striker has become smaller. The bolt diameter had been enlarged to 0,2 mm what made its movement more smooth.
The width of the magazine and the window of the receiver was expanded to 0,1 mm to use the new type of cartridges. They enlarged the length of the ejector on 17mm to increase the reliability of the spring. The designers renewed the trigger construction which works with the closed trigger system.
There is the straight groove like the last hunting Mauser model had, in the back part of the receiver. It makes the shooting process more safety and reliable. The lug is in the back part of the stem of the bolt.
The bolt and the stamped receiver are made from Swiss chrome-manganese steel with a tensile strength of more than 800 N / mm2. I think, they are the best hunting rifles in Europe. They guarantee the shot grouping better than in a half of minute of arc. Moreover the barrels of these rifles are produced by the Lothar Walter company.
The lancer fitting
I like the European tradition to hunt for the mountain ungulates with the signle-barrel critical fittings. Those single charges arms demand the accurate shooting. Their advantages are the lightweight, much better balance, if we compare them with the sliding bolt systems and smaller size.
Russia is not the motherland of such fittings but we also produce some of them. At the end of the last century the Izhevsk mechanical plant had designed and produced the model IZH 18 MH, which was categorized as Kipplaufbuchsen - prestigious single- charge outfitting. We gotta hand to the high quality of the barrels, shooting grouping and cartridges. IMZ produces these guns in the wide range of calibers from 222Rem to 9,3*7R. The weight of our critical rifle was more than 3 kg (3,2 kg) with the barrel length 600mm. The western analogues are lighter.
Big German companies produces one-barreled fittings which look attractive and work well. The Merkel company produces two kinds of such outfitting K-3 and K-4 with different range of calibers. K-1 fits for the lighter calibers while K-2 is for heavier ones. These fittings have external pressure of the combat spring which allows to provide the high safety level. They all have schnelles for the accurate shooting.
One more German company Blaser produces single-barrel fittings, Model K-95. They are lighter than the Merkel ones because have shorter barrels (500 mm) and designed for the cartridges from 243 Win to 8*57 IRS.
The Krieghoff company manufactured single-barrel fittings under the brand name Hubertus. These guns are made with different additional options. They have the wide range of calibers from 222 Rem to 9,3*7R. The barrel’s length from 550 mm to 600 mm. The weight depends on the caliber from 2,5 kg to 3,2 kg.
To be objective I have to write that critical rifles are also produced by some small weapon companies which are specialized on making piece goods. Johann Fanzoj and Werner Sodia from Austria as well as Thomas Shpohr from Germany make good weapon.
All these types of rifted weapon, I’ve mentioned above, are well known for Russian hunters. But there is one kind of Arms which was never produced in our country but is popular in the Western Europe. They are the single-barrel carbines with blocked bolts. When you recharge such carbine, the block goes down and the sleeve is extracted at the same time. The bolt length can be shorter then the cartridge. This locking system reminds us the a drop block use in the artillery system. The sleeve in the barrel is shuttered by the back part of the bolt which abuts to the back side of the receiver. Though the system doesn’t have huge size and weight, it allows us to use the most powerful cartridges. They have minimal sizes and great balance becuuse the barrel is close to the shooter’s shoulder. It makes them dynamic and well- managed. The hard fixation of the barrel provides high shots grouping. You can reload the carbine not changing the body position. The high reliability of the locking system guaranties the long term usage. The European shooters consider those kinds of carbines to be the best for the mountains hunting. Some of well known weapons companies such as LeBeau Of Corelli, Werne Carron and others has started to produce such kinds of guns in the last years.
But you have to remember that good weapon doesn’t correlate with you success in the mountain hunting. You also have to have the suitable sight, binoculars, a range finder and optimal cartridges. It's also important to train yourself and to practices shooting. The thoughts that each human being with the good gun and the modern optics is the sniper is the profound misconception. It’s a highly demanding craft to shoot from the rifled gun. You can't study it by books. You can learn it through practice only.
