Last fall I packed deep into the Bitterroots chasing elk, lugging a 7mm Rem Mag that flat-out performed. Those steep shots and thin air make every ounce count, so a light, balanced rifle is gold. I’ve seen folks run .30-06 or .300 Win Mag with good results too and tough optics and steady rest matter just as much. If you hunt the Montana high country, what rifle setup do you trust?
Montana mountain rigs
- Thread starter Handyman
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Godzilla
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- Sep 10, 2025
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Nice rig, 7mm Rem Mag is a hammer! Up here, you need light and reliable. I run a custom lightweight .300 WSM, flat-shooting and less recoil than the Win Mag. Top it with a rugged, high-quality scope. Bipod is a must for those long-range, thin-air shots
When I hunted the Bob Marshall Wilderness, I ran a lightweight .30-06 bolt-action, a pretty simple setup, actually. The rifle was nothing fancy, but the optics were bomb-proof. One morning, I took a spill crossing a creek, dunked the whole thing but the scope held zero perfectly when I needed it later that day. Trusting that gear when it counts is everything.
Although 30-06 is not really my favorite cartridge, I hunt with a Ruger M77 Mark 2 30-06 lightweight with the "pencil barrel". The reason I like this rifle so much is it holds zero under the strenuous conditions of Rocky Mountain hunting. In the last 21 hunting seasons it has never lost it's zero in spite of being dropped many times on steep terrain while sliding in snow and rocks.
For those unfamiliar with the M77 Mark 2, it uses machined dovetails and steel rings to secure the scope to the rifle.
I used to hunt with rifles that like Remington, Savage, Browning and Winchester use microscopic machine screws to hold bases to the receiver and found them quite lacking in holding their zero under extreme conditions.
The Ruger M77 Mark 2 is not really known for great accuracy, I have had several of them and this is the only one that I found tolerable.
What good is a rifle that produces sub MOA groups at benchrest and loses it's zero during a hunt?
For those unfamiliar with the M77 Mark 2, it uses machined dovetails and steel rings to secure the scope to the rifle.
I used to hunt with rifles that like Remington, Savage, Browning and Winchester use microscopic machine screws to hold bases to the receiver and found them quite lacking in holding their zero under extreme conditions.
The Ruger M77 Mark 2 is not really known for great accuracy, I have had several of them and this is the only one that I found tolerable.
What good is a rifle that produces sub MOA groups at benchrest and loses it's zero during a hunt?
I'm not as worried about weight so my go to rig is a Winchester M1917 that was sporterized for my wife's grandfather by her great uncle. I've since customized it a bit more, primarily increasing the LOP and threading the barrel. Since this picture I have put a different bipod on it.
I have dropped many an elk with this rig, and twice brought one down with a single shot past 500 yards.
My son will be using that one for his hunt this year.
I have dropped many an elk with this rig, and twice brought one down with a single shot past 500 yards.
Rugers are very much not ammo agnostic. I have an all-weather Mark II in .308 that will shoot sub-moa to 2 moa, depending on the ammo.
My son will be using that one for his hunt this year.
That sounds like an awesome setup, the .300 WSM really hits the sweet spot for power and weight.
That’s a great story, and exactly why dependable optics matter. A good rifle’s nice, but when your scope holds zero after a dunk like that, you know you’ve got gear you can trust.
Godzilla
Active member
- Joined
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That’s a good point, reliability in the field beats benchrest precision any day. The M77’s dovetail system is rock solid, and it seems like Ruger really nailed that design for harsh mountain conditions
