Hunting with carbines
 

Over the years I have slowly moved away from long barreled ( 22"+) rifles for hunting and find myself grabbing a carbine instead.
I still keep the long barrel guns for target and hunting situations where I know I'll be looking at longer shots like sitting a blind along a field edge, but for 99% of my hunting rifles with 16-20" barrels have become my go too guns.
These guns range from 243(20")to 30-30(20") to 308(20") to 303(18.75"), and 45-70(16")
All these rifles wear iron sights and either low powered variable scopes or red dots or just peeps.

Anyone else find you just grab a short gun every time you head out?
What's your favorite carbine?
I'd like to find a rem 760/7600 carbine someday and give that a try in the thick stuff.

Generally if I'm walking cut lines and hunting bush the 243,308,303 get taken along
If Elk hunting the 45-70 gets the nod
If thick timber deer hunting the 30-30 goes along for the ride.

I still love my.long barrel rifles and have become quite proficient at LR shooting with.most of them and have taken ga me at extended ranges I have found most of the spots I used to hunt on private farm land has been sold off over that # of years leaving me with less and less long range opportunity and since I live in the thick bush it's where I tend to hunt.

Marlin...JM...stamped lever action 30/30.....in fact was just out with it yesterday in the afternoon making sure it was dead on at 100 yards....great little carbine.

Depends on where you hunt, carbines have their place, but for those long shots, barrel length, every time.

Grizz

Within reason. My 20" 308 used to be my LR rifle wearing a 6-18 with 20 moa rings. It's been shot out to 1000 yds on many occasions
Currently it wears a 2-7 but I can still hit the 600 yds 8" gong reliably

exactly.....

I think it depends almost as much on how you hunt, as where you hunt. Lots of guys just set up in places where they can see a long ways, and thus they end up making long shots. I habitually break open areas down, and hunt it in much the same manner as I do with a section of bush. Even when I hunt a field or large clear cut my shots tend to still be at close range.

If you want a really short carbine try a break action like a Rossi or a Prohunter , a falling block like a High wall or Ruger RSI , etc .
20" or 22" barrels are shorter than any bolt or lever action made except maybe fir a bull pup!:sHa_shakeshout:
Cat

I have a 24" bull barrel HR break action in 22-250 that is quite short compared to std bolt action but I've never got another barrel for her. Always wanted a 30-30 barrel for it

Until you get into the real big powder burners like a 257 Bee, 7 Rem mag barrel length really isn't that much of a factor. What barrel length does affect is muzzle blast and noise. A 20" barrel 308 is much nicer to handle than a 24 or 26", 46 grains of powder will still give you 3000 fps on a 150 grain bullet and with the right powder you get a complete burn. To me it is about what you like to hunt with but I would never have a 7 Mag with an 18" barrel, nor would anyone else that responded. It really is all about balance and because of that I do 95% of my hunting with a 20" barrel 308, and it is perfectly adequate to over 500 yards. Only time the long barrels come out is hunting Antelope or Deer on the prairies, not because you can shoot further but because the long barrel makes no difference where there is no bush and they need to get out once in a while too.

I hunt with a Model 600 350 Rem Mag. So easy to pack I almost forget its there.

did you get the trigger replaced...was watching a vid on this rifle and there was an issue on closing the bolt rifle would go off or when you flicked the safety to unsafe....scary….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUWQkJAAA2M

Time and place. If I only have a WT tag and am hunting bush then the light short 243 comes out.

Bigger critters and/or unknown, varied distances mean I want something capable of any shot, so that’s the job of the 7mag.

Another thing to think about is whether your chosen setup will usually produce an exit wound at your maximum distance...much easier to track something bleeding out of both sides.

Terrain
 

I think it depends on terrain. If your in Northern Alberta or in the Mountains alot then that makes sense to have a carbine due to the trees and topography of the land. You would most likely be taking shots at less than 200M.

In Southern Alberta open prairie terrain you are often looking at very long shots as the deer and other game can see you a very long way away. You need to be out well before daylight and have an ambush spot. You can get your game as they transition from feed area to bedding area. To do this you may need to take shots approaching 500M. In this scenario I would not use an open sighted carbine. (Not saying you cant) It would would be a very difficult shot.

X2 on this, muzzle blast/noise is a factor for sure.

Short barrels I’d suggest can do more than long barrels, make handier handling, truck, bush, carry. Accuracy doesn’t suffer, just some velocity, and increase in blast/noise.

I took a modern 16.1” barrel carbine on a sheep hunt this year and it did great, 170 yard shot.

What I didn’t like about it was how it rode in a kifaru gunbearer on my pack, the barrel ends up pointing in your face because the dang rifle is so short at 36” long, Ruger American Ranch in 6.5 Grendel. I didn’t look to see if there was adjustment in the bottom part of the saddle of my kifaru gun bearer to raise the gun up to get the barrel more beside my face like regular length rifles I usually take up the mountain. No matter, I’ll likely take my longer barrel rifles into the mountains going forward. The rifle needed first blood so it got the call, maybe they should have named it the Ruger American Alpine. 😉

Having this 16.1” barrel carbine and 20” and 24” barrel rifles in same cartridge I can attest to the differences in blast/noise. The 6.5 Grendel shooting factory 123 gr eld-m at only 52,000 psi is still pretty easy to shoot from such a short barrel and I’d guess quite a bit less blast than say a 308 out of the same length. The 20” is likely ideal and the 24” on that cartridge is so nice to shoot in those regards it’s pretty Cadillac.

That little carbine shoots well out to 500 yards too, had no problems maintaining my usual shooting of 3 shot groups one going ½ moa then 1 moa the next group, from 200-500 yards during it’s development and set up, no different than my 20” or 24”. The slow 2386 fps mv translated into 2130 fps on my ewe at 170 yards and 8300’ elevation, easy pass through, tip over backwards drt and offside front quarter was mostly lost. So the ewe couldn’t tell the difference what my barrel length was either. I don’t need 4’ of penetration, a couple feet is plenty for my needs, so I can shoot little pukers like this no prob.

Find your balance, most cartridges have a known preference for barrel length for efficiency and shootability. Longer barrels are nicer to shoot and do give more speed. The .308 and 6.5 Grendel love 20” barrels, good match for speed/blast/noise. Wouldn’t want to shoot cartridges any faster in any shorter than that, would be a waste.

I'd have to argue the closest thing you can get to a suppressed hunting rifle up here in Canada would be a 6.5 Grendel in 24" barrel. Probably the most polite combo going. ;)

I have found a way to carry on QD hooks on front of my pack. Don't even have to un-sling to shoot. short rifles have the muzzle hanging above your knees so climbing over stuff is no issue.

ya i have a two point sling on that little carbine with that downward carry which is fantastic and fast for these short rigs, but doesn't work with my mountain pack, just rides wrong, so it just rode in the pack until needed, i carry bearspray on shoulder strap as well, your solution sounds excellent and should i continue to carry that one with packs i'll figure out what you did, right on :)

Absolutely!
 

Purchased a short Chiappa 1886 last year (45-70), I hunt bush and from blinds. The carbine is a pleasure to pack and accurate enough for thick bush. Open sights (peep) although I would like to try aimpoint too.

I have used red dots and reflex sites for driven game and they work fine for that. Other then running game I would recommend a 1x4 scope. Much better sight for non running game.

Yea I sent the rifle to Remington in Quebec for the recall fix. There has been a 30 year recall. They apparently fixed the issue in the model 660's but they aren't as cool as the 600's lol

I don't know what the he11 I was thinking a couple weeks ago when I grabbed a 23" barreled long action 700 wearing a 4.5-14 Leupold for an elk hunt. We spent 95% of the time calling in areas where 30 yards was as far as you would have to shoot. It had been 19 years since I had hunted that area so I gave myself a break and didn't judge..:-) I did manage to fill a cow tag.
Spent a lot of time thinking about the 20" barreled Model Seven sitting at home in the safe.....next time. Actually I have a a 1976 straight grip Marlin 336 in 30-30 with a receiver sight and will take it along next trip....might stick a low powered scope on it like a 1-4X though.

Short rifles with low powered scopes or irons are the best for this type of hunting.

good on ya cuz closing the bolt and boom would not be cool....maybe soiled gitch would happen....

I bought the rifle as a collector, had no intention of hunting with it until I shot my first Elk at 200 yards with it. Dropped in its tracks. Every animal I’ve taken since has dropped where it stood. I had a bull Moose run about 30 yards and drop but that’s the furthest lol

Been using a Rem 788 243 with a 18.5" barrel for almost 30 yr.
Its taken probably 3 doz deer between me and my friends who borrow it.
gettin alittle loose in the accuracy now so I've acquired a 24 " replacement barrel and am interested in what its going to do with the extra speed.
3x12 Sightron scope it'll be a speed goat killer.

My Ruger compact magnum was the carbine of choice last week.
338 RCM shooting 225 grain Interbonds
20” barrel wearing a 3-9x40 bushnell elite
One shot kill bear at 120ish yards
One shot dropped shot on 9 point bull moose 130ish yards.
Carbines are a dream to carry and still just as accurate as 26” magnum barrels
On game performance still really good.
Only losing 70-75 FPS from 24” down to 20” barrel means nothing practically

I have rediscovered short rifle lately. I remember my first and only rifle for the first 30years of me hunting was a 72 Remington Mohawk 600 in .308 I think it had a 20 " barrel, but I can't remember. I shot everything I pointed it at. I miss that rifle.
A few years back I bought a JM marlin444 and shot a monster of a black bear north of peace river. It was such a joy to carry shoulder and shoot that bear at 105 yards through the boiler room. I sold it thinking I would go down to one rifle. That didn't work so I bought a brand new Remlin 444. It shoots better than my JM did. Haven't taken anything with it yet, but I am happy with a short lever rifle.
Oh! and I now have a Ruger No1A that feel and fits unbelievable . All this to say I think I love short carbines.

I like a short rifle, but my hunting rifle is a 7mm Rem Mag. I've been thinking about having the barrel chopped and a muzzle brake installed. How short is too short for a 7mm?

the old rem 788
 

i used to hunt with my old rem 788 carbine in 308. That thing was a flame thrower

I can pm you pics.. It's really very simple

Post the pics up. I’d love to see what you’re using since it sounds like it works good.

https://i.imgur.com/Fnr20tv.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ya3zIOJ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DKwd7rn.jpg

7x57, 20” bbl, it’s about 1-1/2” short get overall than your typical 30/30 lever gun.