The Best Pack Guns of the Year

This is an excellent year to be a mountain hunter looking for a new rifle. In our annual gun test we put three excellent pack guns through their paces. Here's how the Sig Cross Trax, Bergara Premier Series MgLite, and Seekins Precision Havak Slam stack up. Read our full review of all the new rifles of the year, here: www.outdoorlif...
Sig Cross Trax Specs & Key Features
Action: Three-lug bolt action
Stock: Chassis folder
Cartridge: .308 Winchester
Capacity: 5+1
Weight: 6 pounds, 1 ounce (measured)
Trigger: 3 pounds, 10 ounces (measured)
Barrel: 16 inches, 1:10 twist, threaded 5/8-24
Length: 35 ¼ inches (26 ¼ inches folded)
Price: $1,499
5-Shot Group Average: 1.349 inches, 16 total groups
Accuracy Notes: Across all types of ammunition the Cross Trax averaged 1.349-inch groups, which isn’t bad considering how unpleasant it is to shoot prone. But it did shoot some loads, which I detail below, very well. And, really, this rifle shines in practical field positions and shooting it that way we’d have no reservations about taking it on a mountain hunt.
Bergara Premier Series MgLite Specs & Key Features
Action: Bolt-action
Stock: Chassis folder
Cartridge: 6.5 Creedmoor
Capacity: 5
Weight: 6 pounds, 3 ounces (measured)
Trigger: 3 pounds, 6 ounces (measured)
Barrel: 22 inches, 1:8 twist, threaded 5/8-24
Length: 38 inches (27 ¾ inches folded)
Price: $3,099
5-Shot Group Average: .912 inches, 28 total groups
Accuracy Notes: I gush about this rifle’s accuracy below, but it is worth iterating how impressively it shoots for a light rifle. That it is able to produce a .8-inch 20-shot group while tipping the scales at 6.25 pounds is remarkable.
Seekins Precision Havak Slam Specs & Key Features
Action: Four-lug bolt (two rows of two)
Stock: Carbon fiber folder with aluminum bedding chassis
Cartridge: 6.5 Creedmoor
Capacity: 3+1
Weight: 5 pounds, 9 ounces (measured)
Trigger: 1 pound, 15 ounces (measured)
Barrel: 20 inches
Length: 42 ¼ inches (32 ½ inches folded)
Price: $4,650
5-Shot Group Average: 1.277 inches, 45 total groups
Accuracy Notes: For a rifle that weighs well under 6 pounds, the Slam shoots well. The rifle averaged 1.016-inch 5-shot groups using Sako 136-gr Scenar. Because the barrel is so light, we also tested it with a series of 3-shot groups with the Berger 140-grain Elite Hunter ammo. Those groups averaged .707 inches and when the groups were overlaid, the 20 shots had a 1.6-inch spread with a really good mean radius of .43 inches - a fine performance.