Which caliber starting off

[Nomad]

30-06 will do all that you need to do
with a 180gr have over 1000ftlbs past
800 yards.
Great barrel life easy to find ammo for
out in different areas.
Has killed everything in North America at all kinds of ranges.
Just a thought..

[30-06 boy]

go with the big 7mm or big30 magnums.you wont be sorry.shoot heavy for caliber bullets for retained energy and high bc.i personaly would choose the 300 wm.have one love it.but i've never had a 7stw either.i like the 300wm for real heavy high bc bullets.they dont go real fast but carry thier speed and energy farther than some smaller caibers.or the 300 rum,never had one of these powder burners either.the chice is yours how much horsepower do you want.dont build/buy something too small to start,then have to spend more to go bigger later.go big now.as far as the belt goes.many 1000 yard benchrest shooters includung myself shot/shoot calibers with belted cases.if they were not capable of good accuracy these guys would not use them.neck size your fired cases with lee collet dies.you should have no problem.my .02 worth.jason

[roninflag]

you don't say where you are . are you shooting 100 pounders? or 350 pounders ? you also don't say if you are going with a custome barrrel or a factory gun. you can't go wrong with a a 7mm rem mag or a 300 win. both have belts and both shooot great out of a sendero. the third choice would be a 7mmwsm it is custom barrel only though.roninflag

[arrow]

I am in Missouri were the whitetail does can be about 170 live weight. And bucks can be about 230 live weight. It sounds like 7 rem mag or 7 stw would be about right. How much better would the stw be than the rem mag? What action lengths do you need for these rounds. It will be a custom barrel on a trued remington 700 action. I am thinking a 24" long 1.25" diameter barrel. I want it shorter for menuverability and heavy for accuracy. Does this 24" barrel sound too short for a long range rifle in 7 rem mag or 7 stw? I am thinking on putting it on a manner T-1 stock. With these manner stocks do you have to glass and piller bed them or no?
I know I asked alot of questions but I dont know much about rifle building. (this is my first one) Thanks alot.

[280AIman]

well my suggestion would be the 280rem then rechamber to 280AI. i have a 7STW, 30-378wby, 338-378wby, and a 338LM but i find my self grabbing the 280AI more then the rest, with 160gr bullets i have shot deer at 726yrds ranged with witnesses it will do anything the '06 will do and it will also do anything the 270win will do but it will do it better.

[teddy12b]

For whatever it's worth I recently went through the same decision process. I decided on the 30-06. You can handload them to 300WM levels depending on what bullet you use (i'm thinking triple shocks) and you don't have the belt or extra recoil to deal with. Finding ammo for 30-06 isn't a challenge and reloading suplies for .308 are everywhere. I'm new to precision shooting at longer ranges too, but there aren't too many things you can't do with a 30-06.

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Arrow, if your going with a short barrel custom gun I would not go with the magnums. The 7 stw will outshoot the 7 rem by a good bit with the 7 wby in between, but there are better choices in a short barrel. The 280 AI, 7mm JRS and 7mm Gibbs will make much better use of the powder in the short barrel. The JRS and the Gibbs are a little faster than the AI but either will sure do well for you. In a 24" barrel the JRS and Gibbs will equal the 7mm rem mag with less powder and much longer barrel life. With what you are doing I agree with 280AIman. Those 7mm wildcats off the '06 case will reach way out there for deer with cheap brass and not as much powder. I have a bunch of'em.