Neep opinions on new hunting rifle

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Niceshot

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Joined
May 13, 2017
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First I am no means a gun nut or do I claim to be very articulate in this long range shooting world. Your talking to a sliver slinger and 50 yards is long range to me. That said, the good Lord has blessed me with a great career and I find myself going on more out of state hunts with my son and friends. I have been told by some close friends that are much more knowledgeable than me to look at 28 nosler or 300 win mag and have brakes installed. My 13 son will most likely shoot this as well.

What I'm looking for is a rifle that we can hunt antelope too elk with, something that is fun to shoot, not a back breaker to carry and is capable to shooting consistent groups in that 700 yard range. I would really like to have a mag as well.

Sorry for such a subjective question but I figure you all were wet behind the ears once too:)

Thanks
Mike
 
Niceshot,

If you run the ballistics of the cartridges and compare them with a more moderate 7mm Rem Mag you will see you are paying dearly for that couple hundred feet per second in increased recoil and barrel life. I went from .30-06 up to .30-368 Weatherby and then checked the loading manuals. What a wake up! The 7mm bullets arrived at long range with more velocity than almost any of the big thirties.

Once you get a handle on that then take a look at the .270 and .280. The .270 arrives at 400 yards with more than a .30-06 when both are using what used to be the most popular bullets; the 130 in the .270 and the 180 in a .30-06 respectively. Now I use a .264 like wildcat and a .270 Win for my hunting.

No matter what, don't forget to add a brake and don't forget to use electronic hearing protection/enhancers. Another wake up when I started using the electronic hearing devices. I could hear the labored breathing of a deer fifty yards away in the sage when I couldn't see it!
 
If I had to build a rifle tomorrow that would handle just about any NA game out to 700, it would be a 280 or my preference the 280 AI. 30 grains less powder than the 28 nosler and a 168 ABLR stays super out to a mile, and that's at my elevation of 200' ASL. Just my $.02.
 
Niceshot said:
First I am no means a gun nut or do I claim to be very articulate in this long range shooting world. Your talking to a sliver slinger and 50 yards is long range to me. That said, the good Lord has blessed me with a great career and I find myself going on more out of state hunts with my son and friends. I have been told by some close friends that are much more knowledgeable than me to look at 28 nosler or 300 win mag and have brakes installed. My 13 son will most likely shoot this as well.

What I'm looking for is a rifle that we can hunt antelope too elk with, something that is fun to shoot, not a back breaker to carry and is capable to shooting consistent groups in that 700 yard range. I would really like to have a mag as well.

Sorry for such a subjective question but I figure you all were wet behind the ears once too:)

Thanks
Mike
Click to expand...

Mike,

Welcome to LRH and enjoy!

The .300 WM remains my go to chambering for antelope to elk size game up to 1000 yards. Load it with 215 Berger and you're golden.

Good luck!

Ed
 
FEENIX said:
Mike,

Welcome to LRH and enjoy!

The .300 WM remains my go to chambering for antelope to elk size game up to 1000 yards. Load it with 215 Berger and you're golden.

Good luck!

Ed
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^gun)........lightbulb

This.

Go with a Christensen Arms, Ridge Line in 300 win mag. Upgrade the order to their Slayer Brake. Then you can effectively take elk to 1000 yards the way they should be taken. We have reviewed them, and, I have two on order now.

Jeff
 
Niceshot said:
First I am no means a gun nut or do I claim to be very articulate in this long range shooting world. Your talking to a sliver slinger and 50 yards is long range to me. That said, the good Lord has blessed me with a great career and I find myself going on more out of state hunts with my son and friends. I have been told by some close friends that are much more knowledgeable than me to look at 28 nosler or 300 win mag and have brakes installed. My 13 son will most likely shoot this as well.

What I'm looking for is a rifle that we can hunt antelope too elk with, something that is fun to shoot, not a back breaker to carry and is capable to shooting consistent groups in that 700 yard range. I would really like to have a mag as well.

Sorry for such a subjective question but I figure you all were wet behind the ears once too:)

Thanks
Mike
Click to expand...

Mike, welcome to the forum. Those cartridges mentioned will do the job, but so will many others, and will do it with less recoil, and less powder. Look at the 7mm RemMag and the .280 Ackley Improved. They will handle anything you should encounter with a well-placed shot.

Jeff (Broz) mentioned Christensen Arms Ridgeline rifles with the carbon fiber barrels, they also offer this rifle in a .280 AI and 7mm RemMag. :cool:
 
If you don't reload your own ammo, then the 300 Win has a lot more variety of factory ammo to fit different purposes. Checking Midway, they list three varieties of 28 Nosler and 92 varieties of 300 Win.
 
 
Stick with the 7mm RM or 300wm and in the long run you'll be happier and you will be less likely to have your youngster develop a flinch.

With a good brake even the 300wm is very tolerable especially with lighter bullets and loads.

For that matter with the ranges and game you are after the .260Rm, 6.5x55 or .264wm would all meet your needs.

For all five calibers mentioned above there's a great supply of both factory ammo and components, bullets with great BC's and bullets you can rely on never to fail as long as you do your part.

What more would you ever need?
 
WildRose said:
Stick with the 7mm RM or 300wm and in the long run you'll be happier and you will be less likely to have your youngster develop a flinch.

With a good brake even the 300wm is very tolerable especially with lighter bullets and loads.

For that matter with the ranges and game you are after the .260Rm, 6.5x55 or .264wm would all meet your needs.

For all five calibers mentioned above there's a great supply of both factory ammo and components, bullets with great BC's and bullets you can rely on never to fail as long as you do your part.

What more would you ever need?
Click to expand...

What's up Rosey! Where you been hiding? Good to see you back.
 
my first rifle (that I still have and shoot) was a ruger mk11 in 7mm rem mag, my dad loaded 139 honadys in it and I droped deer where they stood!! nice thing is I was NEVER afraid of it, meaning I didnt flinch. Today I own 3 7mm's one I just finshed building an I love it!! I also own a 300win mag that I do like to shoot but, I dont see a reason to burn more powder for the same output of energy at 300 yrds. now if I was going grizzly hunting yes I would take the 300 but those hunts a far and few in between. If it were me 7mm with 139's for deer and 162-175's for elk. Good luck!!!
 
MudRunner2005 said:
What's up Rosey! Where you been hiding? Good to see you back.
Click to expand...
Still creeping around. With my lower back issue slowly getting worse over time sitting at the desk for any length of time is getting to be a real problem which tends to limit my time here quite a bit. I still try to check in regularly in the STW forum and here on this page though at least enough to see what everyone's talking about. WR
 
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