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Long Range Hunting & Shooting
Serious question about caliber and elk potential
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<blockquote data-quote="Fiftydriver" data-source="post: 297578" data-attributes="member: 10"><p>When a potential customer comes into my shop asking what chambering I recommend for a big game rifle, first thing I ask him is how far he will be shooting and then what game he will be hunting.</p><p> </p><p>In my opinion, the size of game is generally secondary to the range you will be shooting, let me offer a quick explination.</p><p> </p><p>Since we are talking about elk, lets stay there. THe average elk hunter will harvest their game at ranges well under 300 yards most of the time. In some rare occasions conventional hunters will reach out to 400 yards to harvest elk. My conventional hunters I mean someone that does not faithfully use a rangefinder, does not have a drop chart for their rifle, uses an optical system with simple duplex reticle and does not dial up for longer range shots.</p><p> </p><p>For these type of situations, any modern high performance chambering will likely work 100% on elk size game if the proper bullet is used and the elk is hit cleanly in the vitals.</p><p> </p><p>Past this, those same chambering will still easily kill an elk but its more difficult for conventional hunters to put the bullet into the vitals at longer ranges because they are basically guessing on hold over and windage holds.</p><p> </p><p>So in this application, for hunting elk at ranged of say 400 yards and less, I agree, large magnums in medium bore chamberings are not needed.</p><p> </p><p>Take the next step out, say from 400 to 800 yards and its a totally different ball game. Here, retained velocity and energy are such that the bullets will be less authoritative when they arrive out of any caliber so we need to reply on the bullet more. For this type of hunting, I would recommend as a minimum, a heavy for caliber bullet in a 7mm magnum or larger choice.</p><p> </p><p>Again, its simply because we are asking the bullet to do more of the work with less help from retained velocity(hydrostatic shock) and kenetic energy payloads.</p><p> </p><p>For hunting elk from 800 to 1000 yards, I would only recommend the largest of the 7mm family of magnums with the heaviest bullets possible. My 7mm AM with a 180 to 200 gr bullet comes to mind.</p><p> </p><p>Also the larger 30 cal magnums with at least 200 gr bullets really come into their own here but lag a bit in ballistic performance compared to some other calibers, still they hit hard and work well.</p><p> </p><p>This range is where the 338 magnums really start to strut. I am not saying its a nessecity to use a 338 magnum at 800 yards but terminally, there is no question that they are more impressive then any lesser caliber on elk size game.</p><p> </p><p>Past 1000 yards, I simply do not recommend anything short of a 338 magnum. Again, not saying that the smaller calibers would not cleanly kill any elk at 1000 yards with a good hit to the vitals but for those shots on the fringes of the vitals, the larger caliber is vastly superior even on deer size game at these ranges.</p><p> </p><p>So in my opinion, its a range issue more then the game being hunted, or at least just as much.</p><p> </p><p>For conventional hunting, which it sounds like you are referring to, there is no need for a super magnum, none at all, unless you just want to use one. But for the type of hunting most on this site do every year, the larger calibers are much better choices.</p><p> </p><p>Just my 2 cents.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fiftydriver, post: 297578, member: 10"] When a potential customer comes into my shop asking what chambering I recommend for a big game rifle, first thing I ask him is how far he will be shooting and then what game he will be hunting. In my opinion, the size of game is generally secondary to the range you will be shooting, let me offer a quick explination. Since we are talking about elk, lets stay there. THe average elk hunter will harvest their game at ranges well under 300 yards most of the time. In some rare occasions conventional hunters will reach out to 400 yards to harvest elk. My conventional hunters I mean someone that does not faithfully use a rangefinder, does not have a drop chart for their rifle, uses an optical system with simple duplex reticle and does not dial up for longer range shots. For these type of situations, any modern high performance chambering will likely work 100% on elk size game if the proper bullet is used and the elk is hit cleanly in the vitals. Past this, those same chambering will still easily kill an elk but its more difficult for conventional hunters to put the bullet into the vitals at longer ranges because they are basically guessing on hold over and windage holds. So in this application, for hunting elk at ranged of say 400 yards and less, I agree, large magnums in medium bore chamberings are not needed. Take the next step out, say from 400 to 800 yards and its a totally different ball game. Here, retained velocity and energy are such that the bullets will be less authoritative when they arrive out of any caliber so we need to reply on the bullet more. For this type of hunting, I would recommend as a minimum, a heavy for caliber bullet in a 7mm magnum or larger choice. Again, its simply because we are asking the bullet to do more of the work with less help from retained velocity(hydrostatic shock) and kenetic energy payloads. For hunting elk from 800 to 1000 yards, I would only recommend the largest of the 7mm family of magnums with the heaviest bullets possible. My 7mm AM with a 180 to 200 gr bullet comes to mind. Also the larger 30 cal magnums with at least 200 gr bullets really come into their own here but lag a bit in ballistic performance compared to some other calibers, still they hit hard and work well. This range is where the 338 magnums really start to strut. I am not saying its a nessecity to use a 338 magnum at 800 yards but terminally, there is no question that they are more impressive then any lesser caliber on elk size game. Past 1000 yards, I simply do not recommend anything short of a 338 magnum. Again, not saying that the smaller calibers would not cleanly kill any elk at 1000 yards with a good hit to the vitals but for those shots on the fringes of the vitals, the larger caliber is vastly superior even on deer size game at these ranges. So in my opinion, its a range issue more then the game being hunted, or at least just as much. For conventional hunting, which it sounds like you are referring to, there is no need for a super magnum, none at all, unless you just want to use one. But for the type of hunting most on this site do every year, the larger calibers are much better choices. Just my 2 cents. [/QUOTE]
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Serious question about caliber and elk potential
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