Which caliber?? 300WSM enough?

[Kemlin]

Well here is the deal, I have a need for a rifle to shoot 1+ mile. I currently own several rifles that are capable of shooting @ 1k and one that I have pulled 1 mile prairie dog shots with just a week ago. At any rate I want it all, I want low recoil, as low as I can get that is, long barrel life (again as long as I can get) and the least expensive thing to shoot. Am I asking for too much? I have pondered doing a rifle in 300 WSM and pushing the SMK 240s however I am not sure it will get where I want it to so the though of the 338LM or 338 UM comes to mind as well as some of the hotrod 7mm calibers. What about the 408CT?? I will not use a BMG parent case round and I do not expect to shoot it too much as it will have the direct purpose of shooting at 1+ mile. What are you experiences? I want to make sure I do the right thing as I only want to do it one time. Thanks in advance.

 

[AJ Peacock]

What are you going to try and hit at a mile?

AJ

 

[J E Custom]

Well here is the deal, I have a need for a rifle to shoot 1+ mile. I currently own several rifles that are capable of shooting @ 1k and one that I have pulled 1 mile prairie dog shots with just a week ago. At any rate I want it all, I want low recoil, as low as I can get that is, long barrel life (again as long as I can get) and the least expensive thing to shoot. Am I asking for too much? I have pondered doing a rifle in 300 WSM and pushing the SMK 240s however I am not sure it will get where I want it to so the though of the 338LM or 338 UM comes to mind as well as some of the hotrod 7mm calibers. What about the 408CT?? I will not use a BMG parent case round and I do not expect to shoot it too much as it will have the direct purpose of shooting at 1+ mile. What are you experiences? I want to make sure I do the right thing as I only want to do it one time. Thanks in advance.

The 300 WSM is a great round but you are asking a lot of it . If it's a 30 cal you want then
I would opt for a 300 RUM or a 30/378.

For that distance a .338 rum would do well with the 250 to 300gr bullets but a muzzle break
would probably be nessary.

I have no break on my 338 RUM and recoil is mild ,( The rifle weighs 13+ lbs). Also my 30/378
has no break and it's recoil is mild @ 12.5 pounds.

The 7mm RUM is the hot rod of the factory cartridges and will push a 140gr bullet over 3600 ft/sec

J E CUSTOM

 

[Kemlin]

a 15" gong is what I plan to shoot for. Is the 338RUM a good selection and is there any advantage to going with the RUM vs the Lapua other than brass?

 

[wilbur300wsm]

kemlin
if you want, read the article on prairrie dog shooting by jesse grove in the march 2009 article section. i used a 300wsm (blue and white rifle) to make 2217yrd shot on a dog using the 210 berger bullets, norma brass. (3060 vel. 36" barrel). 47lb gun, muzzle break, in the bags,it moves about 3/4" shooting free recoil. shot it all day. barrel life with 10 tw krieger is about 1500 rounds with proper cleaning. shot it out to 3260yrds this year with no kills, but it works. ( look at pic on thread, pd at 3260 in varmint forum)