Non .30 cal for everything?

[chucknbach]

Non .30 cal for everything? What would you choose for a long range set up (1000yd and below) if you were going to kill 3 antelope, 2 whitetail, 2 mule deer, 2 elk, coyotes and practice on prarie dogs and wanted to keep recoil under a 7mm rem mag levels?

I curently use .243 for everthing except Elk, for that I use 7mm mag. Been thinking of a custom to use on everything from 0 to 1000yds.

 

[HJW]

No good answer for this in my opinion, the Elk just throws the whole thing off. No gun under 7mm is going to kill an elk at 1000 yards ethically. If you take the elk out of the equation, I would say maybe something along the lines of a .270 WSM?

 

[woolecox]

No good answer for this in my opinion, the Elk just throws the whole thing off. No gun under 7mm is going to kill an elk at 1000 yards ethically. If you take the elk out of the equation, I would say maybe something along the lines of a .270 WSM?

Yes, what he said. Prairie dogs throw it off also. If you are just going to shoot one prairie dog, then anything will do. If you are camped in the middle of a heavily populated prairie dog nation, then you are going to need more than one gun. My choice would be a .223 bolt or AR type varminter. One gun will need to cool while you shoot the other.

See the numerous ad nausem "the one perfect rifle" threads on this forum and others.

 

[WildRose]

You're not going to find anything that really has enough energy to take deer, much less elk reliably at 1,000yds with anything smaller than a 7mm Rem Mag.

Leave elk out of the equation and the .260 Rem is the closest thing I can think of and even it would be reaching it's limits on deer at that range.

 

[pyroducksx3]

Non .30 cal for everything? What would you choose for a long range set up (1000yd and below) if you were going to kill 3 antelope, 2 whitetail, 2 mule deer, 2 elk, coyotes and practice on prarie dogs and wanted to keep recoil under a 7mm rem mag levels?

I curently use .243 for everthing except Elk, for that I use 7mm mag. Been thinking of a custom to use on everything from 0 to 1000yds.

Get a muzzle break and go 7 stw or 7 RM. Although honestly once you get the muzzle break you'll find that even a 30 cal (maybe even 338 cal will have less recoil than an unbraked 7 RM. Also having a muzzle break will allow you to spot your own shoots after 300 yards or so. So for a one rifle do all out to 1000 I say a 300 RUM with 210 bergers and a good break. Im assuming the yotes and PD are just for practice and you aren't really worried about hides. You are not going to keep a gun very cool no matter cal you pic for P-dog hunting and shooting it hot will reduce barrel life, so maybe throw high volume shooting out and you would be fine. Taking slow fire shots on Pdogs would be fine however

 

[liltank]

6.5x284 should do all you want.

Tank

 

[cont520]

280 ackley for the big stuff 223 ackley or 243 ackley for the lil stuff

 

[winmag]

Wow, that's a tough one. Your Really handicaping yourself by removing the only viable option (30 cal due to bullet selection).
Elk at 1k takes some doing for a squirl gun, & vise-versa.
Pyrodux said it well as far as recoil goes. A good break reduces massive amounts of recoil. Watch some of the videos posted here with.12 yr old little girls shooting Monster cartriges & whackin critters waaaaay out there. Now, Im no expert, but I certainly haven't met any 12 yr old girls who look like they could handle massive amounts of recoil. A good break can work wonders.
Recoil sensitivity is a very big contributer to accuracy, plus There's a ton of guys out there who have had shoulder sergury, or heart sergury who just plain cannot chance tearing themselves up trying to look tough. Then there are those who just plain don't like recoil due to body build, bone structure etc. & no one likes to be beat up while trying to make long shots consistantly. It's still gotta be fun, or what's the point right?
If recoil is still a major concern, Maybe a .270 wsm with matrix bullets. I dunno. I haven't pushed mine that far, nor have I used those bullets cause I have bigger rigs for big stuff at distance, but bigngreen uses his with great success. Fling him a PM. He's easy enough to talk to, plus he's probably wore out more barrels in that cartrige than 99+% of the people here.
He's not affraid to strech its legs, & one of his posts in the Elk section shows his 850?-860? Yd bull this year with his 270 wsm & matrix bullets.
Good luck.

 

[woolecox]

280 ackley for the big stuff 223 ackley or 243 ackley for the lil stuff

Highjacking.... Sounds like you are a P. O. Ackley fan. I just got my first wildcat a week ago. It's a 243 Ackley built by Lester Bruno in Phoenix. He suggested loading up some precision fire form loads and just hunt/shoot them until the brass is formed. Said they would shoot about as good as the Ackley cases.

I did so. Bought 200 rounds of Lapua brass. FL sized, expanded, trimmed to length, took .001" thickness off the necks with a KM neck turner. Left the flash holes and primer pockets alone since they all uniform.

So, loaded up the 243 cases with 45.0 gr. of RL-22 (just had a lot of this on hand), 105 Berger VLD Hunting bullets, Federal GM210M primers. Seated the bullets out to touch the lands.

During the barrel break in and crony session at the range the rifle was grouping 5 shots at around .5 MOA by the time I was able to shoot 5 shot strings without cleaning. Average velocity was 2998 fps for the last 40 shots.

Not bad at all for a fire form load that does not have a whole lot to headspace on. I will be taking it with me to KS next week to dispatch some yotes and hole digging critters. Also taking steel silhouette and target stands for some long range fun. This will be a nice way to fire form the rest of the cases without wasting powder, primers, bullets, and barrel life.

Cant wait to see how this thing shoots with the Ackley loads and 300 fps more velocity. I had considered building a 6.5x284 but figured it was too close to my 7mm Mag. Wanted something for WT and smaller.

Cheers, sorry for the highjack..... Here's some pics:

 

[Sully2]

Without a doubt a .260 would be my choice. I have a 243 and a 260 made up identical....and the .260 has less recoil and muzzle jump than the 243 has.

I dont now nor ever intend on firing at an animal at 1000 yards..but at the proper distance and the right bullets Id take on an elk with no fear. Its one heck of a caliber

 

[cont520]

Highjacking.... Sounds like you are a P. O. Ackley fan. I just got my first wildcat a week ago. It's a 243 Ackley built by Lester Bruno in Phoenix. He suggested loading up some precision fire form loads and just hunt/shoot them until the brass is formed. Said they would shoot about as good as the Ackley cases.

I did so. Bought 200 rounds of Lapua brass. FL sized, expanded, trimmed to length, took .001" thickness off the necks with a KM neck turner. Left the flash holes and primer pockets alone since they all uniform.

So, loaded up the 243 cases with 45.0 gr. of RL-22 (just had a lot of this on hand), 105 Berger VLD Hunting bullets, Federal GM210M primers. Seated the bullets out to touch the lands.

During the barrel break in and crony session at the range the rifle was grouping 5 shots at around .5 MOA by the time I was able to shoot 5 shot strings without cleaning. Average velocity was 2998 fps for the last 40 shots.

Not bad at all for a fire form load that does not have a whole lot to headspace on. I will be taking it with me to KS next week to dispatch some yotes and hole digging critters. Also taking steel silhouette and target stands for some long range fun. This will be a nice way to fire form the rest of the cases without wasting powder, primers, bullets, and barrel life.

Cant wait to see how this thing shoots with the Ackley loads and 300 fps more velocity. I had considered building a 6.5x284 but figured it was too close to my 7mm Mag. Wanted something for WT and smaller.

Cheers, sorry for the highjack..... Here's some pics:

Very nice bud and yes I love my ackleys along with my rums

 

[chucknbach]

Thanks all for sharing.

Get a muzzle break and go 7 stw or 7 RM. Although honestly once you get the muzzle break you'll find that even a 30 cal (maybe even 338 cal will have less recoil than an unbraked 7 RM.

There is always something bigger and better. I've just drew a line and said no bigger. I prefer efficiency over bulk. Don't really care for having to dump a can of powder in each round. I could keep upping it to a little bigger or just jump up to a .50 cal and be done with it. 7stw and 7 rm are choices I'm considering.

6.5x284 should do all you want.

This one looks good, my concern would be barrel life. It looks good on paper.

Your Really handicaping yourself by removing the only viable option (30 cal due to bullet selection).

I don't feel handicapped.

Without a doubt a .260 would be my choice. I have a 243 and a 260 made up identical....and the .260 has less recoil and muzzle jump than the 243 has.

I don't now nor ever intend on firing at an animal at 1000 yards..but at the proper distance and the right bullets Id take on an elk with no fear. Its one heck of a caliber

.260 can take an elk for sure. I'm a fan of taking large animals with smaller bullets but I think the .260 at 1000 is a big stretch.

Don't intend to shoot 1000 if I don't have to, just want it capable.

I have some time to consider and research just wanted to see what others would choose.

 

[Tnwhip]

When my old 25-06 barrel lost it's accuracy, I got to thinking what I needed. Another rifle or Just rebarrel to another 25-06 or something else. I wanted a little more HP. 120g is all I could get in the 25 cal. The B.C. was not great. I thought about the 6.5 long and hard. Then I kep looking at the 7mm. and went with it good B.C. buttets and could go a little heaver for a little more knock down at the longer ranges. I made it a 280 ackley. Almost as fast as a 7 mag. with less powder. Use 280 or fire form 270 brass. Cheep to reload. Means I can practice more. It is the perfect cartridge for me. The places I hunt the fields are only 600 yards. I don't have a place to practice over 500 yds. so that is my limit anyway. If you are really wanting to shoot at 1000 yards then you may need one of the magnums. What ever your needs are, get what you need.gun)

 

[chucknbach]

In the near future we'll be able to spot game by satellite and call down laser beams. Then call in the coordinates and have your game delivered to the door. Maybe I should wait. Nothing has more range or shoots flatter than a laser beam.