Caliber advice

Any of the 300's will do you. I would give myself room to extend your range a little. I would stay clear of the 7mag and the 6.5 but that is just personal preference.

I was about 5 10ish, but I might have gone a buck 35. Looking back, I dont think it was the recoil that made me flinch so much as the frustration of 100s of rounds with all the work I did to the gun and i still couldn't hit a dang thing with it . At some point, i just started going through the motions cause i thought the dang thing owed me some good groups, lol ! It just left a bad taste in my mouth ( maybe it was blood ) . As good as the ol 30 06 was and still is, I still couldn't bring myself to buy another one.

A 180gr TSX from my 30-06 @ 2750 driven by H4831sc (it's toasty for my liking) gives apx 1150 ft/lbs at 600, but nothing I've shot with that load has been able to shrug it off.

BRENT ERWIN said:

Any of the 300's will do you. I would give myself room to extend your range a little. I would stay clear of the 7mag and the 6.5 but that is just personal preference.

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All of this discussion, I'm going to get a box of the Berger 185 Hunter, and the Hornady Precision Hunter for my 300 WM and use whichever shoots best.

270 Weatherby would be my choice

gator378 said:

I like a guy with a iron shoulder. My next rifle if I do not run out of money I would to get a 416 Rem mag. Got to have at least one heavy before you go to the range in the sky.

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Iron shoulder you say?
My list of magnums as it stands today are:
25-06 (it IS magnum performance)
264WM.
270Bee.
300WM.
300Bee.
338WM.
338EDGE.
338-416RigbyImproved.
375Bee.
416Rigby.
Iron shoulder? Don't think so, I sold my big bores, 458Lott's, 458WM's and a 505Gibbs I had, it fired 600gr Woodleigh PP's @ 2350fps, which equates to 190lbs/ft of recoil. It was too much for me after 3 shots, it had to be re-homed.
That amount of recoil left me with a headache.

Seriously, back to topic, my 270Bee drops animals with more authority than most woild believe, absolutely pole axes game beyond 800yrds.
Has no recoil either.

Cheers.

I mentioned .308 earlier but should have also mentioned 7mm rem mag. But, at what point to you say that "he's dead enough" with the larger magnums?

msp21 said:

I am looking for advice on caliber for a custom build.
Max range: 600yds
Game: Medium to large sized game
Rifle Specs.: Barrel length less than 26 inches (I want the rifle to be easy to maneuver and carry but hit like a hammer)

I was originally thinking 300 WM but with a barrel less than 26 in I don't think it would be a good choice. What about 300 WSM?

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.300wm, .30 nosler, .30 PRC will all do exactly what you want just fine.

What's the biggest/baddest game on your list?

Buano said:

With ranges limited to 600 yards & medium to large game, only one cartridge came to mind, the classic .375 H&H. It shoots very well from a 26" barrel and hits like a LARGE hammer. When I bought mine I was pleased to see it didn't have any more felt recoil than my .300 mag.. It is definitely worth considering!

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I have a 375 H&H and shoot 300 gr TSX rounds out of a 20" barrel. It is a thing of beauty to see what it can do to a pig.

Having said that, this round is intended for shots not much past 300 yards... The BC on these bullets is terrible.

Overkill338 said:

Me: I'm going rabbit hunting
Them: use a 30-06
Me: Going Turkey hunting
Them: Use a 30-06
Me: Going to help slaughter hogs
Them: 30-06 will kill them, drain the blood, and quarter it at the same time
Me: Going deer hunting
Them: 30-06 will kill them, skin them, and damage no meat.

Ok, so I am embellishing a tad bit, but you get the idea. I have a huge respect and love for the .308 and its kids. I think the 7-08 is one of the best deer rifles in existence. Also a great youth round.!

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A wiseman once said be-ware of the man with only one rifle.... he also said that poor SOB ain't going to get much edible meat off that rabbit after he shoots it with a 30-06.

redleg1013 said:

A 180gr TSX from my 30-06 @ 2750 driven by H4831sc (it's toasty for my liking) gives apx 1150 ft/lbs at 600, but nothing I've shot with that load has been able to shrug it off.

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Solid recommendation...

You have to decided how important BC is. I think 30 cal is lethal and shot my last mule deer with a 308 16" barrel 168 gr ttsx at 478 yards. Having said that, I would not have taken that shot past 500 yards.

My primary rifle is a 7mm rem mag shooting 180 gr VLDs with a BC of .673. At 600 yards my velocity is 2134 with 1820 ft-lbs of energy... enough velocity for the bullet to open up and create a wound cavity. Further a full value 10 mph wind is only going to push me 3 minutes.

300wsm at 24" and around 8.5 lbs is pretty handy. If you want more handy go 308 with 20" barrel. Pick right loads and both will suit your purpose. I have both and use the 308 when I've got a longer hike.

CCAguns said:

Can't beat the 30-06!!! With today's powder and projectiles, it's superb! Hornady Superperformance ammo has it shooting like the 300 Mag!

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Of course by that same token it has the win mag running like a weatherby. If you're content with running factory ammo. I respect the 30-06 as the king of versatility and practicality, but do think you can beat it, which is why I have a .300 win mag - which of course is beat by many others but I based my decision on the fact that once you start notably exceeding . 300 win mag performance the price of brass for the cartridges involved and the extra recoil and blast start going up very fast, exponential not linear, diminishing returns. The .300 win mag makes sense to me, it's not to bad and it's high performance.

I shot a lot of deer with a 300 SAUM. None ever took a step after being hit. But IMO it was too much gun for the game. These days, I shoot a 6.5 PRC and am real happy out to 600 with 130 grain bullets moving 3000fps.
The SECRET (which I picked up from the bench rest crowd) is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. I'd much rather shoot 30 rounds from the PRC than 10 from my 270. So which one do I take out most often? That makes all the difference when the moment comes.