Hey all,
I am new to LRH but have been watching a lot of the threads here and appreciate the community established. I've been wrestling with a long range hunting rifle for some time and figured this is probably a great place to get some advice.
Here's the background- I've been hunting elk for the past 8 years and soon will be adding moose and caribou to the menu as well. There is nothing better than hunting in the mountains. I took my first elk 5 years ago with a Tikka T3 Lite in 300WM at 425 yards. At the time, that was a very intimidating distance, especially in a hunting scenario. I realized I needed to prepare better and purchased a Proof 7mmRM with a NF scope and found some ranges where I could practice 600- 700 yard shots. The gun is a laser with factory ammo (168 Bergers), shooting somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 moa (hard to tell shooter variance vs gun at those distances) at all ranges. I was astounded at how easy a great rifle could make longer shots.
I decided I wanted to get something that carried more energy further and purchased a 28 Nos. I do not reload (yet... will probably be bugging you guys on that before long) but have a resource that does it for me. The only bullets he could find at the time were 150 grain TTSX. We found a load that shot great and I tested it out to 800 yards before heading west this past fall. The 28 Nos did it's job on an elk at 560 yards.
Shame on me, but I didn't realize until I got back that the 150 grain TTSX in the 28 Nos actually has less energy at extended ranges (high triple digits) than the 168 berger in my 7mmRM.
I've been considering either finding a heavier 7mm bullet for the 28 Nos or selling it and going with something bigger. I've looked at options from 300 RUM up to 338 Lapua and everything in between. I like the idea of more than enough horsepower and want to go big, but realize there is a balance with gun size, weight, recoil, etc.
If I sold the 28 Nos, I'd have plenty of funds to go towards the replacement and I am not concerned with ammo costs (more so availability).
I'll be 50 this year, 5' 10", 200 lbs, and stay in shape... especially leading up to a hunt.
I would definitely put a good side port muzzle break on the gun and have suppressors for all calibers, if the scenario was right.
I have a place where I can practice out to 1200 yards or so.
I see strands of guys talking about 250 and 300 grain 338 elk bullets and wonder what shooting a hunting rifle like that feels like. I am not overly concerned with recoil, but realize the wrong setup could change that and that spotting shots can be important.
I am hoping you say that the 338's are mild enough with the right brake so I can justify selling the 28 nos and going big, but don't have the experience with the larger cartridges to know.
If anyone has read this far
, thank you... I tried to address most questions I could predict. Any feedback, experience, or suggestions are welcome.
I am new to LRH but have been watching a lot of the threads here and appreciate the community established. I've been wrestling with a long range hunting rifle for some time and figured this is probably a great place to get some advice.
Here's the background- I've been hunting elk for the past 8 years and soon will be adding moose and caribou to the menu as well. There is nothing better than hunting in the mountains. I took my first elk 5 years ago with a Tikka T3 Lite in 300WM at 425 yards. At the time, that was a very intimidating distance, especially in a hunting scenario. I realized I needed to prepare better and purchased a Proof 7mmRM with a NF scope and found some ranges where I could practice 600- 700 yard shots. The gun is a laser with factory ammo (168 Bergers), shooting somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 moa (hard to tell shooter variance vs gun at those distances) at all ranges. I was astounded at how easy a great rifle could make longer shots.
I decided I wanted to get something that carried more energy further and purchased a 28 Nos. I do not reload (yet... will probably be bugging you guys on that before long) but have a resource that does it for me. The only bullets he could find at the time were 150 grain TTSX. We found a load that shot great and I tested it out to 800 yards before heading west this past fall. The 28 Nos did it's job on an elk at 560 yards.
Shame on me, but I didn't realize until I got back that the 150 grain TTSX in the 28 Nos actually has less energy at extended ranges (high triple digits) than the 168 berger in my 7mmRM.
I've been considering either finding a heavier 7mm bullet for the 28 Nos or selling it and going with something bigger. I've looked at options from 300 RUM up to 338 Lapua and everything in between. I like the idea of more than enough horsepower and want to go big, but realize there is a balance with gun size, weight, recoil, etc.
If I sold the 28 Nos, I'd have plenty of funds to go towards the replacement and I am not concerned with ammo costs (more so availability).
I'll be 50 this year, 5' 10", 200 lbs, and stay in shape... especially leading up to a hunt.
I would definitely put a good side port muzzle break on the gun and have suppressors for all calibers, if the scenario was right.
I have a place where I can practice out to 1200 yards or so.
I see strands of guys talking about 250 and 300 grain 338 elk bullets and wonder what shooting a hunting rifle like that feels like. I am not overly concerned with recoil, but realize the wrong setup could change that and that spotting shots can be important.
I am hoping you say that the 338's are mild enough with the right brake so I can justify selling the 28 nos and going big, but don't have the experience with the larger cartridges to know.
If anyone has read this far
, thank you... I tried to address most questions I could predict. Any feedback, experience, or suggestions are welcome.
but I'm thinking if you're just starting to practice to 1200 and aren't going to be taking game that far there's nothing wrong with the 3 cartridges you already have, 7mm rem mag, 300 win, 28 Nosler…all capable. 
Save the money of another rifle and a few boxes of factory ammo and take the plunge into the wonderful insane OCD world of handloading!
)
