7mm or .30

[lineman_36]

wanting to build long range hunting gun. will mostly be hunting elk want a rifle that will be enough to drop one out to 800 to 1000 yards. want a 7mm or a .30 caliber maybe a 7mm rum or a 300 rum what are your opinions on them or recomedations for other cartriges

Also what action to use.

 

[liltank]

wanting to build long range hunting gun. will mostly be hunting elk want a rifle that will be enough to drop one out to 800 to 1000 yards. want a 7mm or a .30 caliber maybe a 7mm rum or a 300 rum what are your opinions on them or recomedations for other cartriges

Either caliber will work. If you look, there are guys dropping elk at greater ranges with both.

Tank

 

[AJ Peacock]

For Elk, the bigger frontal area, the better.

300RUM won't have great barrel life, but will have better than the 7mm RUM.

Of those 2 choices for elk, I'd pick the 300 every time.

AJ

 

[JEREMY logan]

300rum 210 berger sweeeeet

 

[Michael Eichele]

+1 on what AJ stated.

Foe elk, the bigger the better. I also look at bbl life as a concideration. 300 RUM life is short and glorious yet is longer than the 7mmRUM.

I am moving from the 300 RUM to the 300 WSM. I will still use a long action so I can seat those heavy bullets out far to maximize case capacity. I will loose some velocity but gain much more life and ease of tuning. The 300 and 7mm RUM's are a bit tempermental. A bit too much so for my taste.

IMHO, the 338 RUM or EDGE with 300 SMK's would be the ultimate 1000 yard+ elk harvesting machine.

 

[angus-5024]

lineman_36,
I have been been through the same thought process. I landed up settlling on the .338 Rum. Havent shot it yet but I had a .340wby (very similar) and liked it alot. either of the calibers you mentioned will be excellent. I personally would consider a .338, I would look at the 7mm STW as well (thats my next rifle). I am not the most season LR hunter, but this is what I came up with in a similar possition. Happy hunting and God bless.

 

[Kevin]

If you are going with the ultra mag case then I would choose the .30 or .338. Too much waste with the 7mm in my opinion, unless you have a really long barrel.

 

[liltank]

+1 on what AJ stated.

Foe elk, the bigger the better. I also look at bbl life as a concideration. 300 RUM life is short and glorious yet is longer than the 7mmRUM.

I am moving from the 300 RUM to the 300 WSM. I will still use a long action so I can seat those heavy bullets out far to maximize case capacity. I will loose some velocity but gain much more life and ease of tuning. The 300 and 7mm RUM's are a bit tempermental. A bit too much so for my taste.

IMHO, the 338 RUM or EDGE with 300 SMK's would be the ultimate 1000 yard+ elk harvesting machine.

Be careful how long you make the throat on your WSM. I built mine with an extra long throat and I think I threw off my pressures. The bullet won't seat on the powder and give bad accuracy. I haven't tried Retumbo or H1000 yet, so they may be an option for this venture. Let us know how it works out.

Tank

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I also went through the same deliberation. Ended up going with the 300 RUM because I was able to get a real good shooter for a good price. I basically agree with every thing that's been said. The 338 will have more thump down range and last longer, but it will kick hard and you are probably looking at getting a brake on it. And if you go with the 338, I would consider the Lapua.

-MR

 

[trueblue]

First of all, welcome to the site. I see it is your first post.
Between the 2, I would pick the 300 RUM. But another good choice would be a 300 WM or 300 Weatherby/Jarrett in 30 cal. Better barrel life,( not that it will be great, just alittle better) and don't give up much in velocity. The elk won't know the difference. As far as shooting elk from 800-1000 yards, I would go with a 300 JAZZ ,338 EDGE, 338 Lapua, 338 AM, 338 Norma, ect. many choices.

 

[lineman_36]

starting to lean more to the .300 weatherby. but probably wont know until i order the action. going with a BAT action since the factory is just a couple of hours from were i live.

 

[Sharpstick]

7 mag with a heavy bullet (180 VLD) is my choice. I've seen it work great at very long ranges enough to have full confidence in it. I don't like brakes and the need to place the bullet as precisely as possible makes the lighter recoil a huge benefit for longrange work. I'm a big guy and shoot enough to have a decent squeeze, but without a brake I can't shoot a 300 ultra, 338 , etc, well enough to shoot at those distances with confidence. I also found I just didn't want to put in the range time or field practice because they were unpleasant for me. Too many times getting ear protection on in the field doesn't happen and brakes are brutal on unprotected ears. I toyed with the 7 STW and it worked great but equally great results with a plain 7 mag left me with no reason to burn the extra powder or let the extra pounds of recoil that come with any bigger caliber affect my shooting.

Whatever your choice, knowing your rifle and being able to put hits where you want them will be more important than caliber choice. Finding the comfortable balance of energy and shootability varies a lot from one shooter to the next.

I'm probably in the minority on this issue, but bigger caliber does not mean better in my case. I'm a big fan of 6.5mm selections for elk as well although they need to be used within their limitations. A 264 Win mag or 6.5x284 applied correctly isn't out of place as a longer range elk round.

 

[Walker1]

7 mag with a heavy bullet (180 VLD) is my choice. I've seen it work great at very long ranges enough to have full confidence in it. I don't like brakes and the need to place the bullet as precisely as possible makes the lighter recoil a huge benefit for longrange work. I'm a big guy and shoot enough to have a decent squeeze, but without a brake I can't shoot a 300 ultra, 338 , etc, well enough to shoot at those distances with confidence. I also found I just didn't want to put in the range time or field practice because they were unpleasant for me. Too many times getting ear protection on in the field doesn't happen and brakes are brutal on unprotected ears. I toyed with the 7 STW and it worked great but equally great results with a plain 7 mag left me with no reason to burn the extra powder or let the extra pounds of recoil that come with any bigger caliber affect my shooting.

Whatever your choice, knowing your rifle and being able to put hits where you want them will be more important than caliber choice. Finding the comfortable balance of energy and shootability varies a lot from one shooter to the next.

I'm probably in the minority on this issue, but bigger caliber does not mean better in my case. I'm a big fan of 6.5mm selections for elk as well although they need to be used within their limitations. A 264 Win mag or 6.5x284 applied correctly isn't out of place as a longer range elk round.

I have been thinking of using a 7mmRemMag for long range shooting. What kind of setup do you have?

 

[Sharpstick]

Sendero with a little action work, Jewell trigger, Greybull Precision scope shooting 180 Bergers over Retumbo.