Biggest Bore...Heaviest Hitter...Long Range

[rooster740]

Following here, for info and adding a wee bit of experience.
I am putting together a 22" Palma light barrel suppressed 300wm for my 10 year old boy to shoot his Yukon moose with this fall.
To me a very common cartridge is important for obvious reasons. 175-200gr bullet at 2850fps-2950fps is perfect for our situation.

 

[poolguy60]

Hello:
I'm looking for opinions on what caliber you would recommend for ranges out to 650 yards or so, using 180 grain bullets, or similar. It would be strictly for hunting, in a bolt action, and be delivered via a 20-22" barrel...without a muzzle break. The lighter the better , and no, recoil is not an issue. i'm looking for a heavy hitter in the .30 caliber class.
The .338 was the first thing that came to mind though I am hopeful for feedback. I love short barreled big bore rifles, and with a thumbhole stock I feel at one wit my gun,
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

30 378 wby mag

 

[Hand Skills]

Pretty easy to default to the 300 Win. I've been a 30cal fan for a couple of decades. For a compact rifle, I would go with the 300wsm. I have a Win Mod70 EW with a 24" barrel, overall it's only half an inch longer than my rem 700 30-06 with a 22" pipe. I like compact rifles too, I carry an 18" .308 a fair bit, but I do not value overkill as much as some

With overkill in mind, a 300 Norma might be just the ticket!

 

[tgessner]

Hello:
I'm looking for opinions on what caliber you would recommend for ranges out to 650 yards or so, using 180 grain bullets, or similar. It would be strictly for hunting, in a bolt action, and be delivered via a 20-22" barrel...without a muzzle break. The lighter the better , and no, recoil is not an issue. i'm looking for a heavy hitter in the .30 caliber class.
The .338 was the first thing that came to mind though I am hopeful for feedback. I love short barreled big bore rifles, and with a thumbhole stock I feel at one wit my gun,
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Sid Post]

I just want to say THANKS to everyone who has responded thus far. The feedback is extremely helpful. I may have included some contradictory information in my original post...please feel free to point out where I might be straying as positive feedback is how we expand our knowledge base.
I'm one of those guys who got hooked on short barreled big bores after buying my first .416 Ruger Alaska Guide Gun. This is my favorite rifle. I don't mind a 100 FPS +_ loss with a 20-22" barrel. 20" is ideal. I plan to bring one of my .416's down to 16.5" for brown bear work in the alders.
Again, I appreciate every response this received and will be making a decision soon to start yet another project with a gun too big and one too many.

If you are willing to travel internationally for a hunt, restricting your rifle choice to something you would be comfortable with in the timber in Alaska is a mistake IMHO.

I could use my 470NE double rifle for the local deer hunt but, why? There is a strong argument my 9.3x74R is too much as well. Anyone have a 7x57R or 30-30 double rifle they want to sell?

A thin profile barrel mid-bore maganum will handle well. I really don't remember if my 358 Norma Magnum is 22", 24" or 26" and really don't care for the most part. A large bore with a thin barrel contour is easy to carry. 26" barrels get a bit long for vehicles and airline hardcases so, I still say a 22"~24" mid-bore medium magnum is going to be a well-rounded choice whether 338WM, 358NM or, even an old school 375H&H with 270's!

 

[Alibiiv]

Hello:
I'm looking for opinions on what caliber you would recommend for ranges out to 650 yards or so, using 180 grain bullets, or similar. It would be strictly for hunting, in a bolt action, and be delivered via a 20-22" barrel...without a muzzle break. The lighter the better , and no, recoil is not an issue. i'm looking for a heavy hitter in the .30 caliber class.
The .338 was the first thing that came to mind though I am hopeful for feedback. I love short barreled big bore rifles, and with a thumbhole stock I feel at one wit my gun,
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I find this post a little confusing??? The OP starts out with, "It would be strictly for hunting", strictly hunting for what?? It would be helpful to give a little more information on what the plan is for this rifle, such as whether the rifle is for hunting woodchucks or dinosaurs?? How much muzzle energy are you looking for at 650 yards?? From what you have written it seems like you have limited yourself with the parameters, sort of like saying it has to be a six-passenger car, do a 1/4 mile in 8 seconds, and be no bigger than a Volkswagen. For me the post has sent some difficult challenges. Asking for big bore (30 caliber), hard hitting (limited to .30 caliber, 180gr bullet), short barrel and light weight, these to me are not all synonymous and used in the same sentence. I believe the 300WinMag to be the main stay of the 30 calibers, and then you can go from there with plenty of the designer cartridges, or go wild with any of the 30 caliber wildcats; you didn't mention if you reload??? Please do not think that I am being flip here, just giving you my feedback on the post. And.....like yourself, my first thought was a .338 WinMag, however..............30 caliber was specified

 

[Jim’s Hunt]

Hello:
I'm looking for opinions on what caliber you would recommend for ranges out to 650 yards or so, using 180 grain bullets, or similar. It would be strictly for hunting, in a bolt action, and be delivered via a 20-22" barrel...without a muzzle break. The lighter the better , and no, recoil is not an issue. i'm looking for a heavy hitter in the .30 caliber class.
The .338 was the first thing that came to mind though I am hopeful for feedback. I love short barreled big bore rifles, and with a thumbhole stock I feel at one wit my gun,
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Nothing wrong with the 30 cal rounds. But have you thought about a 7mm round with a fast twist that will push 175gr to a 190gr bullet. You BC would be great. 7RUM.7STW,7PRC. Just a thought

 

[SSG Graybush]

Hello:
I'm looking for opinions on what caliber you would recommend for ranges out to 650 yards or so, using 180 grain bullets, or similar. It would be strictly for hunting, in a bolt action, and be delivered via a 20-22" barrel...without a muzzle break. The lighter the better , and no, recoil is not an issue. i'm looking for a heavy hitter in the .30 caliber class.
The .338 was the first thing that came to mind though I am hopeful for feedback. I love short barreled big bore rifles, and with a thumbhole stock I feel at one wit my gun,
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Well for 750 yards, really big is not needed really. A 7 mag 8T will push a 180 vld-h at 2944. Plenty of energy to kill anything short of DG. 1590 #'s of energy at 750 yards.
A 33XC with 130 grs of powder capacity/ 139 of H2O, about 15 grs more powder then a 338 LM. Is what am looking at. Am in the process of building a 6 XC at the moment for a competition rifle and decided to do a 33XC next.
Ive heard good things about the mentioned 30-28 Nos. But for 750 yards a 300 PRC wouldn't need fire formed brass.
But again why burn more powder and be subjected to more cost and recoil for only 750 yards? IMO a 270 wsm because the 270 wsm works well with RL16 or H4350, fairly fast powers so you wont be blowing a fire ball and wasting powder out of a 22" barrel.

 

[tgessner]

Hello:
I'm looking for opinions on what caliber you would recommend for ranges out to 650 yards or so, using 180 grain bullets, or similar. It would be strictly for hunting, in a bolt action, and be delivered via a 20-22" barrel...without a muzzle break. The lighter the better , and no, recoil is not an issue. i'm looking for a heavy hitter in the .30 caliber class.
The .338 was the first thing that came to mind though I am hopeful for feedback. I love short barreled big bore rifles, and with a thumbhole stock I feel at one wit my gun,
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Depends on what you intend to hunt US or African dangerous game, etc. Do you intent to hand load or depend on factory Ammo? Do you need a commonly available caliber or can you use an exotic speciality caliber. Do you intend to target shoot and thus need a caliber that is kind to bbls or is this just a hunting gun that will be fired only a few times a year? How realistic is the 660yd requirement - are you hunting out west where that could be possible? There a many rounds that could work depending on the honest answered to these questions

 

[Sid Post]

... I like compact rifles too, I carry an 18" .308 a fair bit, but I do not value overkill as much as some

A 16" 308W / 7.62x51 gives up little to a 20" or 24" barreled version.

Using classic military equivalent loads in a 1x12" twist barrel, the velocity loss between a 28" barrel and one that is 16" is in the range of 300FPS!

 

[Mike Matteson]

.338 W.Mag. 200gr. @ 3230fps in a 24" barrel. Look at how it fly down range. No you won't find that in a reloading manual.

 

[TxHeartShot]

Hello:
I'm looking for opinions on what caliber you would recommend for ranges out to 650 yards or so, using 180 grain bullets, or similar. It would be strictly for hunting, in a bolt action, and be delivered via a 20-22" barrel...without a muzzle break. The lighter the better , and no, recoil is not an issue. i'm looking for a heavy hitter in the .30 caliber class.
The .338 was the first thing that came to mind though I am hopeful for feedback. I love short barreled big bore rifles, and with a thumbhole stock I feel at one wit my gun,
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Hunting round out to 650 yds using 180 gr. bullets doesn't really equal a "heavy hitter". Just get a .300 Winnie and quit messing around.

 

[Martin@Hin]

350 rem mag. 200 gr 2900 in a 20".

350 in a Mauser lenght action, the base of a 250 flush with top of the shoulder

 

[charliewhisky]

Hello:
I'm looking for opinions on what caliber you would recommend for ranges out to 650 yards or so, using 180 grain bullets, or similar. It would be strictly for hunting, in a bolt action, and be delivered via a 20-22" barrel...without a muzzle break. The lighter the better , and no, recoil is not an issue. i'm looking for a heavy hitter in the .30 caliber class.
The .338 was the first thing that came to mind though I am hopeful for feedback. I love short barreled big bore rifles, and with a thumbhole stock I feel at one wit my gun,
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I don't know if it really matters but, a 30-06 will have significantly longer barrel life and is a proven shooter. bullets like the ELD-X have great ballistics at heaver weights and great stopping power at closer ranges too.