caliber and rifle for elk backup, practice and targets

[LRH3006]

I would like to find a rifle that would be a good backup for my 300 win mag for elk as well as using it for practice and target shooting at 300 and 600 yards. It would need to be inherently accurate and have a long barrel life, say 3000 to 4000 rounds.
What would you suggest for caliber and for brand and model of rifle?
One guy I know suggested a 280 Rem, but Remington has discontinued them, and Savage and Winchester doesn't offer them in any model.

 

[Jud96]

I would say the .30-06 Springfield. It's a hard cartridge to beat. Get a Remington 700 with 24" barrel and shoot 180gr bullets. You can push those 180s at around 2750fps. Barrel life will definitely be excellent since its an '06 and it will surely be an accurate rifle because its a Remington! A traditional bullet like a Hornady or Sierra Soft Point Boat tail with a descent BC will be a good 400-500yd back up rifle and will have great expansion at short and long ranges. For a more accurate and flatter shooting slug with a higher BC shoot some Hornady 178gr A-MAXs or even the 180gr SSTs. Hope this helps!

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

you get get yourself a nice browning x-bolt in a 280 and those things shoot lights out! My brother has a 280 in a a-bolt and that is a very accurate and nice rifle to shoot.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Find you a Browning A-Bolt II in .280 Rem, and have the chamber reamed to .280 Ackley Improved. You will be around 100-150fps slower than a 7mm RemMag.

Or you could just get a Browning A-Bolt II in 7mm RemMag. Which would make an excellent backup rifle.

 

[Jud96]

If he's already shooting a .300 Win Mag why don't he just stick with a .30cal rifle and use the same bullets in the .300 as he does the '06?

 

[Sully2]

I would say the .30-06 Springfield. It's a hard cartridge to beat. Get a Remington 700 with 24" barrel and shoot 180gr bullets. You can push those 180s at around 2750fps. Barrel life will definitely be excellent since its an '06 and it will surely be an accurate rifle because its a Remington! A traditional bullet like a Hornady or Sierra Soft Point Boat tail with a descent BC will be a good 400-500yd back up rifle and will have great expansion at short and long ranges. For a more accurate and flatter shooting slug with a higher BC shoot some Hornady 178gr A-MAXs or even the 180gr SSTs. Hope this helps!

Im with you Jud. As a second rifle...a good 30-06 with the right loads for it

 

[Jud96]

Ya Sully, sure is tough to top the old '06 with good loads.

 

[FEENIX]

If he's already shooting a .300 Win Mag why don't he just stick with a .30cal rifle and use the same bullets in the .300 as he does the '06?

My WAG is that he already shoots a .30-06 base on his user name LRH3006, perhaps I'm wrong.

 

[Jud96]

Haha I saw that but wasnt sure if he just used 3006 for the heck of it or if he actually has one. If he's already got one he can use his saved money for a better scope, reloading supplies, or something around those lines.

 

[LRH3006]

My WAG is that he already shoots a .30-06 base on his user name LRH3006, perhaps I'm wrong.

I just used that user name for lack of thinking of a better name. I don't have a 30-06. I have a 300 win mag and 270 win. I am looking for something a little bigger than the 270 for a backup elk rifle. I was hoping guys would get into a discussion of 7MM-08 vs 280 rem.
Barrel life is important. I have heard that a 7 RUM is hard on barrels. I don't know how hard a 7 rem mag is on barrels. I would like to get at least 3000 rounds without having to replace the barrel.
Since I would like to use it for target shooting, accuracy is also very important. And by that I mean no bigger than .5" at 100 yards.

 

[Panchik]

I would use your 270 win for this purpose. The ballistic is close to 300 wm's and the bore life is quite long. It is also enough for elk hunting subject to hit the place...

 

[MudRunner2005]

I just used that user name for lack of thinking of a better name. I don't have a 30-06. I have a 300 win mag and 270 win. I am looking for something a little bigger than the 270 for a backup elk rifle. I was hoping guys would get into a discussion of 7MM-08 vs 280 rem.
Barrel life is important. I have heard that a 7 RUM is hard on barrels. I don't know how hard a 7 rem mag is on barrels. I would like to get at least 3000 rounds without having to replace the barrel.
Since I would like to use it for target shooting, accuracy is also very important. And by that I mean no bigger than .5" at 100 yards.

7mm RUM is extraordinarily hard on barrels. They say about 600 rounds of accurate barrel life.

7mm RemMag you should get 1500+...But it is very possible to burn one out alot quicker if you keep shooting it when it's hot.

I just experienced my second burn-out for the year...Both guns I bought used. And apparantly abused, because I got about 150 shots out of my 7mm RM before the barrel started throwing them all over the place. My .338 WinMag was apparantly already throwing them all over the place, but all I wanted was the action, stock, and DNZ base off that rifle to make my purchase worth it. The Browning 7 mag on the otherhand was kind of an expensive mistake. Still pretty warm about that one... But, that's what happens when you buy something used. You can either choose to trust that it's in good shape, or it's cheap enough that you don't care if the barrel is toast, because you only want the action or the rest of the rifle, minus the barrel.

If barrel life is the name of the game, and you want something bigger than the .270 Win.... I still stand by my original suggestion of the .280 Ackley Improved. +/- 150 fps of a 7mm RemMag, but will get you better barrel life.

 

[Jud96]

I just used that user name for lack of thinking of a better name. I don't have a 30-06. I have a 300 win mag and 270 win. I am looking for something a little bigger than the 270 for a backup elk rifle. I was hoping guys would get into a discussion of 7MM-08 vs 280 rem.
Barrel life is important. I have heard that a 7 RUM is hard on barrels. I don't know how hard a 7 rem mag is on barrels. I would like to get at least 3000 rounds without having to replace the barrel.
Since I would like to use it for target shooting, accuracy is also very important. And by that I mean no bigger than .5" at 100 yards.

Ya I would just use your .270, loaded with 140s or 150s it is capable of taking elk out to 500yds. The .270 and .280 are pretty much ballistic twins. Only advantage with the .280 is the heavier bullets available for it. As for the 7mm-08, its a good 100fps slower than the .280 and ,270, so stick with the rifles you have now.

 

[CogburnR]

If you think your 270 doesn't have enough power you could ream it to a 270 Sherman.

+10% powder capacity over the parent 270Win. 165 matrix bullets can be pushed over 3000fps depending on barrel length with a BC of .650 or so.

A 7-08 would be good but it doesn't have as much power as a 270 and a 280 doesn't do that well unless handloaded over SAAMI max. The 270 is factory loaded to higher pressure than the 280.