Caliber Recommendation for 600 Yard Sheep Rifle

[Teri Anne]

You've been there and done that a ton load over the last 2 decades that's pretty darn cool. Question for you if you don't mind, but how many times have you fired your rifle in defense at close range on bears that were set on doing you harm?

Many thanks

Personally I would not hunt with a guide who didn't carry a backup heavy caliber rifle in Bear Country. With a very respectful response to Mr. Dogz, It's not how many times you didn't have to shoot at a bear trying to do you harm, it's that one time when it's needed that counts. I personally would not like to be made into a meal for a cranky bear simply because the guide (or myself) did not have a firearm capable of putting a grumpy bear down at close range. My 300 Win Mag is used primarily as a target rifle these days, but is also perfectly adequate for use to put down an unhappy bear.

 

[dogz]

And respectively so I am truly curious how often he has had to use his rifle in self defense. I wasn't stating that I thought he shouldn't be carrying.

 

[hesse]

If you're looking for a short action I would say 300 short mag or 325 short otherwise I would say a 300 win mag would be my choice

 

[GA Sheephunter]

Thanks for the replies. Hunt is not until 2023, but at this point have settled on a CA Ridgeline 7mm rem mag 24" with 140 gr ttsx @ 3050 fps. Shot at a buddies property and was ringing steel at 800 yds every time. Nice tight group at 500. Had never shot that far before but was not a problem with this rifle and load.

 

[playingpossum]

7 mag or 300 mag would be plenty. 28 nosler if you want to be cool

 

[tooth doc]

7 mag or 300 mag would be plenty. 28 nosler if you want to be cool

interesting to me that we never hear much about tge 7 rum. balistically a twin for the 28 nosler. i have both and yet even i prefer my 28, even though they both are beltless, both are equally accurate and both perform the same. just something to ponder. to the point, i want a guide to be prepared to protect or backup , as needed. i am not so arrogant to believe that i couldnt need it or my equipment could never malfunction or fail. stufg happens. MURPHY LIVES!

 

[tooth doc]

interesting to me that we never hear much about tge 7 rum. balistically a twin for the 28 nosler. i have both and yet even i prefer my 28, even though they both are beltless, both are equally accurate and both perform the same. just something to ponder. to the point, i want a guide to be prepared to protect or backup , as needed. i am not so arrogant to believe that i couldnt need it or my equipment could never malfunction or fail. stufg happens. MURPHY LIVES!

sorry for typos

 

[jshepherd61]

Personally, I like the 26 Nosler with a Berger 156gr pushing it at 3,250 fps. Very flat and extremely accurate. The 142 ABLR I push around 3,450 fps.

 

[tooth doc]

Personally, I like the 26 Nosler with a Berger 156gr pushing it at 3,250 fps. Very flat and extremely accurate. The 142 ABLR I push around 3,450 fps.

want one, but my 28 pushes a 143 HH st 3550, and had kills on big game, blue wildabeast. zebra at 780 and 1046. i love the 6.5 cal.

 

[Salmonhead]

300 RUM with 180 Swift Sciroccos at 3350
338 RUM with 210 Swift Sciroccos at 3340

Anything will kill the sheep, but the bigger, faster bullets will help you hit in wind at distance, and both the RUMs have plenty of power for any bear that has ever walked. Components/ Ammo is available, and if you have/ get to build a gun, might as well get something bigger than you already have.
If you dont want to have one built, I would take whichever rifle you like the best, regardless of caliber

 

[vancewalker007]

sorry for typos

You can edit your posts.

 

[akmtnhnt]

I read these posts just to watch people freak out about bears that aren't actually an issue.

I don't know why people don't just hunt exclusively with 50bmg.

 

[David_h]

As a backup, how about shipping a couple extra boxes of ammo to the licensed (Canada FFL equivalent) gun store near your hunt. Do this one month before your hunt and still bring ammo in your bag. Do this for factory loads or hand loads. This is easy to do within the USA. Maybe not too hard to ship international. Just an idea.

 

[RidgeTop]

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