First magnum caliber

[SamuelBerryhill308]

Hello all I'm looking at stepping up to a magnum caliber rifle all I've ever had is 308s 30-06 and 270 and 223 and 50 cal muzzle loader.and wanting something with more punch and more reach and a kind of a do all hunt everything but brown bear caliber and be confident in it.ive looked at 300 win mag 7mm mag all the wsm and saums but not sure what would be best.i mostly hunt deer and will be hunting black bear this year and hope able to hunt elk next year. Just would like some info and experience from who ever wants to share some knowledge of what magnum caliber would be good.as far as rifles go I would like to do a semi custom if I can off the rem 700 30-06 action or savage model 11 308 action depending on what caliber.if I'm not able to do that I've looked at windchester,browning, tikka,bergara, and Christiansen arms for factory rifle thanks all in advance

 

[elkaholic]

Hello all I'm looking at stepping up to a magnum caliber rifle all I've ever had is 308s 30-06 and 270 and 223 and 50 cal muzzle loader.and wanting something with more punch and more reach and a kind of a do all hunt everything but brown bear caliber and be confident in it.ive looked at 300 win mag 7mm mag all the wsm and saums but not sure what would be best.i mostly hunt deer and will be hunting black bear this year and hope able to hunt elk next year. Just would like some info and experience from who ever wants to share some knowledge of what magnum caliber would be good.as far as rifles go I would like to do a semi custom if I can off the rem 700 30-06 action or savage model 11 308 action depending on what caliber.if I'm not able to do that I've looked at windchester,browning, tikka,bergara, and Christiansen arms for factory rifle thanks all in advance

If you build it on a 30-06 action, you are limited to 470" head size (non magnum) cartridges. You can have the bolt face opened up to magnum or buy a magnum bolt from PTG though.
If you wanted to stay with the same bolt, the Sherman case from 25 to 375 chamberings will give magnum, or near magnum, performance if you don't mind a wildcat.
Shermanwildcatcartridges.com

 

[Eric Alexander]

if you are a fan of the 6.5 caliber, then you might consider the Weatherby 6.5RPM. The beauty of this modification is that you don't need to modify your bolt face. This cartridge can deliver you the performance of 264 Winchester Magnum but stay within the confines of your bolt face. It is essentially a longer 6.5-284. Order up a barrel with a 7.5 twist and you will be able to shoot bullet weights up to 156 grains with extremely high ballistic coefficients. Have a competent machinist gunsmith install it, ensuring that he trues up the bolt face to the breech face and you will have a serious shooter for relatively little expense.

 

[Reemty J]

What velocity can you get out of a 156 in the 6.5 rpm.?? Doyouhave a load on that you want to shareEric?

 

[SamuelBerryhill308]

If you build it on a 30-06 action, you are limited to 470" head size (non magnum) cartridges. You can have the bolt face opened up to magnum or buy a magnum bolt from PTG though.
If you wanted to stay with the same bolt, the Sherman case from 25 to 375 chamberings will give magnum, or near magnum, performance if you don't mind a wildcat.
Shermanwildcatcartridges.com

Yea I was thank I would have to open bolt face or buy new one.ive looked at the sherman mags as well and I do like them.i thank it was the 300 sherman that caught my eye

 

[Cmrem700]

280 ackley! it Isn't a magnum but don't tell anyone.
the 6.5x 280 ackley is faster than some magnum. I can't figure out why it isn't waaaay more popular. Both have the same bolt face as your 3006.

 

[HARPERC]

The .300 Winchester is kind of the bar the rest are measured against.

I think somebody needs to neck the RPM case to .30 if you're looking at a project.

 

[Subzero]

I was going to suggest 7mm rem mag, until you said elk. I would personally go with 300wm (or 300prc or 30nosler) to be able to confidently take elk at longer ranges.
I also like wsm's and saums, but magazine feeding can be finnicky. You would have to go long action in order to be able to magazine feed the long heavy bullets you want for longer range shooting.

 

[Calvin45]

300 win mag

it just makes sense.

it's nothing fancy, but it's the obvious choice for "your first magnum" and if you can handle a 30-06 you can handle a win mag no problem.

the 7mm rem is a fine cartridge but would be entirely redundant for someone who already owns a 270 and a 30-06.

I owned a 270 as my biggest rifle before my 300 win mag. Love them both

 

[Another Casual]

The word magnum is marketing more than anything. Pick a bullet you want you use and a target velocity and go from there. If you're limited to a standard bolt face you still have plenty of options. Whether or not you reload may be a factor here as well.

Standard bolt face, I say 280AI
Mag bolt face, 300WSM should be everything you want without breaking a sweat.

 

[Skimbleshanks]

For mostly deer, bear and sometimes elk 7 mag. For elk more often, 300 win mag. Or just flip a coin. Cant go wrong with either.

 

[Swamplord]

 

[Aussie Hunter Steve]

7mm RM is a nicely balanced do-it-all medium magnum, and will increase your range and energy. The 300WM is a slight step up from the 7mm, and the 300 Weatherby or 300 RUM is a noticeable step up. All are good with the right bullet.

 

[HuntnPack]

I'd recommend you look at either factory ammo & or reloading component availability first. Squirrel some of that stuff away first then build or buy the rifle. The search for components will narrow your
Cartridge choice down.

Example: I recently acquired everything I need to put together a 6.5 Max. & modify my existing rifle, a Seekins Element.
I started With my caliber choice, then chose my bullet / bullets, Brass, powder,
primers, & reloading supplies, dies etc.

As a side note: I originally started this project as a re-barrel project of my Seekins 6.5 PRC. I was looking at my options at that point to go with another
PRC, or 6.5 or 7 SAUM, or 6.5 or 7 Sherman. At that time I was able to
Source all the components for the Max.
I made my choice.

("Son, you know she's a Wildcat".... "I know Dad.. ain't she cool")