Help with Cartridge Selection

[AdamLHelton]

Hey guys, I'm a usless army sniper and I'm trying to get into hunting. I'm building myself a rifle with accuracy being my focus. My thoughts are a well placed shot will out preform brute force all day. Of course there are many exception to this line of thinking. I'm interested in the 6.5x284. I see Moose or Elk being the largest thing I hunt. I would just like to hear your opinion of this selection.

 

[Coyboy]

Build yourself a 6.5 and shoot all the critters you want.

Borrow your budies 300 mag when you want to shoot an elk.

 

[weinerdawg]

Shot placement

Yeah Coyboy is right, I killed my first three elk with a .257, (nobody told the elk that they died from a "too small" caliber) then I used a .270 to kill the next nine elk and I asked them if they would be deader if I would have used a .300W and here is what they said to me, oh yeah dead elk don't talk.. I then bought a Matthews for the next elk, he died too!

Also, I had a 300w but I am too much of a girly man and gave it to my son.

Place your shot.

 

[Coyboy]

weinerdawg, I only suggest the 300 mag as a starting round, because we are on a long range forum. If Adam said all his shots would be under 300 yards, I would tell him to use his 6.5 and a stout 140 grain bullet and kill all the elk he likes. I do not dought you have killed elk with your quarter bore and .270, but if your going to attempt 500+ yard shots on elk, most would agree that this begins with a 30 caliber, long bullets, and velocities over 2800fps.

I have killed elk, at short range with my 280, and would use that gun again if I hunt the timber. My next Elk trip will likly revolve around longer shots and I'll be carrying a 14 pound .338.

 

[Buffalobob]

All depends on how far you wish to shoot. I do not see it as being a good cartridge for much more than 600-700 yards. When you say a well placed shot that is fine but being able to stay off the shoulder bone is the critical variable and that is not going to be always possible with wind and animal angles. Probably the first legimate good to 1K, smallest cartridge would be a 7STW with either a 160 AB or the Sierra 175 MK or the Berger 180. And I do not think the 7 STW will stretch beyond 1K. After that you can go to the 7RUM and then it is move up to the 30 cal mags. Or perhaps you wish to stay down low in which case the 7mm Allen Mag is capable out to 1500 yards or more depending on how you build the rifle and load the case.

If you like a 6.5 then move up to at least a 264 WIn mag and get some powder in the case and some speed on the bullet. You might check with Kirby and get some specifics on some of the 6.5s he builds.

 

[mcmurray]

I would consider this choice of cartrige for Moose and Elk inappropriate even for hunting at normal ranges say under 400 yards. It is not that it won't kill one. That is not the point. You can kill a Moose with a .22 rim fire but that does not make it a good idea. The point is that with a less than ideal hit or a hit in bone the smaller calibers are less likely to make a clean kill. Now you start talking about long range hunting you need to look at the terminal performace of the bullet at 800 or 1000 yards. The light bullets do not have much left at that range. Look at the math and you can show it to yourself. Throw in the fact that your going to spend a lot of money to build a custom rifle for a specific purpose it does not make sense to choose such a light caliber for your stated purpose. If you were limiting your self to Antelope, Deer, and other smaller game then I would say that your choice is fine.

The minimum bullet weight I would recommend is a 180 grain but the heavier the better. Any of the 7MM, 30 caliber or larger calibers are the best choices.

My 2 cents worth,

Good Luck and have fun.

 

[AdamLHelton]

First let me thank you all. I really appreciate the advice. Remember guys Elk and Moose would be the absolute largest animals that I would hunt. I see them as a few and far between animal due to the cost for a hunt. I'm just an E-4. I don't make the big bucks yet. I certainley don't think hunting Moose or Elk at ultra long range with a 6.5 is a good idea. I think maybe antelope and animals of similar make up would be my primary targets. I guess a great definition for what I'm looking for is a cartridge that I could take back to Ft Benning and have every ballistic advantage over my cyclemates. It sounds a little morbid to look at it like this but I will probably hunt animals with about the same resistance to bullets as a human.

 

[Stormrider]

Your 6.5 idea will be a good one for deer and antelope. I've killed a bunch of antelope over the years using calibers from 22 to 300WM. The 6.5 will work great in just about any case. They don't take a lot of killing. The longer the range the bigger the case... ;>)

 

[BountyHunter]

Adam

I am pretty sure that Benning school for boys allows civilian weapons in military courses so not sure a flatter cartridge is going to give you an advantage. You are going to end up with the issue 308.

However, caliber wise I would suggest a 7 or 30 cal for reasons stated. I would suggest you look at the 300 WSM for this reason. It is seeming to have 2x or more barrel life of any other magnums. We have guns with 4000 rounds and still competitive in BR. That record is phenominal compared to other mags.

Savage 12VSS in 300 WSM is around $550, 26" heavy barrel. Go with that to start, Ferrel 20 MOA base, rings ($150 total) and good scope at $500 or less.

Join the Quantico Shooting club right below you and start shooting their modified Fclass matches and come to the VA 1k BR matches at Quantico this spring.

BH

 

[AdamLHelton]

Hey thanks for the advice. I used to own a 300WSM in a FNH SPR. I got rid of it because I didn't hardley shoot it. This was a couple years ago. I didn't know of any good ranges except for Shooters Paradise and the NRA Range. Shooters is no longer and the NRA Range makes you feel like cattle. Either way they both stunk for rifles. Any way I think I have decided to go with the 308 Baer with the .336 neck.

 

[AdamLHelton]

Oh by the way you couldn't pay me enough to go back to Benning. Thanks to Sand "Hell" and Main Post I refuse to own anything chambered in the 5.56 or a .308.