Alex Wheeler
Well-Known Member
I thought this could be a good thread since the "what cartridge" question comes up so often. Im just going to list the things that I consider when I choose one for myself or help a customer decide. Its going to be more down the lines of a custom rifle for a guy that reloads and will shoot long range. And is after top accuracy potential. Feel free to ad anything else you consider.
First you want to look at what bullet or class of bullets you want to shoot. Find something that has a good reputation for terminal performance and accuracy. For elk I feel the .30 200-230 grain is the sweet spot. They carry the energy, but recoil is mild enough that they shoot well in a 10lb rifle. Im a big fan of the .338 but I have been around enough to say they start really behaving around 14 pounds. If your hunting from a ridge top or other situation your not hiking too hard the .338 is great. 7mm 168-180 grain is my minimum choice and I will limit my range a little more with them, but they do a good job and are very easy to shoot well in lighter rifles. Other medium game really open things up for me in terms of bullet and bore choices. I know there are guys shooting elk with .243s so pick what your comfortable with. Keep in mind the more powder you push down a barrel, the faster it wears and generally the harder they are to keep tuned to peak levels.
I know everyone says they can handle recoil. Thats not what the problem is. The rifle is moving under recoil when the bullet is still traveling down the barrel. The bigger the bullet and faster you drive it the more that rifle is recoiling and twisting. Your position and follow through becomes more critical, and its a fact you wont shoot those rifles as well. All you can do to fight it is add mass to the rifle. Brakes do nothing for this issue. All the energy in the world is no use if your range is limited by the accuracy of the rifle. Just something to consider.
After I pick a bullet, I look at brass. I want to use the best brass. Lapua, ADG, and Alpha are my favorites. So I look to see what brass they offer in a case that will drive the bullet to the velocity I want. Im not a speed freak, I think the best shooting combos run under 3100 fps. Most of the time I want to be 2900-3100 for a long range rifle. The ballistic charts may look a little better with higher speeds, but in my experience the rifles are just very consistent if you keep velocities in that range. This does not apply to light or medium weight bullets we use for other applications. Also keep in mind some bullets can open too violently if driven too fast. This size of a case usually ends up in that H1000-Retumbo-N570 burn rate of powders which I have had a lot of luck with.
Next is mag length. Ideally I want to keep the bullet up in the neck to prevent any potential issue with a doughnut. There are ways around that if a doughnut does from but I prefer to avoid it. If a doughnut forms and you seat a bullet through it, you will not have an accurate rifle. So making up a dummy round to verify overall length and sending it to get a reamer made or for your smith to throat to will assure that. Some cases are just too long to fit in a magazine when throated this way. There is usually another case out there that shorter and even if you give up a slight bit of velocity, I feel your long term accuracy will be better. Accuracy is a higher priority than ballistics to me.
Wild cat vs standard case. There are some great wild cats out there. Many offer real world gains in case life, powder capacity, and accuracy. The only real down side I can see is resale. You may have a harder time finding a buyer, but maybe not. Custom dies should not be a hang up, the standard cases we use usually end up needing custom dies as the off the shelf stuff is so poor.
Be honest. Do you really need a 1000yd elk rifle? Are you really going to put in the time and 1000s of rounds to build the skill to make that shot? Most of the times thats a rare shot anyhow. 600-700 yards seems like a much more common occurrence. Those type of ranges allow for a smaller caliber and lighter rifle.
Thats just a very basic start off the top of my head. We can all add to this thread and hopefully it will help guys know WHY they are choosing a cartridge.
First you want to look at what bullet or class of bullets you want to shoot. Find something that has a good reputation for terminal performance and accuracy. For elk I feel the .30 200-230 grain is the sweet spot. They carry the energy, but recoil is mild enough that they shoot well in a 10lb rifle. Im a big fan of the .338 but I have been around enough to say they start really behaving around 14 pounds. If your hunting from a ridge top or other situation your not hiking too hard the .338 is great. 7mm 168-180 grain is my minimum choice and I will limit my range a little more with them, but they do a good job and are very easy to shoot well in lighter rifles. Other medium game really open things up for me in terms of bullet and bore choices. I know there are guys shooting elk with .243s so pick what your comfortable with. Keep in mind the more powder you push down a barrel, the faster it wears and generally the harder they are to keep tuned to peak levels.
I know everyone says they can handle recoil. Thats not what the problem is. The rifle is moving under recoil when the bullet is still traveling down the barrel. The bigger the bullet and faster you drive it the more that rifle is recoiling and twisting. Your position and follow through becomes more critical, and its a fact you wont shoot those rifles as well. All you can do to fight it is add mass to the rifle. Brakes do nothing for this issue. All the energy in the world is no use if your range is limited by the accuracy of the rifle. Just something to consider.
After I pick a bullet, I look at brass. I want to use the best brass. Lapua, ADG, and Alpha are my favorites. So I look to see what brass they offer in a case that will drive the bullet to the velocity I want. Im not a speed freak, I think the best shooting combos run under 3100 fps. Most of the time I want to be 2900-3100 for a long range rifle. The ballistic charts may look a little better with higher speeds, but in my experience the rifles are just very consistent if you keep velocities in that range. This does not apply to light or medium weight bullets we use for other applications. Also keep in mind some bullets can open too violently if driven too fast. This size of a case usually ends up in that H1000-Retumbo-N570 burn rate of powders which I have had a lot of luck with.
Next is mag length. Ideally I want to keep the bullet up in the neck to prevent any potential issue with a doughnut. There are ways around that if a doughnut does from but I prefer to avoid it. If a doughnut forms and you seat a bullet through it, you will not have an accurate rifle. So making up a dummy round to verify overall length and sending it to get a reamer made or for your smith to throat to will assure that. Some cases are just too long to fit in a magazine when throated this way. There is usually another case out there that shorter and even if you give up a slight bit of velocity, I feel your long term accuracy will be better. Accuracy is a higher priority than ballistics to me.
Wild cat vs standard case. There are some great wild cats out there. Many offer real world gains in case life, powder capacity, and accuracy. The only real down side I can see is resale. You may have a harder time finding a buyer, but maybe not. Custom dies should not be a hang up, the standard cases we use usually end up needing custom dies as the off the shelf stuff is so poor.
Be honest. Do you really need a 1000yd elk rifle? Are you really going to put in the time and 1000s of rounds to build the skill to make that shot? Most of the times thats a rare shot anyhow. 600-700 yards seems like a much more common occurrence. Those type of ranges allow for a smaller caliber and lighter rifle.
Thats just a very basic start off the top of my head. We can all add to this thread and hopefully it will help guys know WHY they are choosing a cartridge.