Is your bullet big enough, moving fast enough??

[Equalizer]

One day at the range I had a guy sit and watch me for a couple hours while I shot my ladders. I was switching between my 7600 30-06 (plastic butt pad) & my M77 338 WM. He was tickled watching me shoot "those big guns" as he put it. He couldn't believe I was shooting sub moa groups (especially with the Magnum). Every time I'd touch one off he'd laugh or say "daaaumm" lol

He put his guns up and just sat there gawking. Funny thing He wasn't laughing when he saw the targets lol

 

[DB3313]

180's @ just over 3400 fps. FREAKIN laser and DRT on everything I've shot with this!!! Was out at the range this past Sunday, hitting 8" plate at 920 yds. That big weatherby is a beast!!! With that being said, ima gonna use my new 6.5 PRC this year, most likely with a 140 hunting bullet IF I can find any...

Don't know where you are in Idaho, but Cliff's in Meridian "did" have some 6.5 PRC components. Buddy picked up a couple of boxes of Lapua brass there recently and I picked up a box of Hornady 6.5 143 ELD-X bullets.

 

[DJ Fergus]

6 pages. I can't wait to find out if the ultimate elk blaster is a 243 Winchester or a 338 edge.

 

[DJ Fergus]

foot lbs....wth?

Put a good bullet in a good place with enough speed to open the bullet up reliably and you're golden!

Taking down a elk is far from rockets science

22-250

 

[30378wbymag]

Don't know where you are in Idaho, but Cliff's in Meridian "did" have some 6.5 PRC components. Buddy picked up a couple of boxes of Lapua brass there recently and I picked up a box of Hornady 6.5 143 ELD-X bullets.

Thanks DB, I go to Cliff's at least once a week and that 6.5PRC Lapua brass was promised, only a few boxes available I just missed em... I was able to pick up some 129Gr. LRAB's tho!!! I changed my mind ima gonna use my 6.5 for deer this year and the .30-378 for elk, we'll see how things turn out... Best of luck hunting to you this year!!!

 

[30378wbymag]

Yep I have a similar article in my desk somewhere. The military has been trying to turn the .300 WinMag into something it's not for the past couple decades… a .338 Lapua. We have been part of some of the testings. The article I have is newer and throws the .300 Norma (with 215 Berger and very similar in performance to the .300 RUM) & .338 Norma in the mix. Why? Because that's what we are soon going to. You have a definite step up in performance over what we have in our current conventional Army arsenal (.300 WinMag). If you've ever shot the two side by side (.300 WinMag and .338 Lapua, I have both) loaded to their true potential you will see there is no comparison in real life. Or I can load a ho-hum .338 and really push the crap out of a long barreled .300 WinMag to maximize every ounce of potential and skew the numbers to match whatever agenda one wants. Why do I say that? Because that's what I've seen, to the point of asking why are we even going through any testing.

As the old saying goes "No replacement for displacement"!!!!!

 

[Muddyboots]

50-90 Sharps is plenty

 

[Bravo 4]

50-90 Sharps is plenty

I have a .510 something or other that hammers deer and hogs, shooting mostly subsonic. Nice to have a rifle that can kill anything on the planet.

 

[psegriz]

Elk season is coming - wonder what we think?
IMO and IME experience, there is a thresh hold for caliber and bullet size when I hunt elk. Many of my friends call me "magnum" because of this philosophy. When it comes to hunting, especially larger game, I run big heavy (195 and larger) bullets at at least 3000 fps mzl vel for elk. I subscribe to no less than 1000 lbs of energy to kill and in the field, things sometimes aren't as perfect as they are on the range or shooting steel - especially at longer ranges when the bullet has a 1 second or longer flight time. Animals move, take steps, turn and have round bones that sometimes deflect smaller bullets upon impact.

I wonder how every one else thinks about this? Yes, I know there have been elk killed with a .243 but is that really what you want to ethically kill an elk with?

SEND IT!

I've taken whitetail with my 220 swift out to 500 yds. I handload and speed is more important than mass. Mass doubles the impact but speed multiple by 4. I'll go with speed every time. That being said I have 338 luapa custom on order. I expect it to be good 1200 hopefully 1500. I get my advice from military snipers not sharp shooters.

 

[teesquare]

My deer gun is a .243. They all die immediately. I laugh at the 30.06 guys.
My Elk rifle was a 7mm-08. I may downsize to a 6.5 cm. I sit at the range for hours.
I have seem many hunters at camp loose an Elk with a big magnum cartridge. For me, I could not sit at the range all day with a magnum rifle.

The is a new invention for this: a muzzle brake.....now, you can sit at the range all day with a magnum....

 

[memtb]

The is a new invention for this: a muzzle brake.....now, you can sit at the range all day with a magnum....

If the person is any kind of decent rifleman, it should not be "necessary" to sit all day at the bench all day with any rifle.....it's an option! A "shooter" can be proficient with a magnum without sending hundreds of rounds downrange in a session, or even in a year of sessions! Proper rifle fit is a prerequisite for comfortable, accurate shooting!

Just yesterday, I shot 15 rounds through my .375 AI and 8 rounds through my wife's .338 WM with no ill effects......done without brakes on either! And yes.....I can still use my arm today!

Unless it's the "only" rifle the shooter owns....other firearms can been used for practice shooting or enjoyment! You shoot a few rounds through the properly fitted "magnums" to remain proficient and to prove your zero. If the shooter (?) cannot shoot the magnum proficiently during the occasional practice outing...they need to be honest with themselves, as many do, and select another cartridge to hunt with. Or, God forbid.......put a weed-burner (muzzle brake) on it!

Magnum is only a word.....few of us would fear a .22 Magnum! My 45-70 pushing 430 grain bullets @ 1900 has a bit of recoil.....but, doesn't come with the word magnum in it's title! memtb

 

[teesquare]

If the person is any kind of decent rifleman, it should not be "necessary" to sit all day at the bench all day with any rifle.....it's an option! A "shooter" can be proficient with a magnum without sending hundreds of rounds downrange in a session, or even in a year of sessions! Proper rifle fit is a prerequisite for comfortable, accurate shooting!

Just yesterday, I shot 15 rounds through my .375 AI and 8 rounds through my wife's .338 WM with no ill effects......done without brakes on either! And yes.....I can still use my arm today!

Unless it's the "only" rifle the shooter owns....other firearms can been used for practice shooting or enjoyment! You shoot a few rounds through the properly fitted "magnums" to remain proficient and to prove your zero. If the shooter (?) cannot shoot the magnum proficiently during the occasional practice outing...they need to be honest with themselves, as many do, and select another cartridge to hunt with. Or, God forbid.......put a weed-burner (muzzle brake) on it!

Magnum is only a word.....few of us would fear a .22 Magnum! My 45-70 pushing 430 grain bullets @ 1900 has a bit of recoil.....but, doesn't come with the word magnum in it's title! memtb

Here is a different perspective: muzzle brakes work. They work to help reduce recoil, and that can help in training a new shooter - so as to lessen the likelihood of developing a flinch. They also work when someone has had shoulder re-building surgeries. And, they work to keep people from crowding you at a shooting range...
NO ONE starts shooting sports as a "decent rifleman". So, there are many tools that can be used to expedite the process in order to achieve a specific goal. Hunting big game is but one of those....
Like you - I don't need to shoot anything all day at a range for proficiency building. But I do take hunters out west to hunt every year that have never had to shoot at game more than 75 yards.The average distance for taking a whitetail here is about 40 yards. No kidding.... They need some time to first get over the false psychology that it is more difficult to hit the target just because it is 200-300 yards.

 

[RevJim]

Here is a different perspective: muzzle brakes work. They work to help reduce recoil, and that can help in training a new shooter - so as to lessen the likelihood of developing a flinch. They also work when someone has had shoulder re-building surgeries. And, they work to keep people from crowding you at a shooting range...
NO ONE starts shooting sports as a "decent rifleman". So, there are many tools that can be used to expedite the process in order to achieve a specific goal. Hunting big game is but one of those....
Like you - I don't need to shoot anything all day at a range for proficiency building. But I do take hunters out west to hunt every year that have never had to shoot at game more than 75 yards.The average distance for taking a whitetail here is about 40 yards. No kidding.... They need some time to first get over the false psychology that it is more difficult to hit the target just because it is 200-300 yards.

When I moved here to Utah from SE Texas Big Thicket via Oklahoma, I was "very intimidated" by the open sage and short grass prairies, same with WY. The WIND has been my biggest Albatross, ha!