More confused than ever

darrindlh

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
467
Location
Pocatello, ID
First of all I appreciate all of the comments on all of the topics and questions that I have had. Everyone has been patient with me and everyone has been great. Thank you. But I have one more.
I just got off the phone with the rayhills with stockade stocks. They are amazing people and very helpful teaching me what I would need. i have my savage stevens in a 300 win mag. I am going to build a rifle off of this platform. Mr. rayhill wants to build me a 7wsm for long range hunting. the purpose of my rifle is to be able to ethically take Antelope and Deer over 1k and moose and elk upto 1k. All opinions welcome? What to do!

Darrin
 
Antelope and Deer over 1k that's close to 1100 yards or more depending on how much over 1k your talking about, and moose and elk upto 1k roughly 1100 yards. You said-All opinions welcome? IMHO you better start thinking in terms of 300 rum, 338 rum, 338 edge, 338ax...something along these lines. Just my 2 cents.
 
Let's start by saying that the concept of ethical is subject and means different things to different people and we avoid talking about ethics in these forums.

That being said, you should better define wht kind of oerformance you are looking for. My defintion centers aroung the performnce of the bullet, which in most cases is 1800 fps mimimum expanding velocity. For deer and antelope 1K is going to be at the edge of most bullets performance in a WSM or 7RM or 300WM, and maybe beyond range depending on load or altitude. If you want to exceed 1K, I would recommend a RUM cartridge or bigger.

Hope that helps,

Mark
 
Thank you for the replys. Did not mean to bring up the ethic situation. I understand that very much. Typing into my ballistics calculator. The 7m shooting the berger 168 grn bullet at 3050 fps puts me at 1400 yrds at an altitude of 6000 where i am hunting. I am not saying that the 7mm is the do all round by any means .

darrin
 
Montana you are right I made a mistake some where. The first which got me to 1400 was inputed into Ballistic Flight on my iphone the second which I got exactly like you was put in to my jbm calculator. i don't know what I am doing wrong with my Iphone calculator

Darrin
 
in 7mm i'd say rum or stw ,other than that i'd just step into to .338 realm you'd be happier there.gun)
 
I am of the opinion that if you want to be very serious about a solid 1K+ yard elk and moose hunting rifle, that the 338 is where it is at. Sure other calibers do well but from a pure LR killing and wind drift (or lack of) standpoint, the 300 grain pills are near impossible to beat for larger game and/or tougher game such as mt goats.

If you were just talking deer and antelope at 1K I would say your 1st choice would suffice. Add 1K elk and bigger to the mix and it is time to get serious.
 
Darrin
I am no expert or anything close to it
But I would say for Antelope and Deer over 1k you would be fine with a 7wsm
elk would be pushing it and moose you would probably be lacking some.
I would be using at least a 300 if not a 338
just my 1 cents worth
retiredcpo
 
What would be your minimum fps for a confirmed long range kill . Or does that matter. Are you more conserned how the bullet will perform.
Ok it is hard for me to believe that a bullet travilong at 1800 fps will not have a terminal effect on any game it comes in contact with. Why do you guys like the 338's.

Darrin
 
To my understanding, the hunting bullets are the problem. Most hunting bullets don't want to open up below 1800 fps. So if your 7mm elk/moose bullet arrives at 1700 fps, it just drills a 7mm hole in your elk.

This will NOT put your elk down. He may run off, or wander off into the deepest darkest hell-hole he can find before he dies or not. You may not find him for days, if ever. Personally, I harvested a cow elk with a healed-over hole in her heart and one lung. Clearly, bullet damage.
Loosing an elk or moose will not be a lot of fun for you. So why do it??

The 7mm WSM is a great cartridge for target shooting at 1000m or farther.
It drills holes in paper with the best of them. If this is what you want to do,
rock on! :D
 
Darrin, for every member here you will get an opinion on what's the best cartridge and bullet and rifle and whatever. Most of the opinions are based on expereince and facts but there's a lot more gray to this game than there is black and white.

As a general rule of thumb, bigger is better when it comes to killing game, especially down range. And the bigger higher BC bullets buck wind better. IMO, a well placed bullet that performs well will get the job done. Some will get it done a little better than others. I would say, get as much info and experience as you can and use your judgment.
 
Darrin, my suggestion to you would be have the 7wsm built and shoot the hell out of it, by the time you need a new barrel you may be capable of actually hitting your target at 1000 yards under the conditions you may encounter in the field. Owning a 1000 yard gun dosen't make you a 1000 yard hunter, practice and skill is what wins the race. Good luck with your new rifle.:)
 
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