I agree but I hand load so that alleviates some of the concern.
New rifle caliber
- Thread starter jstreater69
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littlebighorn
Well-Known Member
My bad!Being this a Long Range Hunting forum you may want to read the rules about posting about this particular opinion of yours. Especially since it's rule #1.
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1. We do not discuss ethics. To do so will result in the post or posts being edited or deleted."
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LRNut
Well-Known Member
Monthly? I would say unless you shoot almost daily at 1000 yards you have no business shooting game at 1000 yards. Like others have said, the wind conditions in mountains is extremely difficult.
The first question I have is how likely are you to shoot game animals at 400 yards or more? If you have the skills and practice required, that would shade my recommendation some.
Speed Goats really need a pretty flat shooting round that is relatively fast. Elk have been taken for decades with 270 Winchesters and 280 Remingtons so, a 300WM isn't required.
Belted cartridges and magnum length bolt actions are a turn-off for me these days. These days I find the 30-06 length actions to be pretty good for me. That gives me room for a pretty good selection of bullets without running into OAL issues in most options.
Personally, I would be looking in the 7mm range of options for REDUCED RECOIL which lets me LIGHTEN my rifle. Heavy rifles SUCK when you have to hump them in the field. A 280AI will rival 7mm Remington factory loads if you handload or get custom loads. You have enough payload to be a good stopper with appropriate bullets in a manageable rifle.
Regarding a 300WM like the Remington Sendero I own, I think it is over-rated for most people new to this type of hunting. People in this thread with extensive hunting experience can and do handle these heavy hitters well. For someone asking about a rifle and caliber they don't own for hunts they have never taken, I say it is problematic because of either RECOIL or EXCESSIVE WEIGHT.
Ear-splitting wonder magnums should be out of the question IMHO too. 6.5PRC and other similar rounds catch a lot of press but, personally, I think they are generally oversold and aren't an optimal choice for the vast majority of people buying them. Again, if you are experienced at shooting Speed Goats, things are different.
A 257Wby is my choice for things like deer and Speed Goats. I run a 338/06AI for heavier game animals which I don't have the skill to shoot at 600 yards or more. Where I live, 200 yards on Deer is along shot as well so, I really need to dust off my skills if I'm going for longer shots on Speed Goats and similar critters at distance.
Speed Goats really need a pretty flat shooting round that is relatively fast. Elk have been taken for decades with 270 Winchesters and 280 Remingtons so, a 300WM isn't required.
Belted cartridges and magnum length bolt actions are a turn-off for me these days. These days I find the 30-06 length actions to be pretty good for me. That gives me room for a pretty good selection of bullets without running into OAL issues in most options.
Personally, I would be looking in the 7mm range of options for REDUCED RECOIL which lets me LIGHTEN my rifle. Heavy rifles SUCK when you have to hump them in the field. A 280AI will rival 7mm Remington factory loads if you handload or get custom loads. You have enough payload to be a good stopper with appropriate bullets in a manageable rifle.
Regarding a 300WM like the Remington Sendero I own, I think it is over-rated for most people new to this type of hunting. People in this thread with extensive hunting experience can and do handle these heavy hitters well. For someone asking about a rifle and caliber they don't own for hunts they have never taken, I say it is problematic because of either RECOIL or EXCESSIVE WEIGHT.
Ear-splitting wonder magnums should be out of the question IMHO too. 6.5PRC and other similar rounds catch a lot of press but, personally, I think they are generally oversold and aren't an optimal choice for the vast majority of people buying them. Again, if you are experienced at shooting Speed Goats, things are different.
A 257Wby is my choice for things like deer and Speed Goats. I run a 338/06AI for heavier game animals which I don't have the skill to shoot at 600 yards or more. Where I live, 200 yards on Deer is along shot as well so, I really need to dust off my skills if I'm going for longer shots on Speed Goats and similar critters at distance.
Aoudad shooter1975
Well-Known Member
Good luck on the sheep…7mm rem mag—probably the most shootable, versatile big game caliber made. Stoke it with 175-195s and go hunting
I'll second 7mm Remington Magnum, but sure do enjoy carrying my Carbon Proof 28 Nosler. Really anything down to 6.5mm will get the job done fine. What you'll really want to ask is how much weight you're willing to carry. Even a 50bmg can be completely tamed with a muzzle brake. Recommending 7mm because you can go light and cheap and handle the recoil without a muzzle brake.
RockyMtnMT
Official LRH Sponsor
With 1000y on the menu, get horsepower. In a factory chambering the 300 rum is the top dog. There is no point in running just enough. Use a bullet that will handle the short range pop up and still perform at low velocity, without destroying your animal when you have high velocity impacts.
If you wanna kill animals out to 800 yards, any of the rifles mentioned will do it. Just do your research on what it takes to kill that animal cleanly and practice practice practice. The wind is your enemy but 800 yard kills are doable. Did I mention practice....... Very doable and Good Luck!!!
Dooner
Well-Known Member
Any of the 30 magnums mentioned here would work. Before you decide, I would recommend considering a few questions. Do you reload? Do you want a custom gun? Do you have a bullet you want to shoot? If you reload, and will be going for a custom, Any of the magnums mentioned will work. Just go for what you want.
I recently went with the 300 PRC in a CA Traverse. It has a 1:8 twist that will stabilise the new longer high BC bullets, including monos. Hornady makes great ammo for this gun, and I was making good hits out to 1000yrds with this gun the first time for me shooting that far. This gun is shooting sub MOA out of the box. CA and Browning are the only production guns that currently offer 300 PRC in a 1:8 twist, which is important if you want to shoot the longer, high BC bullets. Another concern is your magazine length; a lot of rifles in the traditional 30 cal magnums come with a standard magazine length that won't fit rounds with the longer bullets. If you go custom, this will not be a problem. With a custom, you can choose your twist rate, and magazine length.
The bottom line is that I'm very happy with my choice; I'm shooting sub MOA with a production rifle and Hornady ammo. This rig shoots well beyond ranges that I plan to take game. I also recently added a Sig Sauer 3000 BDX range finding bino that will bluetooth the range to my Kestrel. It's a pretty sweet set-up for hunting. Have fun & good luck.
Lee Goodwin
Well-Known Member
Of the 300s I go 300 wm. Hard to go wrong with 300 wm.
Practice at 800 yards is exponentially harder, for me, than 600. Go for it, but practice, and be humane. Antelope go down fairly easy.
The 7mm RM is a real good choice if you vary from your 300 mode.
Keep us updated.
Practice at 800 yards is exponentially harder, for me, than 600. Go for it, but practice, and be humane. Antelope go down fairly easy.
The 7mm RM is a real good choice if you vary from your 300 mode.
Keep us updated.
the 300 RUM pretty much outclasses & eliminates all the other cartridges mentioned, in fact it makes them obsolete in terms of energy comparison on target at long range
you can always download to match velocity of the slower cartridges, which in turn opens the doors to a multitude of other powders in this world of "crisis shortages" and will enhance brass life, effectively eliminating the terror of barrel life some seem to dwell on but will never see in a hunting rifle
the 300 RUM run hard and fast also mimics the bigger 30-378 Wby and is right on the heels of the 7.82 Warbird, there is nothing it can't do that other factory produced 30 cals do
The 300 RUM stomps on & can duplicate velocities of many 30 cal cartridges, pretty much build one custom dream rifle in 300 RUM and have all these as well ......
300 Norma Mag
300 WBY
30 Nosler
300 Win Mag
300 PRC
300 WSM
300 H&H
30-06
308 Win
+ all wildcats off of these in 30 cal & nothing in 7mm or 6.5mm is even remotely comparable in terms of effective killing power
there you go gents, science also supports this presentation, right in line with common sense .. hahaha
P.S.
the only way to make the 300 RUM better is to neck it up to 338 cal ....
like Jim Shockey would say, " No guff"
you can always download to match velocity of the slower cartridges, which in turn opens the doors to a multitude of other powders in this world of "crisis shortages" and will enhance brass life, effectively eliminating the terror of barrel life some seem to dwell on but will never see in a hunting rifle
the 300 RUM run hard and fast also mimics the bigger 30-378 Wby and is right on the heels of the 7.82 Warbird, there is nothing it can't do that other factory produced 30 cals do
The 300 RUM stomps on & can duplicate velocities of many 30 cal cartridges, pretty much build one custom dream rifle in 300 RUM and have all these as well ......
300 Norma Mag
300 WBY
30 Nosler
300 Win Mag
300 PRC
300 WSM
300 H&H
30-06
308 Win
+ all wildcats off of these in 30 cal & nothing in 7mm or 6.5mm is even remotely comparable in terms of effective killing power
there you go gents, science also supports this presentation, right in line with common sense .. hahaha
P.S.
the only way to make the 300 RUM better is to neck it up to 338 cal ....
like Jim Shockey would say, " No guff"
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LRNut
Well-Known Member
And for some reason, cartridges based on the 404 Jeffrey are exceedingly accurate (28N, 338 Edge, SAUMS, etc).
