I will be building my first longrange hunting rifle. I have been researching calibers for about 5 months now. I still cant decide. I am looking at shooting whitetail maybe up to 800 yards. (I prabably wont be shooting that far but want to be able to for some day) The think that is making the choice selecting this round is barrel life. I would love to get a 300 rum or a 7 stw but I know that barrel wont last too long. I was thinking the .243 AI and shoot 105 amax's or 117 dtac's or some other high bc bullet. I just wasnt sure if this would have the knockdown power needed to cleanly kill a whitetail at that range. I was thinking 6.5-.284 but this goes back to barrel life. I was thinking .308 but this doesnt give me the tragectory I want. So I was thinking maybe a .300 win mag. The barrel life isnt horrible on this. I could shoot heavy high bc bullets out of this better than a .300 wsm. The only think I am not liking is the belt. I was thinking about making the chamber tight fit and neck turn so that resizing wouldnt even be necessary. I dont know if this is possible with the belted magnums is it? Also what about a 7 rem mag. I know this has pretty good balistics but it is also a belted mag. Also how is the barrel life on a 7 rem mag? Any other recamendations? Thanks alot
Which caliber starting off
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do a 7mm short mag
have a long action chambered for the Rem Saum or the wsm in 7mm have it throated out and you will have a great performer to 1000 yards on the critters you are after the recoil is fine and they shoot verry well. I think their is a Rem sendero in 7mm Rem Saum in the for sale section it would be a perfect ridle for you the 168 and 175gr Sierra's are awsome out of my 7mm Saum 22" barreled Model7 SS.
Cheers Bill
Australia
have a long action chambered for the Rem Saum or the wsm in 7mm have it throated out and you will have a great performer to 1000 yards on the critters you are after the recoil is fine and they shoot verry well. I think their is a Rem sendero in 7mm Rem Saum in the for sale section it would be a perfect ridle for you the 168 and 175gr Sierra's are awsome out of my 7mm Saum 22" barreled Model7 SS.
Cheers Bill
Australia
HRstretch
Well-Known Member
I would ask myself how many rounds a year am I realistically going to put through this gun. As far as barrel life I antincipate 1500 to 2000 rounds before I will start to get concerned about accuracy of my 7MM STW. Now that I have my load developed i doubt that I will shoot more than 100 rounds a year with it.
That being said it will take me over 15 years to shoot out my barrel if it is shot out at 1500 rounds and that accuracy will only be reduced (in My opinion for target and not minute of deer). The reality of my hunting is that my shots are less than three hundred yards. After ten years I can re barrel to same caliber with a custom barrel or re chamber and fill like I got a new gun ( which I will rightly deserve LOL). Also if you are not shooting max or over on the loads that will help on barrel life.
What I am getting at is unless you are planning on shooting 100 plus rounds a week through this gun and need the accuracy of a match rifle to hunt buy what you want and worry about what your children or grandchildren will do with your deer slayer gun.
By the way I would chose the 7MM STW over the 300 RUM any day but I'm biased.
That being said it will take me over 15 years to shoot out my barrel if it is shot out at 1500 rounds and that accuracy will only be reduced (in My opinion for target and not minute of deer). The reality of my hunting is that my shots are less than three hundred yards. After ten years I can re barrel to same caliber with a custom barrel or re chamber and fill like I got a new gun ( which I will rightly deserve LOL). Also if you are not shooting max or over on the loads that will help on barrel life.
What I am getting at is unless you are planning on shooting 100 plus rounds a week through this gun and need the accuracy of a match rifle to hunt buy what you want and worry about what your children or grandchildren will do with your deer slayer gun.
By the way I would chose the 7MM STW over the 300 RUM any day but I'm biased.
linksmechanic
Well-Known Member
I would choose the 7mm rem mag. Don't worry about the belt. Brass is super cheap easy to find and they shoot real flat. I shoot the 180 bergers out of mine at 1200 yards weekly.
shootinfool
Well-Known Member
I would go with the 7mag and the 168 gr berger. Also look at the .270wsm, that is a pretty flat shooting fast round also.
redbone
Well-Known Member
Arrow
I would take an look at 7 MM STW .
You can knot go wrong with it .
Redbone
I would take an look at 7 MM STW .
You can knot go wrong with it .
Redbone
30-06 will do all that you need to do
with a 180gr have over 1000ftlbs past
800 yards.
Great barrel life easy to find ammo for
out in different areas.
Has killed everything in North America at all kinds of ranges.
Just a thought..
with a 180gr have over 1000ftlbs past
800 yards.
Great barrel life easy to find ammo for
out in different areas.
Has killed everything in North America at all kinds of ranges.
Just a thought..
30-06 boy
Well-Known Member
go with the big 7mm or big30 magnums.you wont be sorry.shoot heavy for caliber bullets for retained energy and high bc.i personaly would choose the 300 wm.have one love it.but i've never had a 7stw either.i like the 300wm for real heavy high bc bullets.they dont go real fast but carry thier speed and energy farther than some smaller caibers.or the 300 rum,never had one of these powder burners either.the chice is yours how much horsepower do you want.dont build/buy something too small to start,then have to spend more to go bigger later.go big now.as far as the belt goes.many 1000 yard benchrest shooters includung myself shot/shoot calibers with belted cases.if they were not capable of good accuracy these guys would not use them.neck size your fired cases with lee collet dies.you should have no problem.my .02 worth.jason
which caliber
you don't say where you are . are you shooting 100 pounders? or 350 pounders ? you also don't say if you are going with a custome barrrel or a factory gun. you can't go wrong with a a 7mm rem mag or a 300 win. both have belts and both shooot great out of a sendero. the third choice would be a 7mmwsm it is custom barrel only though.roninflag
you don't say where you are . are you shooting 100 pounders? or 350 pounders ? you also don't say if you are going with a custome barrrel or a factory gun. you can't go wrong with a a 7mm rem mag or a 300 win. both have belts and both shooot great out of a sendero. the third choice would be a 7mmwsm it is custom barrel only though.roninflag
I am in Missouri were the whitetail does can be about 170 live weight. And bucks can be about 230 live weight. It sounds like 7 rem mag or 7 stw would be about right. How much better would the stw be than the rem mag? What action lengths do you need for these rounds. It will be a custom barrel on a trued remington 700 action. I am thinking a 24" long 1.25" diameter barrel. I want it shorter for menuverability and heavy for accuracy. Does this 24" barrel sound too short for a long range rifle in 7 rem mag or 7 stw? I am thinking on putting it on a manner T-1 stock. With these manner stocks do you have to glass and piller bed them or no?
I know I asked alot of questions but I dont know much about rifle building. (this is my first one) Thanks alot.
I know I asked alot of questions but I dont know much about rifle building. (this is my first one) Thanks alot.
well my suggestion would be the 280rem then rechamber to 280AI. i have a 7STW, 30-378wby, 338-378wby, and a 338LM but i find my self grabbing the 280AI more then the rest, with 160gr bullets i have shot deer at 726yrds ranged with witnesses it will do anything the '06 will do and it will also do anything the 270win will do but it will do it better.
For whatever it's worth I recently went through the same decision process. I decided on the 30-06. You can handload them to 300WM levels depending on what bullet you use (i'm thinking triple shocks) and you don't have the belt or extra recoil to deal with. Finding ammo for 30-06 isn't a challenge and reloading suplies for .308 are everywhere. I'm new to precision shooting at longer ranges too, but there aren't too many things you can't do with a 30-06.
Long Time Long Ranger
Well-Known Member
Arrow, if your going with a short barrel custom gun I would not go with the magnums. The 7 stw will outshoot the 7 rem by a good bit with the 7 wby in between, but there are better choices in a short barrel. The 280 AI, 7mm JRS and 7mm Gibbs will make much better use of the powder in the short barrel. The JRS and the Gibbs are a little faster than the AI but either will sure do well for you. In a 24" barrel the JRS and Gibbs will equal the 7mm rem mag with less powder and much longer barrel life. With what you are doing I agree with 280AIman. Those 7mm wildcats off the '06 case will reach way out there for deer with cheap brass and not as much powder. I have a bunch of'em.
