Would appreciate thoughts on "having it all" to 600 yards.

[cdhunt]

Re: Would appreciate thoughts on \"having it all\" to 600 yards.

a 308 at 600 yds is marginal, and requires a lot of LUCK, using a 180 gr. bullet at 2700 fpm mv gives you only about 1400 ft #'s ,not enough for an elk at 600 yds, besides the 108 inches of drop.

 

[Hired Gun]

Re: Would appreciate thoughts on \"having it all\" to 600 yards.

Doesn't anyone hand load anymore? If you do there is no reason one gun can't do it all out to 600+ yards and have long barrel life. For solid elk killing performance at 600+ yards I would be looking at the 300 or 340 Weatherby Magnums in a Weatherby Accumark either with or without the Accubrake. Recoil while hunting is rarely a problem. The Weatherby triggers are superb. I have all mine set below 1 pound. You can't believe how mild and accurate a 300 Wby is if you load it down to 2600 feet per second or so. Same thing in the 340. Put 185's in it and run them at 2600 fps and it's a pussycat that will never hurt a barrel. Sure the 308 is plesant to shoot but it is a little weak cartridge that will always be just that. A big magnum can do it all. All you need is to load for the situation. A 300 Weatherby with 110 grain Hornady's at a reasonable speed makes a super varminter too. That's why mine has a 6-18 power scope on it. It shoots .4's with 180 grain Partitions at 3200. Mine is slow because it only has a 23" barrel.

It is funny how we found this out. We were working up loads for a 300 Wby once and stumbled into a load that shot in the .2's with almost no kick. We were spellbound by it. I was so fun to shoot. Later we finally chronographed it. 2600fps was the reading. A quick trip back to the bench revealed that the scale was 10 grains low.

 

[sniperVLS]

Re: Would appreciate thoughts on \"having it all\" to 600 yards.

Im with Wind Dancer on this one, people put waaaaay too much focus on ft. lb. #'s.

You need a well placed bullet that can get to the vitals, it doesnt get any simpler than that. Ofcourse we'd all like to have the animal drop as soon as it gets hit, but what matters is a clean shot. If one feels confident that they can put a .308 into a deers heart at 900 yards, let her fly.

The topic wasnt about which drops an animal faster.

You get a bullet thru the vitals and its done, regardless of wether you doing some chasing or not.

someone said the .308 isnt good enough for deer, let alone Elk at 600 yards, thats rubbish, no offense. Too many deer have been taken with little effort out to 8 and 900 yards with .308's

They all react differently so while one runs, the next one might drop at 800 yards, no fuss.

Ok, back to fondling my rifle /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[James Jones]

Re: Would appreciate thoughts on \"having it all\" to 600 yards.

I agree that to much thought is put into the flbs at the target , if you can get the bullets in the lungs your gonna kill it I have killed deer with a 308 out past 600yds and none have gone more than 50yds all were hit with a 175gr SMK
as far as a 600yd elk gun the 308 woulden't be my first choice and I don't think it would do as good of a job getting through the shoulder as say a 30-06 or 300mag. but if the elk is broadside at 600 and not moving i'm **** sure gonna shoot at him if the 308 is all I got but if it was a hard quarting shot I'd probably pass
In short the 30-06 will do it the 300mag may give you a little more insurance of getting through a big bone but I'd have to say that any of the 280's 30-06's cases would work fine and most any of the 7 and 30 mags

 

[Michael Eichele]

Re: Would appreciate thoughts on \"having it all\" to 600 yards.

I am using a custom 300 RUM. Barrel is 27.25" long, 12 twist. It will shoot 180 ACCUBONDS at 3450 FPS coated with tungsten disulfied. 200's at 3300+ These loads have more energy at 600 yards than my 308 has at the muzzle with its heaviest and fastest loads. (190 @ 2650) These loads will quickly kill an elk at that range. The draw back is recoil and bbl life. I use a brake despite its 16# weight. The brake is very user friendly though as all the ports are angled forward. (No this does not defeat its purpose) Accuacy has been sub .5 to .75 MOA at long range.

As much of a fan of the 308 as I am, I dont encourage 600 yard elk hunting with it. Elk need a sledge hammer. They are true die hards.

 

[sniperVLS]

Re: Would appreciate thoughts on \"having it all\" to 600 yards.

Im picking up a Rem 700 Sendero SF in .300 win mag just for elk/moose, and the bears that hunt them. I use my .308 for everything else, although Id like to tackle a elk or moose at a couple hundred yards with my .308

too many think its just for your average deer. Id have no problem with taking an elk at 300 to 400 yards with it(assuming all conditions are perfect). But if I have the Sendero, why bother I guess right?

"Use the tool thats more able to get the job done" makes more sense in my situation.