"So the girlfriend has bro. Wants me to come out Colorado. 300 yd longest shot he has taken should I get a 7 mag or just take the whelen?"
It's a remmy 7600 though. Shoots nice tight groups. I'm a midwest whitetail hunter. Got a savage 300 99 and a 250 sav ruger 77. That is my battery. Pretty lame. No mags
Well, I hunt New Mexico near Raton which is right on the Colorado border. Been doing it for the last 6 years. Closet shot was right at 100 yards and the longest was 350 yards, all verified by laser. My hunting buddies shots were at similar ranges with two exceptions. Both a bit bit over 400 yards. Animals were hit and running away. They didn't make it.
My buds were shooting .270 Win.150 gr. Nosler Partition and 30-06 180 gr. Hornady SP.
My rifle is a .35 Whelen shooting a Barnes 225 gr. TSX at 2700 FPS. Dunno if that load would be OK in your rifle though it's fine in mine. It's accounted for 5 of the 6 elk I've taken on those hunts. One was with a 30-06 when the scope on the Whelen turned toes up. Take the Whelen. If you don't reload, try some of the Nosler ammo with the 225 gr. Partition. Pricey? Oh yeah but they'll do the job if your rifle likes them.
FWIW, I have there rifles chamber to the Whelen. My custom which is what I take, a Remington M700 Classic that my current load is too hot and a Ruger. M77 with a possibly bad chamber. Factory ammo will have case head separations on firing. Gonna see if I can firearm some brass and use it as a cast bullet gun.
Paul B.
