Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game I need sugestions for a .30 cal or bigger for flat out laying down the smack

* Caliber- 300 win mag,
will do it near or far in a 24" barrel (0-500) - a Weatherby or Ultra mag needs a 26" barrel to significantly beat it and the 24" is better for the woods,
decent barrel life and manageable recoil with a good pad (without a brake)-- not so apt to split a wood stock (if that is your preference)
readily available ammo,
very accurate,
will shoot flatter than a 338 for the long shots unless you go to the 340 Weartherby or 338 Ultra which are not conducive to good prone shooting because of the recoil

*Bullet - 200 grain Nosler Partition
accurate in most rifles,
will handle near or far shooting for both rapid expansion and deep penetration,
Is still one of the best all-round bullets for consistent performance on all types of game, is readily available and reasonably priced, and has a high BC

* In a model 70 this would be a great classic

.300RUM is the ticket for flat out thumping down range. The only problem (and I own a .300RUM) is that it thumps you back!!!

It ain't so much the thumping - it's the recovery that's important.

Pick your shots/times/conditions.

I hunt moose under your described conditions, with a .338, using either 225 or 250 gr. bullets. I'm prepared to shoot to 500 yards. Longest shot to date, over about 30 years, has been about 160, about 25 bulls, all calibers). Average shot is about 60 yards. Favorite shots are anything under 100, where I usually thump them in the neck bone, or spine further back.

I don't really need a .338 for this, but it doesn't hurt, especially in brown bear country. If I ever do accept a 300-500 yard shot, the rifle has the juice. I won't be shooting for spine, tho.

Out to 300 yards I would use a 35 Whelen. 225 or 250 grain should do the job.

You're conditions sound as if they mimic mine. I'd go with a .338 Win. mag & a 1.5-5x Leupold Vari-x III. Then stoke it with a good quality bullet/load. I've gone to 225 gr. Northforks with Rl-22 rather than use Nosler Partitions mainly because the Northforks are more accurate for me. Use whatever floats your boat though. Good luck, Bear in Fairbanks

hey, I'm totally digging all the replys! please keep them coming. What about a 300 wsm?

hey, I'm totally digging all the replys! please keep them coming. What about a 300 wsm? thanks CD

I dig the heck out of my .300 saum. It's a dandy but when it comes to "laying down the smack" it doesn't come close to rivaling the 338 ultra! It certainly "kills" them just as well though....

I've seen and admired the way the .338 whacks Elk. It sounds like the s*#t you need.

In closer the .45-70 belts the snot out of them but I guess it isn't polite to mention this round in SUCKSland...... DOH!!!

Funny how most of the hunters I know who've killed a bargeload of game have gone back to the bigbore leverguns to make it more challenging.

good luck! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

i personally dont care for the .300wsm . for what your talking about the .300 win a good round with a proven past .then you got the .300wby and .300rum and the .30-378 and that would be the king of those rounds . then you have the the .338win and the 338rum , 340wby , 338-378wby .

if you got the $$ go for one of the weatherby mags .... 30-378 would be my choice but there is still the 340 338-378 if you want a 33 caliber.

if you dont got the $$ for the weatherby ammo go for one of the other rounds mentioned if that is the case i like the 300rum or 338win . your choice they are all badass rounds .

hope this helps , no flames intended

I am with Lass and Bear on this one. I use a .338WM, but hey, most Alaskan hunters have a .338WM. I try to limit my shots on moose and 250-grain bullets to not more than 300 yards, but this year I dropped one at 325 with a Federal 250-grain NOS-HE. That .30-06 trajectory with 250-grain bullets is what makes the .338 great (-7" to -9" at 300 yards with a 250 grainer).

JJ made a lot of sense with his answers, since he put all the hunting conditions one may encounter in one package that is easy to agree with.

Creepingdeath,

You seem to be leaning towards a fast .30 but if you really want something for "flat out laying down the smack" then think bigger. See Charlie Sisk's post again. I agree with him. A Win Classic Stainless in .375 H&H is as good as it gets.

Muley,

Do you still have a video copy of that black bear Big Stick put me on a couple years back? I always thought that reaction, to getting hit with a .416" 370gr North Fork put the 'flop' in 'bang-flop'. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Course a 416 Taylor is no 400 yard cartridge...

I have a habit of wanting to use something a little bit different from the usual, so I would look for an 8mm Mag, or at the least, a 300 Weatherby.

I've used 300 Winchester and 300 Wby's with great success. I love them both! They have made some spectacular kills for me. I've never lost an animal with either. The 338 is a fine round, too but not as flat shooting. I've had several and they kill great, too.

The gun I'm tinkering with now is a Sako 995 in Lazzeroni's 7.82 Warbird. It's a very fast 30 caliber despite the 7.82 moniker. I believe Lazzeroni is not making/buying any more from Sako but I could be wrong. They don't show them on their website and I don't know if Sako is or legally can make that chambering with out the OK from Lazzeroni. If you want very flat with extreme smack that's a caliber to look at. Brass and dies are stupidly expensive so keep that in mind.

Another thing to keep in mind is recoil. Not many guys can shoot even a 300 WBY accurately due to recoil. If you can, great! But no matter what you get for a caliber, if you flinch with it, you have to conquer it or trade down.

Sako TRG-S in 340 wby shooting 185 or 225 xlc's nice gun that shoots great.

Anything .338 or bigger should do it. Weatherbys work well. If you're shooting factory stuff, it should be possible to find ammo for any .375H&H which, properly loaded will do any job you ask of it in the scenarios you've described above. If you reload and don't mind trying a wildcat, the .358 STA will do perfectly fine. Brass and/or loaded rounds for that caliber is available from Quality Cartridge, in Maryland.

BW, yep! I had a similar one the next year up with Stick when i was toting my ultra. Same general scenario though I think mine had just a touch more whiplash motion to it (grin).

BTW Brian, PM me your address. Assuming you have a way of watching DVD's? If so, I have a couple to send to you....

Scott

I use a 308 narma mag but i would suggest 300 rem ultra mag my 2 hunting partners use the rem mod 700 300ultra mag and we shoot deer as far out as 700 yrds one of us is an execelent shot but it is not me i stick to withen 450 yrds we hunt nuisance deer

I've shot a lot of the big mags but only one on game - the .340 Wby. It's not always the answer in terms of weight although mine isn't too heavy nor recoil. Like the others mentioned it takes learnin to shoot but shoot it does. Mine is on a Sucks action put up by shilen and while not a tack driver does under 1.5 inches with its best load but also better than that at 400 yds I might add which is what I regularly practice to. Ross S. long ago wrote it flys as flat a 7mm Rem Mag and hits like a .375. While that's true of more than the .340 now, it certainly still true of the .340. PM me for some details if you wish.

GDV