Jeff,
I used to shoot with a retired farmer/meatcutter named Rudy Wadekamp. He shot a 308 at 1000 yds. Well enough that he was invited to jolly old England to shoot. I learned a lot about 600 yards by being on the firing line next to his daughter and I listened to him coaching her. I asked him once about why he didn't use a 300 Magnum at 1000 yards. His answer was that you still need to learn to read wind at 1000 yards its just twice as much with the 308 Winchester.
He used to rebarrel his rifle every year.
I have heard that the 6.5 shooters do the same thing.
The hunting pressure is so intense where I hunt that I wouldn't have time to use a rangefinder. However on the power line right of way the poles are about 200 meters apart. I have managed to kill some between the second and third pole so far. They will not hold still and bullet placement is challenging to say the least. That is what makes it interesting for me. I like the 7MM Magnum because bullet energy is adequate even at 400 yards. Even more if you can get a stationary target.
Just learning,
whelennut
