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For a guy asking advice on something he’s never done.... you sure are picky about the information you’re receiving. There’s YEARS of experience and TENS of THOUSANDS of rounds down range talking here.... I’d suggest you listen with a little more holistic ear.

If you’re not interested in the rifles and optics ow.... you will be soon.... when you realize that your equipment is putting you behind the 8-ball to start.

600 isn’t a tough nut.... but it does require more than just bullets.

You’re overthinking this in some areas..... and WAY under thinking it in others. None of the optics you’ve listed are going to suit you well in your endeavor. The A-Bort 7mm will run into issues shooting high BC bullets due to twist rate and mag confines. The scope isn’t going to handle what’s required to get that rig consistently placing shots at 600.

Optics make a huge difference once you get out past 300-400.

Your best bet is still the .308 RAR. The 155 Scenar is a great bet.... but if you wanna go to a more “game bullet” you could go Accubond/NBT or something of that nature. Drop $300 on a SS 6x or 10x.... dab some bedding in the forend to stiffen up the stock, and get a couple hundred rounds down range.

You can skullphuck BCs, platforms, optics, cartridges, etc...... but a wise Oomp-a-laskan once said “spent Primers are the ultimate tutorial”.

I will get to spent primers when I've winnowed the field of bullets down to something more reasonable, in the meantime, I'm not interested in a Chevy vs. Ford vs. Ferrari vs. Volkswagen discussion of rifles. If anybody wants to engage in a my-bullet-is-better--than-yours brouhaha, I will be a happy spectator.

Thank you.

Thank you. That helps with quite a few, but the users have apparently deleted or moved quite a few still.

Chevy vs Ford....

In fairness, some of the bullets you're talking about in your rifles is akin to putting diesel in a Prius.....

Quit bitching.... pick a bullet... and start shooting. We all know your gonna stick with what you got in Rifles/glass... and ultimately fail due to constraints that have nothing to do with “picking a bullet”.

But hey.... I guess that’s why you ask questions.... so you can be reminded of how much you already know, and how stupid everyone else is.

If it turns out that my rifles/optics are inadequate, I'll either upgrade or reduce my range. I don't have a problem with that. But hunting is my hobby, not building rifles. In all likelihood, 400 yds will be my maximum range, but if I do what I can to shoot well out beyond that, I'll have more confidence when I shoot game at that.

No no no! You aren't doing it right! And your decisions, because they aren't the right ones, are only worthy of scorn! What are the right ones? Well, they're what we say they are! Never mind that Elmer Keith popped an animal at 600 with an open sighted revolver in 44, or that to 600 max, all problems are easily solved with shyte scopes, factory crap guns with the wrong twists, and bullets with half-way decent BC. The only mysteries left to be solved after whether your bullets are pointy is how well you can sight-allign, breathe, and squeeze. There's no tricks to 600 across flat-ish terrain. Plastic $300 rifles with $100 glass loaded with scrounged range brass will do it, and do it well enough to kill deer. Just pick pointy bullets.

Haven't killed much at 600 have ya??? Especially with any wind over 3mph. If you had you wouldn't have made those comments, I would enjoy seeing the consistent $100 600 yd scope.

This is some very good advise...Not trying to start a fight here, but when it comes to LR shooting/hunting, there are guys on this forum as well as guys that have replied to this very thread that shoot thousands of rounds each year and have forgotten more about LR hunting than most of us will every know. The advise being presented on rifles and optics is very sound - even though bullet selection seemed to interest you the most. You don't have like the people on this forum, but at the very least listen to those who know.

LR Hunting is far better suited to rifles that allow long seating of bullets, have proper twist, as well as repeatable optics that can return to zero everytime and dial the exact amount of travel your requesting. Ensure these variables are in order and bullet selection becomes a lot simpler.

When I finally begrudgingly came around to the advise being preached on here it absolutely changed my thinking, the equipment I buy, and what I expect out of that equipment. Gone are most if not all of my Zeiss, Leupold, Nikon, ect...and have been replaced with the likes of SWFA, Nightforce, and Weaver Tactical (LOW Japan made optic that dials and holds zero with the best of them) Optically are they any better than what I used to own? Probably not, but I know that without a doubt, if I need to dial 4 mils, it adjusts that exact amount, and goes back to zero - EVERYTIME. Trust me when I say it gets pretty easy to start blaming loads, bullets, powders, ect thinking something is not right when its been your scope not dialing correctly. I was quite surprised how much more accurate my rifle were with trusted glass.

My main LR Big Game rifle right now is a 280 Ackley with a 3.6" magazine with a 9 twist and a NF scope - not much you can't do long range with that. However, for those on a budget, as Dogshooter said, at least optically, not much a $300 6x or 10x swfa wont do for ya.

That Nikko Sterling Gameking with AO and illumination looks quite nice for long range shooting. I'd buy two more of those and put them on your other two rigs. Nice to start with good optics like that on all your rifles. And helpful to have the same reticle on all of them.

As a side note on bullets, and this is not scientific but if your scopes say gameking on them, it leads me to think you should be looking at Sierra gameking bullets as well. And if you get a tattoo on the side of your neck that says GAMEKING, then it kind of works for both items. I hope I convinced you and I did enjoy giving you some advice. Thank you.

Forgot about the barrel donut for bull barrels. Get 3 of these and maybe 1 more for a backup. Best $9.06 you will spend, trust me and again, hope I convinced you.

#GAMEKINGkiller

So here are the short lists so far:

6.5X55SM -- Barnes 120 gr TTSX, Barnes 127 gr LRX, Hornady 140 gr SST, Hornady 143 gr ELD-X, Lapua Scenar 139 gr HPBT

7mmRM -- Barnes 145 gr LRX, Hornady 139 gr SST, Hornady 162 gr ELD-X, Nosler 140 gr BTH, Nosler 150 gr Accubond LR

.308 Win -- Barnes 150 gr TTSX, Lapua Scenar 155 gr HPBT, Nosler 150 gr Accubond

You don’t need a short list.......

you need a short bus.

narrowed it down for ya

Barrel donut.

You don't listen for chit.