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Nope. Just like watching train wrecks.

If you really wanted help, and were receptive to it, you'd be overwhelmed with support. Support from a bunch of dudes that could save you hours and dollars.

Instead, we've got you! And it's a blast!

The 308 and a case of ammo or more, or at least settle on a match type load and load up 1000 or so and put a good scope on and start shooting still rings the right steel here..

White man thinks its arrow. Indian knows its Indian....

Until you figure this out you are spinning your wheels.... I haven't changed my 308 load in years... 185 bergers... but I might switch it to 208 amax or 210 bergers when I run out of 185s... I KNOW that load and rifle really well...

Then i'm not worried in the least about how I'm "wasting your time". I've been quite receptive to help selecting bullets, which is what I asked for. Instead I find a lot of one gun, one load forever just shoot and don't think about it guys who never compare one bullet type to another and who've spent a lot of money on their one gun. Imagine my surprise.

Or...... there's a lot of guys who've shot a lot and have done what you're trying to do and base their replies on experience...

Idk.

Back to bullets. Barnes are an easy pass for me when Bergers and Scenars kill everything up to elk with authority. Even easier to pass on them when the topic is whitetails.

FatOldMIHunter,

You need to listen to Dogshitter, kuuuntman22, and Smokingweed because Doggshitter is a lying coward, kuuunt22 needs the sympathy because the neighbor was phuuking his wife, and Smoke, well his story changes more than his brown stained underwear 😀😀😀

It seems painfully obvious that the three clowns have zero idea as to how to show curtiousy or respect to an older gentlemen but rest easy sir knowing that many of us here on the fire do. 😁

Since you have reloader 26 on hand a great load that has been stable from below zero to 40 above in the 6.5 Swede is 49.5 grains RL26, 147 eld hornady, rem 9 1/2 primer in Lapua brass. In a tikka t3 that load showed no vertical stringing at 500 yds and groups under 2". The 147 works great on deer but I wouldn't recommend it for elk.

PS....I'm just another poor stupid phuucker trying to make my way through life like yourself. I really wish I was cool like the coward crowd but hey, we can't all be cool can we




Trystan

Others have said it. you are a damn fool. But its your call.

Get the one bullet one load and LEARN. Until you know something, you don't know anything. Don't complicate this and make it worse on you. You can take the highest BC, fastest round, most accurate load and I'll stomp your azz all day with a 223 way on out there.

LISTEN. LEARN.

Once you have learned, then you can play with all the other tinker toys, ledges, and Lincoln logs. Until then you are wasting time and money.

But if you want to waste money shooting custom bullets at 3400 fps out of a custom gun etc... thats your business I suppose.

Something like a 223 or 308 will really TEACH you.

Then when you move to something better, IF you still feel that need, it will seem like Childs play to an extent.

Barnes are one of the best hunting bullets ever made by the way. About all I'll shoot. But I don't shoot them at long range often.

Get you some of the good but cheaper amax, SMKs etc... and load a butt load while you have this issue with shooting in the cold.... then you will be set when it warms up.

You can thank us all later.

One gun/one load to learn WTF you’re doing... expand from there.

Maybe..... just maybe..... when you hear the same advice from several guys.... take a look back through some of their profiles and posts. Yeah.... you’ll have to sort through some smart-azz bullschitt.... but it’s pretty easy to see that guys like ‘pole, huntsman, 4th, Rost, Higgins.... can all make hits well past the ranges you’re talking about. Boxer shot you straight.... in his directly-roundabout way. Every single bullet on your list... has killed critters near and far, by the very people from which you sought advice on the subject.

Aside from some of the tongue in cheek comments, no one here has steered you wrong... no one.... go back and look. The advice is sound.... all be it unsolicited. Listening to some of these guys over the years has saved me countless hours of chasing my tail... and probably thousands of dollars in waisted components. Another nugget from the Oomp-a-laskan: Start at the f’n Start.

Since I feel like trying to help.... again.... I’ll re-answer the the original question, here’s what I’d do... if I were you:

7 Mag: 160 Accubond. Good enough BC, and will kill anything you’d ever wanna shoot it at. Your gun will handle them fine... and I know they work out of a 7 Mag at the ranges you’re talking.... both in the air and in fur. I’d look for 3000 fps. It’s leaving a little on the table ballistically, to be sure... but it’s easy to get to shoot, and it performs well on game at all ranges.

Howa 6.5x55: 147 ELD or 139 Scenar. I’m partial to the Scenar, they’re very easy to get to shoot, and they have a solid performance record in the field, and in LR rifle competition. I know they work at the ranges you’re talking about. I’d look for 2850-2900 with the 139... don’t have any experience with the 147.

RAR .308: Here’s a thought..... just hear me out on this. Instead of dropping a bunch of dough on misc. components for the other guns... simply drop $300 on a Fixed 6x SS and Mount it on said .308. Read the “SWFA Tutorial” post in the Optics Forum. Buy a box of Lapua brass, and a box of 500 155 Scenars.... that’s another $300. There’s dudes here that can point you in the right direction regarding a load for the 155s. Instead of “experimenting”..... load up all 100.... they’ll shoot good enough, I promise. Shoot them all in one afternoon.... 200 to 400. Yes, all of them. Load them back up, and do it again this time 300-500. Lather.... Rinse.... Repeat. Betcha once you can see the blue bottom of that box of 155s.... you’ll be pretty sold on that entire set-up.... and deer will have serious troubles.

What have you got to lose?

Seems more like a bunch of bruised egos from my foxhole. Barnes are only on the list because any comparison that didn't include them would be missing something that many hunters swear by. Chevy vs. Ford vs. ...

I've seen lots of guys like this. They ask questions, but already have the answers in mind before they receive the first response, and everybody that does respond is wasting their breath. Well I'll waste a little of my breath...

I responded to your question with a bullet suggestion for each of your rifles. I stand by that recommendation. But since the title of the thread is "Long Range Strategy", I'll second what Boxer wrote as a holistic strategy. If you're actually concerned with coming up with a LR hunting strategy, then you should sell the Browning. Put that money into a RAR or Tikka in .223, mount one of the scopes I mentioned early in the thread using a pic rail and Burris XTR Sig or the cheaper SWFA pic rings, buy (1000) 75 ELD's, and spend the spring and summer learning how to read the wind and compensate for it out to 600 or beyond if possible. Learn how to use a good LR-capable scope. Then buy a bunch of 147's for the 6.5. Pick an appropriate powder, quickly develop a load that shoots under MOA, and learn the behaviour of that load. After 1000 rounds of .223 down range out to 600 yards, and learning what your 6.5 does in the wind out to 600, deer anywhere within that range will be in serious trouble of finding the inside of your freezer.

What you're lacking right now, far more than bullets, is knowledge and LR shooting skill. And neither of those can be bought. Trigger time and spent primers is the way to become effective. Dogshooter is steering you straight.

BTW, I'm a Barnes fan for shots under 300 yards using chamberings with high MV. For shooting beyond that, I'm 100% in AM, VLD, or ELD mode. If the rifle I'm shooting starts an ELD at 2700 fps or under, the Barnes load gets skipped and the ELD gets used near and far.

Hahaha, I don't really give two slimy boogers for courtesy or respect due to age, but when I get a "There's only one right way to do things and it's my way" vibe, credibility goes right out the window. Thanks for the load advice. Most of the Alliant loads that I've seen for the Swede suggest RL 23, but I can try RL 26. I chose the 143 gr Hornady ELD-X for my test but I might reconsider. I've got the Lapua brass and the Rem 9-1/2M primer.

There's lots of ways to come up with a "Long Range Strategy", just like there's lots of ways to train for an Olympic event if you're an athlete. But if you ask an Olympic athlete what the best strategy is, you'll probably get a pretty short list of training strategies, based on a lot of trial and error and experience.

There's lots of ways to fumble around trying to hit stuff out to 600 yards, but there are a couple of ways to expedite the learning curve and the path to becoming effective at actually hitting what you're aiming at.

deflave, is that you? <grin>

Another example of someone wanting confirmation of what they "think" they know.

Don't forget that his partner is looking over his shoulder, so there is that.



Between the cold weather, hassle of moving blinds, and a pesky "friend", he's in a tough spot. It's a wonder he continues to post in this thread.

Wow.

I second Dogshooter: For the love of God, spend some money on a scope up to the task of 600 yards. Better yet, don’t shoot at anything over 300 yards. Better for you and a whitetail. 🙈

"Blah, blah, blah, decades of experience, blah, blah, blah, thousands of rounds downrange, blah, blah, some other logical fallacy, blah, blah, blah."

When exactly did you guys become like your own fathers?

I've got my list of bullets. I'll be focusing on the 7mmRM for now, developing a load at 100 yds using Erik Cortina's method. I'll be starting with the 140 gr Nosler BTH and RL26. Hopefully there will be a package at the post office tomorrow with a couple of the other bullets. I'll also be shooting two other rifles tomorrow, getting them one step further through their breakin rounds. I'd ask what bullets you would recommend for my wife's .243 Win, but since you all only have one gun and one load for it, I figure it wouldn't be a .243 Win.

Sounds like you got it dialed in!!! I am sure you’ll do awesome. Always best to trust your gut and what you already know to be true based on your own experiences than a bunch of “yahoos” on the Internet. Advice???? Thats for the birds if you already got an idea of what you are gonna do. Why even ask? You got this thing figured out.


So what have you already decided on for your wife’s 243?


And since you do have it figured out how do you plan to work your wind holds when shooting at 600 yards when it’s blowing 3, 7 12, 17 mph and it’s full or half value and such with the scope reticles you have. I have a Vx-3 leupold simple duplex I am trying to figure out where to hold in the duplex reticle depending on wind speed and direction.

It sounds like most of your enjoyment is trying to figure out loads for your three rifles. That’s where your passion seems to be. I think you’ve wrung out the best information possible from these boyz who’ve been trying to help regarding loads for each. Practically speaking, the rest is up to you on what you decide works...Corncern comes into play when your shooting skills may be your weak link.

Those who’ve said “just start shooting” are really saying, you have enough bullet information...Now shoot your [bleep] and produce consistent, accurate hits on your steel. I’ve read enough posts in my brief time here to know one thing. No one likes to hear about a “walk away animal from wounding”. Especially, when someone is shooting beyond their skill set due to ignorance or lack of practice.

Now, I’m not saying you be ignorant, but let’s start hearing about how well your doing shooting your LR rigs. Let the steel ringing begin, please.

And, get a stable shooting bench for practicing...Good Luck, I am sure your gonna be great

I wouldn't call these guys "yahoos". Some of them gave what I think will turn out to be good advice on bullets. They just really have bugs up their butts about telling them you're multitasking. The concept seems to be foreign to them.



My buddy gave me 6 boxes of Nosler Partitions. That should last my wife a long time. I'll be kicking that can down the road until I've got my own rigs set up.



I would probably pass on shooting in 17 mph winds. I have plenty of time for hunting, so no need to risk it. With anything lower than 15, I'll probably plug the numbers into Strelok Pro. But I only have 400 yds for hunting. The place where I will be shooting 600 is for the practice to boost the confidence for the 400.



Without at least a BDC or HHR reticle, you should probably just use that for MPBR.