Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Looking for suggestions

I am trying to decide between a 300 win mag or a 7mm rem mag, or a better caliber, and which manufacturer.
I am wanting a rifle to take on a Caribou hunt or any other big game in North America.
I am open to suggestions, whatever I get will use factory ammo. I hunt in the midwest,
and have smaller caliber rifles already. (243,6.5 creed,280, all MRC)
The budget for the rifle will be up $3500.
Any helpful input would be appreciated.

A 280 with Reloads,smokes a 7mm Mag or 300Winny,squirting Factory Fodder.

Bullets matter wayyyyyyy more than headstamps and a 180 ELD at 2800fps,is alotta Juice for the squeeze.

Hint.....................

The 280 will do what you want to do, including game other than Caribou in North America. If you must have a new rifle, just because you want a new rifle, then the .300 Win Mag would be my pick, and MRC would also be high on my list. The 7 mag will get you very little performance over the 280.

Note, MRC appears to be having some quality issues and I understand that they are now under new management that vows to correct the past problems. The one MRC rifle I have has been a great rifle and apparently you like them also since you have three of them. The quality issues and customer service issues may be recent occurrences.

280 all day long, and this is coming from a guy with two 7mm Rem Mags.


https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/280-remington-150-gr-eld-x-precision-hunter#!/

This will exceed your expectations.

Hornady is claiming 2925 FPS, which is 135 FPS faster than I can push the same bullet out of my 7mm-08. This -08 load kilt this bull from 409 yards.



The caribou don’t stand a chance.





P

Caribou are not hard to kill, so the.280 Rem would be a fine choice. I have a .280 Rem., but I have yet to use it for caribou. I wanted a new rifle when I moved to AK 7 years ago, so I went .300 WM, as I hunt in grizzly country and wanted a little more oomph. That being said, I have yet to see a grizzly while out hunting caribou or moose. Trust me, they are there though. We say three black bears (sow and two cubs) on our first caribou hunt we went on in 2013, and never got more than 250 yards to her. She was too busy licking the natural salt lick than she was concerned with us. If I draw a caribou tag for next fall, I am going to pack my .300 WSM and .280 Rem for the hunt.

My 280 is an ASR, was wanting to go all weather.
Would the 280 be enough for moose and possibly brown bear?
I am starting to work on my bucket list of hunts.
I appreciate all the input.

I use a 280 on Brn bears, I use either 160 accubond or 175gr partition.

300 Win mag

Given what you already have on hand, I'd suggest skipping the ones that just push relatively small bullets a bit faster, and get a .338 for "any other game in North America", or posibly a 9.3x62. Your .280 will handle almost everything "handily", but a medium might be a bit better for moose, big elk in timber, and certainly big bears.

If griz isn't in your plans, I'd just stick with the .280, or maybe pick up something very light with tough glass for rough country, like a Fieldcraft, NULA, or Backcountry, maybe in .30/06, although Cooper has a couple in .338, the Backcountry and the Timberline.

Brown bear is a possibility, but Moose is on the must do list. I am thinking now it is just a good excuse to tell the wife I need a new rifle for that., already told her about needing a new rifle for a prairie dog hunt.

Finally had the chance to shoot the 300win mag , 7mm rem mag, and a 338. The big caliber kicked like a mule. The 7 mag was very managable. My wife shot the 300 one time
that was enough. The 7 mag she was able to shoot just fine, so I sold my ASR in 280 and ordered a Fierce in 7mm Rem mag.
It was more enjoyable to shoot than the 300 Win mag was.

Whatever floats your boat. But selling a 280 to get a 7mm RM? That seems like a lateral move.

I wanted an all weather gun, the ASR is wood stock and blued. I made money on the ASR, and still have an old Ruger in 280.

300 Win. Mag hands down.

You did well. You select the rifle you have the greatest confidence in. Just be careful to shoot enough with it and find the right load. Don't overscope it but put a decent scope that extends your range out to 350 yards. You won't need more than that if you are a hunter.