Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 700 yard elk rifle

7MM Remington magnum or 300 Winchester magnum? Shilen or Criterion? I got myself a preference point this year but no tag. So that means I really need another toy to play with. This one will be on a Savage action, planning on a varmint weight barrel from either Criterion or Shilen. I already have several hiking elk rifles and this one would be for sitting on one hillside waiting for it to snow hard enough to get the elk to come down the mountain. I know exactly where to sit and wait but the key is a good snow fall. Such is elk hunting. Scope will be a SWFA SS 10 power. Rifle weight could be up to around 12 pounds as all I would have to do is unload my gear from the truck, go hide the truck and walk back to my shooting position. I will shoot it some out to 1000 yards on a nearby range so I will be able to get the rifle and myself tuned up for shooting that far.

Either out of both will get the job done. My experience is a 30 cal mag and Shilen so I’m biased. 7mag will kick less and that could lead to more shooting which could help in your confidence to make a 700 shot.

I am a .30 caliber man, but my wife was a 7mm fan.. I think either will be fine.. My heart is with the 30 s>

I have had several really good shooting 300 WM rifles. Both were a bit light and recoil wasn't pleasant. They both shot better than MOA. The 300 does carry more to the target. It's not like I am shooting Prairie dogs. With a 200 grain bullet going 2900 fps or so it seems not much a 7MM RM could do better. I'm thinking a ten pound 300 wouldn't be that bad. My favorite elk cartridge was and is the 30-06. I want at least 2000 fps at impact. I have seen elk be tough to get down. Thinking of using the 200 grain Sierra BTSP if I do go 300 magnum.

7RM, 180 ELD, Criterion.

I had the same tough decision..............so I have both 7RM and 300WM. I also have both Shilen and Criterion barrels. I don't think you can go wrong with either cartridge or barrel.

My 300WM is braked my 7RM is not, if you are a brake hater go with the 7RM, if a brake does not bother you the 300WM is awesome, my current 300WM is the most accurate rifle I own (next to my 6ppc BR rifle).

Shooting an Elk at 700 yards....[bleep].

You plan in being an internet rifle stuntman...have more respect for the animal you hunt than that.

700 yard Elk that's just stupid as hell.

We've used the 7mm Remington with 180 Scenars effectively to that range on bulls and bears. Lot of performance for the recoil level. Very doable with practice and wind reading skills.

I wouldn't brag about about taking an unethical shot at any big game animal.

You guys need to stick to Prairie dog shooting.

If a shooter was actualy capeable of making a 700 yd shot ..... Why would they be asking such a question ?

I am a big fan of the 7's myself. Currently using the 175 ABLR at 3075 from the Mashburn but any of the good 175/180's are great and won't beat you out from underneath your hat.

Never lost an animal with a rifle at long range. Every fall I get a dozen or so calls wanting my dogs to help track deer and elk that are wounded with archery tackle. Thus no one should bow hunt either.

Notice you guys are in TN and VA. Probably different hunting back there.

Yeah, it's a little different shooting across a canyon than sneaking through the black timber.
Another case of "this is how I hunt and anything else is wrong."

700 yds is 700 yds whether in Montana or Tanzania....

700 yard shooting is NOT hunting, it's sniping. Give the game animals the respect they deserve and do your "hunting" by getting closer before you pull the trigger.

I spoke with a fellow who was a LRH, competition shooter, the works, way back when the 300 RUM was new. I asked his opinion about it, concerning effective range on elk, etc. He said in his opinion that the 300WM was a 500yd elk rifle and a 300 RUM was a 700yd elk rifle. Now, I don't know as I never got a shot on an elk past 250yds, but did shoot spike elk sized game to almost 400 ( Namibia/300WM). I practiced with a 7mm RUM to 500yd, and shot it to 700 for reference, but that's it. I myself am not a LRH and admittedly, I don't care for the long shots and/or running shots. But that floats "my" boat. I know guys that get a "testicular thrill" from taking an animal at long range, ha. To each his own. BTW my longest "first round hit" was around 10 miles out on an old truck. 8" artillery, it was a "team effort", ha! 80 meter air burst, not sure what MOA that constituted?

It seems that everybody has a magic number, and beyond that distance it isn't hunting anymore. Many traditional archery hunters would likely say that your shots at 200 yards with a rifle aren't hunting, either.

It's best to hunt in a way that makes you happy, and not project your interpretation of hunting onto others.

Having killed elk and antelope as far as 450 yards out and done a good bit of shooting much farther out than that at targets I feel that under good conditions I can hit a paper plate out to 700 yards pretty easily with my 260 Remington. That rifle does not provide the energy I want. Looking at the BC's of various 7MM bullets and punching some numbers through the JBM ballistic calculator it looks like I can get what I want with the 7MM Remington magnum. To get similar performance from a 30 caliber I have to go to much heavier bullets. As for getting closer you bet, if possible I prefer that every time. I am not going to hold out for the longest shot possible but I want to be ready for a possible long shot. This project is for a specific spot on BLM land. It is not the way I want to hunt but it is the way to be successful in this particular area. The last time I hunted this spot back in 2014 I set up a 300 WM for the project, spent a good amount on bullets in practice and my elk came by a measly 125 yards out, I made the shot offhand. Heck I might not even get a tag for a couple of years.

I hear you Rick...I practiced out to 500 a bunch before we got to Namibia, we were in an area where long shots were the norm, so that's where the 300WM/180xbt shined for us. My 340WBy/210xbt would have too IF it hadn't kicked the guts out of its Zeiss conquest, ha. That's why we had the spare 300WM.
What bullet would you use in your 7mm Rem Mag?

Not sure there are plenty of choices out there. The best balance of retained velocity and energy seems to be in the 168 to 180 grain range. Need to order the barrel in an 8 twist which is fine with me. I notice that the 280 AI plays pretty hard way out there also with the heavies. 700 yards seems to be the line of demarcation from the energy/velocity range I want on target.