Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Long range elk rig

There's long range, and then there's Long Range.

Out to 500, maybe 600 yards guys would be pleasantly surprised at how quickly, easily, and cheaply they could get "hits" on targets (at least) at those ranges- most likely with the rifles they already have. Most normal hunting calibers will carry enough velocity to expand the bullet out that far, too.

A rangefinder, reticle, and some practice will do it most easily.

From 600 on out, that's big boy territory there. There are some guys that hang out here- JWP, Rost495, joecool, and others who have invested some big time and money into getting good at those extended ranges. It gets into specialized equipment and LOTS more practice, as things get almost exponentially more difficult very quickly as the yardage increases.

Just MHO, based on a few thousand rounds flung off into the void.

.284 caliber...7mm Rem Mag or 7mm STW......
the STW will do 160/168's at 3200ish.....or, 140's at 3400ish
trajectory of a 140 at 3400 is pretty much equal to the 160 at 3200 but the 160 will have more energy at longer ranges........how much energy do you need for deer and antelope?

The gentleman who originated this ask a simple question--what caliber-- and all you people are giving him the constitution of bull sh--. because most of you have never see 600 yards much less shot at that distance.

30-06 would be a great caliber for what you are wanting to do. Not too much recoil. Plenty of ammo to choose from. Put some money into good glass with repeatable adjustments that will take you out to whatever range you hope to shoot at.

......Oh really? Don`t bet on it!

Yes! The originator of this thread did ask for a caliber and not for a specific cartridge itself. Well! The last time I checked, aren`t there are varying degrees of range capabilities within the same caliber?????????????

The 338-378 Wby and 340 Wby are certainly much better long range elk cartridges then say a 338 Federal. Aren`t all three 338 caliber???

Same for the 25`s, the 6.5s, the 270s, 7mms, the 30s, the 35s and so on.

If someone asks for a great long range elk rig in caliber only, how in the world could you not include specific cartridges as well?

Instead of your "constitution of bull***t" remark, why couldn`t you have just given some of those here on this thread, some of the benefit of your doubt?

PS. BTW! I have seen 600 yards and have shot at those distances, in the desert..........

30 or 338 Caliber since you mention elk. My two choices are 300 WBY and 340 WBY. Hitting is one thing, killing is altogether different. I wouldn't want to hunt antelope with a 340 WBY though

Back when I was running amuck with my 700/340 I shot a lot of lopes with it, it worked just fine. Always adequate penetration...

Dober

The 340 Wby is hard to beat if you master it. I would use the 6.5 bore though and not look back. You could make it a light or heavy rifle and launch those long 140's with comfort.

I think you could punch about 4 of them with one shot! Just seems a little excessive in the recoil dept for a 100 lb goat!

I killed my first goat with a 260 and the last one with a 300 WBY. I guess it was plenty of gun

I've got a .340 wby and shot antelope with it too..It's the only animal that has walked away from a top o the heart hit.

On another note take what these experienced guys said to heart. Especially rost, jeff o and Mark d. They know what they're talking about.

I pulled the trigger too quickly..

If I were doing a dedicated long range elk rig I'd do a .338edge or .338am. The edge is more economical for most. I'd build it at 9-10 lbs and put a nightforce, us optics or an S&B and practice my arse off. Good luck

These are my dedicated long range elk rifles. They flat out work!!!!

270 Allen with a 195gr. wildcat bullet at 3100fps


.338 Ultra Maxx not to be confused with the .338 RUM


.338 Ultra Maxx in action with the 300 gr.SMK doing 2980fps at the muzzel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RD29c6w40w

.338 Allen Mag. It shoots the 300 SMK at 3400fps


I took this buck last year with the 270 Allen at 892 yards.

Joecool...that 338 Allen is awesome! Big and chunky, perfect for glassing and shooting NOT a walk around rifle.

Way to go Joe!

Not much fun to pack at all, but I did pack it over a couple of these ridges. Do a lot of glassing.



Spot critters that look like these get all set up take the shot.



End results looks like this.



And his spot on the wall next to my black tail.

Thanks

I think I'll just start with my new .270 WSM as soon as I go pick it up and see what happens. After I get some time behind the trigger with this cartirdige and rifle, I may have to make some adjustments with a new platform but for now I'll run that and see how it goes.

In my opinion the .338 caliber is hard to beat, those big heavy bullets hit very hard way down yonder.

My personal cartridge of choice for elk is the .340 Weatherby

C Roy
Do you handload? Planning on a custom rifle or factory rifle?
You want to place as much energy on that elk as possible at those ranges.
A weatherby accumark in 300 weath, 30-378 weath, or 338-378 weath would get you where you want to be without spending a fortune. nightforce optics.
alot of good factory weatherby ammo to practice or superior ammunition if you dont handload. check out defensive edge or allen magnums website for custom stuff.

I do reload and I would probobaly go factory/semi-custom route. I have to pick up my .270 WSM from the smith the next time I am down that way. I am going to play with this cartridge and see how it does. I am looking at using 130 gr. TSX for a hunting load but will work up 130 gr. BT's to check the accuracy in this rifle before I spend a fortune in load development with the TSX's.

I have a farm I can practice at waaaay out there so I should get an eye opener on this long range stuff as my previous longest hunting shots have only been 2 over 400yds. An elk and a pronghorn. I took the elk with a .338 Win Mag using a 210 Partiton and the proghorn with my .257 Roberts using a 100 gr. X bullet.