You don't need a magnum, a carbon-wrapped barrel, or any form of $3000 rig to shoot 500 yards. Obviously, it's your rifle so make yourself happy, but you really don't need any of that.
A .280, 30-06, .260 Rem, etc. will do everything you need and be much cheaper and easier to shoot in quantity.
I have to agree,I can ring the 500yd gong with any of my 700s from the bench.Calibre ranges from .22-250AI to 8MM Rem Mag.I don't take offhand shots at that distance,I ain't young and I shake like a leaf.In my case my rifles can do it but I can't,and I'm well aware of that fact! Monashee
The OP has been given sound advice from those who read the post. He does seem set on a big ol mag and spending a bunch of money. So let'er rip buddy. If a 308 don't get it done maybe a 300win mag will work better for you.
It's the difference between poking an animal in the shoulder with a 110gr bullet and having it go a long distance, and poking same animal with a 200gr bullet going a high rate of speed and having it drop right there.
Night/Day difference between hitting an animal with a 338rum and a 30-06. I've done it a bunch of times, and the "knockdown" power of the RUM is rather impressive.
Give him 15 or 20, years that is and then he'll come full circle. I had to do it as well..........grin
I learned a ton load from the time I started shaving to the time where hair started to grey and thin.
Dober
Lol....when I was 14 I had to have a big gun like some of the big kids I looked up to. Someone else zeroed the scope and I hunted it. Ya it had pop but didn't notice it killin stuff. Sometimes I missed but a heck I had a big ol gun so I still felt big. Anyway when I graduated high school I bought a newer Leupold scope for it. I shot it 19 times and still didn't have it "zeroed". I went inside took new scope off the 300 and put it on the 243. Went back outside and zeroed it. Ran nothin but till around '07. At 29 my big gun is a 280AI now....lol
The .30-06 with modern 165 - 180 gr bullets will cleanly kill anything from mice to moose, are you just wanting something different? I own and love the crap out of my 300 SAUM, but honestly, it nor the 300 WSM or Win. Mag don't offer much over the 30-06 trajectory-wise other than more kinetic energy, coolness, and more expensive brass. IMO, the next step in significant performance over the 06' is the 300 RUM or 30-378 Weatherby. If you want easy, get a 30-06, if you want a short mag, get the .300 WSM (much easier than SAUM or RCM), if you want a true .300 Mag, go with the .300 Win. Mag or 300 RUM), or H&H if you want extra cool points.
The .30-06 with modern 165 - 180 gr bullets will cleanly kill anything from mice to moose, are you just wanting something different? I own and love the crap out of my 300 SAUM, but honestly, it nor the 300 WSM or Win. Mag don't offer much over the 30-06 trajectory-wise other than more kinetic energy, coolness, and more expensive brass. IMO, the next step in significant performance over the 06' is the 300 RUM or 30-378 Weatherby. If you want easy, get a 30-06, if you want a short mag, get the .300 WSM (much easier than SAUM or RCM), if you want a true .300 Mag, go with the .300 Win. Mag or 300 RUM), or H&H if you want extra cool points.
I would add .308 Norma Mag to the end of the list! Monashee
The .30-06 with modern 165 - 180 gr bullets will cleanly kill anything from mice to moose, are you just wanting something different? I own and love the crap out of my 300 SAUM, but honestly, it nor the 300 WSM or Win. Mag don't offer much over the 30-06 trajectory-wise other than more kinetic energy, coolness, and more expensive brass. IMO, the next step in significant performance over the 06' is the 300 RUM or 30-378 Weatherby. If you want easy, get a 30-06, if you want a short mag, get the .300 WSM (much easier than SAUM or RCM), if you want a true .300 Mag, go with the .300 Win. Mag or 300 RUM), or H&H if you want extra cool points.
I would add .308 Norma Mag to the end of the list! Monashee
It's the difference between poking an animal in the shoulder with a 110gr bullet and having it go a long distance, and poking same animal with a 200gr bullet going a high rate of speed and having it drop right there.
Night/Day difference between hitting an animal with a 338rum and a 30-06. I've done it a bunch of times, and the "knockdown" power of the RUM is rather impressive.
That is a fact.
The term itself is "bad",sloppy,and gives the wrong impression.
Animals are never "knocked down" by bullets, which are "scalpels" and not sledge hammers.If they actually knocked animals down in the sense we think of it, Newton's Laws tells us we could not shoulder fire the weapon.What we see are the effects of large wound channels and greater tissue and bone destruction with a larger and faster cartridge and heavier bullets which land in the right place,ie vital tissue,destroys bones required for them to stand; not knockdown in the sense that a Mack truck knocks down a brick wall,or something similar....
If the "knockdown" theory were correct(it isn't)then we would be able to gut shoot elk, moose, and elephants and they should be,theoretically ....well....knocked down.....even with indifferent bullet placement. People with experience know that simply isn't true and a gut shot with a 300 RUM will get you nothing but a rodeo while a properly placed 7x57 bullet will get you a very dead elk ( or elephant)in short order.You only need to see an elk take a bullet from a 300 or 340 magnum in the guts,and watch him trot off, to know the knockdown stuff is nonsense.
We are definately seeing something occur when an animal is hit properly in the right place,with a bullet from a powerful cartridge....but it sure ain't "knock down" power...
A bullet is not a "scalpel" an arrow with a broadhead is. That is why you seldom see an animal that is double lunged with an arrow get knocked off of its feet.
Go to Africa packing your 223 for cape buffalo and see what the PH says.
Knockdown is when a novice shooter fires a big magnum and ends up on his butt.
He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.
A good brake will chop that recoil down fairly well. Although I don't want to be "that guy" at the range. Now on to the knockdown matter, here's an example; A little girl went hunting at my hunting club last year, she was using a. 223, she shot the deer directly in center mass, missing the heart and lungs greatly, the deer ran a good distance and it was barely found. The exact same shot placement was used later on with a .280, the deer dropped right there. Shot placements is key, I will agree, but knockdown is a factor that creates room for error. A. 223 to the heart kills a whitetail every time, heck, a .22lr can kill a bear if you shoot it in the eye, but who in the world wants to feed their family with a gun that limits their kill possibility? I'm not saying that people should shoot whitetail with a. 338 lapua, but normally comfort starts in the middle, if you feel comfortable shooting something with a. 223 then go for it, but I don't. But all of it is based on shot placement and room for error (also know as knockdown). I am also starting to put my eyes on smaller caliber because of this forum though, I was looking at a .260 but I might as well use a. 308. I don't know why but I have my eyes set on a short mag, but it's hard to decide, if they make a 7mm short mag. I think that would be perfect. Thanks for posting it really got me thinking.
Give him 15 or 20, years that is and then he'll come full circle. I had to do it as well..........grin
That makes no sense. You still put the 7mm Mashburn on a pedestal, yet scoff at a 300 mag?
There's a lot that you don't know, especially about me.
First off, I don't think I've ever put the Mashburn on a pedestal. Now do I know a good round when I see it, yeah I do and that's just part of the reason I like it. I've ran thru 3 barrels chambered for the round, have used it to take several arks full of game so no I don't have any problemo encourging certain people to give it a go. Do I think it's the only round going, no I sure don't. Do I feel it's a better mouse trap than the 300 mags. Ah yes from my experiences with them I do feel that the Mashburn is a better deal for me. Have I ever scoffed at the 300 mags, ah no I don't think so but I do know that I can get the same thing done with the big 7's than I can with the big 30 mags absolutely I do.
You say what I said makes no sense so go ahead and tell me a bit about me. Oh that's right you don't know me, never met me and have never even spoken on the phone with me never shot with me and yet you're willing to say that what I said about coming full circle doesn't make any sense.
I started my elk career with a .270 (and for me the true test of a big game cal is elk, at least on this side of the big pond, I could add the big bruins but hardly anyone ever gets to hunt them so I don't go there...), from the .270 I went to various big 7's, 06's, and on to the 338 WM, spent a lot of time with the .340 (went thru a couple of barrels) as well I spent quite a bit of time with the 375's and various 416's.
I'm a member of the 50/50 club meaning I'm over 50 years old and have been and around the taking of over 50 head of elk, so I have some fairly commited thoughts as to what works and what's needed and what isn't!
This year I carried a .308, a .270, a .260 and a Mashburn a bit while elk hunting. This began to morph quite a few years ago where I started going back to the smaller rounds as I know I can get it done with ease using them and don't need the mega cannons anymmore. From what I've seen over the years this is a pretty darn natural progression.
For me years ago the big 33's, the 375's and the 416's were my big guns. And while I still own a wonderful 375 Wby it rarely gets any time on the field and mainly stays home. While the 7 Mashburn Super has been my main "big rifle". Not that I don't play with this or that.
Bottom line, dogcatcher223, you don't know the first thing about me, or where I've come from and or have done so I really don't give a flock whether what I said makes any sense to you and or not...
So for me yeah I do feel that I've come back to the beginning again
Dober
Last edited by Mark R Dobrenski; 11/26/12.
"True respect starts with the way you treat others, and it is earned over a lifetime of demonstrating kindness, honor and dignity"....Tony Dungy
Unfortunately, I don't have anything better to do than argue about this.. (grin)
225gr of lead and copper entering an animal at 2800fps with a semi frangible bullet puts deer on their ass, quickly. BT/DT. My 243ai, 25-06ai, 30-06, 7 Saum, etc don't do it with such... quickness.
All do the job, but I've never pulled the trigger on game with my RUM and wasn't impressed.
I don't know why but I have my eyes set on a short mag, but it's hard to decide, if they make a 7mm short mag. I think that would be perfect. Thanks for posting it really got me thinking.
Caliber aside, with 3k for a long range rifle I'd call Mark Chanlynn for a barrel and have Dave Sullivan in Erie, at West Wind Rifles make me a real gun.
But then again, I consider world class accuracty much "cooler" then a carbon wrapped barrel.
You didn't use logic or reason to get into this opinion, I cannot use logic or reason to get you out of it.
You cannot over estimate the unimportance of nearly everything. John Maxwell
A good brake will chop that recoil down fairly well. Although I don't want to be "that guy" at the range. Now on to the knockdown matter, here's an example; A little girl went hunting at my hunting club last year, she was using a. 223, she shot the deer directly in center mass, missing the heart and lungs greatly, the deer ran a good distance and it was barely found. The exact same shot placement was used later on with a .280, the deer dropped right there. Shot placements is key, I will agree, but knockdown is a factor that creates room for error. A. 223 to the heart kills a whitetail every time, heck, a .22lr can kill a bear if you shoot it in the eye, but who in the world wants to feed their family with a gun that limits their kill possibility? I'm not saying that people should shoot whitetail with a. 338 lapua, but normally comfort starts in the middle, if you feel comfortable shooting something with a. 223 then go for it, but I don't. But all of it is based on shot placement and room for error (also know as knockdown). I am also starting to put my eyes on smaller caliber because of this forum though, I was looking at a .260 but I might as well use a. 308. I don't know why but I have my eyes set on a short mag, but it's hard to decide, if they make a 7mm short mag. I think that would be perfect. Thanks for posting it really got me thinking.
Just about everything you've been looking at in 30 cal there is a sister 7mm....7mm WSM, 7mm SAUM, 7mm RUM, and 7mm Rem Mag.
You guys realize that the OP is 14 years old right? Theres nothing in the rational and experience department from us that is gonna trump his need for cool!
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