All thing being equal for the rifle and optics with Accubonds

Question:
What cartridge for my wife?

Choices:
.308 Win
30-06 Springfield
.300 Win Mag

 

How well does your wife handle recoil?

I'd go with the .308 with 165 gr A-Frames.

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
I'd go with the .308 with 165 gr A-Frames.

Sounds good to me.

Bullet placement is more important than power.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
I'd go with the .308 with 165 gr A-Frames.

Sounds good to me.

Bullet placement is more important than power.

As a woman hunter, I've experimented with the calibers you've listed and the caliber I settled on and used for many years for plains game/deer, antelope, elk is my "trusty" .308!!!! I shoot a .375 for the really big stuff!

Hope your wife is out there shooting her own .308 soon!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Ted,

The .308 would be great as would just about any cartridge in that range, 30-06, 270, 7 by 57 etc etc.

Rifle fit is probably more important, and in case you have not noticed women are built a little differently than men.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike70560:

Rifle fit is probably more important, and in case you have not noticed women are built a little differently than men.

Her rifles are cut for her lop

Funny.....

My wife is built a bit different than most women

I'd vote for the 7mm-08 with 120 gr Barnes TTSX bullets. But, you didn't give me that option, so I'm not voting!!!!

I'll be more specific, get her a Tikka T3 in .308 and use Federal Trophy Bonded in 165s or 180s.

30-06 makes a fine plains game rifle....Vanessa has taken hers on two safaris. She shoots 165-grain GMX and has taken everything from kudu and gemsbok to jackals. She took the 7RM on the last trip and it worked admirably too.

quote:

Originally posted by graybird:
I'd vote for the 7mm-08 with 120 gr Barnes TTSX bullets. But, you didn't give me that option, so I'm not voting!!!!

She has a Kimber 84M in 7-08

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:

quote:

Originally posted by graybird:
I'd vote for the 7mm-08 with 120 gr Barnes TTSX bullets. But, you didn't give me that option, so I'm not voting!!!!

She has a Kimber 84M in 7-08

There ya go! You're set!!!

Mrs Blacktailer has a Kimber Super America in 308. She has taken animals up to zebra. She used 165TSX. The nice thing about 308 caliber is the selection of bullets. Started her off with a mild load with 110gr HP and worked up slowly with powder and bullet weight.
The 308 will handle just about anything.

I wouldn't use a plains game cartridge for a wife, I've always considered them Dangerous Game.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
I wouldn't use a plains game cartridge for a wife, I've always considered them Dangerous Game.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
I wouldn't use a plains game cartridge for a wife, I've always considered them Dangerous Game.

My wife really liked this response.

quote:

Originally posted by Skyline:

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
I wouldn't use a plains game cartridge for a wife, I've always considered them Dangerous Game.

My wife really liked this response.

Then she also has a great sense of humor!

Ted,

I think as others have said that your wife is all set with her 7-08. It essentially offers the same ballistics as the 7x57 and we all know how much African game has fallen to that old war horse. I think the 300 WM would certainly be a bigger hammer but at a cost of significant increase in recoil.

Mark

Wife used Browning BLR 7/08 in Namibia with 140 grn. bullets and it worked like a champ.
Lots of dead deer in Texas every year due to 7/08.
Lots of critters in Africa that are no tougher than the average Whitetail / Mule deer in the USA.
But then there is the traditional 7x57 that is mild to shoot

Yes - a Tikka in .308. That's what my son used in 2011 (it's my rifle). Took Kudu and Blue Wildebeest at 250 yards.

Any of the tough premium bullets will work: A-Frame, TBC, TSX.

I used a 8x57 in the same hunt with 200 gr bullets at 2,300 fps in a 20" barrel. Steel buttplate. Little recoil. Walloped the animals I took.

A 7-08 or 7x57 with 175grn Barnes TSX would be about perfect, low recoil and high sectional density (.310), punches well above it's weight.

A 175 Monometal out of a 7-08

I'll pass

I don't get the fascination with heavyweight mono metals. Speed is their friend!

That's my thoughts also

Without adequate speed they are a solid

Ted,

I think Faisal's point might be that to get maximum penetration from a relatively mild cartridge such as the 7-08 you might need a heavy bullet. On your next hunt the cover might be thicker and your shots presented at odd angles. Personally if that 60" kudu presented a going away shot I would not take it with your '06 and 150 ACB combo but I might with a 7-08 and a heavy for caliber mono metal.

Mark

Due to the fact of virtually zero weight loss, penetration is not an issue with mono metals. At one time heavy bullets were needed to achieve penetration because they shed weight as they moved through tissue....mono metals don't. You need to forget everything you know about conventional jacketed bullets when talking mono metals. Most people that don't have extensive experience with them have trouble believing that they can penetrate like they do but once you shoot them for a while you'll be impressed. You accomplish nothing by going to heavier offerings in mono metals other than bucking the wind a bit better and gaining some ballistic coefficient. The heavy weight mono metals were designed primarily for marketing to those that think weight matters and to gain BC, not because lighter versions didn't penetrate adequately.

The problem with a very heavy mono in the 7-08 is two fold

2.800 is my max length and that bullet would eat up a massive amount of case capacity

We did our last hunt in Namibia shooting 139-grain GMX from a 7RM and nearly all of the shots were pass throughs or hung on the hide on the far side.

We just got back from Namibia. My wife used a 7X57 with 160gr Nosler Partitions at 2650fps. One shot, one zebra, complete pass through. That was all she wanted to shoot.

If your wife likes the 7-08, use it with Partitions or A-frames in the 160 grain weight. I doubt you will find a better balance of power and easy shooting.

Then again, if you want to go rifle shopping, because, who doesn't like rifle shopping......I would go with the 30-06. Always can be loaded down, but a .308 can't be loaded up. Just my 2 cents.

Jeremy

Another vote for 7mm08 loaded with Barnes TSX

At least in our 375 testing mono metal bullets like the Barnes X and our own Walterhogs.

They seem to have maximum penetration at 2800-2900 fps.

Below that speed and above, the seem to penetrate less.

My daughter has been shooting a 375 H&H since she was 13 years old (currently a few months from her 18th birthday). She has a number of African and Canadian adventures under her belt and has hunted extensively with me in the US. With that being said, she has also taken numerous species with 22-250, 223, 243 Win, 257AI, 6.5x284, 308 Win, 300 RUM, and a 416 Rigby to name a few. Of all the rifles, she seems to gravitate more towards the 308 Win over everything else. This may change as she begins getting familiar with her graduation present, a new Heym Deluxe Grade 375 Flanged double rifle!

Anyway, you can't go wrong with the 308 IMHO. If she wants to hunt dangerous game then move up to 375. She can never have too many rifles!

quote:

Originally posted by Safari James:
My daughter has been shooting a 375 H&H since she was 13 years old (currently a few months from her 18th birthday). She has a number of African and Canadian adventures under her belt and has hunted extensively with me in the US. With that being said, she has also taken numerous species with 22-250, 223, 243 Win, 257AI, 6.5x284, 308 Win, 300 RUM, and a 416 Rigby to name a few. Of all the rifles, she seems to gravitate more towards the 308 Win over everything else. This may change as she begins getting familiar with her graduation present, a new Heym Deluxe Grade 375 Flanged double rifle!

Anyway, you can't go wrong with the 308 IMHO. If she wants to hunt dangerous game then move up to 375. She can never have too many rifles!

totally agree!!!!

I have shot deer (dropped in the tracks) across gullies at ranges up to 300 meters with TSX 150 gr with my Kimber Montana in 7mm08. If you use TTSX 140 / 150 gr you would be even better off.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:

quote:

Originally posted by graybird:
I'd vote for the 7mm-08 with 120 gr Barnes TTSX bullets. But, you didn't give me that option, so I'm not voting!!!!

She has a Kimber 84M in 7-08

I think any of your choices with the right bullet will be fine. The .308 will certainly do the job as it has for many years.

I agree with TJ in that the mono metal bullets are at their best with higher velocity and you should look at a step down or two in weight over the regular lead core bullets. So if you are normally shooting a 180 grain in the .30-06 you can easily step down to a 165 or 150 grain Hornady GMX or TSX or what have you and push them faster and get good results.

Having said that I shot my last moose with a 165 Accubond out of the old .30-06. It was 240 yards and a complete pass through, didn't move ten yards and down and out.

No flies on the accubonds.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
At least in our 375 testing mono metal bullets like the Barnes X and our own Walterhogs.

They seem to have maximum penetration at 2800-2900 fps.

Below that speed and above, the seem to penetrate less.

I've experienced great performance down to 2,000fps. They still penetrate well slower than that but expansion is compromised. At super high velocity, expansion is rapid and violent.

quote:

Originally posted by farbedo:
...I would go with the 30-06. Always can be loaded down, but a .308 can't be loaded up.
Jeremy

and monometal bullets can take up case capacity. that matters more with the 308 than the 30-06.

quote:

Originally posted by sheephunterab:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
At least in our 375 testing mono metal bullets like the Barnes X and our own Walterhogs.

They seem to have maximum penetration at 2800-2900 fps.

Below that speed and above, the seem to penetrate less.

I've experienced great performance down to 2,000fps. They still penetrate well slower than that but expansion is compromised. At super high velocity, expansion is rapid and violent.

My post was regarding maximum penetration.

We went to over 3100 fps, and the penetration was not as good.

Saeed:
Was that with your copper solid Walterhogs?
What bullet weight?
Been thinking of mailing you my first and only .308 185gr brass bullet that I turned.
Haven't been able to get out there since that day.
It couldn't have turned out more perfect.
George

The 7/08 worked well for us on a few trips.

A break on the barrel and recoil reducer fitted.
Recoil is low enough for our 9 year old.

160g nosler partitions AR2206H powder 38g

If penatration is required we use the following.
140g hydrostatic stabilized woodleighs AR2206H 40.5g

The family shot better with the 7/08 than the 30/06

The above loads have taken enough game to keep me broke.

Regards Mark