Just curious as to bullets used and deer/larger game taken on longer shots say over 250 yds?

.338-06, 210gr Nosler Partition, 302yds lasered, Elk, D.R.T.!

35whelen, 225gr TSX, kudu, 276 yards.

Buddy of mine popped his gemsbok at something over 200 meters with his 350 RM and 225 NPTs.

Nice reports, if this is a good sample, it sounds like most animals are shot at 300 and under.....I have killed most deer under 100, but a few at 200, 1@250 or so, and the furthest @400.

80 yards. 350 Rem Mag with a max load of H4895 and a 180 grain Hornady Single Shot Pistol bullet. Connected on a frontal shot, white tail buck. Like someone pulled the rug out from under that animal.

4 point elk lasered at 295yds. with my .35 Whelen using 250gr. Speer JSP @ 2600fps. It only took about two steps before it went down.

A couple of white tails at the great distance of 10 feet and about 20 yards. 250 gr hornday at 2450. The first one a head shot the 2nd trought the front shoulders they didn't move after the shot.

Namibia, 35 Whelen, 225 grain Barnes X at 2650 fps, mt zebra, 325 yards.

quote:

Nice reports, if this is a good sample, it sounds like most animals are shot at 300 and under.....I have killed most deer under 100, but a few at 200, 1@250 or so, and the furthest @400.

My feeling is the majority of all big game is taken under 350yds. Yes there are some that do exceed that and have the skill to do it correctly. MOST hunters do not have that skill.

Unless someone has great experience, judging long range distance is difficult at best. Range finders have shortened shots greatly.

I've talked to several out in W Texas that claim 5-600 yds shots while they accept a 4" group with 100 yd zero and have never practiced beyond 100. They are the same that claim their factory 264wmag shoots 4000fps.

For several years I used a 338Wmag for Elk. Then built a 338-280 improved. Yep I gave up 10yds of point blank and a lot of recoil and blast. The 338wmag is history for me may it rest in peace.

338-06

2005 elk 267 yards Barnes TSX 210gr.
2005 deer 287 yards Horn 200gr SP.

338-06 Caribou at 247 yards. 225 gr Nosler Custom Partition. 2006.

Personally, Wildebeest 180yd with 225TSX out of my 35 Whelen, previous owner of rifle Elk at 325 with 225 Gameking's .
Craven

35 Whelen: Elk @ 225 yards. 225 Grain Ballistic tip @ 2700fps. Dead within 20 yds. If I had to take a shot out to 350 or so with the above load, I wouldn't hesitate, but most of my shots on elk have been around 75-150yds.

Jerry

Farthest shot I have made w/ my .338-06 was a good 6pt bull elk, 325yds. He was DRT, but didn't show it so I hit him again. The 210grNP showed decent expansion at that range based on the post mortem. The bullet blew the heart up & exited w/ a caliber size hole. I like to keep my shots closer to 250yds & most of the other animals I have taken from deer to african antelope fall near or under that. Most have taken no more than a few steps if the bullet landed in the right spot.

It isn't a question of if the bullets and rounds are up to the task.. it is a question if the rifleman is capable of hitting the target at those longer distances..

Anyone of those rounds will do the job, putting the bullet to where it is supposed to go...

Seafire, Agreed.

At known distances one can reach somewhat further than 300 under good conditions, rest, etc. but it looks like most everyone who responded at least are shooting at or under 325 or so for the longer shots.

I wonder 2 things, what is the best sight in range as I have always sighted dead on at 200 but I realize a 250 or so POI would give me less to contend with at say 350-400.

I did overshoot a deer once at 150-200 and my gun last minute was changed to have +3-4" at 100, and likely was too high, I misjudged where body was-could see HUGE rack/neck but grassy field obscured body, but my sight in was not helping. Got off 4 shots I believe with a #1B in 270 and wish I would have just aimed for the neck-he was walking, and kept going, the biggest buck of my life.

SO, I want to have the best 'point blank' sight in without worry about an over shot again.

Recommendations on what has worked well for you guys?

Also, given the ranges it seems most elk and so forth get taken, would a 358 Win/338 Federal still get it done? How would you all feel? I know you might give up say 200-350lbs, a little range and or say lose maybe 2 inches or so of drop at 300. I would think they would do fine up to 300. Would that cover MOST opportunities you guys get out west, or do you pass on alot of shots also? Thanks.

Feedback?

35 Whelen:225 Nosler Partition/225yards Caribou

35 Whelen-Ackely:310 Woodleigh SP/175yards Asiatic Buff(big bull).

The caribou went ten feet, the Buff. maybe 100 feet.
The 225 Partition has accounted for a variety of game including a tent shredding bear in Alaska at my Wife's Archeology dig. All of the shots have been pass throughs (no recovered bullets). I would highly recommend this bullet for most uses.

The 310 Woodleigh is an outstanding bullet, but few are interested in its Elmer Kieth-like characteristics. I used H380.

Paul

358win (near enough, no?)
165 yards, kneeling, 240+# boar.

i don't believe I've taken a shot at a GAME animal past 220 yards.. i just don't generally shoot far.
jeffe

Whitetail doe 295 give or take a few yards with a 225grm out of a 350.

505ED

6.5 BR...

I am sure this has been around the horn ad nauseum....

However, most of us know that a deer, regardless of weight, is normally 14 to 16 inches from backbone to breast bone...an antelope is 14 inches, regardless of weight...

Cut that in half, and you give yourself a 7 inch window of opportunity....

I load up my reloads until I find what is the most accurate....the very last thing I do, is to chronograph the load to see exactly what kind of velocity it is giving me...

With that info and trajectory charts info, I set my zero at exactly 3.5 inches high at 100 yds...then using the trajectory charts, I calculate the distance where that bullet will be exactly 3.5 inches low....that gives me my point blank range for that load.....

For someone with a duplex reticle on their scope... if their quarry is beyond that point blank range window... by bringing up the point where the lower post goes from thick to thin, will add normally another 75 to 100 yds to the point blank range, if someone chooses to make the shot....

Without a mil dot set up, at about 2700 to 3000 fps, and a spitzer bullet... this formula will yield pretty much a 400 yd capability....

A mil dot scope will easily calculate that to 500 yds, or more if one knows how to use it...

Mildot scope reticles are in fact pretty darn handy in calculating reduced loads to get prety far out there...

I use this formula a lot with reduced loads..

Trajectory charts will tell you that almost any spitzer bullet, with an MV of 2250 fps, if zeroed 3.5 inches high at 100 yds, will be dead on at 200 yds, and will be 3.5 inches low at about 225 to 240 yds...

all the while, reducing recoil by 40 to 50 % in many big game rifles...and yielding a point blank range of 230 to 240 yds...

do the little lower reticle post trick, and that will carry you out to 300 yds...with an MV of 2250!

and a heavier bullet, with high sectional density... one would be surprised out how far it will penetrate at longer distances, even on big game like elk...

learn to use a scopes features and understand trajectory... can provide a lot of flexibility and long range shooting, without having to have a magnum with 4000fps MV....

cheers
seafire

Mature bull elk at 330? 340? Somewhere in there. Anyway; .338-06 and 225 NP's at 2550 fps.One shot, both lungs gone and off shuolder broken.

FN in MT

Nothing living shot at long range , but I've plinked alot of rocks at 300 to 400 with my Whelen . These 06 cased medium bores have a trajectory very close to the 308 . Hitting to 400 or so is not a problem if you know your gun and load, and the big bullets are packing plenty of horsepower to do any reasonable job......

Seafire,

Great info, thanks. I have only shot at one animal over 300, it was a deer with my 6BR and 105s and the scope was 6-24x mil dot 4200 Elite, knew just where to hold based on recent range practice. I do agree after 300 many bullets nose dive, as with 200 zero you usually get 8-10" at 300 and 24 or so at 400. So, critical shooting is needed to be ethical no doubt.

I have often used the lower duplex for dead on hold at 400, with 200 zero, when shooting at the range with 6x and even 4x Leupold, standard duplex, my Swarovski is the same. It works on large game, you just need to practice and know your weapon system and how to put them where needed.

I am not an advocate at long shots, but am not reluctant to take one with an accurate weapon capable, when you have the confidence that you will place your shot where it is needed.

I simply was curious as much as anything to hear from the vast experience of those who have hunted alot as to what is to be expected as to the furthest one might be prepared to shoot when you cannot get closer.

Thanks to all.

Not as far as you asked but my longest shot on big game was 220-230 meters, Black bear, 200gr ballistic tip, hit the ground and then staggered a few yards and rolled down a bank. It's not a 338-06 but only about 50 fps shy of it. It's become my goto gun.

What is it? 338x57?

6.5br,

In answer to the original question: 35 Whelen, 2 white tails, at 325 yards. WW brass, 53grs, IMR 4895, Speer 250gr sptizer. Load produced ~ 2500fps. Rifle was sighted in 2.5 inches high at 100, that was dead on at 200, and about 6 inches low at 300.

The critters were quartering away in single file going from an open river bottom and starting up a slope in very deep fresh snow and moving slowly. I was firing prone from a snow bank looking down into the river bottom with my Whelen, which was built on a 1903 Springfield Mk I, with a Lyman 48 receiver sight.

I held on the top of the back of the rear white tail, a buck. Squeezed the trigger and he just dropped in his tracks. The doe in the lead never noticed and kept moving slowly. Used the same sight picture/hold on her and produced the same results. Both bullets entered behind front shoulder and exited in front of the opposite leg.

Seafire

Interesting discussion on mil reticles. I flew the A-10 for close to 20 years, and until later years, all we had in the airplane was a fixed sight that we used and became very proficient using mil offset aiming for strafe. The 30 mm gun in the A-10 fired a round that weighed about .95 pounds (depending on type of ammunition – TP [target practice], HEI [high explosive incendiary], and API [armor piercing incendiary/depleted unaranium]. They all exited the muzzle at about 3000fps, but the API was botailed and more ballistic efficient. Accuracy of the A-10 airplane/GAU 8 gun system with typical pilot was that 80% of the rounds would remain well within 3 mils (e.g., 80% 3 feet at 1000 feet, 6 feet at 2000 feet etc.,). Typical burst was ½ to 1 second, which at 1,250 rounds per minute would fire about 60 rounds (1/2 second) to 150 rounds. (Gun spin up in the first ½ second produced fewer rounds than a 1 second burst which had achieved full rate of fire.)

The gun was bore sighted to a gun cross (41 mil depression) in the heads up display at 4000 feet slant range.

Gun cross was simple

l
- . –
l

(hard to illustrate here) that had a pipper that subtended 2 mils. Had 5 mil gaps between all horizontal and vertical “legs,†and the legs themselves were also 5 mils.

At 4000 feet, you aimed dead on with the pipper, but had to offset for wind (about 2 mils for a stiff 20 knot direct cross wind at 4000 feet.

Closer than 4000 feet you normally aimed 2 mils low, and were not to press attacks or fire inside 1500 feet because you had to have room to maneuver to escape your own frag pattern.

At 6000 feet we would use the top of the lower leg as an “aiming post,†which equated to a 6 mil hold (1/2 of the dot = 1 mil + 5 mil gap). At 10,000 feet we used the bottom of the post.

How did we know we were at a certain range?

A typical truck, APC, or tank is normally 20 feet long when viewed from the side and about 10 feet wide when viewed head/tail on.

Using mil sizing at 4000 feet a side view of a vehicle would subtend the distance between the pipper / dot and one of the horizontal legs. (if head/tail on it would subtend half that distance)

At 1500 feet it would completely fill the space between the two horizontal legs.

At 6000 feet, a side view would subtend about half the distance between the pipper and a leg, and at 10000 feet the pipper would completely cover a vehicle.

Using these simple methods, the A-10 pilot became very proficient at mil sizing and mil off set straffing.

In the early 1980s the Air Force modified the A-10 with an Inertial Navigation System (INS) that produced a flight path marker and effective cross wind read out. Using the INS we could better predict where to place our sight picture to offset for winds.

Then in the early 1990s the Air Force again modified the A-10 and installed an upgraded computer to provide a “constantly computed impact point†(CCIP) for strafing and bombing. CCIP took most of the guess work out of it, and eliminated the need for estimating winds or much of the elevation (assuming level terrain). Later modification with laser designation pods coupled to the gun system now integrate the range solution because of laser ranging.

An interesting history, but for years I wondered why I could not get a reasonable commercial scope with a mil reticule, to be able to aim a hunting rifle the way I had used the A-10 gun sight for over 20 years.

Barstooler.

The gun cross did not come through well when posted, but looks like a typical reticle in most scopes

35 Whelen Remington Classic: Moose at 8 paces, bow to stern, Caribou at 70 paces, Moose at 125yds. Got talked out of using my Whelen and took an Elk at 270 yds with my 7mag, definately within range of the Whelen!@#!

Barstooler,

I can watch A-10's in my backyard. A10's have Neat guns, also, GREAT shooting with peep. Thanks all for reports.

35 Whelan Imp

387 yards caribou. 225 grain Nosler BT

Nice shot, sure he did not travel far.

My longest shot with the .35 Whelen was a Shiras Moose at 280 yards. I had lazered that park at 300 yeards a couple of days earlier and he was standing about 20 yards into it. He was facing me so I held on his nose to allow for about 10 inches of drop from the 250 Grain Noslers Partitions starting out as 2,525 fps. He kept spinnig around so I kept shooting. Four out of four hit close to the same place...right where I was trying to put them. He finally went down. The other 3 shots might not have been necessary. Moose don't know when they're dead! Shot another moose in Newfoundland at about 150 yards. The four elk I've killed with the .35 Whelen were all less than 100 yards. Only one required a second shot and that was just to keep him anchored where he was instead of going off into some bad stuff.
Rich Elliott

THanks 6.5 BR

I aimed 24" above his back and pulled the trigger. He walked around in a big circle and fell like a rock. The 35 WHelan does not get enough credit in the press. Most people think it is a god 100 yard gun.

I would think the bullet would come down that much with a 200 zero, you may not be zero'd quite that far?

Years ago dad had me pick up a Whelen classic, nice wood for a friend of his who wanted one for Elk.

Back then I too thought short range! Go figure! I guess that killed it and the 350 and 358 from a big success. Perhaps they will have their day when more people become converts. My buddy flattened a large buck with my 350, now his! Had to have it!

.35 Whelen: One shot on a cow elk with a 225gr X bullet at 272 yards. Dropped like a rock.