I am soliciting thoughts and opinions. I have begun building a rifle with a long action magnum bolt face. My first thought was to barrel it .375 RUM. Yes I know that is not a "Medium Bore" cartridge. I also read up on it and while I am not overly recoil sensitive, I don't get a kick (no pun intended) out of beating my self up.

So, I have reassessed the issue. I probably will never get to Africa and even if I did I would only be interested in the various antelope. Here in the good old U.S.A. the biggest thing I have hunted is Elk and that will probably continue to be the case.

I would like input on medium bore cartridges that will provide good knock down of a large elk at 350 yard. That's about all the range I feel comfortable with any more. American, British or European are all welcome.

Thanks in advance.

well, what action?
though if i were to make a couple assumptions, i'd suggest a 338 winmag -

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
well, what action?
though if i were to make a couple assumptions, i'd suggest a 338 winmag -

Yeah, kind of forgot that. Remington 700.

The original 375 H&H will do everything you will ever need to have done in the USA, even at 350 yards. If you want faster and flatter why not the 340 Wby Mag ?

340 Weatherby. The .338 Win is not a bad choice either. I just like the .340 better. The .338 Ultra or Edge isn't a bad choice, but you don't get anything over the other two under 500 yards other than more recoil.

My 2 cents. I love my Mark X in .340.

Jeremy

Why not a 300H&H.....load it with 200gr Nosler Partitions or 180gr Barnes X bullets and it will take anything in North America and work on all the plains game in Africa.

A 300 mag (you pick the flavor) is really hard to beat.

375 ruger 416 ruger I would stay away from the belted mag cases now that there are better ones out there

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
375 ruger 416 ruger I would stay away from the belted mag cases now that there are better ones out there

A little bigger than I wanted. I did however run across the .30-375 Ruger wildcat. Fairly impressive and then I see Remington has the .300 RUM. I actually like the idea of a magnum cartridge without a belt. Might bear more research.

358 STA if you want something different otherwise the 338 Win Mag would be hard to beat.

I use and love the .358 Norma. A 225-grain Barnes-X at 2,800 FPS does a great job on elk or similar size critters, and recoil is quite tolerable. My second choice would be a .338 Win Mag with 210-grain Noslers.

My all time favorite is the .338 Win. loaded with 210 noslers at 3020 FPS or the .225 Nosler at 2918 FPS, followed closely by my old 300 H&H and 200 gr. Woodleigh or Noslers at 3000 FPS.

I've personally used the 35 Whelen,.338 Win., 9.3x62, .375, 300 H&H and 30-06, and a number of smaller calibers growing up, but those 6 seem to work as well as anything, under all the conditions one would have to deal with.

Elk are not bullet proof, and properly hit about any half decent caliber stuck in the right spot will do the job, but I listed these calibers based on your 350 yard post.

I will modify this post based on the fact you have a long action therefore my choice would have to be a long round..I like the 300 H&H about as well as any caliber I have ever used and I handload it right up there..but you can never go wrong with a standard 375 H&H..

I'm just starting to load my 375 H&H with the 235 grain CEB Raptor ER at 3100 fps.

Range Drop
(yd) (in)
100 1.9
125 2.1
150 2
175 1.7
200 1
225 0
250 -1.3
275 -3
300 -5.1
325 -7.5
350 -10.4

You could go with a 7mm Mag. That has plenty of knockdown at 350 yards and doesn't kick too bad.

My son and grandsons share two .358 STA's, a .340 Wby, a .338 Lapua with me and have never found any of them lacking. Several Bull Elk and African plains game with fine results and hopefully many more. Good shooting.

Consider the 7mm Remington Mag.

It was developed to give excellent range and power with about all the recoil us regular guys can shoot well.

It took off in popularity when that was found out.

From my experience .30-06/.300 Win Mag/.300 & .340 Weatherbys/.35 Whelen and .375 H&H will all handle your parameters quite easily.

check your PM's.

Rich

338s are great. You can house a 338 win mag, 340 wby, or 338 RUM comfortably in a 24" rifle weighing 7 3/4- 8 1/2 lbs scoped and loaded. I own all 3 and happily recommend any of them. The 338 win mag is decent in a 22" but I am fine with a 24 in heavy brush. My 340 and RUM have been bobbed to 24" and haven't lossed more than 60 FPS on both. Just about anytime someone says they want a medium bore rifle and they include a 338 of some sorts, people start coming out of the wood work shitting themselves. "A 300 can do everything the 338 does", "You'll never be able to hunt in Africa with it", "Recoils too much" and so forth. Basically saying it will be the worst decision of your life. loud-n-boomer mentioned the 358 Norma, and while never owning one, I handloaded, shot and hunting with and alongside of one for years. Great cartridge. As is my 9.3X62.

Another vote for a 340 Wby.

quote:

Originally posted by MHC_TX:
Why not a 300H&H.....load it with 200gr Nosler Partitions or 180gr Barnes X bullets and it will take anything in North America and work on all the plains game in Africa.

A 300 mag (you pick the flavor) is really hard to beat.

Style, class , history, and works wonderfully.....

The OP said, "medium bore cartridges".

A 7RM or at most a .300WM would do what you want to do, unless you're just interested in having something different.

The 338 Win Mag will do what you need. The 340 Weatherby unscoped is catalogued at 8 1/4 pounds. That's way too heavy for me to lug around the mountains.

I have three 338s and my lightest is a Browning Xbolt which weighs 6 pounds 13 ounces unscoped. I've grown to appreciate lighter weight rifles as I've gotten older.

The obvious metric suggestion would be the 8x68S

M

Lots of good suggestions here and I am getting them by PM as well. I have been comparing all the medium bore suggestions. In some cases it is literally personal choice as many of them are very close in performance.

As far as I am concerned, every ounce counts in the field.

quote:

Originally posted by metric:
The obvious metric suggestion would be the 8x68S

M

I am giving it a hard look as well. I have a plain Jane 8x57 that I really enjoy. I like the case on the 8x68S as it doesn't have a belt and from what I am reading its performance is right up there with the best.

As you can see from the previous posts, there are a whole lot of cartridges that will meet what you asked for in the OP. Elk at 350 yards can be accomplished with anything from the 270Win (or even less) on up. To hit with more authority you should probably set the 7RM as min as it will give you a bit more leeway on shot placement. To keep bullet drop at a minimum, recoil at a minimum, and energy at a maximum, the 7mm to 308cal rounds probably offer you the best of all worlds.
No flies on the 300RUM but the Bee or Win Mag kill lots of elk as do the various 7's.

A 7 Rem Mag with a svelt 160gr bullet would provide the power you need at the least amount of recoil. It is one of my favorite all-around hunting calibers.

That being said, if you want to hit with authority, I have a Bansner Ultimate in 340 Wby being finished up now if you'd like :-)

Thanks for all the input. I am down to two, the 7mm Magnum and the 8x68S.

Appreciate all the help.

.300 H&H loaded with Barnes 180 gr is perfect for your needs. Easy to reload and very sexy.

That was supposed to be 7mm Remington Ultra Magnum and 8x68S.

Just a few thoughts.

The 7mm RUM may be a good choice but it will be hard on your barrel / throat. Bore to chamber ration etc. ...... like the 7mm STW etc.

8X68S is a classic and may be just that bit as good as a 338 WM.

If it weren't for the Magnum bolt face I would suggest the 30-06. The 7mm Rem mag or 300 win. mag would do nicely. Maybe a bit Ho-Hum but guaranteed to get the job done.
roger

300H&H is plenty enough to do what you want.
if your into modern go with the 300 win mag.

I hunt elk every year right up the canyon I can see out my front window.
if I think I need to take the big gun out hunting I reach for the 8 mauser instead of the 7 mauser I normally take.

get something like the H&H which is enough gun without too much recoil plus it has a lot of class.

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
Just a few thoughts.

The 7mm RUM may be a good choice but it will be hard on your barrel / throat. Bore to chamber ration etc. ...... like the 7mm STW etc.

8X68S is a classic and may be just that bit as good as a 338 WM.

I think the throat life pretty much settled it. I have always liked the 8mm performance in what I have, a magnum 8mm is just the ticket. Barrels are easy to come by and Dave up at PTG has reamers so I guess I have reached the end of this quest.

While perhaps a little "boring",it's pretty hard to beat the .338 Win. Mag. It will easily perform in your parameters! memtb

338 Winchester.

Anything bigger or smaller or whatever is because you "want it"

As I said before, I don't particularly care for belts. Went with the 8x68S.

quote:

Originally posted by drhall762:
As I said before, I don't particularly care for belts. Went with the 8x68S.

Good choice!

A 220grs Woodleigh or a 200grs Swift will do the job out to 350yards. I got 2800fps with the 220 Woodleigh PP.

M

quote:

Originally posted by drhall762:
As I said before, I don't particularly care for belts. Went with the 8x68S.

the magnum action isn't required for this cartridge. And, the magnum bolt face won't fit if it has already been opened up to magnum size.