Suppose you were making a rifle for longrange hunting of critters such as elk.

Question:
Of the following calibers/ctgs which and why

Choices:
7mmRUM
300Rum
338Edge
375RUM

Question:
For the above calibers which barrel length

Choices:
26"
28"
30"
32"
something longer?

 

Chose 300RUM because it was the closest you had to a 300H&H.
Chose 26" because it was the closest you had to 27".

My rifle is a 300H&H with 27" barrel and I am very satisfied with that combination.

Id pick but not listed the 338 or 358 Norma with the 27 inch bbl

I'll admit the poll is a bit biased towards Remington calibers. There may be many others. I have a hard time accepting anything smaller than 7mm(and even that is a stretch for me)for reliable use on critters such as elk at distances out to and past 1000yds. There are also many bigger rounds such as 338Allan, 408CheyTac, 50BMG. I believe they require a much bigger action too. The RUM actions are fairly available and the ammo is too. Note that I did not include 338RUM. I think it was a mistake on Remy's part not to have all ctgs the same length, but they must know something I don't.

I like the 7mm caliber because of the high bc of the bullets. One to think of is the 7mm LRM. It's a 375 ruger necked down. Gunwerks chambers for this round and Redding makes dies. I haven't heard specifics of velocities but they should compete with the ultramag.

quote:

Originally posted by drewhenrytnt:
...for reliable use on critters such as elk at distances out to and past 1000yds.

YIKES!

Hi Drew,

A thousand yards and beyond mate, seriously?

I think the type of rifle is more important than the calibre, all of those seem to have plenty of punch.

Shooting big recoiling rifles well at range is a whole other skill, there is a reason why all the benchrest records are shot with comparatively anaemic cartridges.

Are you having a rifle built or looking for one off the shelf?

338 will have the advantage at long range, especially compared to price. 338 Edge is a good caliber for sure, with plenty of punch for long range steel and hunting.

Ghubert,

I have a 300RUM. My intention is elk at extreme distance after much practice and trust in my spotter. I have been comparing retained energy and velocity at crazy distances. The round count on my 300 is minimal, but while I am still in the build stage and am interested in something with a bit more umph at distance I thought I'd poll the constabulary.

Andy

quote:

Originally posted by Tyler Kemp:
338 will have the advantage at long range, especially compared to price. 338 Edge is a good caliber for sure, with plenty of punch for long range steel and hunting.

+1

If it's elk you want to shoot at over 1000 yards, my choice would be the .338 Norma Mag, .338 Lapua Mag, .338 RUM etc...

Just built a 338 RUM with 26.5" barrel, Rem 700 action. Getting 3250 fps with 104 grs. Retumbo with 225 gr. Accubond (BC=.55). Also, MOA accuracy. This is combo hard to beat for 1000 yd+ elk. AIU

Between the 300RUM and the 338RUM, it would be a good choice in either direction. Reallllly some fine, well designed Cartridges. Good Powders and Bullets available for both.

You need a good bit of barrel to get the optimum performance from Cartridges in this class.

Humm, elk at 1000 yards, well speaking from actual experience over several decades of public land elk hunting, you probably need to consider paying for private land access to get a bull (presumabily) in open ground during the season in daylight hours. I have to go back ten years or so to think of a shot opportunity over 100 yards let alone 1000! After opening day most public land elk are found in steep, nasty, black-timber or other heavy cover during daylight hours. Obviously, there are, have been exceptions, so you could get lucky.

Now in case you think I harbor some animus towards long range shooting, not so. I have a nice long ranger that I use for deer, not so much antelope anymore and on one occation a cow elk (sorry it was only a 150+ yard shot though I had brought the rifle just in case).

The rifle is a 27" Lilja bbl on a Ruger tang safety action, glue-lam wood stock, Busnell 3200 straight 10x mil-dot. It likes just about any bullet really, but 130gr Hornady SP do best, muzzel velocity 3100, kills deer DRT at 400 yds +. If I get the wind right I can "kill" clay pidgeons all day at 550 yds so I'd have no problem with a shot at that range on a deer. For the one and only elk I used 150 Nosler Partttions, accuracy was not as good,1.5 MOA vs 0.5 MOA for the Hornadys. I would limit my shots on elk to under 400 and then the animal would have to be relaxed and not excited (as in shot at or wounded or otherwise paniced) A worked up elk can go for hundreds of yards even with a hit that you would think drop it quickly.

IF you can hold an 12 inch group at 1000 yds under wind conditions variable from 0 to 5 mph under field conditions with a large enough caliber rifle, 250 to 300 grain bullet then you should be fine. That, my friend, is a very, very big IF.

When it comes to the .300 RUM vs the .338, it all depends what you think of the .338 300 SMK as a game bullet. In terms of wind drift, it has about 66% less wind drift than the .300 RUM. I love RUMs; I have 3 of them, but that 300 SMK is a killer when it comes to the wind.

As for 1000 yards, even a 300 SMK at 2800 fps drifts 5.1 inches per mile of wind. Time of flight is almost one and half seconds, which means even if you nailed the wind perfectly over the entire 1000 yards (and beyond), you are betting it won't change in 1.4 seconds. Not likely...

quote:

After opening day most public land elk are found in steep, nasty, black-timber or other heavy cover during daylight hours.

That's why Wyoming public land elk are called Vampires.

From time to time we will see elk in the open after opening day, but weather is usually a factor in getting them to move. New moon helps as well. That way it's too dark for them to feed at night. Clear weather on a full moon? They will be in the timber.