Hi everyone, I got a bonus and need to spend it before the wifey finds out. I am trying to fill a slot in my " hunting" battery, which consists of .25-06, .300 win, .416 Rem and .45-70. After HOURS of thought I narrowed the choices to 7mm STW or .340 Weatherby. I hunt elk, deer, antelope and would like to try bear, but would be blackies. Elk hunting is my preference. If you could share your opinions I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

CE

You already have your bases pretty well covered. A 7mm-STW would be my first choice.

The 7mmstw is a no brainer.I have two and have taken deer,bighorn pronghorn,moose and elk with them.Flat shooting plenty of energy and manageable recoil.

Yeap the 7mmSTW would look real nice in that spot and provide you a nice alternative to what you have already. It will handle what you are asking of it.

I like your cartridge spacing! No putting together a group of rifles that are essentially equivalent! That is a nicely spread rack of rifles and you have identified the two gaps you need to fill and what to nicely fill them with! Either would be great, I' d knock off the 340 Weatherby first myself -- its your call though.

Never Go Undergunned, Always Check The Sight In, Perform At Showtime,
EKM

I have a Weatherby Mark V .340 Wby. Mag., and it is one of the best rifles I own. I have killed 3 elk with it all one shot KILLS. Good luck.

If I had to choose between those two, presonally I would take the 340. Its a fantastic elk gun, more than adequate for bear and with some cast bullets you could load it down to take deer.

I have just never cared for the 7mm calibre, not sure why other than the bullet choices seemed limited for handloading.

I vote for the 340. Unless you wanna get a real class cartridge like a 348 Winchester, I' d go with that one. Better yet a 338-06.

If I were buying with your battery in the safe, I' d probably actually get something on the lines of a .22-250 or .223, since you don' t have 22cal centerfire, then you' d have everything you could need (which you' re already pretty well covered, but everyone should have a good 22cal CF). Of your two, I' d probably get the .340, the 7mmstw would be almost a match to your .300mag, while the .340 is kind of a half step between your .300mag and the .416rem. It' d be a little better for bear than your .300, but not as much overkill on them as the .416, so it' d be a good brownie gun. Obviously the price isn' t an issue, so this doesn' t really matter, but you' d spend less money by a long-shot by getting the 7mm stw, but like I said, it' s almost a perfomance match to your current .300mag, so the .340' s the way to go.

Now you see, I asked this same question in the same way, said I needed to " fill the gap" in my arsenal. Then people start saying that you have what you need already.
Of course you don' t. Man can' t have too many guns. It' s just an impossibility.

Get yourself something big, fast, and mean. Spend the $ before the little lady buys something pretty with it.