308 or 338
 

I am wanting to buy a good 1000 yrd gun for varmints and maybe some big game. What I am wanting to know is which caliber would be better and i am going to put a leupold tactical scope. Or maybe a 325 WSM.

RE: 308 or 338
 

For big game at 1000 yards you just as well go for the 50 BMG. I wouldn't consider anything less that the 30-378 if you really think you will try big game at that range. A Ray gun would be even better;).

RE: 308 or 338
 

I don't see a lot of varmint hunters packing around 338's, might be a reason for that :)

RE: 308 or 338
 

For 1000yrd’s on varmints I would recommend a 6.5/284 or a 6.5rem Magnum you don’t want a lot of recoil when you’re shooting way out there and you want a very very good scope. One of those should work well on medium game also but for big game a 30/378 might be the go but I would keep shots to 600yrd and aim very carefully.

RE: 308 or 338
 

I assume you're meaning hunting game at reasonable ranges and target shooting at up to 1000 yds. Then I could possibily offer you some advice. You must understand that much of what I tell you comes from material I have read and not from personal experence. To shoot with any degree of accuracy at 1000 yds with a 308 you have to load a heavy bullet very hot. I'm talking about a sierra 175 gr bt match as minimum. The reason being that a lighter bullet will drop below supersonic speed before reaching the target. And the 175 gr has to leave your barrel very fast in order to do so.All I've read on this subject indicates that a bullet that transgresses from supersonic to subsonic in flight loses its stability and therfore it's accuracy potential . Perhapes some other readers can add more info. to help you. But my thinking is, if you are serious about shooting at 1000 yds go to a 300 mag or 338 mag . Just be sure their are good match bullets available in the calibre you choose. Another thing I should mention about the 308 is the barrel length should be at least 26 ins. and 28-30 ins would be better to help achieve the needed M.V.

RE: 308 or 338
 

Why 1000 yards? I would not advise taking big game at a 1000 yards, even if you can gurantee a accurate shot. That is a disaster waiting to happen. For target use, I use both my .308 Win. and my .338 Lapua for long shot target competitions for target up to 1500 yards, but I would never take any animal at this range.

RE: 308 or 338
 

My vote is for the ray gun...lmfaoooo :D

RE: 308 or 338
 

Let me team up 260rem. If you meant 1000 for big game, which I assume you didn't mean it like that, FORGET IT. Moving on. For a 1000yard gun a couple popular calibers are the 300s, 7mm Mags. There are alot less popular calibers out there. The tried and true 308/30-06 shouldn't be ruled out either. If you're wanting a whiz-bang howitzer-of-a-gun the 338 Lapua and several of the big Weatherbys are good options.

RE: 308 or 338
 

In all seriousness I would not hunt at 1k, but in fact our snipers killed from 900-1100 meters with the 7.62 nato which is close. (The military version of the .308.) But really you are talking about long range shooting and the .30 caliber bullets have good ballistic coeffecients. There is also a long range hunting forum in a different website (www.longrangehuntingc.com,) and long range rifles are what they are all about! Minimally you would want a Remington with a heavy 26" barrel and a good scope to start getting out there. So the initial cost is substantial. 1k shooting is a moot point for me. Too many trees and cornfields.

RE: 308 or 338
 

I don't think tecnology has caught up with you yet. Good luck.

RE: 308 or 338
 

If you seriously want to try 1000 yard shooting then you will need to fork out some serious money to do it and have any chance being effective at it.

Don't expect to just go out and buy an off the shelf gun and hit anything at 1000 yards. The bench rest guns are highly specialized and even the rifles used to hunt at 1000 yards are incredibly specialized. Heavy stocks, long and heavy super match grade barrels (26" and longer), match grade triggers such as Jewel. You can easily spend a few to several thousand for the gun, another grand for the scope, another grand for a spotting scope, etc... etc...

You need to have specialized reloading equipment so you can wring out the most accuraty from your hand loads.

You will need to spend countless hours at the bench firing countless rounds of ammunition in order to get good enough for this.

For paper punching a 308 will work fine IF you reload heavy bullets (175 grains +) to at least 2600 fps so that you can keep the bullets super sonic at 1000 yards. If you want to hunt big game at 1000 yards then you would be muh better off with something along the lines of a .338 Lapua, .338 RUM, etc... in order to have sufficent energy levels at 1000 yards.

RE: 308 or 338
 

A shot at 1000 yards is not something that should be taken lightly. I have a friend that was a sniper in the service, and he has stated that there a many many factors involved in a shot like that. That is why they work in teams of two. He also said that the longest shot he ever had to make in that capacity was around 600 yards. For what it is worth though, his issue weapon was an Anschultz 308.

Fat-Arrow

RE: 308 or 338
 

If you have to ask, you have no business taking such shots at game. For that matter, there isn't any good reason to even attempt shots like that at big game animalswith the exception of a tiny minority of people with the ability to do so.

RE: 308 or 338
 

Look, It aint none of your business what I do with any of my rifles, I was simply asking which caliber is the most popular and capable of that kind shot. As the big game goes I have killed deer at over 500 yrds but that was my farthest and the farthest shot I would take on a big game animal. I would like a rifle that would handle the 1000 yrd target shots and varmint and 5 or 6 hundred yard big game. Thanks

RE: 308 or 338
 

The last time I posted a reply on long range shooting I was nearly crucified for my concern of long range shooting at (LIVE GAME) and the safety issues regarding it. With possibilities of wounding an animal or not making quick clean kills due to many factors that occur over the 1000 yards like (wind) that can be blowing in all sorts of directions and angles at different yardage points along the way to its intended target.

However...I have talked to a man at gander mountain that said he used his 308 to shoot varmints at over 900 yards consistantly. I remember that he actually braught in this gun to the store and it was topped with a very high powered scope (thattook up about 3/4 of the barrel length)and a bi pod attached to the bottom. He claimed that this type of shooting is done constantly out west.

I believe that these shots are very possible (because people have claimed to do them at the range an in the feild) The fact that peopletake a gun to the range and shoot 1000 yards seems fine to me... or even to take long shots at varmints where the landscape is very vast...but I really still dont know if shooting that long of range at big game animals is the wisest option. 500 yards is still a long shot, but 1000 yards iswhole different story.

good luck shooting 270.... if you do want a long rangegun for varments and targets both...I would gather from what the gentleman claimed at gander mt. that a 308, if properly equipped could do just about what you wanted it to do.

So the

RE: 308 or 338
 

Thank you buckstalker,thats what I was wondering.

RE: 308 or 338
 

Actually this is what you asked.You clearly stated that you wanted a gun that was capeable of shooting varmints and big game at 1000 yards. You made no mention of limiting shots on big game animals to 500 yards or less.

Another point..... By you meerly asking this question indicates to everyone here that you have never attemped shots at 1000 yards on paper, much less big game animals, and this would be a new challenge for you so we are going to give you advice based on that.

So don't get you panties all bunched up because people gave their opinions about atempting shots on live big game animals at 1000 yards. You got exactly the answers that you asked for.



Like I said earlier you are going to need some fairly specialized equipment to be effective at hiting targets the size of ground hogs at 1000 yards. If you want to play you gotta pay. ;)

RE: 308 or 338
 

If you want to try to shoot this far 1000yards at big game you have alot of work ahead of you first your going to have to get a good rifle talk to Kirby allen he could build you a bad a$$ rifle that would do it. Goto www.longrangehunting.com

Ask for fiftydriver (kirby allen) to reply and talk to him about you options on a rifle, also their is a longrange hunting class someone is puting on might want to look into that cause they know their stuff. Now you might not need the KA custom rifle to pull it off it would be a good Idea to get the best equipment if your going to try to pull shots like that offyou need toguarantee you hit the vitals not a easy task at that range.

If youlimiting yourbig game shots to500 yards its still going to take lots of practice but you could pull it of with a quality rifle and good optics like a leopold tactical or lr scope. I would take a 500 yard shot but only under perfect conditions and that dont happen very often when I'm hunting but you can make them theirs just alot of variables when you pass that 300 yard mark I think it was a wise man James B who said dont be scared to use your boots when hunting. GOOD LUCK

RE: 308 or 338
 

One of the things that I like about .308 Win is that it is an inherently accurate cartridge and fun to shoot. You don't have to muzzle brake it which means your ears will last longer. Heavens, if I had access to a 1000 yard range here in the cornstalks, I would get back into reloading and go pop some caps. I wouldn't hesitate to start with a decent 3x9 scope and see how it treats you. We were trained to hit at 500 meters, iron sight M16 so you could get much further with a scoped rig! A lower power scope on the bottom end would give you a wide field of view for hunting close shots as well. Our units used the old 3x9 Redfields in the 70's, but Uncle Sam has gotten more exotic opitcs these days. Anyway, you wouldn't need a second mortgage that way.

RE: 308 or 338
 

I think the wording has been taken out of contex. As I don't think he was talking about shooting game at 1000 yds. Give the man a break, hell I can't shoot at 1000 yds either cause around here you cant see that far. My longest safe shot is 230yds with a backstop from my bench, so I just see how small a group I can shoot at that range. He ask for help not sarcarisum.