Doe Dumper

There aint no magic laser beam thats gonna make a 600 yard kill easy in any caliber. The only way to be proficient at that range is an absolutely anal amount of practice. It isnt something you can get decent at and quit practicing at. You will have to continuously practice at that range. You are dealing with a lot of variables at that range. Theres some on here that like shooting those ranges and I guarantee you they shoot very very often.

How much are you willing to practice irregardless of caliber to consistently make good shots at that range? My advice is to take the 30-06 you have and shoot it till you are sick of shooting it and then shoot some more.


On another note Im glad to see we have some people that have never picked a 338 Win Mag up downing it. Going from what? 1 gun last year at this time to owning at least one rifle of every cartridge and makethis year?

SP10

I own a .300 WBY magnum and agree with Hillbillyhunter1 that the path to becoming a more accurate shooter is spending a lot of time at the range. The problem with the WBY and RUMofferings is that this can get very expensive if you don't reload.

J for the USA

Many of you have passionately suggested your favorite caliber. Most have made their suggestions based on my already owning an -06. For that, I give you many thanks. I think the advice I needed to hear (but didn't really want to), is that I need to quit day dreaming about more guns and work with what I have. -06 ammo is much cheaper than all the rest of the calibers mentioned here, so I should be grateful for that. Its time I get my punk @$$ to the long-distance ranges and start on my targets at 300 yards.

Perhaps I should repost this in the Optics forum, but since we're here and have context, what do you think of the Leupold VX-III 4.5-14x50 with the B&C Big Game recticle?I don't have any reason for choosing that, other than it looks good to me. Is the 50mm objective lens a waste of weight or will it really benefit in those low light conditions at 300yards? I don't mind the extra weight.Right now I have a VX-I with a standard recticle.Also, I'm wondering if its possible to know whether or not certain recticles are matched for certain calibers (ie, magnum loads), and if I should be on the lookout for one best suited for the .30-06. Again, I have a wood, bolt action Ruger M77.

Thanks again guys (and gals). God bless the USA.

J for the USA

I am open to other scopes as well. It seems the VX-II is cheaper, and Nikons in a similar performance range as well. I'm not attached to any brand--but it should be significantly better in image quality than my current scope. I probably need the distance recticle as well. Thanks.

salukipv1

I chose to not respond, and still do.

speaking of teens, you seem to act like one, though I'd be surprised if you were under 50.

What makes you more of an expert than anyone else in these forums? I think they exist for people to give their opinion. If you feel like you're the ultimate hunting rescourse you should start your own website and then people can contact you for help, but as I see it, this guy posted a question, that we all get to respond to and give our opinion, not just "commonsense's thoughts"

You're big huff on this one seems to be that I didn't start shouting buy a .338 win mag, though I did discuss it.

I find questions about ones age, how many animals he's taken, how many guns they own, etc.....to be one of not much class.

I could have by now 15 bucks on the wall? whitetails that is. another 5 antelope or so. A few elk, etc..etc... A guy could be 75 and only have 10 animals on his wall, all trophies, I ask who's the better hunter? the man who took 200 animals in his lifetime or more? or the guy that could have taken 200, but passed, or what about the guy who only has 10 on his wall, trophies/numbers mean little in quality of a sportsmen, we might as well just determine the best hunters by income.....the guy with the most sheep in the world is the best hunter of course.....sounds like a poor way of measuring a hunter.

Either way that's my response to you CommonSense, and my last. Feel free to blast me some more on thse forums, most likely after I posted to a question ahead of you, maybe I'll wait for you to post before me next time then ridicule your statement, and hunting experience, which I have no knowledge of, nor you of mine. Though I would like to do that, I won't be. Though I'm quite certain you will continue to. Either way I will continue to give my opinion.

salukipv1

I read this time and time again. How often do guys shoot their .300wby, or .300 RUM? How many boxes per outting? I would be surprised if a guy shot more than 2 boxes of either at an outing. And then how often do you use that rifle? just prior to a hunt? mainly to sight in? then occasionally to stay fresh?

I suppose if you're shooting all the time, every weekend, and going through tons of ammo for each of your rifles, sure that would add up, but I don't do that, and wonder who really does shoot that often?

My point is it's not much more ammo from my experience. I don't shoot multiple rifles each weekend. So if you only plan to get your big banger sighted in, then on occasion break it out to keep fresh with it, and then prior to a hunt....the added costs of ammo are minimal.

skb2706

I shoot out on the prairie alot and we shoot long range every weekend.... an 06 would not be my first choice for the task. A 500 yd shot is a pretty good poke for a good shooter shooting a good rifle using handloaded ammo. Hunting game animals and planning on shooting that distance immediately seperates out the 06 for me. Given your list of animals I'd go with the .300 Win mag because I know what they can do at 500 yds and it handles heavier bullets much better than the 06. The cost to handload one round of .300 Win mag vs. the cost to handload one round of 30-06 is very small....not enough to concern ones self with. Anything bigger kicks the snot out of you just enough to never get comfortableto shoot well. JMO
Fixed power scopes are for targets and prairie dogs not hunting rifles.

Scott Gags

I would buy something that gets some separation from the performance of the 06. The Hornady Light Mags and Federal High energy rounds have more KE energy than a 7mm Rem Mag and are only approx 100 FPS behind the Win Mag. That is why I would skip over the 7mm Rem mag and 300WM/300WSM and step up to a 300 Wby or 300 Ultra Mag. The problem however is that to shootaccurately at distances beyond the effective range of the 06, will require an awful lot of practice and that will be very expensive with those cartridges. You will almost need to reload or you will be broke by the time you are proficient enough.

homers brother

Saluki,

So then, what makes a good long-range marksman if it isn't sending rounds downrange?

Rammer

I'll just stick to my lil 7mm Rem Mag. I know when I need to place a bullet, I can place it just about anywhere I need to out to 500 yards under the right conditions. And I bet the end outcome is the same as if it was shot with a 338 Quadruple Ultra Hardcore Magnum.