RE: Magnum haters?
 

307 yards? Dang Ridge you musta used open sights that close :D

RE: Magnum haters?
 

I'm a big fan of the magnums. I've spent weeks upon weeks worth of range time and thousands of rounds over the last 15 yrs becoming proficient with them, and their killing power is obvious whenever I have occasion to pull the trigger on something other than a sheet of paper (not very often lol, much better/more dedicated shooter than hunter). But they have their place, and the gun rack of the once a year just to check sight in shooter is generally not it. But to discount them solely on the fact they sport a belt or burn more than 55 or 60 grains of powder is non-sense. Assuming proficient shooters, I think this, like about 98% of everything in this world, comes down to good old fashioned personal choice.

Range...whats that rig your sporting there? Looks very clean.

RE: Magnum haters?
 

Nice shooting Ridge! I shot a buck about a week an half ago at a lasered 516 yards with my 7mm Rem Mag, with a 120gr Barnes TSX cranked hot. The bullet went thru the on-side shoulder blade and exited thru the last rib on the offside. The deer was dead before he hit the ground. :)

The thing I like about my 7mm, is no matter the shot angle I know I'll get the bullet to penetrate end-to-end on our big bodied deer!

RE: Magnum haters?
 

Yeah I reckon that one will do the trick on out there. Is that a 3 groove Lilja per chance? Got a few buddies experimenting with those with some hi-stepping rounds, albeit not quite so voluminous as yours. Sounds like a nasty setup, love the worked 700's. Ive owned 3 so far (270 Win, 7mm Mag and 300 WSM), and like an idiot sell them to the first shmoe who offers me 30-50% more than I got in it the thing. Sucks being in sales sometimes lol. Anyhow, killer rig ya got there, always been a sucker for the wildcats myself, just have yet to own one!!

RE: Magnum haters?
 

Rammer, whats the drop on those 120's at that range? I may just have to try some out in mine...:D

RE: Magnum haters?
 

jeepkid, I have no clue on any of the ballistics of it offhand right now, All my load data for it is at my reloading shop about a mile away. I am sighted dead on at 300 yards (about 2.4" high at 100 yards) and I gave it about 2.5ft over the back and about 1ft of windage and it drilled him.

RE: Magnum haters?
 

jeepkid, I ran a few numbers on the net for ya. I'm guessing on my velocity, but I'm willing to bet it might be higher than that. I am above the max load suggested on Barnes website using RL22, I worked up slowly till I got to where I wanted.










Trajectory Output


Input Data

Ballistic Coefficient:
0.349 G1
Bullet Weight:
120.00 gr

Caliber:
0.284 in





Muzzle Velocity:
3500.0 ft/s
Chronograph Distance:
10.0 ft



Sight Height:
1.50 in
Sight Offset:
0.00 in

Zero Height:
2.40 in
Zero Offset:
0.00 in

Azimuth:
0.00 MOA
Elevation:
300.00 MOA

LOS Angle:
0.0 deg
Cant Angle:
0.0 deg



Wind Speed:
10.0 mph
Wind Angle:
90.0 deg

Target Speed:
10.0 mph
Target Angle:
90.0 deg



Temperature:
32.0 °F
Pressure:
29.92 in Hg

Relative Humidity:
0.0 %
Altitude:
0 ft



Vital Zone Radius:
8.0 in
Std. Atmosphere at Altitude:
No

Corrected Pressure:
Yes
Target Relative Drops:
Yes

Zero at Max. Point Blank Range:
No



Highlighted input values were forced valid.


Calculated Parameters

Elevation:
5.16 MOA
Azimuth:
0.00 MOA



Atmospheric Density:
0.08067 lbs/ft³
Speed of Sound:
1087.0 ft/s



Maximum PBR:
471 yds
Maximum PBR Zero:
403 yds

Range at Max Height:
224 yds
Energy at PBR:
1254.1 ft•lbs



Sectional Density:
0.213 lbs/in²









Calculated Table

Range
Drop
Drop
Windage
Windage
Velocity
Mach
Energy
Time
Lead
Lead

(yds)
(in)
(moa)
(in)
(moa)
(ft/s)
(none)
(ft•lbs)
(s)
(in)
(moa)

100
2.4
2.3
0.7
0.7
3187.6
2.932
2706.9
0.090
15.8
15.1

200
2.9
1.4
3.1
1.5
2888.1
2.657
2222.1
0.189
33.2
15.8

300
-0.8
-0.3
7.3
2.3
2608.7
2.400
1812.9
0.298
52.4
16.7

400
-9.7
-2.3
13.6
3.3
2346.4
2.159
1466.8
0.419
73.8
17.6

500
-24.9
-4.8
22.4
4.3
2099.6
1.932
1174.4
0.554
97.6
18.6

600
-48.0
-7.6
34.0
5.4
1868.1
1.719
929.8
0.706
124.2
19.8

RE: Magnum haters?
 

I thought about getting a 7mm mag before I got the .300, the whole thing was up in the air in my mind. I settled on the .300 only because it was the first one I found. The ballistics on either is great. Couldn't ask for anything more.

RE: Magnum haters?
 

Thanks Rammer, I might just have to pick up a box...holding on hair out to 400 or so would be pretty nice...:D

RE: Magnum haters?
 

I'm by no means a "magnum hater" either. Unfortunately, I routinely see guys at the range with big rifles cussing up a storm about "their gunsmith this" and "their scope that", when all one has to do is watch them shoot to know why they're not hitting what they want to. Who knows, maybe they'd flinch with a smaller rifle, too. I used to flinch severly when shooting Dad's .30-06, but I was 12 years old at the time.

No question, formal marksmanship training makes all the difference.

I dusted off my .300 Wby this fall intending to take it elk hunting (work conflicted and couldn't go), and it's every bit as accurate as my "go-to".30-06, maybe moreso. But, I've been fortunate to grow up in a family that DID shoot and DID train me, then reinforced that in the military. Yeah, magnums do recoil (ascan lightweight standards), but if I'm hunting, my objective is putting one bullet into a vital area and I've never noticed it.

If there's a chance I'm going to gut-shoot an animal, I'm not going to take the shot, regardless of what I'm carrying. I don't buy the argument at all that a magnum is better than a standard under those circumstances, and hunters should think before they intentionally wound an animal, even if it'll die in the end. Guess I haven't been all that impressed with the tracking skills I've seen in the field, nor the number of dead (usually respectable) bucks I've found "lost" by another hunter.

I kill deer just fine with a .243. I'm perfectly comfortable with the .30-06 on elk, caribou, or moose. I have a .300 Weatherby just because it was cheap, synthetic, and I don't worry about beating it up in the thick timber or up in the rocks. And, a .375 H&H just because I thought I had to have one. They've all been "blooded" on one species or another, and all performed just as I expected them to. Obviously, I had to play my part well, too.

My concern about "magnums" is simply that they're not something one picks up at the sporting goods store and becomes an expert with by reading magazines and forum postings. If it's your FIRST rifle and you have no rifleshooting experience, pick somethingsmaller and/or get a .22 along with it and find a qualified teacher/instructor. I think that we, as a community, owe a lot to that diminutive little rimfire and what it can do for us. I cringe when someone here obviously is looking for a start and all the posts that ensue insisting that magnums are the only way to go. I'm expecting to seen yet another tyro at the range cussing the rifle, when it's really more a casethat he can't shoot it or is afraid of it.