General Purpose Cartridge for Coyotes up to Elk

charlesh777 said:
Oh, I'm sure. Might need to talk with some family members about having a reloading set up at their place until I can make room lol.
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You wouldn't believe what I used for several years, when I was in my late teens, early 20's…..once I upgraded , one shelf in a tiny laundry room shared with the washer and dryer, from from my Lee Loader on my parents living room floor! 😁 Though, it seems that you're well beyond my hand loading abilities of that time. 😉 memtb
 
6.8 Western or 6.5 prc would be my short list. I would prefer the 6.8W and the heavier bullets for the larger game but 6.5 prc is a "modern" 270 Win and that old classic is still a personal favorite. As for factory loads with 6.8W I have had great results with the Browning/Win loads but there are a bunch more for 6.5 prc if that worries you

Lou
 
If a short action is in the mix, and 6.5mm is favoured, I would go with what I did a couple of years back by putting a barrel on my REM 700 SPS in 6.5x47 Lapua. I had already built a target rifle in 6.5x47 and found it to be extremely accurate and very easy to get great accuracy.
I also have a 260AI, 3 264WM's and 6.5-300 Weatherby.
Another great cartridge, which I also have, is the 7-08 in a 8" twist, very accurate too.

Cheers.
 
charlesh777 said:
Hi all,

New to the forum, but have lingered here for years. Currently in the process of building a new custom hunting rifle and know every component I am going to be going with except for the cartridge. I am getting back into hunting and all of these new cartridge make it hard to figure out what direction to go.... Thinking about one of the PRC's since I am not invested in any particular caliber. Would like to get into hunting coyotes (a family friend has property in La Pine running rampant with them) and would also like to be able to hunt up to elk with the same cartridge. I'm in Oregon, just east of the cascades. Shots will be 500 yards and in, with maybe a shot a little further than that here or there. Barrel will be 20 inches as I will be running suppressed 100% of the time. Does anyone have recommendations on a good cartridge? Have thought of 6.5 PRC since it is always in stock online and also around where I live. Open to anything within reason really. If I need to move this post to a more appropriate area, please let me know. Many thanks!

Charles
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If you want to keep the hides on the Yotes, then no Elk appropriate cartridge is going to be the right choice; Unless you are willing to use FMJs on the yotes. If you are, then the 300 WM will cover both jobs. Shot a ton of open country yotes, before calling was a thing, for fur using the 300 Win Mag reloaded with 147 grain BT SP FMJ we pulled from 7.62 Nato ammo.
 
I'm going to say any of my rifles from 7-08 up to 375 ruger will do the job on elk and I'll shoot a coyote every chance I'm given regardless of what caliber . If it puts a big Ole hole in them and drops them.
 
charlesh777 said:
Oh, I'm sure. Might need to talk with some family members about having a reloading set up at their place until I can make room lol.
Click to expand...
I built this 21 years ago as a mobile reloading setup. It is 20"x 60" and fits perfectly on a hitch carry-all.
Reloading table 1 of 4.jpg

Reloading table 2 of 4.jpg

Reloadng table 3 of 4.jpg

Reloadng table 4 of 4.jpg
 
My suggestion is to build or buy a different rifle for each species, state you may hunt in, day of the week you may hunt in, each member of your family, etc. I have probably 40+ rifles and I guarantee I will add 3-4 more each year because they are addictive. My suggestion is not to limit yourself. But if you were to pick only one cartridge I would go with the 6.8 Western. It will shoot as heavy as 175gr which will handle elk at long range and you can still shoot the smaller varmint style bullets meant for the 270. Just be careful how fast you push the lighter bullets with a fast twist barrel they could rip apart after exiting from the high rpm.
 
FEENIX said:
I built this 21 years ago as a mobile reloading setup. It is 20"x 60" and fits perfectly on a hitch carry-all.
View attachment 600652
View attachment 600653
View attachment 600654
View attachment 600655
Click to expand...
Great idea. I'd like something a little smaller for range work. I'd probably flip the door to lay flat on the top. I've been using a Lee hand press or Bald Eagle arbor to do seating depth testing at the range. I'd like the ability to run an RCBS Summit or Co-Ax press for that and leave it mounted inside.

The problem would be the legs with a smaller box, but I have a B&D workmate portable bench that could work. One of the DeWalt roling table saw stands woul be great to mount a portable reloading bench on as well, but a little expensive. I have one under my contractor saw and it's extremely stable.

 
7mm man said:
My suggestion is to build or buy a different rifle for each species, state you may hunt in, day of the week you may hunt in, each member of your family, etc. I have probably 40+ rifles and I guarantee I will add 3-4 more each year because they are addictive. My suggestion is not to limit yourself. But if you were to pick only one cartridge I would go with the 6.8 Western. It will shoot as heavy as 175gr which will handle elk at long range and you can still shoot the smaller varmint style bullets meant for the 270. Just be careful how fast you push the lighter bullets with a fast twist barrel they could rip apart after exiting from the high rpm.
Click to expand...
LOL! Where I hunt, there are antelope, deer, elk, bear, and coyotes, and for a period, they are all open. Even though I have a few that fit the bill, the .300 WM remains my go-to chambering for antelope to elk-size game up to 1KY.
 
ducky said:
Great idea. I'd like something a little smaller for range work. I'd probably flip the door to lay flat on the top. I've been using a Lee hand press or Bald Eagle arbor to do seating depth testing at the range. I'd like the ability to run an RCBS Summit or Co-Ax press for that and leave it mounted inside.
Click to expand...
Some guys in my range do their load work inside their trailers. I have no desire to do that. I have a pre-determined goal when I am at the range. I just want to shoot, collect data, and adjust accordingly at home. I am about 10-15 minutes to my range. Most of the time, I am the first one there, and I am done when people start showing up. 🤣
 
..wow spike, that's quite the stretch between game to cover....there's certainly a myriad of cartridges that could cover that spread but each would have a little issue one way of the other....how about the time tested ho-hum plain Jane 30/06....125-220 grain bullets covers the spread...for the most part, no substitute for. 308 holes in the vital zone.
 
memtb said:
You wouldn't believe what I used for several years, when I was in my late teens, early 20's…..once I upgraded , one shelf in a tiny laundry room shared with the washer and dryer, from from my Lee Loader on my parents living room floor! 😁 Though, it seems that you're well beyond my hand loading abilities of that time. 😉 memtb
Click to expand...
I just need to look into it. I'm sure I can figure something out that could work. I think I could definitely have a lot of fun with it!
 

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