308 vs 7mm Deer Hunting Out to 650 yards

[entoptics]

For whitetail over large ag fields with a max range of 650 yards, what caliber would you prefer?

@General RE LEE

Not sure this in an option, but have you considered going to a 6.5 PRC or even 270 win. Both of these would have recoil on par with 308 Win, but be substantially better at longer ranges on whitetail sized animals. As mentioned by others, 7mm-08 might offer a measurable advantage too.

At 650 yds, delivering the pill at good speed is the problem for medium game like whitetail. The bigger the caliber, the bigger the bullet required to get the B.C. needed to carry velocity. Big bullets = big recoil.

A 6.5mm (264) is a good balance for medium game. Good BC and still enough flying metal to break stuff on the furry end of the equation.

 

[Aussie Hunter Steve]

My personal favourite would be a 6.5-300 Weatherby... but the 7mm Mag is still an excellent choice.

 

[TexSavage]

I apologize for not realizing OP was not reloading. SO another Factory option in .308 is the Berger 185 Juggernaut loaded by Berger. My buddy shot them with outstanding accuracy out of his 22" Savage and got 2,645 fps on a day that was 91.2 degrees and a density altitude of 6946. Actual altitude was around 3600 feet. So there is an option for factory loads and would give 1478 ft lbs, zero elevation and 60 degrees temp would yield 1420 ft lbs.

 

[Wolf76]

although it wasn't listed in the OPs options, a 257 weatherby was made for these situations and the 6.5 rpm looks ideal too.

 

[redneckdan]

I would go with a 7 over a 30 cal. Mo'betta for a dedicated aged bean field deer rifle in my opinion would be a fast 6.5

A 257 bee shooting blackjacks would be strong medicine too.

 

[Scimitar762]

If you don't want the recoil or capacity of the 7mm Mag you could also look at the 280 AI.
My brother has 2 of them. We load a Federal Edge TLR 155 gr at around 3000 fps. That bullet has been tested to expand all the way down to 1400. It's made like Nosler ballistic tip in the front with the rear like a barnes solid copper. We shot some at close range seeing if they would break up, they didn't. He bagged a nice 6x6 Elk in Nee Mexico last year and it worked great. Also tested here in NC on some Whitetails and it expanded fine.

 

[Scimitar762]

I'll take one of his before I pick one of my 308s. If walking or carrying my pig wasn't required I'd take my 7WSM one Masterpiece Arms chassis. I love 7mm. That one is just to heavy for normal hunting but does it shoot.

 

[Dean2]

Being left handed there aren't as many options for us. I love my 21" barrel NULA 308 at 6 lbs scoped and loaded as an alround hunting rifle but when strictly hunting deer at longer ranges it is very hard to beat a Weatherby Ultra Light in 257 Bee with a 26" barrel. I also shot a lot of deer with a 7 Rem MAg but it really was more gun and weight of gun than is needed. The one place the 7 really shone is with high B.C. 162 Grain. bullets in heavy wind but wind drift between the 257 and 7 Mag leaves little real difference and the 257 has noticably less recoil despite being a 2-4 LB lighter gun than my 7 Rem and 7 RUM..