400 yard deer rifle.

[ATH]

I was responding to your overkill comment ...

Would you actually argue that a 300WM is NECESSARY to kill antelope or deer to 400 yards? I get you kill stuff longer range, but the thread question was deer to 400 yards. is the 300WM NECESSARY for deer and smaller game at that range?

Of course it will do the job. But so will a fistful of smaller, lower recoiling chamberings. I can't see any experienced shooter...which I know includes yourself...disagreeing with this.

A 50BMG will not do much meat damage if you only hit ribs. There's very little meat on the ribs. Be off a little, or have the animal twitch, and hit in the shoulder, and there is a big difference between a 6mm and 300WM damage.

Like I said....if you want to carry one rifle to do everything, the 300WM is a great choice. I used mine on a hunt to take elk at 600+, deer at 400+, and antelope at 300. But if elk were not included in that hunt I would have taken a smaller chambering.

The 30-30 Win has undoubtedly killed more deer than the 300WM. It's not a 400yd round but there is a lot of ground in between the 2 rounds, littered with endless good possibilities. The OP has state he doesn't like the recoil of his 300WM, I don't see the point in implying he needs to tolerate it for his stated purpose.

 

[FEENIX]

Would you actually argue that a 300WM is NECESSARY to kill antelope or deer to 400 yards? I get you kill stuff longer range, but the thread question was deer to 400 yards. is the 300WM NECESSARY for deer and smaller game at that range?

Of course it will do the job. But so will a fistful of smaller, lower recoiling chamberings. I can't see any experienced shooter...which I know includes yourself...disagreeing with this.

A 50BMG will not do much meat damage if you only hit ribs. There's very little meat on the ribs. Be off a little, or have the animal twitch, and hit in the shoulder, and there is a big difference between a 6mm and 300WM damage.

Like I said....if you want to carry one rifle to do everything, the 300WM is a great choice. I used mine on a hunt to take elk at 600+, deer at 400+, and antelope at 300. But if elk were not included in that hunt I would have taken a smaller chambering.

The 30-30 Win has undoubtedly killed more deer than the 300WM. It's not a 400yd round but there is a lot of ground in between the 2 rounds, littered with endless good possibilities. The OP has state he doesn't like the recoil of his 300WM, I don't see the point in implying he needs to tolerate it for his stated purpose.

Below was my original straight to the point response to you.

1.

Sorry but I respectfully disagree.

Self-explanatory.

2.

The .300 WM is my go to chambering for antelope to elk size game and have harvested them from less than 100 yards to 931 yards using 180 and up bullets.

Of course it's not necessary to use .300 WM for a deer size game at 400 yards as noted in my previous response. It boils down to personal choice and intended use. Every time I see "overkill" used, it's associated with meat damage. I'm sure I am not the only one but I used my antelope hunt experiences to prove the point that it is not the case with shot placement and right load.

3.

I do however like your comment "unless you stick with one gun."

It supports #2 for increased versatility to hunt more games and LR possibilities esp. out west. You again reinforced it with your comment as I agreed on initially ...

"Like I said....if you want to carry one rifle to do everything, the 300WM is a great choice. I used mine on a hunt to take elk at 600+, deer at 400+, and antelope at 300. But if elk were not included in that hunt I would have taken a smaller chambering."

I'd rather have enough gun "on hand" to humanely harvest a game and don't need it than the other way around.

As far as the recoil goes, I am not recoil sensitive but all of my .300 WM has muzzle brakes (another personal choice) and the felt recoil is comparable to that of .308 Win. Not the best video but check out this 58 pound 8 year old girl shooting a .300 WM ...



On top of reloading down to a safe level to address the recoil, there's also ...

Nothing wrong with the choices mentioned so far, but if you haven't tried the .300 Magnum managed recoil ammunition you should.

This is my last last response on this subject as I don't want to further hijack the thread so the OP can make a sound decision he can live with. We can only provide a recommendation but the OP has the ultimate choice to make.

Cheers!

 

[gohring3006]

Well said Ed, (FEENIX) The .300 Win Mag can be loaded down to 30-06 levels, which I'm my opinion would be a great 400 yard deer cartridge. And it can be loaded to its true potential which is a fine long range hunter. 150-165 gr bullet loaded to 2800-2900 fps is easy on the shooter and barrel....

 

[rsbenden]

25-06/.270

 

[ATH]

Every time I see "overkill" used, it's associated with meat damage.

Or simply recoil, which was the OP's issue.

You can spend money on a brake and deal with the noise...or screw with reduced recoil ammunition...or simply try one of the multitude of smaller calibers which are perfect for the job requested.

I'm really disappointed by the effort expended here to make no real point. If you agreed there were other options and the 300WM was not perfect for the job, there was no need to nitpick my post. I'd hoped this was a place where people didn't pick an argument just for the sake of arguing. If you have to brake it or water down the ammo, it's not God's given tool for the job. Lesson learned, I won't reply to you again.

 

[FEENIX]

Lesson learned, I won't reply to you again.

P.S.

The feeling is mutual, cheers!

 

[WildRose]

a 257 weatherby, i like that either a vanguard or an accumark. a 264 sendero would be a good one too.

I picked up a 700 CDL SF from another member here in .264wm. That thing is bad medicine on deer sized game at the kind of ranges the OP is talking about. I was also to get great accuracy out of it even with factory ammo after simply bedding, installing pillars and doing a simple trigger job on it.

The .264wm isn't as sexy as some of the newer 6.5's but it definitely gets the job done.

One of these days I'm going to pick up another in .260 Rem for the wife to shoot but they are hard to come by.