800 yard rifle

[Grizzly60]

If you just wanting a new rifle,, go with the 300PRC. You won't regret it. With the brake they are sweet to shoot.

 

[KSB209]

I have been thinking 7PRC recently but from what I read the ballistics under 800 just isn't there compared to the 300wm. I honestly hope my "hunting" skills can get me within 800 yards of any animal I am after.

 

[NW NM hunter]

If you just want to play, go 300wm with a fast twist or 300prc with a good brake, to give you something slightly different. Then you can run heavier higher BC 30 cal bullets. Browning now makes their x-bolt 300wm with the fast twist.

 

[Willys]

I have been thinking 7PRC recently but from what I read the ballistics under 800 just isn't there compared to the 300wm. I honestly hope my "hunting" skills can get me within 800 yards of any animal I am after.

1650 ft # with 7 prc vs 1850 ft # with 300wm.

 

[Jeffpg]

Good on you! However, let us not forget why @Len Backus started LRH in the first place.

View attachment 435349

EXACTLY!

 

[Dialing Long Distance]

Since you said you're thinking of a new build, I would give either the 7Prc, 300Prc, or the 338 Norma serious thought. These cartridges are improvements on what's already out there. I am a HUGE fan of the 7 mm Remington magnum, and the 300 Winchester magnum, and the 338 Lapua. All of those cases are excellent rounds. That being said, with today's bullet availability, some of these longer heavier bullets do not seat properly into these long cases, while still fitting into the magazine. The PRC design accommodates this. You can load those longer heavier bullets properly, while still fitting the rounds into your magazine for a repeater. The 338 Norma magnum did to the Lapua, what a Creedmoor did to the Remington 260 in my opinion. I would suggest the 300 Norma also, but barrel life can be an issue with that cartridge. The 338 Norma does not have the short barrel life that the 300 does in my opinion.

 

[BrentM]

Hers my opinion…… keep your 300 and take it hunting, it'll serve you well. But for training build a fast twist 223 and train. A lot. I run 88's in mine and shoot to 1200. It's amazing, easy to shoot and spot splash solo, cheap to shoot, and it's the best training I've ever done. I shoot a lot of positional hunting type situations and help instruct a couple long range schools. Students love shooting it with a suppressor and line up for a chance at it.

 

[3800fps]

Well ill call BS on that opinion also.
We obviously live in different worlds here.
One being dream world and the other being real world.
As for burning out barrels on hunting guns, most never get shot enough for that to happen.
Many guys use other guns with smaller cartridges like 308s for practicing.
The hunting guns are used for hunting, with only a few rounds shot each year for checking zero etc.
Do you actually know what a whitetail buck is very apt to do with a very close first round miss?
Well ill tell you what they are very apt to do on a very close first round miss.
They are very apt to just lean down and smell where the bullet hit.
The idea that its absolutely necessary to make first round hits is simply wrong to put it mildly.
Indicating that those who spew that type information are in fact clueless about what the real facts are.

Nobody will criticize you for taking advantage of what you just learned with a first round miss, and killing them on the second or even the third shot.
Thats real world, ask anybody who has actually been there and watched it actually happen.

I'm not criticizing anyone or their opinion …I'm certainly not here to win any arguments or demonstrate any greater experience or knowledge.
I only offer things to consider based on my experiences….
I have "shot-out" several barrels that were chambered with overbore cartridges…with a relatively low shot count and an over extended load development process.

I've taken shots at game at some fairly extended ranges and missed (I live in breezy Nevada)…gunfire generally spooks game, especially bullet splashes on nearby rocks…of course every animal reacts differently…but I've never seen a muley or a bull elk sniff a bullet splash…coyotes either.

In Nevada with so much public land, much of it covered with sagebrush…myself, my friends and many others here easily can and do set up targets at 800, 1000 , 1200yds…and actually shoot at them. from prone, sitting and truck hoods and tailgates…lots of dry dust here too, to flag the misses…any first round hit in unvarified conditions at the ranges mentioned I consider remarkable.
Spotters calling the misses soon has most of us shooters landing regular hits pretty quickly….at least until the wind or mirage shifts.

In my circle of shooters, first round hits at 800 or beyond are rare…we don't have unlimited time and resources to practice enough.

That's my real world experience…

 

[yobuck]

I have been thinking 7PRC recently but from what I read the ballistics under 800 just isn't there compared to the 300wm. I honestly hope my "hunting" skills can get me within 800 yards of any animal I am after.

Friend, it dosent take much skill to find a good place to set yourself up for glassing where you can cover a large area.

Problem is that for the most part we are creatures of habits.
And the habits when it comes to hunting is to arrive as late as we can, and do things the same way weve always done it.
No different than sacrificing some time fishing the old spot, in order to go off and find a different and hopefully better spot.
And if those type places dont exist in the area where you hunt, then you need to find out where they do exist and go find them.

 

[Moondoggie]

If you can't shoot past 500yds with confidence then don't shoot at game past that.

The op said when he gets more range time at 700-800 yds.
I believe most of us on this forum have bought or built rifles, and then 'worked' up our distance through range time and loads.

 

[DoneNOut]

The op said when he gets more range time at 700-800 yds.
I believe most of us on this forum have bought or built rifles, and then 'worked' up our distance through range time and loads.

Yup

 

[Buck1970]

If you can't shoot past 500yds with confidence then don't shoot at game past that.

Are we to assume every distance shooter on this site began plinking at 1000 yards when they were 12?
Geeeze!
A few years ago I wouldn't shoot past 200 at a hog or coyote. I've now successfully taken hogs at 500.
Shot my first ever gong at 600 repeatedly a few weeks ago.
I was under the impression this site was for those of us who can't, to be able get to where we can.
We don't all have law enforcement or military backgrounds nor do we live in the West were we can shoot for miles.
Personally I learn a lot reading and studying here and I feel most have enough common sense to make logical determinations on our distances.

 

[yobuck]

I'm not criticizing anyone or their opinion …I'm certainly not here to win any arguments or demonstrate any greater experience or knowledge.
I only offer things to consider based on my experiences….
I have "shot-out" several barrels that were chambered with overbore cartridges…with a relatively low shot count and an over extended load development process.

I've taken shots at game at some fairly extended ranges and missed (I live in breezy Nevada)…gunfire generally spooks game, especially bullet splashes on nearby rocks…of course every animal reacts differently…but I've never seen a muley or a bull elk sniff a bullet splash…coyotes either.

In Nevada with so much public land, much of it covered with sagebrush…myself, my friends and many others here easily can and do set up targets at 800, 1000 , 1200yds…and actually shoot at them. from prone, sitting and truck hoods and tailgates…lots of dry dust here too, to flag the misses…any first round hit in unvarified conditions at the ranges mentioned I consider remarkable.
Spotters calling the misses soon has most of us shooters landing regular hits pretty quickly….at least until the wind or mirage shifts.

In my circle of shooters, first round hits at 800 or beyond are rare…we don't have unlimited time and resources to practice enough.

That's my real world experience…

Well in fairness to you, i would agree that not every species of animal reacts the same towards shooting.
Antelope for sure wont hang around when a shot goes off.
Elk tend to act alot like whitetails, and so do mule deer.
Mind you they dont always sniff where the bullet hit, but its not uncommon either for them to do that.
So long as they arent hit or even have dirt splashed on them,
they are more apt to allow for follow up shots than they are to run off.
For sure they hear the shot, but if youve never experienced being downrange when a shot is fired in your direction, you wont understand why that might be.
Fact is that what sounds like a small firecracker exploding is what you will hear, followed by a distant boom as the actuall sound reaches you.
The firecracker is the sound of the bullet breaking the sound barrier.
So it can be confusing, for even a human knowing what it is and where it came from.
And since there are no other warning signs by way of sight or smell, they tend to do nothing at all, or at least very little, by way of running off someplace.

 

[yobuck]

Are we to assume every distance shooter on this site began plinking at 1000 yards when they were 12?
Geeeze!
A few years ago I wouldn't shoot past 200 at a hog or coyote. I've now successfully taken hogs at 500.
Shot my first ever gong at 600 repeatedly a few weeks ago.
I was under the impression this site was for those of us who can't, to be able get to where we can.
We don't all have law enforcement or military backgrounds nor do we live in the West were we can shoot for miles.
Personally I learn a lot reading and studying here and I feel most have enough common sense to make logical determinations on our distances.

No it isnt only for those who started at age 12 my friend.
But let me ask you a personal question?
Did you use a Kestral, or some other device other than just a basic rangefinder, in order to determine how to make your recent long range shots?
Im just assuming you didnt, and im also just assuming that you will continue to shoot at even longer distances.
And that if and when someone implys you cant, at least without this or that gadget, you will challenge what he says.