800 yard rifle

[3800fps]

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.

I've been shot at…I know that crack in mid air….you can only guess where it came from…I agree animals have no clue what they're hearing…coyotes and muleys in mountain lion country instinctively usually relocate themselves…elk not so much…whitetails, I observe tolerate a lot more unnatural sounds.

I've taken a lot of hunters out for mule deer (worked on a ranch abutting the mountains)….300yds is a very long shot for all but the most practiced, best equipped hunter…the biggest issue for most in the field is getting into a steady solid shooting position…gotta have a solid rest and calm down.

 

[mdk777]

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?

Bit condescending to make such assumptions eh?

And if you are so assured of your knowledge and skill, you would know that the wind where you are shooting from is only one part of the equation. The OP talks about shooting across a valley. The wind difference in the valley and on the other side will need equal weight to your KESTRAL reading from the shooting position.

So yeah, wind is harder than elevation and distance.
Thanks Captain OBVIOUS.

 

[yobuck]

Bit condescending to make such assumptions eh?

And if you are so assured of your knowledge and skill, you would know that the wind where you are shooting from is only one part of the equation. The OP talks about shooting across a valley. The wind difference in the valley and on the other side will need equal weight to your KESTRAL reading from the shooting position.

So yeah, wind is harder than elevation and distance.
Thanks Captain OBVIOUS.

I didnt consider that to be a condescending question at all.
I simply stated what i (assumed) to be the case.
As for shooting across valleys, where we hunt, thats all we do, shoot across valleys.
But next time you go to a long range rifle match, count the number of people you see pull out a Kestral before they shoot for judging the wind.
They will make a judgement call based on things like wind flags, then they will send one, and make adjustments off that.
And they will do the same thing when they hunt deer.

 

[yobuck]

What the basic issue here is, that we have on the one hand a group of people who came of age as it pertains to long range shooting/ hunting, at a time frame when there were few things other than good rifles and a few target type scopes like a Unertl for example to use.
There were very good rangefinders also, but not everybody owned one.
Those who didnt found other methods for developing information, and that in turn actually helped them become more affective, even though most didnt realize that.
As for kills, and things like first round hits, many today are of the mindset that by using older methods that isnt very possible if at all, without the use of modern day equipment.
And that is simply not the case.
In our own camp, over a period of now more than 50 years, the vast majority of our kills have been as a result of a first round hit. And thats pretty common for others as well.
How long has it been since the internet began?
Does anyone really think that untill it did we didnt have accurate elevation charts? We called them click charts back then, because many people counted clicks.
But few were dumb enough to count say 110 clicks for example. most knew that 50 was a full turn on the dial, and 2 turns was 100, and it didnt take a college grad to count to ten. At least back then. lol
So here we are all these years later, and here comes people telling the world what they need in order to do what has been being done very successfully before they were even born.
Without any of the things we now must have in order to do it i might add.

But then they dont know that, and without a few people like me arguing with them, nobody else would either.

 

[codyadams]

The rudeness and disrespectfulness in this thread is getting rather pathetic. This is a thread about a guy asking a simple question that has been answered long ago. How about everyone start acting like adults would act if they were face to face instead of keyboard warriors. Go to Facebook if you want that trash.

This forum is getting worse every day because of garbage like this. Everyone just grow up, treat it as it should be, like Len's living room, and move on.

 

[Grizzly60]

Why does most threads end up a ****ing match. Why can't there be a discussion without calling another's post BS. One can disagree without call another stupid or a liar. When you call BS, that's in fact what you're doing. Just get along with and have a civil discussion.
The end..

 

[Dooner]

Right on, Cody and Grizzly.

————————-

Back to the original discussion: Several folks, including me, have recommended the 300PRC for a new build. I didn't have the funds for a custom. The only production rifles that had a 1:7 twist rate, for stabilizing the longer high BC bullets, were the Browning & Christensen Arms. I went with the CA Traverse. When I do my part, it has turned out to be a .5 - .75 MOA rifle, shooting Hornady factory ammo.

 

[yobuck]

Well if you read and comprehend what the initial poster said, it pertained to shooting more so than a gun.
We all know as does he that his present gun is all he needs to do what he wants.
Many of the posts are attempts to convince him of a better choice, at least in the opinion of the one posting.
Not once did i attempt to convince him of a different gun.
And for the most part, my post were to convince him that he was capable of doing what he wants to do.
The BS part came as a result of some of the opinions.
And my willingness to call it what it was.
And if im to be called out by a few for calling BS what it actually is, then so be it, i can handle it.
Fact is that people have been called out for even hunting long range on this site.
And if you can read between the lines, that could be an issue here as well.

 

[bonie]

I'd say a 6.5 PRC or the new 7 PRC. my 6.5 Browning is fairly light but does not kit much with 147s I amagine the 7 would have a little more bite. Both are flat.

 

[SSgt G Cody]

Yes, the 300 WinMag is THE STANDARD by which all serious hunting rifles are judged. If 500 yards is your true limit, then stick strictly to that, even though your gun is capable of more. I admire your honesty and consideration for the animal in this! Seldom can we have a truly secure rest for extra-long shots.

 

[KSB209]

WOW I didn't mean to start a debate and/or argument when I posted. Everyone needs to calm down. Thanks for all the insight to those that posted "helpful" comments. I really appreciate this forum and the knowledge that each person brings. I am sure my rifle is more capable than I am at distance which is why I have a self imposed limit to my hunting distance. Someday when I have a lot of practice I will increase my effect range but until I have a lot of practice I will never shoot at an animal at a distance I am not comfortable with. Cheers

 

[taylorms]

You didn't give any specifics on your current rifle, but if you are happy with it, then leave it as it is and build yourself a new 300WM and just set it up a little differently-fast twist, different scope, stock, etc.

If you want to ease away from the 300WM, there is no reason the 7PRC (or the plain ol' 7RM) won't do what you are looking for.

There are many options (and opinions), but you only need to satisfy YOUR craving.

 

[FEENIX]

The rudeness and disrespectfulness in this thread is getting rather pathetic. This is a thread about a guy asking a simple question that has been answered long ago. How about everyone start acting like adults would act if they were face to face instead of keyboard warriors. Go to Facebook if you want that trash.

This forum is getting worse every day because of garbage like this. Everyone just grow up, treat it as it should be, like Len's living room, and move on.

Agreed!

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Do any of you remember when Weatherby would advertise that they would happily re barrel your 300 Win to 300 Weatherby . In the old days, you could just send them your rifle, and they would do it. I always thought that was cleaver marketing.