Best deer caliber and long distance caliber

[pondskipper]

There is definitely more information needed here, are you planning on harvesting an animal at long range as well as long range target shooting? What distances do you think the longest shot will be made on the game in question and what type game do you plan to hunt? Also this will be two different rifles obviously and each rifles load regimen will be completely different anyhow so why not spend a little extra on a second set of dies and shell holder for a different caliber.

If you'll be plinking for fun out to 1000 or better the 6.5cm would work perfectly fine for that even with factory ammo.

That being said if you are talking about taking game, especially any of any size you will need the extra ins in terms of energy and correct bullet type for effectively harvesting something at 1000 yards or so. Look to the 7mm300 win mag
Or a regular 300win mag to be effective, 7mm with the 195 Berger would do the trick or the 225gr eld .30 cal inside of 1000 on deer and elk would get my vote.

1000+ you need to start looking to 338 cal options.

This probably raises more personal questions for you but hopefully what I said will help you make a better decision in the long run.

 

[MudRunner2005]

There is definitely more information needed here, are you planning on harvesting an animal at long range as well as long range target shooting? What distances do you think the longest shot will be made on the game in question and what type game do you plan to hunt? Also this will be two different rifles obviously and each rifles load regimen will be completely different anyhow so why not spend a little extra on a second set of dies and shell holder for a different caliber.

If you'll be plinking for fun out to 1000 or better the 6.5cm would work perfectly fine for that even with factory ammo.

That being said if you are talking about taking game, especially any of any size you will need the extra ins in terms of energy and correct bullet type for effectively harvesting something at 1000 yards or so. Look to the 7mm300 win mag
Or a regular 300win mag to be effective, 7mm with the 195 Berger would do the trick or the 225gr eld .30 cal inside of 1000 on deer and elk would get my vote.

1000+ you need to start looking to 338 cal options.

This probably raises more personal questions for you but hopefully what I said will help you make a better decision in the long run.

Not necessarily...

 

[tim_w]

By caliber I assume you mean cartridge so you can load with the same dies cases etc..and not just the bullet caliber.

Especially as you stated you already have a LR ELK gun I assume larger caliber........

IMO 6.5 as you seem to already have fallen on is a very nice balance in terms of caliber. It has easy to deal with recoil and blast. Can be loaded all over the place. Has one of the largest selection of both hunting and LR match bullets and both with great SD and BC.

Given the right case it can easily take deer out to 1k+ based on above 1800 fps and 1100ftlb @ impact. Can shoot steel to double that super sonic with the best bullets at least in theory/on paper as I have not seen a kong hit with it yet in person or video.

To be clear I have dun drunk the 6.5SS koolaid but at the same time I not willing to BS either but still I am a bit bias. I do not have one in hand but have the parts coming in so please take that into account.

In a short action IMO the 6.5 SS is just about impossible to beat for a 6.5 in terms of a LR rig.

In that short action it easily outreaches the 6.5X284 Norma which needs a long action if that matters but has about the same reported barrel life. In a PRS gun it was 1700 IIRC. Hunting 3K would be my guess but would depend on how hard and what powders were run.

Here's what I collected and pulled from my notes on the 6.5SS as I decided to go forward with a build as I had similar goals as yours but from one rifle instead of two:

* No factory loadings

* Like the creedmore the SS/SST it is a true SA cartridge meant for the high BC bullets to fit properly in the SA mag COAL limits . Not like the factory short mags that really need a LA to seat high BC bullets properly.

+/-

* A bit more $ for dies but its one time deal for 2 rifles so....

* Rifle build would be no more as you are going with a custom build so no cost savings for factory chambering.

* Reamers are available for rent

* Dies for purchase Whidden and soon Forester according to Rich

* Factory formed from ADG, ( Lapua Betram Peterson quality seems to be the general reports.) Can still be formed from SAUM brass if needed.

Reported Performance:

* For hunting with high BC bullets you have hrdy ELD 143/7 and berger hybrids 140 for traditional lead core and Matrix 160gr and Hammer 99-139gr for turned monos.

* For steel you have the T-SMK which should be ideal for LR steel. I am guessing we should have a 155 from Berger within a yr??

* Rich and others have the 160 Matrix bullets hitting 3100+.

* Rich has some 150 SMK loaded up and I guessing 3200+/- in the ADG case.

* The 140s hit 3300 with rl26 and 3250 H1000 @26" reported by CA48 .

* Lance (lancetkenyon) shot the 150 SMK @ 3160 for a bughole posted in one of the threads with a 25" IIRC so 3200 seems right on with estimate.

* H59 has the SST and has many 1/2 moa loads from what I recall. He posts good balanced info IMO and is an active posted so plenty of good info.

* Everybody seems to get stupid small groups from this 6.5 case. Sub 1/2 moa is not rare. one of the better ones I recall was 1-1.5"@ 600 yds.

* The 150 SMK seem to be THE bullet for max LR steel @ 3200MV it plots to 2K super sonic 1600 transonic.


Check out some of the threads on the 6.5SS/SST and shoot Rich (Elkaholic) a PM with any questions. He's a great guy to talk to and will answer even some of the more bone head question I ask.


I did mention I had dunk the koolaid right!?!

 

[tyguy]

Some people mentioned larger rounds like the 300 WM. The large round is not needed for medium game like deer and antelope, it's a little over kill in my opinion unless you plan on making 800 plus yard shots.
I don't have the money to shoot as much as I would like so I prefer cheaper ammo like the 308. A 308 will kill anything on the American continent with proper shot placement; there is also something to be said about why it is the most popular sniper round in the military, and has been for a long time. That being said, there are cartridges that out preform a 308 but it comes at a cost. Most of the rounds mentioned are over double in price per shot than a 308.

 

[WildRose]

Some people mentioned larger rounds like the 300 WM. The large round is not needed for medium game like deer and antelope, it's a little over kill in my opinion unless you plan on making 800 plus yard shots.
I don't have the money to shoot as much as I would like so I prefer cheaper ammo like the 308. A 308 will kill anything on the American continent with proper shot placement; there is also something to be said about why it is the most popular sniper round in the military, and has been for a long time. That being said, there are cartridges that out preform a 308 but it comes at a cost. Most of the rounds mentioned are over double in price per shot than a 308.

People are a lot easier to kill than medium and large game.

It's the most popular because it was the Round NATO settled on in the late 50's to standardize ammunition, not because any ballistic superiority.

For ballistic superiority and lower recoil even our own military is moving away from the 7.62x51/.308 Winchester for our light and medium machine guns and for specialty rifles in favor of 6.5 and 6.8mm Rounds.

As for the WM being "overkill" compare time of flight with comparable bullets between the .308Win and .300WM along with wind drift.

Then compare them both to the 6.5CM or 260 Remington running similar 140gr bullets.

Yes, you can do a whole lot with the .308win but it's a round that is decades behind in technology and performance compared to many of our more modern rounds and in most ways inferior to the venerable old 300wm which was developed in 1963.

Now if one isn't going to shoot beyond 400yards the .308 or 30-06 gives you all the performance necessary to kill a deer but, this is the LR Hunting and shooting forum.

As for the advantages of the .308, well it uses less powder and doesn't kick as much and that's about it.

 

[old_heli_logger]

6mm Creedmoor

 

[BigNate]

Trying to do everything with a single caliber is hard enough. One cartridge is worse.
If you're planning on taking big game at longer distance I'd recommend going into it with more gun than the ones you've listed.... it can be done but larger might be better.

I'm looking at 6.8 Western, 280AI, or something approximately in that performance level. 7LRM or 28 Nosler would be about the top.

Economic considerations wise, I'd go with two cartridges the smaller being a 6.5 for cheaper fun, and smaller game. The larger would be for distance and bigger game.

 

[Swamplord]

All of the above nonsensical rambling can be avoided with the very simple application of acquiring a 300 RUM and taking advantage of all the superior projectiles & powders available now, wether for LR steel or LR hunting, IT CANNOT BE BEAT .....

unless you go wildcat, then the 300 NM Improved prevails ....

Long range hunting requires a ton of energy on target & not simply making a "tink" sound on a steel plate with some 6.5 slopoke cartridge and calling it good...

This trend towards dinky cased, skinny bullet cartridges is not gonna end well for hunters

 

[coop2564]

6.5 PRC will beat what you mentioned.

 

[Swamplord]

6.5 PRC will beat what you mentioned.

Meh, not impressed ....
actually very disappointed , after all the hype & jive from the Hornady hive, I was expecting much better ..,

I mean... it's great ... for the 6.5x284 and the various 6.5x55 Swede Improved wildcats, but that's expected & accepted performance for those little cartridges

Not even close to a 1/2 ton of energy at 1k yards... pretty sad because I was expecting so much more from the 6.5 PRC due to all the wild eyed drooling about the "1k plus long range hunting cartridge" ...
?????

"Best I can do is " Rated = crate of Rotten Tomatoes

...

 

[Deleted member 48126]

All of the above nonsensical rambling can be avoided with the very simple application of acquiring a 300 RUM and taking advantage of all the superior projectiles & powders available now, wether for LR steel or LR hunting, IT CANNOT BE BEAT .....

6.5 grendel enters the chat

 

[Swamplord]

This is what 1k plus hunting cartridges do .

more than 1 1/4 tons of energy at 1000 yards


...

 

[Deleted member 48126]

This is what 1k plus hunting cartridges do .

more than 2 1/4 tons of energy at 1000 yards


...View attachment 334396

What's the 300 LRH?

 

[Quintus]

I like the 6.5PRC, but am getting started with the 6.5RPM and I think it might be in love. It is fun to shoot and with the powders available nowadays, it easily does what my 264 used to do and maybe then some. That said if it was a deer gun to 500 or less the 260Rem gets my vote.