Building A Do All Factory Ammo Rifle

[blueprairiedog]

Well Remington had a great idea when the made the 300 ultra mag.
You can buy 150gr. ammo for your light animals and run 180 gr to medium size critters and if your feeling frisky for a Bear just grab some 200 gr or larger for him !
I have 40 plus mounts on.the wall and most were shot with a factory 300 Stainless Rum !

Rum Man

Ain't much out there that can out run a rum

 

[Maverick254]

I agr

Well Remington had a great idea when the made the 300 ultra mag.
You can buy 150gr. ammo for your light animals and run 180 gr to medium size critters and if your feeling frisky for a Bear just grab some 200 gr or larger for him !
I have 40 plus mounts on.the wall and most were shot with a factory 300 Stainless Rum !

Rum Man

I agree with Rum Man. With that range of ammo, 300 Ultra Mag gets my vote.

 

[Slick8]

Readily available ammo on store shelves hurts the RUM.

The 300 winny is the 308 of the magnum world regarding both variety and availability of factory ammo on store shelves which was in the op.

 

[Huntz]

Factory ammo is too inconsistent from lot-to-lot and would rarely print the same.

Maybe 20 years ago.The new stuff equals and exceeds hand rolled.I am a dedicated hand loader of 50 plus years.

 

[Buckys]

I've had an Alamo Precision 300 WM for about a year now, it shoots Nosler Trophy Grade 180 Accubonds as well as any handload I can come up with. pretty consistent 1/2 moa. I could sell all my reloading stuff and just hunt with the factory load for the rest of my days and never need anything else.

Second on APR ... my 270wby they built shoots lights out.

I also agree that Weatherby makes some of the best factory ammo out there. That same rifle likes both their 130 Partitions and 140 Accubonds.

I also agree that finding ammo anywhere, especially high quality ammo, is very difficult. To that end, a 7RM or 300WM is a great choice. As someone else mentioned, 300WSM and I'll add 7WSM ammo isn't the hardest to find, at least right now.

 

[J.J. Weiland]

I definitely understand. Some of those customs are just incredible. Tough to get a do all with factory ammo but maybe a switch barrel.

28 nosler is pretty much a do all to me at all practical distances.

 

[MagnumManiac]

300WM ammo is available everywhere I have ever hunted, so too is 7RM, which I have not ever used, but my buddy and I were in a situation many years ago that all our gear was lost when our boat capsized, the rifles weren't lost as they were on the first trip.
We were both able to buy ammo in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.
The same is true today, we could buy ammo again for those 2 rounds if it had happened today and not 25 years ago.
We were lucky that 2 days later most of our gear was recovered, only a camera, spotting scope and tri-pod were lost, even our ammo was recovered.

If building a custom, I would recommend a barrel length of 26" minimum and optimum length at 28" if you are shooting to LR distances.
I have a 300RUM as well, but factory ammo for it at this time is not only super expensive, but also down to ONE brand here, that being Barnes TTSX @ $130-$170 a box. I know I won't find that ammo at the same store where I had to buy ammo all those years ago.
It all boils down to being pressed to shoot what's available.
Many cartridges fit the bill, 30-06, 300WM, 7RM, 338WM, 7-08 and 280AI.
Supply can be spotty for all mentioned.

Cheers.

 

[CONatureBoy]

Hey guys, Ive got the itch to build a new rifle. I have plans to build a new 7saum ultralight mountain rifle, but recently had a thought, what about building an all around do all hunting rifle that I can shoot readily avalible factory hunting ammo from. (I know readily available is a stretch now). I was thinking something like 7mag or 300 win mag. Something that you could find ammo for locally from Africa to Canada. I travel and hunt quite a bit and plan on continuing to do so, and don't get me wrong I Love my 28 nosler, and I like to reload, but having something that I can just buy ammo and shoot would be nice too. Let me know if you guys have done something like this or have any suggestions.

The Meateater has an article "Becoming a One-Rifle Hunter" (https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/big-game/becoming-a-one-rifle-hunter) that concludes the 300 Win Mag is the best all-around caliber. With a 1:10 twist you can shoot up to 220-grain bullets, which is about as heavy as that particular cartridge shoots well anyways (without getting into +P, ultra-long barrels, and what not), and that's more than enough for the longest shot you've specified on elk. I cruise the ammo stores regularly, and that caliber has more ammo available these days that just about anything else.

 

[dougduey]

The 7 Rem Mag or 300 Win will do all you want. I prefer a 30 cal or larger on elk and bigger game.

That being said, there was a thread on here about a year ago talking about this topic. Aaron Davidson (owner of Gunwerks) chimed in, and said if he could have only one it would be a 7 Rem Mag. Food for thought.

 

[HaroldNRAEndowment]

Factory ammo is too inconsistent from lot-to-lot and would rarely print the same.
I wouldn't think it would matter that the rifle is custom built, it would still be a crap shoot to find a consistent lot of ammo.
Better to buy a quality rifle off the rack, tune it, dial it in, and handload in bulk.
IMHO

I understand what a budget is and If the final outcome is 1 rifle and 1 cartridge(referring to switch barrels) and finding ammunition most anywhere in the world, I would recommend buy 2 x the number of cartridges needed for the hunt, and find a place to re-zero the rifle right before the hunt. The adjustment should be close to the original lot of cartridges. Also when buying the cartridges, look on the box for a lot number and make sure all the boxes of ammunition come from the same lot. This is providing one is buying the same brand, model, and bullet weight of course.
Best Regards

 

[FEENIX]

28 nosler custom proof barrel do all, 7mm08 NULA, 308 heavyweight comp rifle. As far as animals let's say antelope to elk, sheep, plains game in Africa. Distance would be 700 and in

Unless you are just itching for another build, your 28N already fit the bill, esp. when loaded with Berger 195 EOLs. Availability might be scarce but factory ammo is offered by https://hendershots.net/product/28-nosler-extreme-custom-ammo/.

 

[ButterBean]

IMO the simple fact of on the shelf ammo 300WM or the 30-06 are the 2 obvious choices 270 placing 3rd

 

[ofbandg]

I'm with ButterBean on this one. 300WM or 30-06 are on the shelves of most ammo stores. If factory is what you are looking for while hunting mid to large game, those are the obvious choices.

 

[Revolting Peasant]

I am looking at a rifle build along the same idea. Bighorn Origin long action and either 7 REM Mag or 300 Win Mag. Probably end up doing both and more if barrels become readily available.
And I could switch bolt heads and go 280AI or other later if that itch continues.