"difficult" calibers

[zb338]

I think some rifles/calibers seem to be a problem, and other
rifles with the same caliber are easy. My son has a 7MM Remington Mag.
model 70 that wouldn't shoot. He was ready to sell it and we found out
that the rifle was a tack driver with 175 grain Nosler partitions. Other
friends have 7MM Mags that shoot everything. I have seen this with other
rifle cartridge combinations. There are some cartridges that just shoot good.
Such as the .222, the .308, the 7MM/08, the 22/250 and the list goes on.
Zeke

 

[therifleman556]

Wow. Tried pointing the thread back in the direction the op is working within and instead the ideas get crazier. Why on Earth would anyone want to drop down to a .473 bolt face in this situation? Is there one cartridge in that size that will fit in his action and outperform one of the short mags? Some of you seem to be making this much more difficult than it has to be.

 

[STREGA]

I think some rifles/calibers seem to be a problem, and other
rifles with the same caliber are easy. My son has a 7MM Remington Mag.
model 70 that wouldn't shoot. He was ready to sell it and we found out
that the rifle was a tack driver with 175 grain Nosler partitions. Other
friends have 7MM Mags that shoot everything. I have seen this with other
rifle cartridge combinations. There are some cartridges that just shoot good.
Such as the .222, the .308, the 7MM/08, the 22/250 and the list goes on.
Zeke

a lot of that has to do with throat depth of different rifles. know the throat depth and adjust your jump or jam to the lands accordingly for your bullet and viola, problems resolved.

 

[J E Custom]

I would pick the cartridge you like first, then build a rifle around it. (Best size action, best barrel contour and twist rate for the bullet you want to use). I don't recommend building around one component unless it is the right one for the cartridge.

The easiest cartridge to load for is normally a standard SAMMI cartridge. All cartridges can be made to shoot accurately with the right choice of components and are very simple to load for.

There are many choices to pick from so take your time in choosing all of the components. There will be many different opinions so make your own decision based on what you need and want.

J E CUSTOM

 

[35 Whelen]

My favorite cartridges are the .270 Win. and the .35 Whelen. I have shot elk with .270 Win., .300 Win. Mag. and .35 Whelen. I consider the .270 Win. to be the smallest elk cartridge and the 7mm's little improvement or step up. I personally know some people that have successfully taken elk with smaller calibers but I think here we are looking at the preferred caliber/cartridge plus long range. I think .30 cal. to 35 cal. is the best range for elk. For long range(over 500 yards) on elk a magnum is the best way to go. I think the .300 or .338 Win. Magnums would be best for you. I have not known any one to have any difficulty loading for them and ammo, bullets, and brass are easy to find with a lot of good bullets to chose from. I my self am thinking very seriously looking at building a .358 STA. If recoil is a concern there is a lot of good recoil pads, recoil dampeners that work very well and not expensive, if more muzzle blast is no concern a muzzle brake work very well too. This is of coarse all my opinion from my hunting experience and those I have hunted with and known well. I hope this helps. Well placed shots with a rifle you feel the most comfortable with is the best place to start.

 

[STREGA]

Wow. Tried pointing the thread back in the direction the op is working within and instead the ideas get crazier. Why on Earth would anyone want to drop down to a .473 bolt face in this situation? Is there one cartridge in that size that will fit in his action and outperform one of the short mags? Some of you seem to be making this much more difficult than it has to be.

Out perform, probably not. This whole thread is really just for fun though isn't it? In all seriousness how much "better" is a .300WSM than a 6.5-06? What is "better" anyway?

 

[therifleman556]

Out perform, probably not. This whole thread is really just for fun though isn't it? In all seriousness how much "better" is a .300WSM than a 6.5-06? What is "better" anyway?

Considering it won't fit in his action without major parts replacement I'd consider it "much" better. I get the whole let's have fun arguing calibers and cartridges, but let's try to keep them relevant to the action he's working with. I respect what J E said about picking cartridge first, but sometimes "cost-effective" needs to be part of the discussion. I don't think any "poor choices" when it comes to pick a cartridge that fits well in a Magnum Tikka.

 

[STREGA]

Just out of curiosity, isn't the OP talking about re-barreling his gun? If he is going to re-barrel how much more difficult is it to change the bolt face?

 

[foul bore]

After reading all the educated post, I wonder what would be wrong with the .308, easy to work up loads, very accurate, should be good on any North American game. Just not exotic. Recoil is mild, with good optics she will get it done

 

[Barrelnut]

After reading all the educated post, I wonder what would be wrong with the .308, easy to work up loads, very accurate, should be good on any North American game. Just not exotic. Recoil is mild, with good optics she will get it done

The action has a mag bolt face.

 

[65WSM]

The suggestions of the 7 SAUM for a 500 yard elk rifle with 26 inch barrel I would consider minimum. The 6.5 short maganums are great for big mule deer at range but I think it is best to have energy on your side at 500 yards. The rule was 800 foot pounds for deer and 1200 for elk, and that isn't a record size bull. Your 30/06 is a great cartridge to reload but it is best inside of 350 yards and you need to have an action that will allow you seat the bullets out. I think a 24 inch barrel is also of merit for a 30/06. A long range rifle will weigh around nine pounds or more with bipod, sling, scope and rings. You might pay more for the glass than the steel.

Stay away from cartridges that have to have the bullets deep seated and have short necks. Choose a cartridge by its neck and the available sources of brass. Necks in 6.5 or 7mm should be a maximum of 13 thousandths wall thickness but not less than ten thou. Most brass is thicker on one side of the case. The full length of the case. You can turn the thick side off the neck but do not expect 500 yard accuracy out of uneven brass. I recently purchased some "Sig" brand .22/250 cases. I thought I had scored some great American made brass at a friendly price. My shooting partner put some of them on the scale. I was disappointed. They were terrible. 3 grains of spread on a medium size case. Not exactly Lapua grade. Maybe the least uniform cases I have seen outside of the WSSM series. Anybody want some "Sig" cases in .22/250?

Before you build, you need to have a plan of what brass and bullet it will shoot. I built my first 6.5 WSM with a reamer I designed for the Barnes blue coated 120gr bullet. By the time I had a reamer built and Rock Creek (13months, I'm not kidding) got the barrel done, Barnes was no longer making "blue" bullets and I had only a few on hand. I have a year with a custom reamer and barrel designed to shoot the Berger 55 gr in a 20 Bench Rest (BR). A fellow Long Range Hunter informed me this weekend: Berger dropped the bullet. I have 900 on hand, I counted this morning.

I have loaded for some ugly cartridges. I consider the 300 Win Mag one of them. It has a quarter inch neck. The old rule of thumb is that a neck should be at least one caliber in length. That precludes partially sizing the shoulder to allow the unsized section to center the cartridge as it is pushed by the bolt into the chamber.

The photo is a 7 SAUM 26 inch Bartlein on a push feed Model 70 HS Precision Stock. 6-24X50 Sightron scope. Incidentally, Reloader 26, is a gamechanging powder.

 

[BDS05]

There's a lot more to wrap my head around now than I would've expected when I started this.

I have a 7mm rem mag right now. The plan is to rebarrel and I originally had full intentions going something other than 7mm rem mag. I'm open.

I'm not a competitive bench shooter but not a bad shot. Apparently I said minimum 500 yard elk capable... I meant maximum. Greed will never impede by better judgement when it comes to pulling the trigger.

I have a 30-06 I'm completely comfortable carrying and hunting elk with. The new rifle will be primarily deer and more so target. I know you shouldn't compromise but I want it to also be ethical elk capable. This will not be my last rifle. I will one day have one of the LARGE cartridges. I'm essentially looking for a cartridge to fit this bill that isn't a PITA to load. AGAIN, I am NEW to reloading.

Some suggest finding a good smith... if you have a recc. for this type build, please send me some contact info.

Maybe I should have been more specific from the go. My bad. Thanks for all inquiries.

 

[foul bore]

The action has a mag bolt face.

woops!

 

[25WSM]

After all the suggestions one cartridge you shouldn't over look is what you already have. 7 mags are very accurate and will shoot heavies for elk and medium 140 to 150 grain bullets for deer. And they don't kick much more than a 30-06. I didn't say 300 wsm because it's a great target round. I said 300wsm because it's very accurate and easy to load for with a wide tune window. 30 cal bullets are very plentiful. It will fit your action nicely. And it will slay elk and deer with ease. Plus the 2500 plus round barrel life is better than most smaller diameter bullets. So basically just look at energy levels and make sure it can kill elk at 500 and pick what you like. None of the shortmags are hard to load for. Good luck. By the way it's way easier to open a bolt face up. Shep