WildRose
Well-Known Member
With your needs I'd still stick to the 06.I mean honestly...this is my second gun. I am not going to be taking 600 yard shots at an elk LOL. I understand that this is a long range hunting forum and that seems to be why so many people are for the magnums, but lets be practical here...I probably wouldn't even be able to shoot the 300 win mag comfortably for some target shooting. I know I shot the 300 RUM, but WildRose is right...they were reduced loads. So it is hard for me to even get an idea of what the true recoil of a 300WM would even be, and based on everything I read on the internet and the videos I have watched - it is a great gun for hunting, but not something to be shot 20+ times at the range for target shooting, it just isn't comfortable to shoot (with the exception of having a muzzle brake, which seems like a pain in the butt due to how loud).
It seems like the 30-06 is the way to go, the .308 is another option. It would probably come down to which caliber they had at the store in the rifle I liked.
I understand most people on here are taking 1000 yard shots on elk, but I mean really...should I really be flinging bullets at 1000 yards on a live animal with a 300 Win Mag? I'm not sure that is the best plan for improving my own personal shooting skills.
I know a lot of people like these other calibers that are more specialty calibers, but I don't want something I can't find factory ammo for at the store. Period.
I am not saying I have thrown the 300WM out the door, but going from my .243 straight to a 300WM may be a big step that isn't very practical for my needs.
Everyone has their favorites, I don't even own one but for your needs it's just the right way to go. Later on if you want to rebarrel and move up to the 300wm all you'd need do is open the bolt face and put a nice custom barrel on it.
It's a little more HP than the 308, 250fps or so slower than the 300wm. It has considerably less recoil than the 300 with the same wight bullets and not enough increase in recoil over the 308 to matter.
Best of all there's nothing in N. America you can't kill with it with one well placed shot out to 600yds, and you can find factory ammo for it literally anywhere that sells ammo for rifles.
It may not be as "cool" as lots of calibers on the market today but again it's probably killed more medium and big game in the US beyond 100yds than any other caliber.