Elk/Deer Caliber

[sourdough44]

Another consideration with these questions is % of what hunting. Say someone lives in MI, hunts deer every year but hopes to ge West for elk hunting, is there reason to do those deer hunts with a 300 win Mag? Factory ammo?

One can always increase performance with a quality bullet, any round. After that, limit yourself with careful shots.

 

[LRNut]

Another consideration with these questions is % of what hunting. Say someone lives in MI, hunts deer every year but hopes to ge West for elk hunting, is there reason to do those deer hunts with a 300 win Mag? Factory ammo?

One can always increase performance with a quality bullet, any round. After that, limit yourself with careful shots.

I hunt every year in northern Minnesota; my rifle for that is a Rem Mod 7 with a 20" bbl chambered in .308. Scope is a 2x7. A long shot is 80 yards and my longest ever is about 125. The rifles I use for elk or even deer in the West are completely different and would honestly be a handicap in MN. Looking at the elk I have shot, all but one could have been taken with that .308 I use for MN deer.

 

[dogz]

My 2 cents worth use a minimum of 7mm Magnum... I know 30-06 has killed lots of elk. The ranch I hunted on last year will not allow a 270. Shot placement is critical on under caliber rifles. Shoot them in the front shoulder and break them down, less likely to lose a wounded animal

Absolute nonsense.............!

 

[memtb]

I'll suggest that if it were "my" private ranch land, the policy would be similar to many African countries, you wound it and fail to recover it.....you just "punched your tag"!

This would make many "shooters" reconsider their cartridge choice for an expensive elk hunt! memtb

 

[dogz]

Absolutely Memtb! I wish there was a way to police that all over the place for archery and rifle.

 

[StanleyActual]

You can make a lot of different calibers work depending on your range, location and your shooting ability.

6.5CM w/q40 class bullets
7-08
308
6.5PRC
.270
.284
He'll ive senen guys take elk with a 6mm / 243

they'll all kill an an anima if you put it in the right place with enough energy. Whether or not it downs the animal immediately or runs off down some canyons where your can't get to him to die is another story

personally, if I was building a hunting rifle specifically for large North American game. It wouldn't be any of those. I prefer 7mm's. And this is typically where your lengonna see two different thoughts process!.

the big 30 cals (300 WM, 300 wam; 300 PRC, 338; 300 Norma, 300 Ultras el TC.'minus the 338, they all fire the same .30 cal bullets but different than weights and digffferwnr case designs / powders) the

the nect group youll find is the 7mm guys . That's me. .284 diameter bullet, weights vary from 140's up to 190's) typically for elk you'll be in the 162-180 range in the 2900/3000 FPS . These calibers are the 7mm Rem Mag,, 7SAUM, 7WSM. 7 Ultra mag, 28 Noslerz you'll see the 7mm's are a longer skinnier bullet with high BC's and typically shoot faster and flatter than the 30cals and with less recoil.


Advantages of the 7mm / 284'e
-large array of High BC bullets tangling from 140's to 195's .TI h 7mm family has some of the highest rated billets we have
-faster higjh BC's means less bullet drop
-long skinny billet shoots fast and flat
-less recoil
-due tonight
-less recoil
Longer skinnier faster billets typically have a shorter barrel life. .
-due to the high BC's of the 7m bullets, they many times will deliver more energy to the target at distance than the heavier 30 cals because rhe 30' cals slowing down faster than the 7mm's. Energy is the product of bullet weight and velocity..

Advantages of the 30 cals
Longer barrel life than the 6.5's and 7mm's
-wide variety of bullets ranging from15@gns -250gns.
-bigger bulllet means more damage depending ont the energy delivered on impact.
Exwtemy doom. SSP supplies need are usually easily found for both the 7mm and 7mm / 284's
- a major part in terminal ballistics is bullet mass retention. Obviously the 30 cal being the larger diameter heavier built, after an impact with an object (ie bone ) of biullet brakes apart or fragments . the 30'snwill have retained more of it's mass than the lighter 7mm billet .

You really can't go wrong with either of those choices. It's a personal preference thing. You prefer high velocity flat shooting high performance bullets with pin point accuracy, or big heavy 30 cal boulders being lobbed from heavy recoiling rifles with the hopes of crushing ltheir prey to death?

 

[BigNate]

These type questions are full of opinions based on each individuals experience and situation. Rarely does the new hunter get advice from another recently new hunter.

I agree with an earlier post 7mm-08 or .308 Win, enjoy your suppressor, buy good glass. Go shooting often.

Those two will handle everything you're ready for. Ammo can be bought in many varieties, and both are easy to load for.

When you've reached a point where the cartridge seems lacking, you'll have your own opinion on where to go.

Last but not least, the. 338-06 is fantastic for shorter range but as was mentioned, you'll be reloading most of the time. Another one that is right there with it is the .35 Whelen.

Just in case, there's nothing wrong with the old .30-06, lots of factory ammo, and tons of success for the last 100 years.

 

[Dskiper]

I like my custom built rem.700.in .338-06. 200gr.Nosler factory rounds it is quite good medicine for any critter.I also like .280 Remington which is a nice caliber. dakota

 

[car_walk]

+1 for 300 win mag. I don't think you'll be left wanting for power

 

[F&H1821]

First things first, the permit for a suppressor will be $200. A lot of range in suppressor prices, and I have no experience with that. Threading the muzzle for a break is generally less than $150, a suppressor I would think similar.

There are a variety of rifle that come with the muzzle threaded these days. Remington you mentioned, Tikka, and Sako also. Choices kind of determined how much you're willing to invest

I went with Silencer Central, for 2 cans -- Banish 45 for my 10mm, and Elite Iron for my 375. If you buy from them, their smith will thread your gun for (I think) $100, and then make sure the suppressor seats on there. They are not cheap, but the $1K covers everything but threading -- including permitting, and they set up a trust for your suppressor (I believe so it can stay with your estate after you've gone to the great hunting grounds in the sky). I was going to have my Model 70 Alaskan 375 H&H threaded but now am not sure. The recoil from the 375 is actually more manageable than from the 33 Nosler, and fortunately the elite iron appears to work well with the 33, as well as my CA 6.5 PRC, though I am early in the process and have not checked precision or MV yet. Both of those 2 guns have proof barrels, so already threaded.
Disclaimer -- what I quote above for $$ is a couple of years old, so may now be different.

 

[F&H1821]

First things first, the permit for a suppressor will be $200. A lot of range in suppressor prices, and I have no experience with that. Threading the muzzle for a break is generally less than $150, a suppressor I would think similar.

There are a variety of rifle that come with the muzzle threaded these days. Remington you mentioned, Tikka, and Sako also. Choices kind of determined how much you're willing to invest

I went with Silencer Central, for 2 cans -- Banish 45 for my 10mm, and Elite Iron for my 375. If you buy from them, their smith will thread your gun for (I think) $100, and then make sure the suppressor seats on there. They are not cheap, but $1K covers everything but threading -- including permitting, and they set up a trust for your suppressor (I believe so it can stay with your estate after you've gone to the great hunting grounds in the sky). I was going to have my Model 70 Alaskan 375 H&H threaded but now am not sure. The recoil from the 375 is actually more manageable than from the 33 Nosler, and fortunately the elite iron appears to work well with the 33, as well as my CA 6.5 PRC, though I am early in the process and have not checked precision or MV yet. Both of those 2 guns have proof barrels, so already threaded.
Disclaimer -- what I quote above for $$ is a couple of years old, so may now be different.

 

[F&H1821]

I went with Silencer Central, for 2 cans -- Banish 45 for my 10mm, and Elite Iron for my 375. If you buy from them, their smith will thread your gun for (I think) $100, and then make sure the suppressor seats on there. They are not cheap, but $1K covers everything but threading -- including permitting, and they set up a trust for your suppressor (I believe so it can stay with your estate after you've gone to the great hunting grounds in the sky). I was going to have my Model 70 Alaskan 375 H&H threaded but now am not sure. The recoil from the 375 is actually more manageable than from the 33 Nosler, and fortunately the elite iron appears to work well with the 33, as well as my CA 6.5 PRC, though I am early in the process and have not checked precision or MV yet. Both of those 2 guns have proof barrels, so already threaded.
Disclaimer -- what I quote above for $$ is a couple of years old, so may now be different.

Please excuse the double post. Quirk in logging in here.

 

[Colorado Luckydog]

My 2 cents worth use a minimum of 7mm Magnum... I know 30-06 has killed lots of elk. The ranch I hunted on last year will not allow a 270. Shot placement is critical on under caliber rifles. Shoot them in the front shoulder and break them down, less likely to lose a wounded animal

I'm new here so I don't want to argue. But I have been Elk hunting in Colorado for the best part of 25 years. Someone on that ranch gave you bad information. Any ranch or hunters I know of in Colorado want you to shoot a rifle that you shoot well. A lot more guides get nervous if you show up with a magnum than they do if you show up with a 25.06. If you show up with a magnum, expect to be questioned to make sure you know how to use it. And some guides won't allow muzzle brakes. I'm not sure if the muzzle brake thing is in the past but I know it used to be that way with some guides. You should double check with someone in charge at the ranch you are hunting at and I'm positive they will tell you different.

 

[WildRose]

I'm brand new to the world of bolt action and have limited experience hunting anything outside of a blind. I am in the market for a new gun capable of hunting deer and elk. Fairly positive I'm gonna get a 700, the last thing is which model and caliber. At some point, I do want the ability to put a suppressor on there, and I'm pretty sure the SPS TAC AAC is the only one that comes with a threaded barrel. Let's say I went with another model, is that something that could be easily done by a smith for less than $300? i honestly have no idea. The other thing, is if I did go with the SPS TAC AAC, would you guys recommend i get the barrel floated? Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks guys.

P.S. I searched the forum for a thread like this, couldn't really find anything good. if this is the wrong place, or there's a thread like this already, please point me in the right direction.

I would be leery of the SPS. Yes you'll hear marvelous stories online of how a guy picked one up for pennies and it's a 1 hole rifle at a thousand yards he's killed every game animal on earth with here and there but the SPS line is literally the bottom end of what Remington produces.

You're looking at 200.00 for the tax stamp and up to a 2 year wait if not longer under the current administration to get a suppressor at all and the bottom end of good suppressors I know of starts around 800-100.00 bucks. You're easily talking about tying up twice what you want to spend on a rifle for the suppressor and you haven't even put glass on it yet.

Again you'll hear online stories of the wonders of 400-600.00 scopes but I have yet to find one., After all the scopes I've been through I've learned I'm going to spend between a thousand and fifteen hundred used to get the kind of glass I want.

I'm not trying to scare you off but I am trying to give you an idea of where to set your expectations.

If you want to get into this game on a budget start with one thing at a time like the rifle itself and start shopping the classifieds here, The Hide and other places where you can pretty well verify the sellers or look at Armslist and deal only through a 3rd party FFL and only pay for the rifle after the 3rd party FFL has inspected it.

As for calibers, be careful of hanging around places like this where cannonitis is epidemic. There's not a deer, elk, moose or anything else in the Continental US you cannot successfully hunt and kill cleanly with a 270, 7RM, or 30-06 300WM. Those are also somewhat falling out of favor as all the hot new proprietary cartridges keep coming out so they can often be bought at a real bargain used.

40 years ago I shot everything bigger than coyotes with a 7RM and everything smaller with a .220 swift. Truth of the matter is that's really all a man ever "Needs" for 99% of what we hunt in N. America but some of us have pretty well lost our minds and now have safes or even rooms filled with all sorts of bigger bangers we're just sure we NEED!.

Welcome and try hard to keep your head on straight it can be tough around here.

EDTA: Dang it, got me again.