Long range all around western rifle

[jridgestalker]

I think you are approaching elk hunting the wrong way, and right now I'd say you've seen too many LR elk hunting videos. Elk hunting has very little to do with your rifle or cartridge choice in the long run, but I see so many attack it that way. So let's have a serious talk about elk hunting out West.

First you need to be honest with yourself about a few things, what kind of shape mentally and physically are you in? I live in Colorado and looks like you live in Pennsylvania, my states lowest elevation is 3,300 ft your states highest is 3,200 ft. Most of the time you're going to hunt around 7,000+ ft ASL. So even if you spent a full summer hiking your tallest peak in PA you are still going to get your butt kicked by elevation when you come out west. So you not only need to be physically tough you need to be mentally tough to handle the elevation.

Have you been applying for an elk hunt out west and how do you intend t do the hunt? Really the challenge will be drawing a tag, sure you can hunt bulls OTC here in Colorado but if you're trying to get a trophy bull they may not be the most productive units. I'd say unless you're prepared to spend a lot of years eating expensive non-resident tag soup learning a unit you want to hunt DIY, hire a guide. A good guide service will save you money elk hunting in the long run if all you want is a trophy bull. I think if you hire a guide service you'll find the average range of shots are far less than 1,000 yards.

Optics are more important than any rifle IMO. You're going to spend more time behind glass looking for and judging animals. A good pair of binoculars and a spotting scope is a must. So you've found elk at 1,000 yards with your binos, now is your spotting scope good enough to judge the animals you've found? Do you have a scope with good enough optics to single out your bull and repeatable adjustments to dial in at 1,000 yards.

You should be really thinking about how confident in your ability to shoot 1,000 yards on an elk you are. There are a lot of rifle and cartridge combinations capable of delivering a bullet with lethality at 1,000 yards on elk, shooter error is the largest uncontrollable factor in the equation. Are you confident in your ability to kill an elk at 1,000 yards, or are you going to give that wounded elk a 1,000 yard head start and 30 minute or more head start on a long tracking job?

A lot of things are out of your control in any kind of hunting. About the only things you're guaranteed to be able to control is where you'll hunt, you physical conditioning, your gear, and your confidence in your abilities. After that just realize you're pretty much at the mercy of Murphy's Law.

 

[jridgestalker]

So negative. I live in California. I hunt A zone....you wanna talk about tough?

Try opening weekend...105 degrees, rocky steep ****, full of brush, no water.

Success rate is like 10%. And if your lucky you get an average forkey.

It's tough hunting but it shapes a person.

But....regardless....be polite. This gentleman from Pennsylvania may not be a western hunter....and may have watched too many long range videos....but regardless...dont be impolite

 

[BigGrizz]

Some of the toughest elk I've seen are cows, an old lead cow has seen double the life an average bull will, I have no problem pole axing a bull with whatever is in my hands at the time, maybe even, wait for it.......... a 6.5 Creedmore!!

I think I mostly agree with that statement, BG.

I remember cow hunting about eight years ago and I shot what was about a two-year old. Another guy I was with popped another cow and I **** you not when we put her in the back of that Toyota (newer model at the time) she completely filled the backend (head and legs hanging out) and you could not see the two-year old underneath her. Probably the biggest elk I've ever seen.

Anomalous? Could be. But the 'ol girl was BIG.

 

[Cheers2Friends]

Don't feel like the "Lone Ranger"....I'm still struggling with the next 6.5 mm I want to own! The 7 mm has serious advantage on bullet weight. I mostly shoot paper but I don't want to rule out game at 5-600 yards. I'd like to punch repeatable holes at 2000 yards. I don't know if I can do this with a 6.5 mm rifle

 

[ducky]

But....regardless....be polite. This gentleman from Pennsylvania may not be a western hunter....and may have watched too many long range videos....but regardless...dont be impolite

I'm going to guess this is about my post since you quoted me previously. I could have been brutally honest, maybe a little salty, but I wasn't flat out impolite. If you come on a public forum and your feelings are hurt by what I wrote, then you probably can't handle a western elk hunt anyway.

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

Idk about you guys but I have shot a few cows that were BIGGER then the average rag horn bull.

Shot with itty bitty 6.5's too!

300 win mag for all around gets my vote. Just get a good muzzle brake and your ready to go to work.

 

[snowypeakoutdoors]

I was disagreeing with the "they're not worth fooling with" part.

My smith is not a smith by trade, so he's not big on taking in outside (non-local) work. He's a very peculiar guy. Wish I could afford the tools to do it myself, I've always wanted to get into gunsmithing. I'm sure somewhere someone could rig up a barrel nut setup for an A-Bolt/A-Bolt II rifle. The only issue is, they're not a high-demand due to lots of false information on the web, and scared gunsmiths who won't touch them because of hear-say. Once you get the factory barrel off, it's no different than any other rifle build. And once you get the factory barrel off, rebarreling from there is all gravy.

The trick is, you have to slowly heat-up the front of the receiver to melt the red loctite-type material that is on the factory barrel threads, BEFORE you can attempt to unscrew the factory barrel. Once you get it hot enough, then you can twist off the factory barrel, clean all the threads out and remove all that red sticky stuff. From there, the job will be straight-forward like any other rifle build.

Everything you said is true, and it is also why my Abolt is now a paperweight. If I was in your situation, and maybe the OP is, it might not be. I looked into smiths and found that not only are they hard to come by, but by the time I paid for shipping my rifle off, paid hundreds to the smith for the extra labor for messing around with removing the old barrel and then threading to an odd ball thread on the barrel blank, I could just buy a new rifle. Not to mention the months and months of lead time. Why do that when I can just buy one of the many other rifles and when I want to rebarrel it just order one and put it on? This is why I posted to the OP in the first place. He can do his own research on it and decide for himself.

 

[bigngreen]

I've seen a few cows scale over 400 on the rail the largest bulls I've scaled we're right at the 500 lb mark. The average greater Yellowstone elk will scale at 250, average cows and 2.5 year old bulls will be at this.

 

[Bruce Hall]

My two favorite Elk guns are a Montana Rifle Co. 7mm WSM and I have a 300 WSM in a Ruger 77 with a nice Leopold scope that I paid $700 for used that knocks Elk down with no problem. Either one will work and has for me, never at 1000 yards but were I live we have trees. lol

 

[ATH]

Even with the best bullets under the best conditions 6.5s are right at the minimum expansion velocity for the bullets. Not my cup of tea. Who advocating this has actually shot an animal at 1000 yards?

I've killed multiple elk 600-800 yards, with 30s and 338s. The 338s simply hit harder, the 30s are adequate. Observing the 30s I have zero desire to test a 7mm or smaller beyond 600ish yards. Please share your actual experience shooting an elk at 1000 yards with a 6.5. "It's about placement" is 100% true; compare difference in wind judgement error between all these rounds and tell me what provides the best likelihood of proper placement.

If I had to choose one all around long range rifle it would be a 300WM or similar. It's fine for antelope, been there done that, just stay off the shoulder or you ruin half the meat. 1000yd elk is really a specialized rifle outside the scope of a "do it all" rifle. As for factory, it is really a lottery if you get one good enough to accomplish this, you are probably money ahead to build a Remage/Savage with a good barrel properly bedded into a good stock.

 

[popgun240]

Either would do. Think about the bullet you wish to use. Your going to want 1500 ft lbs check the data on factory or reloading data to determine what you need chamber wise. I find he 280 ackley easy to load for and inherently accurate. I avoid any thing with a belted case now days. If factory ammo is required I look at 280 ackley or the 30 prc. The 28 nosler has terrible barrel life . Try to find a 8 twist in 7mm You will be able to shot the heavy mono core . You also need to determine what is the lowest Velocity the manufacturer says will open. If your new to Longrange hunting your going to have to fire more than a box of rounds to set up and learn the skill and rifle. Your going to need top end rangefinder. I just got a dig kilo 3000 and am very impressed

 

[popgun240]

I still have around 150 Barnes Original 7mm 195 gr bullets. They shoot straight and penatrate unbelieveably. Sectional Density is .305 on these bullets. That like a 500 gr 458 bullet. I joke with a friend that these are best suited for that "Texas Heart" Shot. Recoil can be heavy in a 7mm Mag.

 

[popgun240]

My two favorite Elk guns are a Montana Rifle Co. 7mm WSM and I have a 300 WSM in a Ruger 77 with a nice Leopold scope that I paid $700 for used that knocks Elk down with no problem. Either one will work and has for me, never at 1000 yards but were I live we have trees. lol

 

[popgun240]

My shooting is done in Northeastern Nevada. Shots can be an easy 400 to 600 yards. The last Antelope we got was at 488 yards. My Mule Deer Buck last year was only 140 yards. Since I'm an amputee, I can't climb around the hills or Forest so I rely on the ability of my 300 Win Mag and my own ability to put the bullet where it counts. Basically, I've been relegated to being a road hunter so an accurate long range Rifle is a must for me. Add to that I'm 74 years old and am currently laying in a VA hospital after having a big Toe amputated. Right leg below the knee and big Toe on left foot. We have to do what we have to do. I wish I could go for a good Bull Elk but just can't traverse terrain. That's why I need a very accurate, long range Rifle.