Long Range Rifle- possible custom build

[StanleyActual]

I would think you would want to look at 280 ai, 7 Rem Mag(fast twist/long throat), 7 PRC, 28 Sherman Mag, 300 Sherman or 300 PRC.

Given your selection and desire for 30 cal, 300 PRC looks like a good choice. At an 800 yd max range, I'm not sure you need all that power.

That my choice. I'm running a 24" 1:8.4T 7Rem Mag with a +P chamber. Avg 2960 with 180gn Berger Hybrids and 69.5gns of 4831SC. 2800' DA. Shoots plenty flat and hits plenty hard at distance. Reasonable barre life and relatively low recoil in comparison to some of the 30's.

 

[Kmccord]

I would say, why limit yourself to just one? If you are starting out on a western rifle, I would seriously look at the Terminus Zeus Quick Change action. I would have a 300 PRC barrel spun up, you can add a 6.5 PRC, 300 WSM, 28 Nosler, 7PRC, etc., using the same stock and scope. You would need to run an AICS mag, the Hawkins Hunter M5 would do the trick, you can get a Long Action Hawkins Mag spacer kit for the 6.5 PRC and it would work for the WSM cartridge as well. You can buy Pre-Fit barrels for the Terminus Zeus action and bypass a gunsmith. Just some food for thought to provide you with options for various hunting scenarios. Now, you would need to purchase the same barrel contour each time to fit the cutout of the stock.

 

[Lee7588]

Can someone explain to me the benefit of running a custom 300 win mag chamber when you can run a 300 PRC factory, SAAMI chamber and achieve the same thing..? Genuine question, I don't see the upside unless you already have tons of brass and components kicking around.

Why pay more for the brass when you can find it just for maybe 200 ft per sec more while getting more recoil

 

[Mark37082]

You have received a number of good suggestions. Weight was not brought up or I missed it. If you are planning on doing long treks with your rifle, weight may be a factor to consider. I have some fine rifles that spend their life in the safe during hunting season due to their excessive weight.

 

[Lee7588]

300 wm would be my choice if a 300 rum isn't an option. 300 wby is a great round but brass is more expensive and recoil is more. Win mag has brass that will be available, you can go with a faster twist on the barrel to stabilize heavies. Down load it if you want to have less recoil when hunting close range. There is no perfect caliber, so get multiple. You should be able to get pre-fit barrels if you do the custom, at that point you can swap your barrels in less than 10 mins. All that being said they are all great calibers and will do what you want them to do.

 

[Lee7588]

You have received a number of good suggestions. Weight was not brought up or I missed it. If you are planning on doing long treks with your rifle, weight may be a factor to consider. I have some fine rifles that spend their life in the safe during hunting season due to their excessive weight.

I just looked at what the custom build option was and it isn't an ultra light but it isn't a benchrest 20# either. Looks like it will hit the scales at close to 12# dressed

 

[JAG0588]

Thanks for all the replies. The options are truly endless. And there is never one perfect caliber.

Weight i forgot to add I was hoping bare rifle around 8-9#. I also forgot to add the barrel would be a carbon barrel. Those are just the components I would use if I did a custom build. But If I could find one in the classifieds with pretty much what I wanted I wouldn't be opposed to that either.

When I was originally thinking about a possible custom build I was thinking a 7-300win mag. Which still might happen one day but when I see ppl pushing these heavy bullets close to 3000fps it really made me just go right back to the .30cal

 

[wasskeet]

FWIW, I've had both the 28 Nosler and 300 PRC in almost identical rifles. The recoil with a 180 in the 28 and a 225 in the 300 PRC are hard to tell apart. The 28 seems to have more muzzle blast though.

 

[Slick8]

Since you hand load and are building a custom rifle go 30 Nosler and throat it for 225 eldms or what ever bullet you want to shoot.
The prc is plagued with Clicker issues from saami tight chamber specs, it can be fixed but the nosler is a better cartridge

This is where I'd look. The nosler suffers from a short sammi spec throat and poor marketing from nosler. I'd pick this in a custom chamber over a 300wm or prc.

I've had one for a good bit running 230 bergers at 2980 from a sammi chamber and a 26 inch barrel.

I'm now building a 30-28 nosler chambered for the 230-245 bergers.

I'd also step up to a 3.99 inch wyatts mag box.

 

[Mark37082]

You may want to rethink your action choice if you are looking at 8-9# range ready to hunt. This is the sweet spot for a hunting rifle IMO.

 

[Lee7588]

You may want to rethink your action choice if you are looking at 8-9# range ready to hunt. This is the sweet spot for a hunting rifle IMO.

Not sure if changing the action will drop a lot of weight but swapping barrel can cut close to a pound. OP didn't really say if they would be packing a distance or not