Mountain rifle

[hawkeye35]

I use a 30 nosler custom made with 24" barrel 205 Berger hunting loaded with 83.6 gn.s of powder and it will drop anything you can shoot out to 800 yds. Easy running around 3140 fps. With 4100 pounds of energy it's good on elk moose deer what ever you want to shoot. Check out Alamo Percision rifles they do a pretty good job and they have pretty good prices .

I agree with the above comments re: get a Tikka. My 7 Rem Mag is a .5 MOA rifle and some days less. You should have extra $$$ for nice Optics.

 

[dogz]

I am very new to long range shooting and am looking at building a mountain rifle for an elk hunt in the future. Everyone on here seems to know a lot and have good advice.
So to start out with I am left handed so that already is hard enough to find a rifle, I already have a tikka t3 .308 with an oryx chasis, shilien 1-10 heavy barrel shooting 175 grain nosler custom competition BTHP factory loads and I really like tikka actions so I kinda thought about getting a left hand tikka in a 300 WM and maybe one day when I get into reloading I might rebarrel it to a 7mm prc when things are more available, I also thought about just getting a CA ridgeline in 300wm. Does anyone on here have any other ideas? My budget is probably around $2000 for the rifle and that would bet me a tikka with a good stock and barrel I think but I'm open to ideas.

Couple quick Q's if you don't mind.

*First up, when is your first elk hunt planned for (what year)?

*To date on a consistent basis how far are you shooting steel, groups etc at this time?

*When you say mountain rifle, give us your idea of what it should weigh in at "all u') (meaning, scoped, sling, rounds)?

*Are you running suppressed and or have plans to?

Lastly, I'd encourage you to stay in your lane in terms of the whole "long range" thing. IMO, going to long range has a lot of different meanings and everyone has their own definition. As well, everyone has their own abilities (hence limitations). I'd offer up for you to give this a lot of thought.

You're a busy dude with a new one in the casa, enjoy it to the fullest it goes quickly and is worth a ton load more than a bunch of gun gack

Lastly, sorry if I sounded "preachy" didn't mean to be. Bottom line, I'd get lined up to be suppressed, I'd buy a lefty T3 in 7 RM and get to it. I'd practice so that I can hit the turf, and put 3 rounds on a pie plate at 400 in sub 10 seconds, then I'd move to 500 and so on. Doesn't have to be anyone else's way, just works for this kid.

 

[mnoland30]

Unless you're hunting on horseback, a light rifle is what you want for the mountains. The older you get, the more truth there is in that statement. A light rifle and heavy bullets means recoil. I've shot braked rifles and stood too close to others using them, and will never own one. With today's bullets, people are easily killing elk with 6.5, .277, and 7mm bullets. I dropped one in its tracks with a 7mm 168 gr. Berrger VLD going 2500 fps. on impact using my 6-1/2 lb. 7mm WSM. A joy to carry, and a hammer on the other end. It may take serious money to get into precision reloading, but I can load ammo that will out perform factory ammo using my Lee Hand Press while sitting on my Lazy Boy watching television. I'm a big believer in high sectional density bullets. Even a fairly explosicve bullet with a high SD will usually exit. And high SD goes along with high BC, so it arrives with more energy and velocity. When I was choosing my caliber, I looked at bullet weights BCs and SDs. I believe that within reason, terminal performance is similar when sectional density is comparable.

Caliber Grains G1 BC G7 BC SD
6.5 143 .625 .315 .293 ELDX
.277 160 .434 .298 Partition
.277 170 .662 .339 .317 Berger EOL
7mm 168 .618 .316 .298 Berger VLD
.308 200 .597 .301 .301 ELDX

 

[WoodPecker Hunter]

Cheers

I just liked the idea and design of the 7mm shooting high BC bullets at 3000+fps and being able buck wind better so there would be less margin for error

why not just get a 7 MM REM Mag in the first place ? makes NO sense to get it in 300 mag then rebarrel to 7mm ?

 

[Ucsdryder]

The tikka 300wm with a factory stock will kick the living **** out of you. Make sure you're ready for it and not recoil shy.

 

[sjones]

I use a 30 nosler custom made with 24" barrel 205 Berger hunting loaded with 83.6 gn.s of powder and it will drop anything you can shoot out to 800 yds. Easy running around 3140 fps. With 4100 pounds of energy it's good on elk moose deer what ever you want to shoot. Check out Alamo Percision rifles they do a pretty good job and they have pretty good prices .

I have CA Ridgeline 28 nosier and less than 1/4 MOA. I rebedded mine, that is the only thing I would check.

 

[Starbuck]

The tikka 300wm with a factory stock will kick the living **** out of you. Make sure you're ready for it and not recoil shy.

If you're not when you get it, you will be in a little while.

I ran both 300 WM and 300 WSM Tikkas. They set you back, but so does every other LW, 30 cal magnum. I put a laminate stock, limbsaver, and and 28 ounce scope on the 300 WM, which helped quite a bit. As they come though, it's a good rifle to carry a lot and shoot a little, which isn't the best set up to build long range competency.

 

[Bud LaRoche]

Tikka ALL DAY LONG over a Cristiansen .

With 2k you can buy a Tikka and a decent scope.

2k for rifle only. Seekins HANDS DOWN the best package.

 

[kameron]

You mean like the 208 LRHT @ 3000 with a bc of .364? Or how about a 212 eld-m @ 3000 with a .359 bc? That would be a 300 win mag. Compare that to the 7 prc shooting a 184 hybrid with a bc of .362 @ 3000 fps, or a 180 eld-m with a .360 bc @ 3000 fps......7 prc doesn't buck the wind any better. It has less bullet mass though, not necessarily the best thing for elk. It does however have less recoil, which may matter if you don't want to put a brake on your rifle. It will have some decent factory loaded options, which is a good point for some. There is no good brass options at this point, though by the time you would get there I bet adg or someone will be making 7 prc brass.

Not saying a 7mm won't kill elk, it absolutely will, we have killed a bunch of them with a 7mm and even a 6.5 at extended ranges (900+), however if you already have a good 300 wm....as an elk rifle, there isn't really a *practical* reason to rebarrel it into a 7 prc, other than to lower recoil. In a Tikka specifically, it may make sense to do it so you have more room for bullet seating when you handload, that is logical. However based on performance alone, the 7 prc simply is not better than a 300 wm. I know it's a ways down the line before a rebarrel on a gun you don't even have yet, but just something to chew on.

As far as rifle options, I think your on the right track. For factory options, browning also isn't a bad choice, I have worked on a couple x-bolts and a-bolts that absolutely hammered, specifically a 7mm rem mag, 270 wsm, 300 win mag and a 28 nosler, but the downside to them is far less backing for aftermarket support. For the most options down the road, I would look at the CA.

That was a very good reply I think that sticking with 300wm will probably be a better option to stick with since shot placement would be less critical with the 300. As long as the recoil isn't a problem that is.

 

[skipglo]

Why would you want to rebarrel a 300 WM to 7mm PRC?

Exactly!

 

[skipglo]

If someone nice were to give me a CA
..I would sell it and buy something nice! Tikka is a good choice, along with several others for 2000.00.

 

[kameron]

And I am looking for a rifle that will be maybe 7-8 pounds without a scope so it doesn't need to be feather light but I don't want a 12lb bench gun. I am a 26year old diesel mechanic and 6'3" and 240lb so I'm not scared of the recoil by any means, but I know the recoil can throw you off a bit if you don't practice a lot with it but I'm hoping to run it suppressed to cut down on it a little.

With my 308 I was shooting 6-8" groups at 800yards so I'm thinking 8-900 yards would be my max shooting range.

I do a lot of deer hunting up here in northern Minnesota but I think the longest I've shot deer at is roughly 400yards as there aren't a lot of long shots around here when hunting

 

[Lee7588]

And I am looking for a rifle that will be maybe 7-8 pounds without a scope so it doesn't need to be feather light but I don't want a 12lb bench gun. I am a 26year old diesel mechanic and 6'3" and 240lb so I'm not scared of the recoil by any means, but I know the recoil can throw you off a bit if you don't practice a lot with it but I'm hoping to run it suppressed to cut down on it a little.

With my 308 I was shooting 6-8" groups at 800yards so I'm thinking 8-900 yards would be my max shooting range.

I do a lot of deer hunting up here in northern Minnesota but I think the longest I've shot deer at is roughly 400yards as there aren't a lot of long shots around here when hunting

Even if you end up with the rifle that's got some heavy recoil put a muzzle brake on the end and it'll help disperse some of that recoil kind of keeps from getting that recoil flinch

 

[Starbuck]

That was a very good reply I think that sticking with 300wm will probably be a better option to stick with since shot placement would be less critical with the 300. As long as the recoil isn't a problem that is.

I love 30 cal magnums. I own 5 currently and a couple 338's. I've used 30 cal mags of one flavor or another for the majority of game I've harvested. There's no doubt that they put game down when you do your part, but I wouldn't use one because shot placement is less critical. They'll still wound when shots are put in the wrong spot, and every cartridge discussed so far will kill elk cleanly with good shot placement.