I like guns and need another one like I need a hole in the head but I have this extra XLR element magnesium chassis and I'm thinking about building a short barreled gun.
I know this has been discussed but I'll ask anyway.
I understand that short barrels castrate big cartridges and I don't care. I don't care about muzzle flash or unburned powder or efficiency etc.
if you think an 18" 338 Lapua is completely ridiculous and should never be done theplease don't respond to this thread (I felt this way a year ago)
now to the question: I want to build a strong magnum long action gun with a short 18"...or maybe 20" barrel. WHAT IS THE BEST CARTRIDGE FOR KILLING ELK to 1000 yards.
elk are tough critters and I don't subscribe to the 7mmRM being sufficient to kill elk with at 1000 with any barrel length (and yes I know it's been done effectively thousands of times)...but I'm looking for something that hits harder than that.
my initial thought is to just do a 338 Lapua (I'm already setup to load that one)...then I started thinking well in that case the 338 Norma is probably a better choice...then my brain went to the 300 Norma with 230 or 245's....
is a 300 Norma not actually faster than a 300 WM if you cut the barrel down that much????
I know we are sacrificing some velocity with a short barrel which is why I went to heavier bullets automatically...but maybe I'm wrong there
also this is not going to be an ELR gun...it's only for 1000 and less so I don't care if we take an entry level ELR cartridge and make it not good enough for ELR.
28 Nosler-375 CT...go
I'm a big fan of short barrels
Three years ago I took my standard 338 Lapua and cut the MTU contour barrel to 20 inches, that along with the XLR folding stock it was pretty **** handy for backpack hunting and getting in and out of vehicles. It did decreasing MV from 2800 with a 27 inch barrel to 2455 with a 24 inch barrel shooting 300g OTMs.
i'll tell you what my first trip to the range to test for different nodes With that short staffed barrel was the easiest node finding experience.
Currently I have a 338 Lapua ackkey improved with a 40° angle shoulder, 24 inch barrel shooting a 300g OTM at 2911 ft./s.
Picture with the bear is the standard 27" Lapua then the gun on the table is after I cut it down to 20".
Picture with the deer is the 24 inch barrel Ackley improved that I have now. The deer was shot at 1220 yards
I have several dream ideas for a short barrel gun like you. I'm thinking 338 snipetac with a fast twist barrel shooting solid copper's. Maybe not even 300 grain but something lighter like a 250 grain which is what Im messing around with now in my Ackley improved (252g cutting edge coppers going 3080, haven't found a node yet, releasing article soon:
OUR recent BLOGS
backcountryprecision.com
Reason being is unless you're shooting out past 600 yards it's hard to spot your own shots with that recoil, and in all honesty when I shot that deer 1220 yards this year the first shot I missed right in front of his chest because I didn't call enough wind and even at 1200 yards with this Ackley improved shooting 300g bullets I barely got back on target in time to see the impact; if it was less than 900 yards I probably wouldn't have got on target fast enough and wouldn't have seen where I hit, and wouldn't have been able to make a follow up shot. Ive thought about a 375 CT but the problem is when you shoot those heavy 350 400 grain bullets spotting your own shots becomes difficult. I think it's important in a hunting situation to have a caliber that you can manage to spot any misses or less than desirable hits on an animal so you can follow up smartly. Please no comments on how this is unethical because what you don't hear on Long Range Forum's, is all the missed shots which WILL happen when you're in the game of longrange hunting unfortunately.
If you train and practice then you can buy down the probability of missing but the factor will always be there. 
