What cartridge?

[340Wby-4-everything]

If you are planning to shoot elk at 800 yds, 300PRC, 300Win or 300Wby are far better choices than 7mm's; 6.5s don't even compare and 338s would be better. A brake on a 300 makes it tamer than a 30-06 and a brake on an average weight .338 (this excludes lapua/edge and the like due to their use of 110grs+ of powder) takes them down to about 30-06 recoil. I carry/shoot an ultralight .340 Wby braked that is tolerable, but far from pleasant. However, it is a bang - plop rifle aka DRT every time I do my part

 

[Blase84]

7 SAUM and you're done. I'm about to build one and I have a 28 Nosler also.

 

[tooth doc]

I'm torn between what cartridge to chamber a custom rifle in. This will be a hunting rifle and primarily for Whitetails, Black Bear, Mule Deer and Antelope, with the intent of doing a few Elk hunts. This must be able to accurately shoot past 1000 yards though. I realize there are a lot of cartridges that fit this bill and can effectively take down any of the above animals. However, I'd rather not shoot a 300 wm or other hammer if I don't need to. I'd also rather restrict my distance on Elk to 700-800 yards as well as I do t plant on doing a whole lot of Elk hunting. Accuracy (easier to tune and load), barrel life, etc. are of high importance here. Unfortunately I do not have much experience with most long range calibers/cartridges and mostly shoot .30-06, .308, .270. I have a 6.5 Creedmoor which I shoot to 1000 yards but would not shoot any of the above other than possible Antelope at that range (would have to research that even). So I am looking for recommendations from you guys. I have considered 300 PRC, 28 Nosler, 7mm WSM, etc.. I think the .277-.284 caliber cartridges probably fit the bill but don't hear too much about the .277's anymore. And the 28 Nosler sounds like it has horrible barrel life.

There are many choices, but some better than others. Wanting something that will do the job past 1000 yds narrows the field a bit. 7mm rem, good choice, i prefer 7 stw or 7 dakotz or 28 nos. Those who decry the nosler because of barrel life must be doing a lot more shooting with that one rifle than i do. 800 - 900 rds hunting will be 20 plus years for me and with a reasonable weight rifle not unpleasant to shoot. Put a brake on it if you must, i only use brakes off the bench, as i never seem to notice recoil in the field. I also like the 7 shorts but prefer the wsm, i little better performance but mostly a handloading cartridge, but then i handload all my hunting and all my lr comp ammo except 6.5 creed. Cant bear the 6.5 and 7mm in an appropriate rd for the lr hunting. 30 cal also but to end up with same performance u will need 200 plus gr bullers to achieve same performance at lr and that means a pretty big hammer. Make sure whichever cal you choose to get a twist rate appropriate for the bullet wt you choose. Just my thoughts. Have fun!

 

[Stgraves260]

I'm torn between what cartridge to chamber a custom rifle in. This will be a hunting rifle and primarily for Whitetails, Black Bear, Mule Deer and Antelope, with the intent of doing a few Elk hunts. This must be able to accurately shoot past 1000 yards though. I realize there are a lot of cartridges that fit this bill and can effectively take down any of the above animals. However, I'd rather not shoot a 300 wm or other hammer if I don't need to. I'd also rather restrict my distance on Elk to 700-800 yards as well as I do t plant on doing a whole lot of Elk hunting. Accuracy (easier to tune and load), barrel life, etc. are of high importance here. Unfortunately I do not have much experience with most long range calibers/cartridges and mostly shoot .30-06, .308, .270. I have a 6.5 Creedmoor which I shoot to 1000 yards but would not shoot any of the above other than possible Antelope at that range (would have to research that even). So I am looking for recommendations from you guys. I have considered 300 PRC, 28 Nosler, 7mm WSM, etc.. I think the .277-.284 caliber cartridges probably fit the bill but don't hear too much about the .277's anymore. And the 28 Nosler sounds like it has horrible barrel life.

See if this helps. It takes roughly 1000 lbs of kinetic energy to break the shoulder of a elk. So what I suggest is this. If you have a ballistic program device see what caliber rifle gives you that energy at distance. I use JBM in my smart phone. My 260 Remington has 1000 lbs of kinetic energy at 850 yards at 1150 feet above sea level. My 140 grain Berger's are still traveling at 1800 FPS. Berger say there bullets still need to travel 1300 FPS for them to expand. Now i took a cow elk just shy of 900 yards in Colorado. I was about 8000 feet above sea level so youR rifle carries its velocity much further. My 260 still had just over 1200 ft lbs of kinetic energy and around 1950 FPS. I took that elk home and fed my family all year. Yes my little old 260 Remington did break the shoulder. I found fragments in the heart and the lungs. It looked like it hit the opposite shoulder and stopped. I was able to retrieve the bullet. It did not have complete pass through. I have used the JBM program sense the first gen I-phone. It has never let me down. I really hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Sealesniper]

If you want to stay factory ammo any of the above mentioned 7mm including 7 wsm are great choices. If you want to go wildcat the 7mm-300 is hard to beat.

 

[manitou]

280ai, 7 saum, 7 rem mag take your pick

This... but the .280ai is the sexiest of the three.

 

[808mike]

7mm rem mag throated for the 180 gr bullets with a 8 twist.

 

[5gauss]

I will be handloading. Looking for readily available brass.

Then 7mag, 300 WM, or versions of either....

 

[Betarider]

I'm a big 7RM fan lot's of good bullets, even factory loaded now, lot's of tested time so load data is good as well. My A-bolt is 35 years old and shot alot, alot. Still a tack driver and room in the magazine for the long ones.

 

[Skimbleshanks]

I was looking for a similar cartridge not too long ago and I came around to the 7mm rem mag. Really balanced, good brass available, tons of reloading data, ammo on shelves if you need it, enough speed and bullet weight for elk, better barrel life than the bigger magnums, not a fad cartridge that will be hard to feed in the future.

 

[Jeffrey Van Zandt]

I'm torn between what cartridge to chamber a custom rifle in. This will be a hunting rifle and primarily for Whitetails, Black Bear, Mule Deer and Antelope, with the intent of doing a few Elk hunts. This must be able to accurately shoot past 1000 yards though. I realize there are a lot of cartridges that fit this bill and can effectively take down any of the above animals. However, I'd rather not shoot a 300 wm or other hammer if I don't need to. I'd also rather restrict my distance on Elk to 700-800 yards as well as I do t plant on doing a whole lot of Elk hunting. Accuracy (easier to tune and load), barrel life, etc. are of high importance here. Unfortunately I do not have much experience with most long range calibers/cartridges and mostly shoot .30-06, .308, .270. I have a 6.5 Creedmoor which I shoot to 1000 yards but would not shoot any of the above other than possible Antelope at that range (would have to research that even). So I am looking for recommendations from you guys. I have considered 300 PRC, 28 Nosler, 7mm WSM, etc.. I think the .277-.284 caliber cartridges probably fit the bill but don't hear too much about the .277's anymore. And the 28 Nosler sounds like it has horrible barrel life.

from what you said I would go with a 6.5 PRC and save a lot of cash do it yourself proof carbon fiber shoulder fit or barrel nut barrel AG carbon fiber stock,SA bighorn action and trigger tech trigger put what you save in to highend glass for what you are hunting no need for a mag

 

[Coldfinger]

I'm torn between what cartridge to chamber a custom rifle in. This will be a hunting rifle and primarily for Whitetails, Black Bear, Mule Deer and Antelope, with the intent of doing a few Elk hunts. This must be able to accurately shoot past 1000 yards though. I realize there are a lot of cartridges that fit this bill and can effectively take down any of the above animals. However, I'd rather not shoot a 300 wm or other hammer if I don't need to. I'd also rather restrict my distance on Elk to 700-800 yards as well as I do t plant on doing a whole lot of Elk hunting. Accuracy (easier to tune and load), barrel life, etc. are of high importance here. Unfortunately I do not have much experience with most long range calibers/cartridges and mostly shoot .30-06, .308, .270. I have a 6.5 Creedmoor which I shoot to 1000 yards but would not shoot any of the above other than possible Antelope at that range (would have to research that even). So I am looking for recommendations from you guys. I have considered 300 PRC, 28 Nosler, 7mm WSM, etc.. I think the .277-.284 caliber cartridges probably fit the bill but don't hear too much about the .277's anymore. And the 28 Nosler sounds like it has horrible barrel life.

338 edge!

 

[Forcedoutage]

Def like something in the .284 line up. SAUM or Sherman Max

 

[Lee Goodwin]

Maybe 27 Nosler.?