Individual choice how far you can make a clean kill on chosen animal based on current conditions etc. Bottom line is shoot shoot shoot up,down,sideways at long ranges until you are CONFIDENT at these ranges with your accurate rifle in field conditions. I do not want to wound any animal based on my poor decisions/choices. If you have time for the shot, you usually know you can make it....or you may have doubts. I have any doubts, I pass....personal choice/ethics
Your Ultimate 500 Yard Rig
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"He who dies with the most toys wins." I'm probably a contender. I agree with your take. The point I was kinda making was that when we hunt we generally have a specific quary and known geo-parameters in mind. While you had a rifle capable of a 1600 yard shot on that trip, I'm betting you might have been hard pressed to make an off hand 100 yard passing shot on that same elk running at 30 mph. I cannot imagine shouldering my Allen mag. Known quarry and conditions are particularly true in the US. However, in Africa for example, where you may have 20 species on license from a 15 lb fox to 2000 lb Eland or Buffalo and shots ranging from 10 to 500 yards you select your gun before you get on the plane. And while you might even pack two, there is always a better situational tool back home in the vault. Generally we have to dance with the partner we brought. Case in point, I had Dave Tooley build me a 375 H&H on a Bat Repeater for an Africa trip. Without question the finest hunting rifle I own, right in front of the 458 lott he built for me, in case anyone wonders bout Dave's ability to build a hunting rifle to his bench standards. Not a one trick pony.
I knew I needed a gun for all occasions. On that trip I shot a jackle at 25 yards of hand and heart shot a Burchells Zebra at 323 yards off the sticks, snuck a bullet thru a 4" V in a branch uphill at 200 yards to neck shoot an Nyala using two separate sets of sticks, fore and aft. But what made it "the" gun was a full 40-mph running away head shot on a bucket list hartebeest at 147 yards off my knee. Yes, I have the photo. Again, the point is that while it fun to consider a perfect set of hypothetical circumstances, and notwithstanding a shot you simply cannot ethically take, we don't really usually enjoy the luxury of choosing our weapon after the shot presents itself. So I like to think of these querries based on the practical realities gleened from 64 years of Murphy's damned sense of humor. And for me to even say "Christiansen" may be the quintessential Murphy moment. But they flat a-s shoot.
G
You win! I prefer not to be the dead guy.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
In the words of Van Wilder... "Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive..."You win! I prefer not to be the dead guy.
BigSky!
Well-Known Member
I read 228 posts to say, I agree with the very first response in this thread:
Good
Well-Known Member
See, that's the spirit of the post- what are YOU taking on YOUR hunt. What hunt is it for "you" and what obstacles are you overcoming with your choice? If that is a 264 Win Mag, great! If that's Grandpa's 30-06, awesome! If that's a Christensen 300RUM, or a 375 H&H, or a 338AM, cool beans. ...forming my own opinions about what my dream rifle would be. It's difficult, because I want my cake and I want to eat it too. I want to get another 338 Lapua eventually, but the improved version, 1/4 minute accurate with 300 grainers, and I want it to be 8lbs scoped and shootable. Yeah right...
Sometimes I break my own limits. I had not been shooting my bow much, so on a January deer hunt I limited myself to 50yds. A great opportunity presented itself at 53yds and I took it. Close enough. Nice little coues buck on the wall, meat in the freezer, and my first with a bow. But, I passed on some nicer mulies at 70ish. Depends on the situation.
Exactly Right. And 53 yards is a fair piece on a little deer. Good work.
When you find that 8lb Lapua Improved with 20 ft lbs of recoil please let me know. I recall getting a 338UM Sendero from Remington for an article. Not thinking, or better yet thinking it would be like my Christensen 300UM I threw a 1-6 Leupold LPS on it and headed off to the range to get ready for a moose hunt. First shot on a bench and needed rotator surgery a week later. Physics is a b—ch. Loved the gun so much I bought it. Sent it to Dave Tooley for the treatment and a really BAB (Big *** Break) with a nice teflon coat. That was in 05. Haven't shot it since. (Just in case) It's sitting in the vault beside the 6lb 3-1/2" Mag 870 turkey gun they sent me. Shot that one twice. 120 ftlbs recoil. Hasn't seen daylight since.
Like I said, let me know.
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troutwest66
Member
I have a Remington Sendero in the .338 RUM. Barnes TTSX 225 grain at 3100 fps. 500 is a chip shot for this combination. Not as packable as other set ups but it works extrememly well.
Good
Well-Known Member
Yeah, that sounds like a do-all kind of rifle, minus the weight. Load heavies for distance on big game and reduced with light bullets for other stuff.
Good
Well-Known Member
Had the wonderful opportunity to handle a Fierce CT Edge in 300 RUM the other day at Cabelas. Change the brake with a slab style Painkiller or similar, and that particular stock out with a Manners EH-1 or similar and that would definitely be a very viable, do it all rifle.
joe.sixfive
Member
The rifle I presently own: Christensen Arms Ridgeline in 6.5 Creedmoor, Steiner T5Xi 3-15x50, Nightforce rail and rings shooting the Hornady 143 ELD X.
Gunwerks 7mm LRM, 175 Grain Hornady ELDX @ 3025fps, Nightforce NXS 5.5-22 x 50, G7 reticle. Piece of cake!
