Your Ultimate 500 Yard Rig

[Idaho Lefty]

Once again,.. people are either NOT reading or, "comprehending" what the OP is asking about,.. a 500 yard, "Elk Slayer" need NOT be,.. a "heavy Cannon" NOR cost,.. a Fortune ! GEESH !

 

[Rich Coyle]

Didn't he ask what is YOUR ultimate 500-yard rifle?

 

[memtb]

Quote: Didn't he ask what is YOUR ultimate 500-yard rifle?


That was my understanding.....the key words being "your ultimate"! memtb

 

[Bravo 4]

Inspired by John Spadaro's thread found here:
https://longrangehunting.com/threads/help-chosing-an-elk-cartridge.211198/

What is your ULTIMATE rifle outfit for ~500yds on North American big game? Think packing WAY back/up in there with a shot of a lifetime on a trophy animal that has never seen a human.

Long/short action? Caliber? Action? Stock? Optic? Trigger? etc. Overkill is fine; what is your ULTIMATE dream rig for out to 500?

Once again,.. people are either NOT reading or, "comprehending" what the OP is asking about,.. a 500 yard, "Elk Slayer" need NOT be,.. a "heavy Cannon" NOR cost,.. a Fortune ! GEESH !

Lefty,
Not trying to start anything but in the original post (which I added here) he asks what "your" ultimate elk rifle would be, and folks stated what "their" rifle would be. You don't have to agree, that's perfectly fine. You being from Idaho, probably have a wealth of knowledge and experience on elk. The OP also stated that overkill is fine. Nobody will probably disagree with you that a large magnum isn't needed to kill elk. I personally want the biggest and most capable chambering that I can shoot well. As in my choice, which is my current setup, a carry weight .338 RUM with highly capable bullets. I'm sorry you don't like my choice but I would never want to take a chance, especially on the "shot of a lifetime on a trophy animal" as the OP stated. I tend to think worse case scenario, and would rather have it and not need it than the opposite.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Sorry, even I misread, the OP's post ! YOU are right, I missed the "YOUR" part ! I put more credence in, walking, hiking a long ways ( miles and MILES ) and "Hunting". I PERSONALLY, don't like to carry, into the "Back Country", the Heavy weight Rifles (required, for those "Big Rigs") that are capable of, 1,000 yard Kills. 500 yards with Today's Bullets, DON'T require, that much Gun, just "good" shot "placement" AKA, lots of, PRACTICE. IMHO, "WE" are sending a very "bad message" to the NOOB Elk Hunter's that, a .300+ Magnum is "required" and MOST ( not all ) CAN'T shoot those "Cannon's" well, UNLESS, "Braked". I PERSONALLY like, to be able, to shoot at, Elk while "Hunting" at reasonable ranges without, Muff's on, IF,..NECESSARY and if, I don't have the time, to use them,.. without losing my Hearing from, those "Cannons" ! And the Quest for, the "best" Elk rifle/ Cartridge goes on. PS; I'm STILL "working thru" my, .338 Magnum FLINCH !

 

[Rich Coyle]

It seems you have not discovered guns are loud. It doesn't make any difference if you are hyped on adrenalin or not, guns can damage your hearing. Be smart. Use modern electronic hearing protection while hunting and you won't have to use the "I don't have time....." argument.

 

[stx]

Sorry, even I misread, the OP's post ! YOU are right, I missed the "YOUR" part ! I put more credence in, walking, hiking a long ways ( miles and MILES ) and "Hunting". I PERSONALLY, don't like to carry, into the "Back Country", the Heavy weight Rifles (required, for those "Big Rigs") that are capable of, 1,000 yard Kills. 500 yards with Today's Bullets, DON'T require, that much Gun, just "good" shot "placement" AKA, lots of, PRACTICE. IMHO, "WE" are sending a very "bad message" to the NOOB Elk Hunter's that, a .300+ Magnum is "required" and MOST ( not all ) CAN'T shoot those "Cannon's" well, UNLESS, "Braked". I PERSONALLY like, to be able, to shoot at, Elk while "Hunting" at reasonable ranges without, Muff's on, IF,..NECESSARY and if, I don't have the time, to use them,.. without losing my Hearing from, those "Cannons" ! And the Quest for, the "best" Elk rifle/ Cartridge goes on. PS; I'm STILL "working thru" my, .338 Magnum FLINCH !

Almost every rifle I've hunted with for MANY YEARS has a muzzle brake.......my 4 shoulder surgeries don't like recoil......it's NOT that Big of a Deal..!

 

[lancetkenyon]

Once again,.. people are either NOT reading or, "comprehending" what the OP is asking about,.. a 500 yard, "Elk Slayer" need NOT be,.. a "heavy Cannon" NOR cost,.. a Fortune ! GEESH !

"What is your ULTIMATE rifle outfit for ~500yds on North American big game? Think packing WAY back/up in there with a shot of a lifetime on a trophy animal that has never seen a human.

Long/short action? Caliber? Action? Stock? Optic? Trigger? etc. Overkill is fine; what is your ULTIMATE dream rig for out to 500?"

My ultimate dream rifle for deer/sheep/elk/pronghorn out to 500 yards for packing into a remote location.....

7 Sherman Short Mag
Lone Peak Fuzion TI SA w. CF bolt knob
22" Proof Research Sendero Light 1:9"
Hawkins 3 port brake blended w. barrel contour
Manners EH4 or MCS CS in "Moss"
Timney CE @ 8oz
Alloy BDL bottom metal
Seekins alloy 30mm medium rings
Tangent Theta TT315M 3-15×50 w. Gen 2XR
Should come in about 9.5#s which is heavier than a true "lightweight" for some guys, but a great, compact, very adjustable, and stable rifle with enough punch to take just about anything in N. America.

 

[bigngreen]

Been playing with my daughters Creedmore and as much as I hate new stuff man I'm digging it, I'm really thinking about building one.
With the velocity and accuracy with Lapua brass is just stupid.
Thinking Pierce all Ti action, small Manners EH4 stock, small contour stainless barrel and a Vortex razor HD LH. Should come in 6 lbs ish hunting, would be slick for a back country rifle. Though I'll be packing a pistol the same weight for bears so maybe a magnum 2 lbs heavier and leave the pistol would be better. Hummmmm!!

 

[memtb]

Idaho Lefty, Obviously, this is one of those "opinion" questions, based on terrain, age and physical conditioning of the hunter, and distances involved in walking....with that in mind, what do you consider a "heavy" rifle? memtb

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Idaho Lefty, Obviously, this is one of those "opinion" questions, based on terrain, age and physical conditioning of the hunter, and distances involved in walking....with that in mind, what do you consider a "heavy" rifle? memtb

SOLD my 9 pounders ( a .338 WM Custom and 7 Rem Mag ) and now "Hunt" with, a 7.5 Pound Tikka T3, SS Lite, 24" .270 WSM that, I can "Dial" the 4.5-14X Burris, to 750 yards if, needed. Shoot's, 1.25 inch Groups at, TWO hundred yard "Zero" with, 140 AccuBond's starting at, 3,150 FPS and it's "still trucking" OVER, 2,000 FPS at 750 yds. I am an ole Guy of, 71 years and can walk 10-12 Miles,.. up hill, both ways, in a Day! Son and I have a total of 3 Tikka's, now, and we're looking for a 4th T3, for my Grandson. PS; we got 2 Bull elk this year,.."Hunting" ! YES, that is "our opinion" of an AFFORDABLE, accurate, LOW recoil, deadly, "walking/ hunting",.. Rifle. NOT everyone's "choice",.. obviously.

 

[Bravo 4]

Lefty,
I'm a little more than half your age but I get the whole lightweight thing. I'm no longer the guy who beats himself up physically to "stay ready, so I don't have to get ready", I have younger guys for that! My backup rifle is a lightweight cheapy, a Ruger American 30-06. It's easy to carry and shoots really well. It also has a scope that I paid less than $200 for on clearance, and it happens to be one of my favorite no frills (besides target turrets) hunting scopes.
For some reason every year I still think I'm young enough to carry my big heavy rifle around the mountains when I go. But it's slowly getting harder and harder to carry so it gets lighter and lighter. It was 24.5 lbs season before this last, it was 16.5 this season, gonna try to get it down a little more by changing out the McMillian SuperMag to a more conventional (lighter) stock.
Was eyeballing a Tikka Superlite that was for sale on this site. However by the time the boss lady gave me the green light it was sold...today. It was however in a "magnum" type cartridge.

 

[COBrad]

People like like you have know idea why the .300 H&H, 7mm rem mag, .300WM,
.338WM and others took off so fast.

Son I have guided, and for a decade outfitted, elk hunts here in western Colorado for 41 years. If I haven't shot it my self I've seen it used. No doubt the magnums are killing machines... in the hands of folks who can handle them, and most of the hunters that came through the camps I've worked out of couldn't. For those that could shoot them the big thing they offered over the '06 and 270 class of cartridges was range. Outside of LRH, IME the average hunter can't even use the full potential of a .308. The elk killingest rifle I ever owned was a .300 Jarrett shooting 200 gr bullets at 3028 fps. These class of guns are awesomely powerful, but out of the 59 elk I've shot myself, only a half dozen or so were beyond 200 yards and only 2 of those beyond 300. I shot one a few years ago at 1098 just because I could. bigngreen hit it in his post; they took off because of the hype, not because folks suddenly couldn't kill elk anymore with the older rounds.

 

[WildRose]

Once again,.. people are either NOT reading or, "comprehending" what the OP is asking about,.. a 500 yard, "Elk Slayer" need NOT be,.. a "heavy Cannon" NOR cost,.. a Fortune ! GEESH !

Reminder:

What is your ULTIMATE rifle outfit for ~500yds on North American big game? Think packing WAY back/up in there with a shot of a lifetime on a trophy animal that has never seen a human.... .