Best caliber for big game at 400 plus yards

#51
I've hammered an elk at 700yds and a kudu at 415yds with 200gr projectiles out of a 300Win Mag. Accuracy and shot placement are the keys along with a good bullet.

I watched a guy try his luck with a 30-378 Weatherby. Recoil was brutal, the brake was ear shattering and the ammo around 150 a box. He missed often.

Find a gun you can shoot.
 
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#53
Our small caliber crowd would do well to understand that elk rarely allow the open meadow broadside shot that we all dream of and practice for. Deep timber/thick cedars, and moving animals is the norm. I'm not saying use the biggest gun you can find, but something with enough ass to anchor an elk with a shot that you thought was good but wasn't is nice.
 
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#54
Depending on the area. These guys would be very surprised to find out that trees exist.

I'm still in the bigger is better, especially for people that are going to hunt elk once maybe twice in their lifetime. I get to hunt them every year and usually have two tags so I'm fine using smaller calibers. My 6.5SS shooting 122gr monos at 3400fps works really well.

1000004186.jpg
 
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#55
Hondo1 said:
Our small caliber crowd would do well to understand that elk rarely allow the open meadow broadside shot that we all dream of and practice for. Deep timber/thick cedars, and moving animals is the norm. I'm not saying use the biggest gun you can find, but something with enough ass to anchor an elk with a shot that you thought was good but wasn't is nice.
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The thing is nothing someone is going to carry around the mountains will reliably "anchor" elk unless you hit CNS.

I've only seen elk killed with 7mms, 30s, and 338s. But none of them did anything special. Put it in the lungs, they go a little ways and fall over. Pretty similar to broadheads except one actually has to worry a little more about bone with pointy sticks.
 
#56
I've killed near 20 elk in my lifetime. Everything from 6cm to 338 rum. Serval 30s and 6.5s in there. Proper bullet in the right spot they die. I've been around more rodeos with big 30 cal or larger magnums than the smaller cartridges. I'd pick the biggest case you can shoot well from all field positions. I've only been able to use the prone position 4 or 5 times on an elk hunt. So you have to be able to shoot proficiently from modified positions. Personally 65 short mags are the limit for me that I can shoot well and still spot my shots, being able to see the bullet is essential if you don't have a good spotter watching. Muzzle brakes are great for recoil reduction, but a supressor gives you much better odds of having a good follow up shot if needed. Animals don't really get spooked from a can, just alerted, but they usually don't move much. A brake on the other hand, they're running quickly.
 
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#57
Elk hunting consists of a huge range of conditions and terrain, so it is difficult to make sweeping statements about a given cartridge's suitability. Especially at the ranges the OP is asking about. I don't think anyone would dispute that a 6mm can kill an elk in perfect conditions with a broadside presentation. But what about quartering toward in high winds at 500 yards?

wind gypsy said:
The thing is nothing someone is going to carry around the mountains will reliably "anchor" elk unless you hit CNS.
Click to expand...

I 100% agree with this statement for heart/lung shots. There is little discernible difference between a 7mm and a 338 for these types of shots. But I think a bigger, tougher, more massive bullet opens up other shots, like quartering toward (where a bullet may meet huge shoulder bones) or quartering away (where a bullet may have to penetrate 3-4 feet of tissue).

For those of you hunting elk (at long range!) with 6s and 6.5s, I would be curious to hear more about the types of shots you are willing to take, or have been successful taking. Broadside only? Quartering toward? Puffy white clouds? Swirling winds?
 
#58
surgeon260 said:
For those of you hunting elk (at long range!) with 6s and 6.5s, I would be curious to hear more about the types of shots you are willing to take, or have been successful taking. Broadside only? Quartering toward? Puffy white clouds? Swirling winds?
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A 156 berger with a mv above 2850, I'd take quartered to, away, broadside whatever. 350g7 with that much sectional density, it'll do all you can ask and still have manageable recoil with a supressor. The cows I took with 6cm, one broadside, one quartered away. 108 elite hunter passed through the broadside, and was lodged in offside hide after passing through offside shoulder quartered away shot.
 
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#59
lonegunman762x51 said:
I've hammered an elk at 700yds and a kudu at 415yds with 200gr projectiles out of a 300Win Mag. Accuracy and shot placement are the keys along with a good bullet.

I watched a guy try his luck with a 30-378 Weatherby. Recoil was brutal, the brake was ear shattering and the ammo around 150 a box. He missed often.

Find a gun you can shoot.
Click to expand...
A few years back I walked into my local range/gun store and was looking at the rifles for sale. The owner was joking with me about a Weatherby in 30-378 that had been taken in on trade a few day prior. Damn nice gun, but when he showed me the box of ammo that came with it with only two rounds missing, I figured something was up.

He explained that the guy who brought it in had bought the rifle and one box of ammo. Apparently after the first shot, he was like "fuck this shit!" and traded the rifle for something he could better manage. The range owner shot the only other round that had ever been fired in the rifle, and told me that that convinced him to stick it back on the rack. He asked if I wanted to touch one off with it, and I just laughed at him.
 
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#60
For sure there are a lot of uncontrollable, unshootable lightweight super magnums out there that are just plain stupid (e.g. every factory Weatherby Mark V with those terrible stocks). But there are also a lot of really well thought out platforms that have good stock designs, sufficient weight, and an appropriate muzzle device that are perfectly controllable, not punishing, and capable of extreme precision.

I firmly believe that just about anyone can master a properly set up 30 cal magnum in the 12lb range with a good stock design that fits properly and has a good brake or a can. 30-378 is definitely on the extreme end, but 300 WM/300 PRC/30N no problem.

Ultra lightweight and magnum are just a stupid combination. That doesn't mean that magnums can't be controllable in a package that is still reasonably portable. If you absolutely must have an ultra lightweight platform, then yeah stay far away from the magnums.
 
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#61
JoshPutman said:
A few years back I walked into my local range/gun store and was looking at the rifles for sale. The owner was joking with me about a Weatherby in 30-378 that had been taken in on trade a few day prior. Damn nice gun, but when he showed me the box of ammo that came with it with only two rounds missing, I figured something was up.

He explained that the guy who brought it in had bought the rifle and one box of ammo. Apparently after the first shot, he was like "fuck this shit!" and traded the rifle for something he could better manage. The range owner shot the only other round that had ever been fired in the rifle, and told me that that convinced him to stick it back on the rack. He asked if I wanted to touch one off with it, and I just laughed at him.
Click to expand...
There is one in the used rack of my LGS. It temps me.
 
#62
I have recently moved from all 30 cal to some 6.5 for big game hunting. My buddy’s “close” 1+ishMOA gong is at 500. Not as sure a thing as a guy thinks from field positions. The 300PRC w/245 sure lands a lot harder than the 142 6.5. I would probably go 7 PRC if it set a rifle up now.
 
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