Ive been kicking that around and on another thread it was kind of brought by myself i thought having a dedicated hunting rifle was best but what does everyone else do? Use target rifles with hunting loads or just use target bullets with the same load you use for targets? Just curious what others do. Elk mule deer and pronghorn hunting
Hunting & Fishing Hunting with your target rifles??
- Thread starter Schw15
- Start date
A rifle is only designated by hunting or target by the distance you are willing to carry it. Possibly the conditions you are willing to put it through.
As far as bullets, I prefer hunting rounds, it's nothing to rezero and have different dope.
As far as bullets, I prefer hunting rounds, it's nothing to rezero and have different dope.
Military Buda says: Train as you fight, fight as you train. So, machine guns skin and cook your dinner depending on what distance you shoot from...
My dumbass left the bolt for my 7-08 in the safe last season but I had my .308 paper puncher because we shoot 5gal buckets under the power lines. 168gr hornady amax worked well on deer but it was a bit ugly vs the 140s I usually hunt with.
note to self, don’t load the morning of a hint hungover.
note to self, don’t load the morning of a hint hungover.
I can’t afford single purposes guns. My prs rifle is my hunting rifle. My silhouette rifle is my squirrel rifle. My sporting clays gun is my dove/duck gun. My USPSA gun is my carry gun.
As for the loads, I’ve never had anything go more than a few steps after being heart shot or head shot with a 175 SMK.
As for the loads, I’ve never had anything go more than a few steps after being heart shot or head shot with a 175 SMK.
I just spent a week packing a 13 pound rifle on a sheep hunt. I needed it on the day of the kill, as it helped me make a shot, I wouldn't have been able to make with a little 7 pound fly weight gun.
And I had been shooting it for over a year, so it was easier for me to make a long 400 yard shot.
The result was the bang-flop situation we all strive for.
And I had been shooting it for over a year, so it was easier for me to make a long 400 yard shot.
The result was the bang-flop situation we all strive for.
Target bullets
I used a GMX, the post was about packing a target rifle to knock over animals.
Also he was 1/4tering away slightly and I broke the shoulder and the bullet continued on to break his neck. I think he twitched twice.
I did, I was using the ELD-X and Berger. I wanted a tougher bullet. I guess it worked.
just about everyone
head over to the "post your smk/match bullet kills" thread and you will see. even though they are match bullets, they have a pretty good track record of terminal performance on game like deer, pronghorn, etc.
Me personally, I used ELDM in a hunting scenario for the very first time this past hunting season. Broadside shot on a whitetail, it only ran about 30 yards before it tumbled to its death. However, the bullet had zero expansion, it seemed as if the bullet penciled through. Exit hole was extremely small. I would have preferred a larger exit hole but the animal collapsed right away nonetheless.
Last edited:
Not sure what I will draw this year. I put in for all species in NM, deer and javelina in AZ, elk and antelope in Wyoming and I'll put in for quite a few raffle tags as well.
Going to up my bullet game, thinking of a 210 Nosler Accubond if I can figure out a load.
Going to up my bullet game, thinking of a 210 Nosler Accubond if I can figure out a load.
Schw15, what have you killed with them and what range? I'd be interested in knowing how well they perform. Thank you!
Well.i should of said so far this year should test on elk and deer. But shot antelope at 415 and coues deer at 270. Drt never ruined no meat. In camp for coues there was 7mm 6.5-284 6.5-300 weatherby ect. Mine was the only one to drop and not lose any meat. Some people shot 5 times and other 2 but ruined half the meat. Also i shot a bull elk at 787 with 200 eldx front shoulder broke it went all threw blew up insides and broke back shoulder and was on inside of the shoulder. Ruined maybe a handful of meat where i hit him. Now the 150 eldx 7mm was horrible and stopped using them right away.
Wow that is awesome. No meat damage, can't beat that.
I bought some, but I haven't done a load for them. Have a lot of 195 Bergers and 150 grain GMX.
My 10 year old daughter shot a Yukon moose with her competition rifle with a 308win m24 contour barrel and 168 Barnes bullet. She also killed her first whitetail buck with the same rifle with a 6 creed m24 contour barrel and 115 Dtac.
Then I screwed the 308 barrel back on and I used the rifle with 308 barrel and 168 Barnes to fill my elk B tag.
I do hunt predators with my competition rifles. In the case of my daughter, she is so familiar with the rifle and so handy shooting off of the tripod it was worth packing the extra weight!
Then I screwed the 308 barrel back on and I used the rifle with 308 barrel and 168 Barnes to fill my elk B tag.
I do hunt predators with my competition rifles. In the case of my daughter, she is so familiar with the rifle and so handy shooting off of the tripod it was worth packing the extra weight!
Nice do you have prefits to take on and off?
Weatherby Accumark or Remington Sendero is where I would look. I own several Weatherbys, though not an Accumark. I really want one of those next. I do not recall ever hearing a bad report on the accuracy of one of these, and it is the lighter of the two choices. I absolutely love the 54 degree bolt throw and the smoothness of the Mark V action. I see that there is one used one on Gunbroker now, and I can't recall seeing one previously (but I haven't looked for a 308, either). I toss around getting another 7mm Wby mag or going for a 300 or 340 Wby mag.
Personally I use separate rifles. Light 7mm-08 for hunting and heavier rifles in 6 and 6.5mm for target shooting. Although my 7mm-08 keeps evolving into a heavier and more match-like rifle as time goes on, and I don’t hunt in the mountains or anything so weight isn’t a huge deal.
I use my 15lbs target gun for coyote hunting, right now I dont have a sling or a backpack for it, I just throw it over my shoulder and walk. Obviously my AR is more light and nimble but I just love my bolt gun so much. I would think if you have a good backpack or sling it would make it an almost non issue.
Climbed up into a tripod with a 25lb 338LM this year. Did that once.
You can’t just casually mention a sheep hunt without details and pictures. I have 16 preference points for Wyoming bighorn and still waiting.
Opinions vary but light is right, lighter is righter and lightest is rightest.
No way I am toting around a heavier than I need rifle on a hunt.
A couple miles walking on greasy bowling balls, 2000 feet up of 2 steps up 3 steps down scree, add in a little snow or even ice to build even more character, while carrying your entire camp on your back for 7-10 days, you will fully understand lightest is rightest.
Pay for the bush flight and placing your gear on the scale and then hope.
Never needed more scope than a fixed 3x from 80 to 425 yards.
Never had a Partition fail from 80 to 425 yards but have many others.
No way I am toting around a heavier than I need rifle on a hunt.
A couple miles walking on greasy bowling balls, 2000 feet up of 2 steps up 3 steps down scree, add in a little snow or even ice to build even more character, while carrying your entire camp on your back for 7-10 days, you will fully understand lightest is rightest.
Pay for the bush flight and placing your gear on the scale and then hope.
Never needed more scope than a fixed 3x from 80 to 425 yards.
Never had a Partition fail from 80 to 425 yards but have many others.
I’ve used ELD-M and ELD-X...both will do the job no doubt. But the ELD-X’s have always worked better for me when hunting.
I use my target rifles for hunting both large and small game my 308 i have a target load and a ballistic tip i have it zeroed for the target ammo and ajust for the offset for the hunting ammo in the off season during i switch the zeros
My coyote and gopher gun is a 223 that is heaver than my 308 (i use this one the most) and i have 4 different types of ammo for that gun frangibles are what i zero with then i have 2 ballistic tips a 55g and a 60g and a fmj. I probsbly dont need 2 bt bullets but i do
I will say it sucks moving around for a couple miles and i dont have to deal with mountains where i live it flat
My coyote and gopher gun is a 223 that is heaver than my 308 (i use this one the most) and i have 4 different types of ammo for that gun frangibles are what i zero with then i have 2 ballistic tips a 55g and a 60g and a fmj. I probsbly dont need 2 bt bullets but i do
I will say it sucks moving around for a couple miles and i dont have to deal with mountains where i live it flat
But im also an idiot and have an extreamly high pain tolerence so theres that
When I was young and tough/ stupid I used a 14 pound M24 .300WM to hunt moose in AK. I was also poor and that's the only rifle that I had that was suitable as far as caliber. Don't know how many miles that I humped that thing through the muskeg around the Tanana river, but I won't be doing that again.
That rifle was set up with 190 grain SMKs, but I found that 180 grain Game Kings shot darn near as well, as in less than 3/4 moa, so I was quite happy. With minor adjustments I worked my dope out to 900 yards.
For the next hunt I'm now building a lightweight 6.5 PRC, using a Proof Research barrel. I have used nothing but Bartlein barrels for years, but I'm trying to hit about 7 pounds total weight. I'm using a light tactical stock and a tac scope, so operationally it will still work like what I'm used to. I should have it ready for elk this fall.
That rifle was set up with 190 grain SMKs, but I found that 180 grain Game Kings shot darn near as well, as in less than 3/4 moa, so I was quite happy. With minor adjustments I worked my dope out to 900 yards.
For the next hunt I'm now building a lightweight 6.5 PRC, using a Proof Research barrel. I have used nothing but Bartlein barrels for years, but I'm trying to hit about 7 pounds total weight. I'm using a light tactical stock and a tac scope, so operationally it will still work like what I'm used to. I should have it ready for elk this fall.
That is very light. Im interested on how that will perform overall accuracy constant and how the prc does on elk
Yes big fan of the eldx thats what i use
I'll try to let you know. Part of it is up to the elk! A few years ago I'd be skeptical but bullet design has come so far today that I'm confident that it will work well. Others have had good results with that caliber. Elk can be pretty tough, but there are several 6.5 bullets that should fit the bill. Yes, the ELD-Xs are on my short list- I've had great results with those in 30 caliber.
Proof Research has a really good rep- I'll be doing all the work to fit it from a blank, and I'm a picky bastard. I love Bartleins, but low weight with accuracy is my objective here. I'm not getting any younger. I live at almost 9000' and hunt higher than that. Makes your trajectory flat, though- having no air!
Im from southern colorado also and yeah the weather has been crazy up and down the past years. Ive got a few elk with a 6.5-06 ai with 140 sst they worked good. Im a big fan of the eldx 200 and 212 30 cal.
Ye
Hopefully we get some normal weather this year!
Yes, great bullets. Years ago I was a pretty diehard Sierra guy, but Hornady has really come around over the last few years. Not to mention Berger and Barnes.
Hopefully we get some normal weather this year!
For shits and grins last year I took one of my FN SPRs and made it my "longer range" hunting rig. The ranch has areas where you can theoretically hunt at 900 yards...but most ideal stand locations put the treelines at about a max of 400, making a .308 still viable.
* I guess I should mention that this is a first gen SPR, and was an old police sniper trade-in. Complete with ca. 2000 Leupold Mk4, M3 fixed 10x scope and 168gr turret. Barrel length is a compact 26 inches, LOL.
I used the same load data for my 168 SMK load to test some 165 NBT. Turns out that the rifle actually shoots the ballistic tips better. Plus tracks dead on to 500 yards with the turret.
Shot this buck at only about 140 yards or so. He made it about 40 yards, which actually wasn't bad since all I hit were lungs, but the damage to them was quite impressive.
* I guess I should mention that this is a first gen SPR, and was an old police sniper trade-in. Complete with ca. 2000 Leupold Mk4, M3 fixed 10x scope and 168gr turret. Barrel length is a compact 26 inches, LOL.
I used the same load data for my 168 SMK load to test some 165 NBT. Turns out that the rifle actually shoots the ballistic tips better. Plus tracks dead on to 500 yards with the turret.
Shot this buck at only about 140 yards or so. He made it about 40 yards, which actually wasn't bad since all I hit were lungs, but the damage to them was quite impressive.
aoudad hunt in West Texas. Free range!
What part in southern Colorado? Ive always been a fan of hornady price and performance always seemed the best overall. Yes more snow this year in many many years
This is something a buddy of mine and I have been considering. More research to be done though, if we’re going to plonk down the cash and fly down there. Definitely going to be bringing my desert tech and the 300 WM conversion kit, whenever I get saved up for it.
Stonewall.
Oh nice great elk country!! Im in canon city
Cool! That's a neat area. I head up to Pueblo/ Pueblo West now and then to visit a few shops around there. I'm looking at shooting competitively there too.
Yeah i wanna start shooting at pueblo west comps but havent had the time yet. Hozier i believe is his name and talked with him just need to actually go lol
Yeah, me too. Yes, that name sounds familiar
