Favorite Caliber

Im looking at the ruger hawkeye in 270, 338 federal, and 300 win mag. WHats the difference in 338 federal verses the 338 win mag??? Ive never shot a 300 win mag, I kinow theres a considerable amount of recoil but what I want to know is.. is it somewhat tolerable?
 
I only hunt elk with the 300 win mag. But it is a little much for deer. If you hand load, consider the 270 wsm. Killed 4 elk with it last year and a couple of deer. Its about 250 fps faster than the 270 win which means more energy down range. Choose your bullets wisely and it will do the job. Good luck.
Dave
 
I've been shooting the 8mm Remington mag pushing a 220 grain Sierra Game King at 3080 fps. This since 1978. Spent five years in Alaska with it. Left there to come back to Idaho and have used it ever since. Works on everything I've shot with it. Perhaps a little to much for deer, but I've never had one complain.
 
.300 Win. Mag.
I use a .308 but the .300 Win. will outperform it in every situation and 200 gr. bullets perform very well on elk and big bears.
Every suitable elk cartridge is going to be "overkill" on deer, not much you can do about that unless you develop some reduced loads.
 
Deer at 1200 with a 308?? Elk at 800?? LOL I dont think so...

308's barely make it to 1K let alone 1200 and I sure as hel would not want a 308 on a 800lb 6 point at 800 yards either. Do you even know the remaining velocity and energy at 800 and 1200 yards?? Bullets need a minimum impact velcoity to reliably expand and I can gauruntee you at 800 yards your barely gonna achieve that, let alone 1200. How many elk you shot or even seen shot??? Thats what I'd like to know.

Ohhh I see, military guy. 308's the best thing since sliced bread, LOL...

News flash, 308 is about a 800 yard deer rifle at most, and about a 600 yard elk rifle.
 
Ever hear of handloading???

You can get 1/2 MOA out of any caliber these days with handloads. And it dont cost 40 bones a box if you reload for magnums or ultra mags. More like 15 or 20 on the top end...

Killing people and animals are 2 totally different things. The 308 might kill people at 1K, but it aint doing you any good for deer or elk at that distance. Might as well throw a rock...
 
A sensible cartridge that has been getting the job done for a long, long, time is the .30-06. It is about as agreeable in any department you can name for responsible and reasonable hunting of game animals in this northern hemisphere. The good old 06' will "git er' done!" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif I don't know if you know this billy, but you can use brass more than once, and one primer box holds 100 primers, and you can get 100 Hornady Interlock, which IMO are rather good bullets, for under 30 dollars at Midway /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
I'm a 30-06 fan. It was my first rifle. It's popular, everyone carries ammo. You can get a wide variety of bullet weights from 110gr to 220gr.

For the animals you named the 30-06 will do fine...but I'm a little prejudice /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

M
 
Hey I'm not knocking LR shooting/hunting and I know what I"m talking about thats why I dont agree with your statements. Theres just a lot better cartridge for the task at hand then the 308 for the ranges your speaking of. I've taken my fair share of deer/elk, probly 75% from 300 to 790 yards but I"ve used a 7 RM, 300 Win, and 300 RUMs to make sure the job is done right, every time. Used 25-06 out to 600 yards on deer with great results as well. I practice from 400 to 1200 yards pretty regularly on 10" and 15" steel plates, so I know all about LR shooting. Been into LR shooting since I was 14, so I know a little bit about it...I know that the 308 is marginal at 1K and 1200 is ludicrous...

A 165g NBT at 2800fps is traveling right at 1500fps at 800 yards. Thats about the lowest you can go with a light jacketed bullet like a NBT or Berger VLD and still get good RELIABLE expansion. Otherwise your going to be shooting pin holes through them like FMJ's and if you dont hit bone, chances aren't good...I guess you can take those chances of losing an animal because your lack of decision to use a better caliber that will retain more FPS and Energy for that range.

I never said a box of factory ammo wasn't $40+. I asked if you've ever heard of hand loading?? It doesn't cost no stinking $40 or $50 a box if you handload, more like $20 at the most using premium bullets and about $15 if you use regular cup and core bullets. Depends on what components you use but it can be a lot cheaper then what your stating. It aint no $2 a round for hand loaded 300 Win mags. Shiiiiiiiit. I can reload 338 EDGE w/300g SMK's for about $1 a round and thats using 25% more powder and bullets that cost $35 per 50. Primers are like $3 a 100, powder is like $20-22 where I"m from, and you can reload each case at least 10 times, not just once. I dont pay tax, I live in Oregon... Case closed.

Ok since you havent shot or even seen elk shot, your pretty much going off no actual experience. I've shot an elk every year since I was 12 which makes 10 elk to date. I've seen probly close to 30-40 other elk shot from my other hunting partners in our camp. Elk are remarkably tough animals, about 10x tougher then deer. I recomend a magnum for elk if you can handle it and shoot it accurately. All the better for you, and not the elk...If one cant handle a magnum the 270, 06, 308 can still get the job done, but they can run a ways...I"ve never had an elk go more then about 30 yards after being hit in the shoulders or behind with any 7 RM, 300 Win or 300 RUM out to 750 yards.

Just remember theres more people on here that know as much or more then you on the subject of LR shooting. Just cuz you were in the military and a sniper dont really mean your the holy grail of LR hunting. Us country boys grew up shooting long before the military taught us how. And its nice to have real world experience when giving advice on such a controversial subject (1 deer at 950 isn't enough data to be reliable)...Have a good one!!!
 
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