1100 yards: Accuracy and Power analysis requested on 7mmMag, 300WinMag, 54R and 30-06

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el Godfather

el Godfather

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Dear THR,
I want to ask your opinion on which 4 rifles cartridges.

1. 7mm Magnum (will be fired out of bolt action)
2. 30-06 (will be fired out of bolt action)
3. 300 Winchester Magnum (will be fired out of bolt action)
4. 7.62x54R (will be fired out of Draganov SVD)

I want to use the rifle for two reasons. First, purely sport and punching targets up to 1100 yards. Second, we have a influx of wild boars destroying crops. The cartridge should be powerful enough to take out boar up to 1100 yards with correctly place shot.

So there are two things we need to discuss: Accuracy and Power.

I will request that sentimental value of 06 should not be a factor. I have noticed that generally people will just state 06 without discussing. So kindly, discuss your suggestions.

For those who are experts like ART I request that they discuss all four of aforementioned choices with respect to Accuracy and Power.

Thanks.
 
I happen to own and shoot all 4, but not past 400 on game. I dont feel comfortable shooting any critter farther away then i can be sure of accurate placement.

As for the rounds themselves, either the 7mm or 300 would be my choice, and launched from a very long heavy barrel. While both the 06 and x54r can be used at that range, neither can realy compete with the magnums in launching the heavy, high bc bullets you need to stretch to 1k+.

Also the stated rifle for the x54r is probably a limiting factor.
 
I want to use the rifle for two reasons. First, purely sport and punching targets up to 1100 yards. Second, we have a influx of wild boars destroying crops. The cartridge should be powerful enough to take out boar up to 1100 yards with correctly place shot.

So there are two things we need to discuss: Accuracy and Power.

I will request that sentimental value of 06 should not be a factor. I have noticed that generally people will just state 06 without discussing. So kindly, discuss your suggestions.
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el Godfather,

First, you have to understand, a rifle suitable for target shooting at 1100 yards, is too heavy to be a suitable hunting rifle. And, shooting wild game at 1100 yards is just plain ludicrous - you will wound more than you will kill. I shot competitively at 1000 yard for 6 years, and I would not attempt a 1000 yard shot at a wild game animal. Of the cartridges you mentioned, I shot the .30-06 at 1000 yards for 3 years. Loaded properly, it will do all you need to do out to 1100 yards. The only problem is (and this is true with all the cartridges you mentioned), the high BC match bullets needed for accuracy at LR shooting, are totally unsuitable for hunting. So, what I have done is, have a .30-06 hunting rifle ( 8.5 lbs.) and a .30-06 target rifle (16.5 lbs.). Just MHO.

Don
 
Any chambering in a platform solid enough for repeatable shots at 750+, let alone 1100 yards is going to be heavy. From my experience(somewhat limited, but I am a rabid prairie dog shooter) I find that the longer the range, the less forgiving EVERYTHING is. I've connected at some long ranges in the past. Some were pure luck, some were good shooting and loads. What I have found is that my "long distance" rifles share a few characteristics that my hunting guns don't:

They are universally heavy. My 204 weighs a tad over 9.5 pounds, and the 280 ai weighs 17.2

They are uncomfortable to try and hold - they are all pure bench rifles, with large, flat fore ends and beefy stocks

And they are useless without practice. Maybe its me, but I find that I can get back into the fold with my hunting rifles over a box or two of ammo. I need quantity and repetition with my long range rifles in order to shoot them near their potential. This may be because I happily accept 1.5 MOA on my hunting rifles, though.

Good luck on your endeavor. Be sure that you don't overlook some other calibers as well. The 260 is a fine distance rifle, as are just about any of the 6mm variants.
 
If you plan to shoot accurately at distances of 1000 yards or more, you will need to put a lot more thought into not only the choice of cartridge, but also the kind of rifle and optics.

I'm not an expert on long range rifle shooting, but the handful of times I've been lucky enough to attend a match, a large number of shooters were using high-end rifles chambered in cartridges like .260 Remington, 6.5x284, and in a couple of cases 6XC.

Yes, cartridges like 30-06, 300WM, and 7.62x54R are all capable of going to 1000 yards or more. The question is whether they can do it with a high degree of repeatable accuracy. As such, it is unlikely that you'll be able to just buy ammo at Walmart and use Dad's old hunting rifle to make these kinds of shots.

When you are talking about shooting at these sorts of distances, all of the variables that can spoil a shot become magnified, as does the importance of load development, rifle configuration, and, most importantly, your marksmanship skills.

As for taking an animal at those distances, there are ethical issues involved. For instance, the flight time of the bullet will be much longer, which means that even with a perfectly executed shot, there is enough time for the animal to move while the bullet is in flight.

In summary, if you're truly interested at shooting long range, you need to seek out people in real life who can show you the ropes. Go attend F-Class, sporting rifle or benchrest competitions and ask about what is required to make long-range shots.

Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk
 
Why shoot that far, thats a long ways. Sneak on them as close as possible. Or set up blinds as near after spotting them. The closer you are to the prey, the better. Just like animals predators they wait and wait until the right time. Just like snakes, they sneak slowly and strike fast. Just my thoughts, of course, each one has their own idea of hunting .
 
nathan said:
Why shoot that far, thats a long ways. Sneak on them as close as possible. Or set up blinds as near after spotting them. The closer you are to the prey, the better. Just like animals predators they wait and wait until the right time. Just like snakes, they sneak slowly and strike fast. Just my thoughts, of course, each one has their own idea of hunting .
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this...
 
If you look at guns that are setup for 1,000 yard copetitions you will find that most of them are fairly expensive, 1K for the gun, 1K for the optics, add to that all the modifications 1,000 yard shooters feel compelled to make, and the price keeps going up. And these are not field friendly, big chunky stocks, heavy barrels, you would be better served to plan on shooting 400 yards and working on your stalking skils.
 
Miss your yardage on a 400lb hog by a few and you still have hog. . At 800 to 1100 yards by 50 yards and you miss it or make a very pore shot that you have to deal with .
 
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Get three or four rifles. Spread out the shooters. You'll hit more hogs and it will cost less money for the rifles and the ammo.
 
I strongly agree with all of the above posts which question your logic and ethics of taking 1100 yards shots at any game. Unless you are an extremely well trained shooter with 1000's of rounds fired at that distance with a thorough understanding of wind and drop of your rifle, forget it. It is just plain wrong.
Consider the time that LR and XLR shooters invest in the dope for their rifles. As mentioned above, also consider optics. IMO they are as important as the caliber.
In all due respect this is an illogical discussion and I wish I had the discipline to ignore it, but I can't.........
 
Wild boars are problem. They go through crop like a machine ruining it in one go. I have large farms and it is impossible to spend time creeping up on them. Perhaps a different strategy for that issue.

Lets just focus on targets.

Thank you for some wonderful advice.
 
Wild boars are problem. They go through crop like a machine ruining it in one go. I have large farms and it is impossible to spend time creeping up on them. Perhaps a different strategy for that issue.
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Traps.

Lets just focus on targets.
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Out of what you mentioned, 7mm. But now you need to figure out rifle and scope combo. A good scope for the job will put you over $2,000 USD typically, and a custom rifle at least that much.

Another good option are the stock rifles from Savage in 6mm Norma or 6.5mm Norma. Both of those rifles run slightly over $1,000 USD
 
7mm mag is an awesome gun. Give it a go! But I can't even SEE 1100 yards.

For simplicity though, try a pen trap. Catch 20 or so per night and shoot them with a pistol during after coffee in the morning!

Good luck.
 
7mm RM (or WSM) would be my choice for 1000-1400 yard shooting from those choices. The .30-06 and 7.62x54R aren't even in the same class as 7 or .300, and neither is a Draganov in the same class as a precision LR bolt rifle (it's a DMR system).

The .300 has more momentum on target than 7 if you use "good" bullets, and roughly comparable long-range performance if you use the "best" LR bullet on the market.

But I wouldn't recommend either unless you've spent some months, ideally a year, shooting a smaller, cheaper, easier to shoot cartridge, such as .308 or .260, at ranges from 400-1100 yards.



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article | Practical Long-Range Rifle Shooting, Part I - Rifle & Equipment extwh3.png
 
Under any condition as twitchy as hogs tend to be natrauly they are allways on the move and hitting a target at 1000 yards could be hard for a highly skilled shooter. Baitiing and traps will do way better and some 308 cal semi-auto for 300 yards and less. set up some hunts with area hunters. Let a few serious hunters in everday if you can to help thin the hogs. Not every hunter has access to hog hunting.
 
Shooting varmints like praire dogs at long range is one thing; They're pretty much done for if the bullet hits them anywhere. I have killed these things as far as 782 yards.

But a large animal, like a hog, is very likely to be wounded at such distance. If I'm off by 8" on a praire dog, I miss him completely, and if he stays still, I walk the shots into him until he runs off or gets hit. If you are 8" off your mark on a 200 pound pig, you'll probably still hit him, but now you likely have an animal running off with a very painful wound.

Just don't do it. Over 600 yards is generally considered reckless for any game animal for good reason.
 
I think the better comparisons for 1100 yard hunting would be...

.50BMG
.416 barret
.338 lapua

I know it can be done with the others, but these seem like they would have enough energy at that range to be more ethical.
 
I think the better comparisons for 1100 yard hunting would be...

.50BMG
.416 barret
.338 lapua

I know it can be done with the others, but these seem like they would have enough energy at that range to be more ethical.
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A 7mm mag will still hit with about 1400 ft-lbs of energy at 1,000 yards....that is hitting more than 1.5 times as hard as a .44 mag at the muzzle. Energy is not the problem with making a kill at that range.

Here is the calculator; using a 168 grain round, traveling at 1,930 fps at 1,000 yards.
 
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Best loads I could find were shy of 1600ft lbs at 500yards. If it can hit that hard at 1000 I will buy one most certainly.

I don't think even the RUM could do 2000ft lbs at 1000yds
 
I was using the wrong calculator, but I fixed it. It is still has considerably more power than you are finding.

The 7mm will have a higher velocity at 1,000 yards than the .300 even though its muzzle velocity is lower.
 
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