I do a lot of long range shooting. IMHO, a magnum is not necessary on deer or Pronghorn out to 500 yards. With the right gear, the right dope, and the ability to keep a minimal wobble zone, a 500 yard shot on a deer in a near zero value wind is no big deal. Don't over think it, but do be well prepared.
Antelope to mule deer at 500 yds
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I stopped back to post in this thread. I read it before, but wanted to reflect first.
Over the years, back in the mid-80s, I read several articles, mostly in Peterson's Hunting, in which various authors opined that for deer, typically 1,200 pounds of remaining energy is needed for a clean, one-shot kill. Others countered with the assertion that only 1,000 pounds remaining energy is required for a clean, one-shot kill on deer. For what it's worth, the opinions were 2,000 and 1,800 pounds for larger game such as moose and the big bears.
To my point, what caliber you use is less important than the accuracy, your shooting capability, the bullet construction, and the bullet's design. If the rifle isn't accurate, it's all for nothing. If you can't hit the target cleanly, it's for nothing. To try to use a large hollow point, such as the Sierra Game King HP, will not serve you as well due to the inferior ballistic coefficient. A projectile with a spire point and a boat tail design will be best for the long range shots due to ballistics.
My other concern would be a projectile that would have the structural design to expand reliably, consistently at lower velocities. Some, such as the Nosler Partition will still expand, and contribute the structure to penetrate into vitals. This is going to be important if you opt for a .243 Win, which with a 95 grain projectile, exiting the barrel at 3,200 FPS, will have just over 1,000 pounds energy at 500 yards. What I like about the .243 Win and the 6mm Rem is they have a trajectory that rivals the .25-06 Rem and the .270 Win, but lower recoil. Lower energy too.
I have used the .24 calibers and the .25 calibers with success at long range, specifically the 6mm Rem and the .257 Wea Mag. The other cartridges I have used for long range include the .270 Win, the .300 Win Mag and the .300 Wea Mag. All five of these cartridges dropped the game with a single shot, some faster than others. But the consistent factors across these cartridges was 1) accurate rifles, and 2) I practiced nearly daily at 500 yards. As such, for me, a 500 yard shot was common place. I didn't take 500 to 525 yard shots because I wanted to, these were open bean fields and no cover available.
From my experience, any cartrige designed from the .308 brass (.243 Win, .260 Rem, 7-08 Rem or .308 Win) will work. Any cartridge designed off of the .30-06 brass (.25-06 Rem, .270 Rem, .280 Rem or .30-06 Sprg) will work. Yes, the magnums reach out with more terminal authority, but the cost is higher ammo cost, and higher felt recoil. If I were to select one or two cartridges as eminently effective, with mild recoil, I would suggest a .270 Win or a .30-06 Sprg.
What's my opinion worth? Not much. It's simply my reflection based on several hunts, that ended with successful one-shot kills at ranges form 300 to 525 yards.
Geno
Over the years, back in the mid-80s, I read several articles, mostly in Peterson's Hunting, in which various authors opined that for deer, typically 1,200 pounds of remaining energy is needed for a clean, one-shot kill. Others countered with the assertion that only 1,000 pounds remaining energy is required for a clean, one-shot kill on deer. For what it's worth, the opinions were 2,000 and 1,800 pounds for larger game such as moose and the big bears.
To my point, what caliber you use is less important than the accuracy, your shooting capability, the bullet construction, and the bullet's design. If the rifle isn't accurate, it's all for nothing. If you can't hit the target cleanly, it's for nothing. To try to use a large hollow point, such as the Sierra Game King HP, will not serve you as well due to the inferior ballistic coefficient. A projectile with a spire point and a boat tail design will be best for the long range shots due to ballistics.
My other concern would be a projectile that would have the structural design to expand reliably, consistently at lower velocities. Some, such as the Nosler Partition will still expand, and contribute the structure to penetrate into vitals. This is going to be important if you opt for a .243 Win, which with a 95 grain projectile, exiting the barrel at 3,200 FPS, will have just over 1,000 pounds energy at 500 yards. What I like about the .243 Win and the 6mm Rem is they have a trajectory that rivals the .25-06 Rem and the .270 Win, but lower recoil. Lower energy too.
I have used the .24 calibers and the .25 calibers with success at long range, specifically the 6mm Rem and the .257 Wea Mag. The other cartridges I have used for long range include the .270 Win, the .300 Win Mag and the .300 Wea Mag. All five of these cartridges dropped the game with a single shot, some faster than others. But the consistent factors across these cartridges was 1) accurate rifles, and 2) I practiced nearly daily at 500 yards. As such, for me, a 500 yard shot was common place. I didn't take 500 to 525 yard shots because I wanted to, these were open bean fields and no cover available.
From my experience, any cartrige designed from the .308 brass (.243 Win, .260 Rem, 7-08 Rem or .308 Win) will work. Any cartridge designed off of the .30-06 brass (.25-06 Rem, .270 Rem, .280 Rem or .30-06 Sprg) will work. Yes, the magnums reach out with more terminal authority, but the cost is higher ammo cost, and higher felt recoil. If I were to select one or two cartridges as eminently effective, with mild recoil, I would suggest a .270 Win or a .30-06 Sprg.
What's my opinion worth? Not much. It's simply my reflection based on several hunts, that ended with successful one-shot kills at ranges form 300 to 525 yards.
Geno
ArchAngelCD
Member.
By all means if you want to buy a new rifle then do that but the rifles you list here will do what you need to do in this case.
Your 30-06 and 270 will do a very good job as will the 260 you mentioned in another post even though it's not listed here.
If you load your 270 with a 140gr bullet, out @500 yards you will still have over 1360 ft/lbs of energy. A 30-06 loaded with a 165gr bullet will still be generating almost 1490 ft/lbs of energy @500 yards. I like my 30-06 and like I said before, that would be my choice if I were to do what you are thinking of doing. Personally I would not take a shot at a live animal much past 300 yards because so many things can go wrong.
toiville2feathers
Member
What ever caliber rifle your using the reccomended maximum killing distance is best determined to where the foot lbs. of energy drops below 1100 ft lbs. That is the optimum amount of energy needed to kill a deer or antelope. I just can't remember where I read this but studies were done by the military on sheep, goats and donkeys when the army was changing from the 30 govt (30-40 krag) to the 30-06.
Some of the older Hornaday reloading manuals had ballistic tables in the back of the manual and they will show where this is for that specfic bullet and velocity
Some of the older Hornaday reloading manuals had ballistic tables in the back of the manual and they will show where this is for that specfic bullet and velocity
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