cant decide on a cartridge

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spuscg

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next year i plan to buy a nice rifle when i graduate "A" school. i want to hunt with it but also want long range accuracy. And the ammo cant be like 40 bucks a box. whats a great flat shooting cartridge with good 600 yard accuracy and ability to drop a deer or moose at 200 yards no problems? suggestions on good rifle platforms would be nice too, all i hear about is remington 700s and pre 64s.
 
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+1 for the 7mm mag; and don't hesitate to look at the 300 Win Mag.

Or if you want a short action cartridge look at the .270 WSM, 7mm WSM, and the .300 WSM.
 
arent those pretty expensive cartridges? i wont be reloading or handloading for a while.
 
if you don't want as much power as the mag, look at the 7mm-08. should be able to drop a moose at the required range, and it is very accurate. or the .260 Remington (6.5 creedmoor/6.5x47 lapua are both in the .260 class, more expensive, but slightly better)

with most ammo that is "magnum", good ammo is going to be expensive, so if you don't reload, it would be a good place to start.
:)

EDIT: oh, you allready ruled out reloading... a lower power/cost cartridge is up your ally methinks.
 
If you play your gonna pay. There ain't no free rides in this sport.

The rifle you choose will be just as important as the round its chambered for. You could get a factory varmint rifle in 308 and shoot to 600 yards all you want. Plan on reloading for whatever you get. You'll find out why when you start shooting.
 
.30-06

You can easily get good accuracy and killing power at 600 yards with a .30-06. Though it may not shoot as flat as the 7mm mag, they will shoot just as accurately and you can put a heavier bullet down range. Granted it wont be going as fast, but it will do the job just as well. I know a lot of people that love their 7mm mags and they think its the bomb, but most people aren't going to shoot an animal at 600 yards anyway. If you have to ask which rifle to get that can do this then you probably shouldn't be taking a shot at an animal 600 yards away. The furthest shot I would take on an animal and feel confident about is 400 yards with any gun. I am not as experienced as some but I shoot and sell bullets for a living and I have thousands of high powered rounds down range. Target shooting is one thing but when you add mountains, strong winds, strange light conditions, and uneven terrain to stand on, your normally confident 600 yard shot could be way off. Hunting has always changed these aspects for me.
 
im not ruling out reloading, it will just be a few years until i move out and have room for reloading gear
 
If you want a caliber that will get it done go with a 308 or a 30-06. The 30-06 is great, however you can get bulk 308 ammo cheaper and practice. When you go for that moose use a 180 grain premium bullet 308 or 30-06. The high energy ammo (Federal) and Light Mag. ammo (Hornday) Will take care of a moose or elk. With deer you can use any 150 grain bullet from Walmart - Federal, Winchester & Remington
Hope it helps.
 
It's not new, not flashy, not ultra mag nor short mag, it's the 30-06. Economical and versitile. As I have gotten older and got my son through college and law school, I can now afford to play. My hottest round is probably the 375 H&H, but really llike the other smaller classic cartridges such as 7x57, 6.5x55, 38-55, 45-70( that one will really reach out with the right gun and bullet, even shooting black powder) 405 Win. 22 Hornet. 7.5 Swiss. and of course the 30-06 I recently acquired a classic Mauser sporter in 9.3x57, certainly no hot rod cartridge, 286 gr bullet at right about 2000 fps, but will have minimal meat damage as compared to newer very high velocity cartridges. Back in my college days, I only shot one rifle, my 30-06 and shot it very well, now 40 years later with so many things to play with I do not shoot any of them nearly as well.. Part of that is 40 years the other I attribute to the old saying "beware the man with one gun".

Use a moderate velocity cartridge and learn to shoot it well and shoot it a lot.
 
i might clarify that im looking into bolt action target/hunting rifle not battle rifles (open to suggestions on type)
 
30-06. Never been a good argument against it. You can find high end stuff or cheap military grade fodder. Next would be the .308 for the same reasons. Those are pretty much all I use for hunting or paper punching, be it from my bolt actions, Garand or M1A.
 
Another vote for 30-06, or look at 308. Those are your only really good bets for cheap range ammo (well, cheaper range ammo, anyway). Either will work for deer or moose (308 might be considered a little light, by some, but if Scandinavians can take moose with 6.5x55, 308 will do the job, too).
 
+1 on what longdayjake and Gilroy said. You won,t go wrong with a Rem. 700 .30-06.
 
Anything in 6.5, including the 6.5x55. Low recoil, and better ballistics than almost everything mentioned. Magnums are very un-fun to shoot long distance, that's why hardly anyone does it any more.
 
Get a plain grade Savage in .30-06 to hunt with and get a good .22lr like a CZ for target shooting. Shoot a .22 at 200 yards and you will feel like you are half a mile with a bigbore. And you will cry about the ammo cost a lot less.
 
Here's another vote for a .308 or .30-06. The bolt action is hard to beat, but for the past few months I've been playing with a Thompson Center Encore for which I have several different barrels and it is a tack driver with all of them. It is a single shot but I don't see that as a disadvantage.
 
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