Good rifle for really flat country

[shotgunmessenger96]

Alright, here's my predicament: I need a good rifle for deer, antelope, and
maybe elk. I found a good bolt action rifle with an ajustable trigger and 26inch barrel in two calibers; 300 win mag or 308 winchester. I live in southern New Mexico where alot of the shots I would have to take are over 200 yards. I hear that the 300 has enough recoil to not be the ideal gun for long range shooting, and also that it leaves too much meat waste on deer and antelope. The 308 sounds good but will it have a flat enough tragectory for longer ranged shots? and will it be enough gun for an elk?

I apreciate any advice.

 

[Schleprok62]

I'd look for something in the 30-06 family... 30-06, 280 Rem, 270 Win... if you really want a magnum, the 300 will work well, as will the 7mm Mag... There are several of the "short Magnums" that will also work...

 

[gvnwst]

The .308 is good enough for 200yd elk shots, and does waste lass meat than the .300wm will. It will also do it to a much further range than 200yd.

 

[Pilot]

7MM-08 or Remington .260. Long action? 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser.

 

[stalkingbear]

Gvnswt you KNOW the .308 WON'T shoot as far as the .300 win mag. For long range, the .300 is hard to beat, and in a long range rig, the recoil won't be a problem due to the phyical weight of rifle being more.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Well, first of all, what you need more than anything (more than any particular caliber) is a very accurate rifle, to hit your target at distance. I know that sounds obvious, but maybe it's not. So the RIFLE selection and AMMO selection is far more important than the caliber selection. Which RIFLE(s) are you considering? This will tell me what the caliber options are, by the factoring chamberings offered. Are you buying used or new only? Are you unduly limiting yourself to the selection at one particular store? If so, there is no need to when you just buy whatever you want on the net and have it shipped to a local FFL dealer.

As for caliber, I'd choose neither of those two for Southern N.M at any reasonable hunting range, but I supposed if made to choose, I'd say .308 win for distances out to 300 yards, and I'd say .300 win mag if you want to push the envelope and shoot to 400 yards or so (due to better wind-bucking ability of the .300 mag). Or split the difference in .30 cal and get a .30-06. If I had to choose for you, though, I'd go with .308 because there is a lot of good high quality ammo available - if it's good enough for 1,000 yard shooters, I'd say it's good enough for any long range hunting you'll come across.

But also, without knowing more, if you're willing to flex on caliber choice, the best CALIBER for your criteria is probably the .270 Winchester, .280 Remington, .30-06 Springfield, or 6.5x55 swedish for those criteria & game. .300 maggies are overkill even for elk IMO. But again, getting an accurate rifle (and your skill) is more important than caliber here. Another good and very popular long range caliber to look at is of course, the 7mm Rem. Magnum (aka .280 rem with extra recoil). To me, the theoretical ideal for your use to include Elk is the .280 Remington, but factory ammo costs a bit more than .270 win or .30-06. And there's not more than a scrunthair's difference between the 3. Bottom line is, they will all work. But the .300 mags work and also give you a lot of extra recoil, noise, and ammo expense.

Also, it doesn't sound like you're wanting to get into crazy odd overbore wildcats and such, but if you were, the 7mm "super mags" like 7mm STW and 7mm Dakota are popular with extreme range hunters out West, in my understanding, due to the optimized BCs of the 7mm bullets. The .264 Win Mag is another overbore but good longrange hunting rifle.

Your action choice is superb/ideal. What's your budget for this rifle? I'm interested to know your rifle choice.

 

[gvnwst]

Eh? I never said the .308 was better than the .300 for LR, just better for the OPs use. Okay, i see waht you mean, i didn't mean to say that the .308 can go farther, just that it will work at

much further range

than 200yd....sorry for the confusion. I'll edit it.

 

[jeepmor]

For the long shots, the magnum is going shoot a flatter trajectory. And, the recoil is a bit harsh. My ruger 300WSM bruised my shoulder on shots over the hood of the pickup truck. The 300WSM cartridge is nearly identical to the 300 winmag with only 1" of ballistic drop difference at 500 yards, for what that's worth. Once I got a limbsaver butt pad, all those worries were gone. What a difference, night and day. I enjoy shooting the gun now, before, I was developing a flinch.

The 308 and 30-06 are so close to each other in power level that I'd consider them about equal from a shopping perspective. The shorter action of the 308 equates to a slightly lighter gun to tote around.

With good shot placement, meat damage should be minimal with either selection, but yes, a magnum will cause more damage than the less potent 30 caliber selection, but both will do significant damage if you don't hit the breadbasket of your intended quarry.

Back to the shopping perspective. The 308 and 30-06 are so common a good deal can be found on used models. Also, in my visits to my local gunshack, I commonly find some sort of WinMag or WSM chambered rifle also. Most of these I encounter have their stiff recoil pad from the original manufacturer and my guess is that they were traded in for a softer shooting gun.

Me, I bought a limbsaver instead and really enjoy my magnum cartridge as I'm setup for reloading and what not. There are couple manufacturers who are formulating the short or compact magnums in three different power levels. On the low end, they're like 308 or 30-06 loads, on the high end, they're equivalent to the upper end of the WinMag selections. I think I'd shop here myself. The offerings on the market today are pretty impressive and it's keeping plenty of ballistic engineers busy creating new market niches for their respective employers.

All this info aside, my brother who resides in Alaska and does more hunting in a year than I do in a decade, says all you need for the lower 48 is a .270 Winchester. This is what I bought my wife and we both like the gun plenty.

Hope this helps,
jeepmor

 

[jpwilly]

for really flat LR shooting 6.5 to 7mm calibers are pretty hard to beat!

 

[Vern Humphrey]

For a handloader, the .30-06 is a bit more versatile than the .308. I recently read an article in either Rifle or Handloader about the use of the .308 130 grain TTSX bullet in Africa. It has long been a truism that with a premium bullet you can go down one level in weight, but this seems to turn the .30-06 into a cartridge as flat shooting as any magnum, and has been tested on large, tough game at long range.

For myself, I have long used preminum 165-grain bullets on almost everything and have no complaints.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

My humble opinion.....

I would get the .308.

My reasons:
Readily available ammo
Lower Recoil

 

[NELSONs02]

Sounds like a job for the .270 win. Super flat, able to take elk easily, and available in just about every hunting rifle.

But out of the two rounds you listed i'd go with the 308. You don't need a magnum to take an elk at the distances you mentioned.

 

[elktrout]

Most of us who are hunters and not long range target shooters would do well with either one of the two caliber choices you listed SO LONG as we can handle the recoil of the more potent round. If recoil is not an issue with you, the factor you must strongly consider is WIND. You likely have wind problems in N.M. like we do here in Colorado. And, that is what a magnum helps to defeat. It doesn't completely solve the problem, but it does drift less.

If you opt for the .308, you will obviously have a somewhat more pronounced trajectory curve. But, a well placed premium bullet will get the job done regardless.

 

[CB900F]

Shotgunmessanger;

Let's look at another aspect of the equation that hasn't been discussed. Ammunition selection.

Do you reload, or buying factory only? Do you want to get started reloading? This is prompted by: "and also that it leaves too much meat waste on deer and antelope", when you're speaking of the .300 Winchester magnum. Picking the bullet for the application has a very great deal to do with it's terminal performance in the game animal.

Now then, let's also consider another point, ie "long range" and 200 yards. I'm sorry, but 200 yards is not long range in flat open country, it's more like average. Whatever you purchase, go to a facility that has at least a 300 range available. Do your homework there, then the field test is easy.

My personal opinion is to get a .30-06 on a good platform & do the range work. And, as was asked above, what type of firearm were you considering for this application?

900F

 

[dakotasin]

first... the 300 win mag, wsm, h&h, rum, etc do not waste meat assuming proper shot placement any more than a 308.

second... 200 yards is not very far, and either is fine for that range for your list of animals.

get whatever excites you. the 300 most definitely recoils more than a 308, but i don't understand why recoil always enters these topics as the first consideration... yep, the gun recoils.

recoil, to me, is a mental thing and easy enough to overcome. the recoil impulse is so brief that if it enters into your shot sequence, you have failed mentally.

anyway... for the purposes and ranges stated, i'd go 7-08 and call it a day...

 

[gun crazy newfie]

I would go with a .270 Win or the .300 Win Mag. When shooting deer with the 300 you can always use lighter ammo and then step it up for elk. That's just my two cents worth. I own both of these rifles and I hunt deer, black bear, Caribou and moose. I have killed all four with both these guns.

Now, that being said, the last Moose that I killed I used my .308 and made a clean kill at 383 yards. Once again, shot place is far more critical than power.

My best advice is to pick the gun that fits you the best and you feel that you will be able to shoot the best. Get to know the rifle at the range and you will be able to take any game with any of these calibers.

Good luck in making your decision.

 

[Onmilo]

You might take a look at the 7mm Remington Magnum.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

The .308 is pretty much maxed out on Elk at 300 yards. I'd go for the 7mm magnum, for the long range work. Use 175 grain bullets.

 

[shotgunmessenger96]

The rifle is a weatherby vangaurd. I've heard some good things about it, and the design seems solid and well built.
After hearing alot of opinions, and thinking about it, I'm now in favor of the 308. The 300 would be overkill for what I am mostly going to be hunting,and I have used a 308 win before and like the cartridge.
CB900F, I know 200 yards is not that far a shot, especially for the kind of plains we got here. Here the only reason you can't see the cuve of the earth is beacuse of the hills on the horizon.

 

[FlyinBryan]

338 lapua

 

[BIGRETIC]

Better to have it and not need it!300 win mag you can load down.It's pretty stout.Flat shooting...nothing in North America escapes it.(assuming you do your part!)

 

[Art Eatman]

The .308 will do as well as anything else. No matter what you're using, ya gotta know the trajectory, once Mr. Critter is out past 250 or 300 yards. If you know the distance, and have learned the drop for that distance, all you have to worry about is wind and your own skill.

The main thing is to do enough shooting to get "all married up" with your rifle. After that, if you can see it, you can kill it. No point in beating your shoulder to death during the ceremony.

 

[High Planes Drifter]

Personally I'd go with a .270Winchester, or a 7mm Mag.

But thats just me.

 

[Semmerling]

Not me.....26-06 Ackley Improved.

Blows the doors off of both the .308 and 30-06.

Start reading, do the work.

 

[Matrix187]

7mm mag. Farely inexpensive (relatively speaking) for a powerful and flat shooting calibre. .257 roberts is good also for smaller game like antelope and deer. Maybe a 25-06?