Thread: calibre advice

Originally Posted by sika77

Looking at a new gun to push out to 1600yds for hunting and target shooting and would like some advice on calibre choice, I need accuracy and dependability (don't we all) and will be reloading my own ammo, would really appreciate some advice feedback and personal experience.

@sika77, i suggest you clarify your intent a little more and you might (and that is a big might around here!) get some more constructive advice. Hunting to 1600yds... are you hunting rabbits? Because the larger NZ game is going to require a heavy calibre for hunting at that distance. A .338 would be your minimum at that distance for hunting. And even then the slightest breeze uncorrected at that distance and you will hopefully miss completely because a gut shot deer with a .338 is still just a gut shot deer - it won't magically die because you used a big calibre. If you are consistently expecting shots out to that distance i seriously suggest you step up to the .375 calibre or .416 to give you even better performance in the wind.
If you are more likely to hunt out to 1000yards and target shoot out to 1600yards then sure get yourself a 7mm, .300 or .338 and you will be fine with practice.
Shooting anything with a reasonable chance of success on a deer chest sized target to 1600m is a very serious undertaking - you are talking nearly 0.5MOA to 1600m. Working the elevation will be entertaining enough but a wind call that accurate at that distance takes a huge amount of time, practice and expertise. I know plenty of guys with 0.5MOA guns, even 0.25MOA guns that won't put money on themselves to hit a 0.25MOA dot at 100m let alone 1600yards.

If those are your specs for what you want i wouldn't get into it unless you have $8000-$10,000 to throw at it (minimum really) and a shit load of time and commitment.
Good luck!