Thread: Calibre, Rifle & Scope Sugestions For Longer Range Hunting

Originally Posted by Jus

Depends if you are an experienced shooter or not as to what caliber. As far as light weight goes, a large caliber that has good ballistics for extended ranges is going to kick, the lighter the rifle the harder it is to shoot it consistently. 7mm would be range to look at, milder recoil than the fat 30 cals that need a heap of powder to be ballistically efficient (without a heap of wind deflection and scope that has enough moa adjustment for a slow fat pill will be heavy) 7rem mag wants a longer barrel, as do most magnums. A 270 would be a good bet, killing energy out to 700m, plenty of ammunition around, nearly 100 years old and nothing in nz will walk away from it if you do you part, milder recoil then a magnum too

I have a couple of 270's here and would love to know what load will have 'killing energy out to 700m' ??

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

I have a couple of 270's here and would love to know what load will have 'killing energy out to 700m' ??

I do find it interesting how quick people are to bag out a creedmoor but will stand by a .270 as being a great "stop anything in its tracks" cartridge. Not having a go at the old .270 by any means but the 6.5 creedmoor really isnt far behind & it does it more efficiently with less powder. 6.5 creed will shove a 143gr ELDX at 2850fps give or take, a .270 will go around 100fps faster on average with a 145gr ELDX but its a less efficient bullet so by 500 yards they both end up with basically the same energy and speed, with less recoil and burning over 10 grains less powder.

Originally Posted by 6.5 CRD

I do find it interesting how quick people are to bag out a creedmoor but will stand by a .270 as being a great "stop anything in its tracks" cartridge. Not having a go at the old .270 by any means but the 6.5 creedmoor really isnt far behind & it does it more efficiently with less powder. 6.5 creed will shove a 143gr ELDX at 2850fps give or take, a .270 will go around 100fps faster on average with a 145gr ELDX but its a less efficient bullet so by 500 yards they both end up with basically the same energy and speed, with less recoil and burning over 10 grains less powder.

That is all completely true, but neither is a 500 yard cartridge. At even 400 (metres) energy and velocity have dropped so that the wound channel is not that big in diameter, so combined with the fact that bullets are going to hit further away from aim point as groups open up with distance it is not too hard to end up with a hit animal running off. The advantage will still be to the 270 because of the larger diameter pill even if energy is the same.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

That is all completely true, but neither is a 500 yard cartridge. At even 400 (metres) energy and velocity have dropped so that the wound channel is not that big in diameter, so combined with the fact that bullets are going to hit further away from aim point as groups open up with distance it is not too hard to end up with a hit animal running off. The advantage will still be to the 270 because of the larger diameter pill even if energy is the same.

Agreed, even though i have successfully shot deer at over 500m with my creedmoor, i certainly wouldnt recommend it, just because it can doesnt mean its a good idea or the right tool for the job.

I would have to imagine the wound channel difference between a creedmoor (.264) & .270 to be pretty minimal?

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

I have a couple of 270's here and would love to know what load will have 'killing energy out to 700m' ??

Yeah none because a .270 is NOT a LR rifle . Full stop.

Originally Posted by Nathan F

Yeah none because a .270 is NOT a LR rifle . Full stop.

Agreed. A 270, like all the other non magnum loadings is really only a 400 metre rifle max imo