Thread: Something bigger?

Um seriously? Love to see you drop a thar at 600 with that setup or a goat at 800. Which is what he wants. How is the same gun in a better caliber with a better scope any less effective hunting rifle?

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4 power might be a bit high in the bush. Look at a 2.5-10 like the Nightforce, there was one went for $1400 on Tardme couple weeks ago. Bargain. Oh, and 7 Rem Mag, 7 STW or 300 Win Mag for power and reach.

StrikerNZ

If your talking LR Rigs in 7mm Rem Mag then surely you'd also have to consider the 300 RUM because it wont be long before talking goats at 8 hundy will be old hat and taking deer at 8 hundy and beyond will be the new goal.

Also stepping up from a .223 to a long range Rifle in 7mm rem mag or 300 rum or any other long range calibre is going to be an education for you in more ways than one.
Enjoy

Cheers
Pete

[QUOTE=P38;96564]StrikerNZ

talking goats at 8 hundy.


I would love to see one of these fullas??

If you do go into a magnum in a T3 get it braked (or/and) a limbsaver

30 cals are pooh:p except for 308s

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Cheers guys, all good input.

At this stage I'm still inclined to stick with the 7mm-08 and just shrink my expected distances a bit based on your comments, as I'd like it to still be manageable for closer stuff and maybe leave the magnum for a dedicated LR-rig further down the road sometime if I still feel that itch.

I've been gradually stretching out the range with the 223 and feel I've got a reasonable concept of some of the LR basics, at least into medium ranges. I'm fairly comfortable taking roos out to 450+ with it and my longest is 587y. I've taken plenty of goats out to just over 300, having limited myself to the 3-350 bracket and with neck/headshots only past around 200y based on kill examinations. (If you want to know how 40gr Nosler BT's perform on lighter game, send me a PM )

The problem being that past these distances my rifle is simply not going to provide sufficient killing power and I want to shoot further, cleanly. I'd also like to avoid overkill as it simply has no purpose. I want 'enough' gun, without it becoming too much gun, hence my proclivity for the 7-08.


I realise it may seem like I'm just shrugging off your opinions, but I am definitely taking them into account and mulling it all over. Lots more thinking for me to do...

Cheers all

It cant have taken me that long to type that surely ?

Overkill has a purpose.

It reduces tracking distances to find your animal,
and it reduces the "WTF -why didn't it drop with that hit" with 10% of the animals you hit well, to about 2%.

When you shoot enough animals that 8% becomes important to you.

While the 1000 pounds thing is not entirely bad you are better to look at the impact velocity of your intended projectile and weather it will perform at that velocity, not just expand a little but actually dump most of its remaining energy in the animal.
This is where the 08 cases fall down IMHO, they still have respectable energy but not the impact velocity to make most projectiles dump that energy in the animal.
If a 1000pounds was needed to kill an animal you wouldnt have killed much with the 223.

A 5,6,7,8mm hole threw small game with no expansion and poor placement will still be a quick effective killer, not so with medium/large game. Its proportional.

A 260,7/08,308 is definitely capable of clean kills on the game you mention at the ranges you mention with excellent shot placement AND the right projectiles driven hard, however the windage at these ranges with this case makes it very difficult to achieve humane killing (placement).

I have been there and had a cock up with wind call with the 308, Im not proud of my shooting that day and still often think of it. I HATE wounding things.
I now limit my range and only consider a long shot in very good conditions.

I urge you to consider things like 280 7 rem mag, the gain in windage is reason enough(for a poor wind call) and the extra speed and energy dumped in the animal will make a marginal shot a good one.(from the animals perspective)

Well said vietnamcam

Its not over kill if it kills them dead. The extra energy/speed gives a little more room for human error and the unknowen like the animal moving on the shot ect. You have to understand the limitation of which ever caliber you choose, as long range has heavier ethical implications than normal range hunting. What Im trying to say by that is its up to you to make sure you and your gear is more than capable of the shot before pulling the trigger. In saying that I have a mate using a 7mm08 very effectivley out to 600 and further on targets. But he is looking to upgrade to the magnum.

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Remember too that is is easy as to reduce load the 7mmRM to 7mm08 velocities for close and bush use, best of both worlds.

7mm mag, cut the barrel down and suppress it
My 7mm Saum is a do everything rifle with suppressed 23in bbl
You want to go long so go magnum, cut it down so you can still use it in bush

I have a 7mm08 and 7mm mag. With 162gr amaxes the 7mm08 can be loaded to around 2650fps. The 7mm mag seems to like 3050. A lot of pills seem to have minimum stated working speeds of around 1800 fps. For the 7mm08 thus gives you a max range of around 610 yards (550ish m) and the 7mm mag pushes the 900 yard range. On paper this means the 7mm mag with these loads only gives a 300 yard advantage and justifixation of both/selection of which to take out could be difficult. Real world, killing animals, the 7mm mag
Knocks them over a lot harder all the way out to 600 and just as well beyond that giving the all important margin if error required in real world shooting. I would jump straight to 7mm mag. 24" barrel is easy to handle in bush etc and recoil is tolerable as is or a brake could be added to bring it down without getting heavy. In some ways i find the slower push of the 7mm mag easier to shoot than the sharper jump of the 7mm08. The 08 is still a very capable setup and ive used it effectively on steel to 800 and something and taken deer beyond 400 with it but the 7mm mag gives you greater opportunity with no real added cost, minimal increase in weight and somewhat comparable recoil.