Good long range hunting round?

There are lots of good choices out there. It really comes down to personal preference and what your priorities are. I have never hunted pronghorn, although I have seen quite a few. I wouldn't hesitate to use a 22-250 on them but I would still suggest that anything from 243 on up that you can shoot well would be a good choice. If elk are in the equation, I would probably lean towards a good old 30-06. Ammo availability and bullet selection are outstanding and it is as proven as they come.


Also, I HIGHLY recommend a good rangefinder for longer shots or open terrain.
 
308

It's been said, but +1 for the simple 308. You can find it anywhere and it's deadly on pretty much anything up to that 4-500 yard mark you were mentioning.

With that said, seems like a lot of competition guys are moving to the 6 and 6.5mm cartridges for really long range work (1000+). For me though, 308 works and the benefit of so many different and readily available loads is great.
 
Ditto Pathfinder45.

I cringe everytime I hear "cost is an issue" and hunting/shooting in the same sentence. If cost is an issue with the work you describe, then stick with the oldie but goodies - .270 or .30/06. If you prefer a short action rifle to a long action, then .308 Win will fit the bill. All three of those will do anything and everything in North America, with the .270 maybe being the most flexible.
 
338 Winchester Magnum

I suggest the 338 Win. Mag. for elk, bear and moose. I own one myself...a safe queen with a FN Mauser action and a heavy Douglas barrel.

"Load up with a 250 grain bullet, especially the great hunting bullets we have today, and no bear can stand in your way. Cut down bullet the bullet weight and it shoots flat enough for anything most of us need to do.

With aerodynamic 200- or 225-grain bullets the 338 becomes, in my view, your arm of choice for elk and moose, and thus the right choice for combo hunts involving larger game.

You can get all the range you really need. And if you're one of todays long range advocates, then here's an irrefutable truth: At long range, when bullet performance can no longer be relied upon, frontal area does make a difference.

The really fast .33s --- the .340 Wby. Mag. .338 Rem Ultra Mag, 338 Lapua --- are awesome. But they have too much recoil for most of us, whether we admit it or not."

quote: Craig Boddington, Rifle Shooter magazine, September/October 2016
 
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I really don't understand why certain cartridges are just completely ignored by some, them being the .260 Rem, .25-06 Rem, and the .280 Rem. These are all great cartridges they all perform great on deer sized game including antelope. The .280 Rem could easily and has taken many deer, antelopes, elk, and bear. The .260 Rem is a dream for antelope and also the .25-06 Rem. They are light recoiling and hard hitting calibers that would be perfect out to 500 yards and should really be considered if looking into an antelope cartridge, I'm wanting to get a .260 for whitetail hunting and looking at the Tikka T3X.
 
DontRushTheShot said:
I really don't understand why certain cartridges are just completely ignored by some, them being the .260 Rem, .25-06 Rem, and the .280 Rem.
Click to expand...

They weren't ignored, all three you mention were mentioned in the first 6 posts. You might of missed the OP is relying on factory ammunition, and you aren't going to find .260 or .280 in most retail stores. Sure you'll find it online, at your LGS, or your stores like Cabela's and Bass Pro. I know the OP only mentioned cost of ammunition but availability will always be a factor as well.
 
@ Above post. I mean ignored as they are ignored among people who just hunt and don't shoot a whole lot, they arnt considered where they perform best everyone jumps straight to the .270 Win or .30-06. Many hunters dismiss the 3 calibers I mentioned (.25-06, .260, .280) as "unnecessary" and "too small" and I just think they deserve more than to be labeled as that. But as you said Taylor you don't see them alot, a rifle chambered in .280 is rather difficult to find especially for the budget minded person let alone the ammunition. The 3 I mentioned are definitely "reloader calibers".

The .270 will always be better then the .30-06 and the .30-06 will always be better then the .270 just depends what team your playing for.
 
The '06 can be bought in 150 to 200 grain loads for cheap. Every where I have ever been.

270 is usually found in the 130 grain offerings for factory stuff in these parts.

243 can be bought in the 100 grain offerings here.

7mm-08 in 140 grain stuff is quickly gaining ground on these three for factory stuff around here.

Personally, I own the first three. If I had to choose only one it would be the '06. It's the one gun solution for any game in NA. From 110 grain varmint loads, up to the 180 grain reloads over top of R22 nearly matching 300 win mag velocity's in a shorter barreled, lighter gun. It is the most versatile cartridge every designed. It does this in a reasonably light, compact, accurate offering.

I like my 243's and my 270. But, it ain't the '06.

As the thread proves, many opinions exist. None are wrong Some are just not quite right fo the OP. The 260 would have been dead had it not been for the long range guys. 6.5 anything is expensive because demand is growing. You could go 308 and meet the requirements of the OP. 6 mm is like the 260. A great caliber that just didn't catch on with the hunting crowd. 280 is a good one but hard to find. 25-06 is going to come with a long barrel. Etc.... The one thing that can't be denied is the availability and function of the top 3. 30/06, 270, and the 243. You really can't go wrong with any of them. It is region specific but, I imagine the 7MM-08 is gaining ground out there too. It's a good'er one. It is to the 270 what the 308 is to the '06. Nearly as powerful but, comes in a lighter, short actioned rifle. Ain't it fun to choose. :) God Bless
 
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I vote for 270 too. Plenty for elk out to 400 yards or so, accurate, flat shooting, recoil is mild. Hard to go wrong with a 30-06 too. Two great calibers.
 
personally, if you're only after the long shots for if you're in the desert hunting pronghorns and deer with your brother then all you really need is a 7mm or smaller, non-magnum cartridge. you can discount all the 30-06 and up recommendations. 30-06 destroys a lot of meat, especially on a 75 pound desert pronghorn. I would go with a 6.5 creedmore myself for that application. ammo is about in line with most of the hunting cartridges, about like your 45-70 I think but don't quote me on that, I usually handload for 45-70 so I haven't checked prices in a while. and since price is a concern, the Ruger american rifles come chambered in 6.5 creedmore, so that's a $350 rifle that shoots <$1 per round ammo and on average shoot better than 1 inch groups from the factory... sounds like a winner to me.
 
Another recommendation of the 6.5cm, I love mine, accurate as heck. Ammo is on the shelves in my area both target and hunting for $1.40ish/rd. I've banged 8" steel at 1,000 yards with it.


-Madball
 
Now that 6.5mm cartridges are bursting into the mainstream I am no longer thrilled with my .260Rem.

I must seek a more esoteric cartridge so I can remain cool at the gun range. When someone asks you what you're shooting, if you want automatic respect, they need to be scratching their head when you tell them the cartridge. "Yeah, it's a .294 Danish Warlock."
 
I've killed literally hundreds of deer with quite a few cartridges. With decent bullets, an '06 tears up no more meat than anything else. With old corelokts, they sometimes used to be explosive from box to box. But, that was true with the 270, 243, and 35 Remington I used to buy ammo for as well Don't blame the caliber for meat loss. Blame the bullets. God Bless
 
For long range I always return to one of three chamberings. First, the 6.5-284 Norma. It has great sectional density and long range accuracy can be superb. Second, I'll reach for a .280 Remington since it retains plenty of punch downrange and has the 7mm advantages (BC). Lastly, I'll go to a cartridge that has had limited popularity, the .264 Win Mag with a 26 inch barrel (1958). It shoots great with excellent long range performance.
 
Antelope at 400-500 yards? I "spanked" a Wyoming antelope at 429 yards with a 7mmSTW a few years back. I do believe the animal was dead before he hit the ground. If you don't reload, 7mmSTW ammo is expensive, when you can find it. I would think a 7mm Mag would be just as good.
 
I completely agree with WVMountaineer. Meat loss has far more to do with bullet construction than caliber.
 
true to a degree but there is still the fact that a 45 caliber round travelling 3000 feet per second is going to to way more damage than a 22 caliber round traveling the same speed regardless of construction.

perfect case in point, 2 years back my younger brother and I just so happened to score hits on two different deer in the exact same location and angle of impact. my shot was a 9mm carbine at 50 yards, his was a a 30-06 at 200 yards, using a load I developed for him for elk hunting. he completely lost the backstraps on his deer as well as the upper portions of the front quarters, I lost about a 4 inch section off either backstrap and nothing else. those bullets were designed to take way larger game, did not explode, separate, and didn't yaw, or tumble. so I stand by my statement that a 30-06 will ruin a lot of meat on smaller game. also, I can tell you from experience, there is a heck of a lot less wasted meat between an sst fired from a 6.5 grendel from an SST fired from a 7mm rem mag.
 
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