Rifle Cartridge Choice

T

toolguy2006

New member
I am dreaming of a new rifle for long range shooting, out to 1000 yards. This rifle would not be used for hunting, unless I needed something larger than my .308. I have been playing with a borrowed 7mm Rem Mag and a borrowed .338 Win Mag, and have found the recoil manageable, but at the the upper end of what I want to tolerate. Bullet availability for the .30 cal round makes it appealing, but......... All that said, the question is:

Of the three common belted magnum cartridges (.300 Win Mag, 7mm Rem Mag, or .338 Win Mag), which would be your choice?

Thanks all for the input.
 
7mm Remington Magnum would be my choice of the three. It's BC of a given weight bullet is better than the .300 Win Mag. Berger 7mm 180 grain bullets have a a BC of .659, while their .30 185 grain bullets have a BC of .549. You'd have to buy a 215 grain target hybrid bullet to match the BC of the 7mm 180 grain.

The .300 Win Mag would be my next choice. Yes its perfectly capable at 1000 yards, but would just prefer the 7mm.

I don't know anything about the .338 Win Mag, but my first thoughts are it probably has the most recoil and most expensive to shoot. I want to say it shoots bullets in the 250 grain range.. but ultimately I have no comment on this round.

However, since you said the recoil of those cartridges were at the upper end of your comfort level, check out the .260 Remington. It's a killer cartridge for 1000 yard shooting. Only downside is it would not be bigger than you .308 for hunting purposes.

http://demigodllc.com/articles/the-case-for-260-remington/
Click to expand...
http://demigodllc.com/articles/6.5-shootout-260-6.5x47-6.5-creedmoor/?p=5
Click to expand...
 
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Of your choices the 7 would be your best bet but I would look at the 6 to 6.5 family, 6.5x55 would be my first choice. Old and gray haired but still a champion performer.
 
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