Opinion: best short range big game caliber

[MTHunter20]

^That's a great one for a heavy hitter. I wanna build a short handy 9.3x62 for the same purpose.

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[Muttly]

Gonna be thinning the herd, selling a CZ 9.3x62 with a synthetic stock, but short and handy it is not..9 lbs, little chunky too..
Be relatively simple to round up a Tikka T3, or for that matter a Kimber Hunter, in a 06ish caliber, chop the barrel to 20", rebore to 9.3x62, 338-06, fiber optic front and a peep, pretty light rifle either way... A quick detach scope on a rail would a bit of weight, which ain,t all bad.
9.3x62, with a 286 handle most critters out to 250 yards easy enough, 250s give you a little more range. and a pretty easy caliber to reload for.

The path of least resistance would seem to be round up a 30-06, apply scope, buy ammo anywhere if you don,t have time or inclination to reload.
Tailor the bullet/ammo to the target critter, sight in for that load and go.
Definitely dig the 280AI, but if you don,t reload, or if time does,nt coincide with your best intentions to have a bunch reloaded before the morning yer headed out..lot more options in 30-06, 300 Win Mag, 7 Mag, etc...

Quick and easy way to narrow it down if you don,t reload, pull up Midway or Graf online, check out the ammo selection for any calibers you,re interested in..

 

[bally]

at ethical hunting ranges, given good bullets, and a decent hit/angle, none of the caliber caliber concerns mean a thing. One half a step, by any critter, and any load short of .50 BMG (with a softpoint) is going to mean that a cripple runs off. All big game bullets take over 1/4 second to reach 300 yds, and any animal can take a full step (much less jump) in half a second. So they can obviously take half a step in 1/4 second. Unless the critter is bedded down, longer range shots are unethical and are only taken by slob hunters. You can't control the animal, regardess of who you are or what gear you have. You can't keep the wind from gusting or lulling either. But you CAN go home skunked, so what? you dont need the meat. You could buy it for a lot less than the hunt costs you, (including the butchering, wrapping, etc.) There's no reason to give up the fast repeat shot, in case you need to deal with a dog pack, rabid animal, fleeing cripple, crazy anti-hunter, meth maker or pot-grower.That means an autoloader, and typically, it means 3006, Remington. But buy it used and testfire it first, cause some of them aint reliable.

 

[robtattoo]

You might wanna redo some math there......
Most hunting calibers suitable for 300yds get there in around 1/10 - 1/8 of a second.
Just because your ethics say you shouldn't shoot beyond bow range, doesn't mean that my ethics say I shouldn't take a longer shot.
Also, I wouldn't ever pick a semi as my first choice for anything other than a fire fight. They're heavy, they're inherently less accurate, they have a nasty habit of going wrong when you least need it & the old, affordable ones (rem 742....) are mostly garbage.

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[robtattoo]

Also, I -and quite a few others here- take serious issue with being called 'slob' hunters, just because we choose to take longer shots. Have you any idea whatsoever how much time, effort & money gets invested in becoming proficient at taking >300yd shots, repeatedly & successfully in all possible conditions?

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[pwsINC]

Also, I -and quite a few others here- take serious issue with being called 'slob' hunters, just because we choose to take longer shots. Have you any idea whatsoever how much time, effort & money gets invested in becoming proficient at taking >300yd shots, repeatedly & successfully in all possible conditions?

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Bud I think he is a troll.... he also in another thread here on rokslide recommended we sell ALL the BLM.... R&R will get it toned down....

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[EastMT]

Also asking what caliber is like asking which ATV/Truck to buy. Only right answer is the one you can hit what your aiming at and fits you right.

 

[Blockcaver]

I bowhunt big game But I wanted a couple of hunting rifles around.....and picked up a used pair of Kimber Montanas. One is a 7-08 and the other is a 338 Federal. They are "short-range" rifles compared to many. Easy to carry and accurate enough for coyotes to big game to 300 or 400 yards with the Leupold VX 2-7 x 33 scopes with LR Dots. Both took a bit of load development but now shoot max loads with light Barnes TTSX bullets quite well for the first 2 shots from a cold barrel.

 

[pwsINC]

I bowhunt big game But I wanted a couple of hunting rifles around.....and picked up a used pair of Kimber Montanas. One is a 7-08 and the other is a 338 Federal. They are "short-range" rifles compared to many. Easy to carry and accurate enough for coyotes to big game to 300 or 400 yards with the Leupold VX 2-7 x 33 scopes with LR Dots. Both took a bit of load development but now shoot max loads with light Barnes TTSX bullets quite well for the first 2 shots from a cold barrel.

I've found nearly exact same luck with my kimber mt ascent. Tough to find a load. Ttsx's finally got it.... and it's definitely a 2 shot rifle....

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[okie john]

.308/.30-06

If I could only have one, it'd be whichever of these two cropped up first in the right rifle, at the right price.

This.


Okie John

 

[GKPrice]

A bit about semantics...

300 yards isn't exactly "short range"...not many years ago it was considered "long range". You're really talking about "general purpose" hunting cartridges with 0-300yds on the species you describe.

For the use you describe just about any common big game rifle on earth will do the job...308, .270, .30-06, 300WM, 300WSM, 7-08, 7RM, 280Rem.

Any of them will work.

..... and work very well

 

[GKPrice]

If 300 yards was "it" I'd work a load with 165 Swift Aframes and just go hunting with the '06 AI

 

[bhylton]

any love for the 325wsm? oddball but a dandy round. 200gr accubond around 2900fps would be adequate

 

[EastMT]

I just bought one in Browning TI. I'm loading 200 gr partitions.

 

[luke moffat]

any love for the 325wsm? oddball but a dandy round. 200gr accubond around 2900fps would be adequate

Same here....used it for two years straight and killed a pile of critters with it. It was also in a browning TI and I cut it down to 18" to make it short and handy. Still shoots 200 partitions at 2800 fps even with the short barrel.

That said unless you reload it doesn't make sense. And since I do reload I now use a 338-06 for that application. 210s at 2800 fps and MUCH better bullet choices, better BCs, can hold 4+1 in most rifles rather than 3+1 like the short mags, also don't need the magnum action so comes usually in a lighter weight rifle as well.

That said my short range cartridge now is a uberlight 358 win. Whats not to like about a 4.25 pound scoped rifle right?

 

[Ndbowhunter]

For your requirements 308

No brainer... there isn't any land animal on earth (pachyderm's withstanding) that can't be killed with th super unsexy 308

No fuss, all business

125 to 200 grains

Ez as. End the thread.

 

[luke moffat]

For your requirements 308

No brainer... there isn't any land animal on earth (pachyderm's withstanding) that can't be killed with th super unsexy 308

No fuss, all business

125 to 200 grains

Ez as. End the thread.

Oh so true!!!

 

[WRO]

Oh so true!!!

Actually 308 will kill an elephant, the most famous elephant Hunter used a 275 rigby. Rhino and cape buffalo would scare me.

 

[luke moffat]

Actually 308 will kill an elephant, the most famous elephant Hunter used a 275 rigby. Rhino and cape buffalo would scare me.

HAHA....me too!!! But I was assuming the OP was asking for about choices for use on this side of the pond. For that the .308 win will do just fine.

 

[GKPrice]

any love for the 325wsm? oddball but a dandy round. 200gr accubond around 2900fps would be adequate

Not an oddball at all - 200's work real well, 220 Sierra SBT's at 2800 do a nice clean job on elk and moose as well