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Rifle Advice

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Angus Breeder

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I have been thinking about buying a new rifle along with going out west next year for a combination elk and mulie hunt. Right now to take down a 110 pound Missouri buck I have been using a Browning semi-auto .243. What I want to know is which would make a good gun for the bigger deer/elk of the west and a whitetail gun. Keep in mind I am 5'8" and weigh 150. I have looked at the 7Mag WSM, and possibly the .325 Wsm. The way I understand the .325 is that it is the equivalant of an 8 Mag. Is that overkill? Can a light weight like my self handle that gun. I do all of my turkey hunting with a 3 1/2 mag 12 guage and do not mind the recoil. I have read several posts that lead me to belive that there are some gun experts and elk hunters out there. Thanks for any help.
 
Been a lot of Mulies and elk brought down with a 30 caliber-- .308, 30,06, 300 Win mag......I like the .308 because of the shorter action and availability of cheap practice ammo, altho the the 30-06 gives you a greater option of bullet loads- especially on the heavier grains 200-220-250..... If you worry any at all about recoil- stay away from the magnums- you don't need them- and a good placed shot is better than a flinch induced bad one.....

I haven't had any experience with the new short mags WSM--altho I've read articles about some people being fearful of the new smaller caliber light loads (.22, .25) shooting the barrels out awful fast with the increased velocities they are getting (4,000+fps)......
 
How does the recoil from a magumn compare with the recoil from a WSM! What do you know about the new loads that claim to have a reduced recoil?
 
The Short Mags are supposed to produce a little less recoil than the others at similar velocities-any of the calibers from.270 on up will do you just fine-unless of course your from Texas or South Dakota you'll just headshot them with a .223 lol. Like OT said a .308 or .30-06 would both be good. Remington makes a sweet model 673 in .308 and Tikka T3's or Browning A-Bolts are great with any calibre. I'd definately go with a bolt action.
 
Well, I own a bunch of 30 cals - .303's, 308's, 300 mag's and so on plus a bunch of 270's. All fins calibres.

I also have a couple of homebuilts - both in .338-.06 - really fine rifles.

But after I started reloading I found my favourite rifle for taking deer in Alberta and Saskatchewan became the .25-.06 - fast - hits hard and when used with a leupold 4 X 12 VARI X III it is accurate to "way out there". I use 100 grain bullets and they step out at 3300 FPS - plus or minus 20 PFS - when tested over my chronograph at minus 20 degrees F.

Light and easy to carry plus basically no recoil.

Your choices are unlimited and you can get a ton of good rifles - not many that will not take deer.

Regards,

B.C.
 
Angus Breeder said:
I have been thinking about buying a new rifle along with going out west next year for a combination elk and mulie hunt. Right now to take down a 110 pound Missouri buck I have been using a Browning semi-auto .243. What I want to know is which would make a good gun for the bigger deer/elk of the west and a whitetail gun. Keep in mind I am 5'8" and weigh 150. I have looked at the 7Mag WSM, and possibly the .325 Wsm. The way I understand the .325 is that it is the equivalant of an 8 Mag. Is that overkill? Can a light weight like my self handle that gun. I do all of my turkey hunting with a 3 1/2 mag 12 guage and do not mind the recoil. I have read several posts that lead me to belive that there are some gun experts and elk hunters out there. Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Angus breeder,A bolt action 3006,is gonna be hard to beat for the hunting you desribed,with a lot of bullet choices,even if you did'nt hand load,you can get lighter bullets for lighter game and heavier bullets for heavier game,I dont know if it's still availible but a while back one of the manufacturers was putting out a 3006 magnum,claim it shot like a 300WM.......good luck
PS ......A 3006 with the right bullet placed in the right spot :wink:
 
I prefer a Bolt action 270 but what ever you shoot a well placed shot is most important.

As I tell my kids aim twice shoot once.
Good Luck
 
My dad used a .270 for both deer and elk, it seemed to work well.

My first gun was a .243...A great deer rifle, but definetly not an elk rifle. I still would use it for deer.


The 30-06 is a grat dual purpose gun. It is something common enough that I think you could easily find a used one at a good price.

I stopped hunting about 7 years ago. Sister and brother-in-law divorced and it broke up a good hunting camp to. Wife didn't like handling venison, freezer was full of beef, so I just lost interest in all the work packing one out. I would actually enjoy going out and shooting pictures as much now. I am not anti-hunting, it just doesn't fit for me right now,


PPRM
 
As far as WSM's- I don't think they've been around long enough for many to have had much experience...Supposed to be less recoil than the other magnums, but still more than the standard cartridge...Another thing I have read about them is that they develop extremely high pressure- can't be used in some type actions because of that....

That would be my only worry about the WSM's- just not enough use to have found all the goods and bads- could still have some bugs in them...

I've used an old .250 Savage since I was a kid- killed a lot of mulies, whitetails, antelope, and coyotes with it --bought a Browning .308 that I really liked, but so did my son, so I haven't seen that for 5-6 years....I liked the 308 because every Bar, restaurant, filling station in Montana has ammo for it- and I could buy the military ammo cheap for plinking......The only elk I ever shot was with an old .32 Winchester Special in a Model 94- plumb did the job, altho you'd never get any sporting publication to advise using it for that.....
 
Oltimer wrote:

I've used an old .250 Savage since I was a kid- killed a lot of mulies, whitetails, antelope, and coyotes with it --bought a Browning .308 that I really liked, but so did my son, so I haven't seen that for 5-6 years....I liked the 308 because every Bar, restaurant, filling station in Montana has ammo for it- and I could buy the military ammo cheap for plinking......The only elk I ever shot was with an old .32 Winchester Special in a Model 94- plumb did the job, altho you'd never get any sporting publication to advise using it for that.....
Click to expand...

:lol: :lol: :lol:

My Dad had an old 300 Savage - lever action - I killed a moose with it in British Columbia about ten years back - I had asked to borrow it as we were in heavy bush country.

I still have it in my possession! Seems like you got a good relationship with your son - glad for you for that.

Every year he asks for it back and every year I tell him he can "borrow" it if he wants! But I will not let him take it home. :lol:

Great rifle and handles moose up close with panache. Good thing the old man and I are real close, or he might get mad at me - he told me it was mine in the will - I told him I wanted to wait a looong time to collect it that way - so for now it is considered to be borrowed. :lol:

So now I have to lend him my .338-.06 every year for hunting. Great rifle - hits like a cannon and almost no recoil. Only steps out about 200 feet per second slower than a .338 Magnun - so it can handle pretty much anything in North America. He is 75 so he likes the light recoil.

Regards,

B.C.
 

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