Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

New gun on the horizon

Oh another cartridge thread! I'm like a moth to a flame for these threads.

At 500 yards with factory Hornady 180gr CX:
300 Win - 2040FPS, 1663ftlbs, 39.9 drop
300 RUM - 2233FPS, 1992ftlbs, 33.4 drop

Those aren't crazy different, but noticeable. I'm "bigger is better" when it comes to elk, but I also ascribe to the one rifle theory (cause a guy knows how to use it) and I don't handload so I like lots of factory ammo. That's how I landed on a 300 WIN, but looked hard at the 300 RUM and 300 Weatherby too. With 165gr copper solids it does everything I need it to do for every animal I encounter. Not saying it is ideal, but it answers the mail.

Do you want something a bit more versatile that you want to use on everything? 28 Nosler works well. Want to have a dedicated elk rifle? I like the 300 RUM.

On the other hand, you could just get a heavy-barreled 6.5 Creed, brah....heard those things are lasers o_O bro.
 
Must be nice to have a range near you instead of an empty field and a cardboard box
I dunno. I prefer an empty field and cardboard box over a bunch of millennials in skinny pants banging away incessantly with toy black guns. Or are you being sarcastic?

Here's my gravel pit setup. Also limited to 100 yards which sucks.
Quik-Rest1.JPGQuik-Rest3.JPG
I also prescribe to the one-gun man is a deadlier man philosophy. This 30-06 is my one hunting rifle for everything but cape buffalo.
 
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I’m pretty damn lucky really. Easy access to public ground and access to private that allows me to shoot 1000 yard at a gong off my uncles back porch. Kinda nice.
I used to have the luxury of a private mile range with steel and boards for grouping, and another 850yd range I was allowed to use that was owned by the police dept. Back when I lived in Southwest Kansas. I learned to shoot at the former.
 
Lining up a new rifle for next season..I think I’ve got it narrowed down to a 28 Nosler or 300 RUM.

Looking for opinions here good bad or
anywhere in between as I’m not too much of a gun geek myself. What I want out of this next gun is something I can confidently shoot in cross-canyon situations say 600 yards for
Both mule deer and elk. Also of note, I don’t reload.
didn't read any other posts, but will say if I were you I'd get 1) neither and 2) start reloading. I don't think shooting 600 yards at animals is something you should do unless you're pretty in touch with all things about your rifle, and without loading and understanding/being in control of all those pieces, 600 yard is really taking hail mary's.

I've used a 300RUM (20+ years) and pretty much the same can be said about a 28 Nosler. You can get way more, for way less when it comes to precision shooting for hunting.
 
3-4” at 100?? That’s a pretty high zero bud. 200 yard shots would require some though also.
Most large magnum cartridges especially with heavy bullets I’d recommend 2-2.5” at 100 at most.
This. And how high will that be at 160 yards.? Jesus. Terrible ideas here for shots that might be most common.
 
This. And how high will that be at 160 yards.? Jesus. Terrible ideas here for shots that might be most common.
When I was doing this I would run it so my max deviation high was around 5". This would put me in the ballpark of 5" around 400 yards. Shooting at elk this gave me enough room for error and no compensation need out to 400 yards.
 
Question for @mtmuley - what is the SD/ES of your 300 RUM hunting load? I'd suspect these enormous capacity cases are tougher to really reel that in, making them clearly sitting in more in the back seat for real long range accuracy. And with factory ammo, something like that is a total crapshoot, making the original poster's questions pretty easily answered by NOT getting either one.

But having been there, done that, I was also unconvinced before learning more about it.

Too many other things come into play.. How heavy of a rifle, what kind of scope, obviously using a dial if planning to take a 600 yard shot.

I'd honestly suggest a .308 for any hunting for any non-reloader.

@BuckRut Who in their right mind would want to be 5" off anywhere within 200yards?
 
FWIW - I think a max point blank approach to zeroing is fine if you are talking +/- 3" or less. But +/- 5-6" really opens up the expected point of impact range when you add normal variance. If you are shooting a 1 MOA rifle at 400yds with -5" relative drop from zero, you will have a significant number of shots 10" low and a fair number 13-14" low. If the shot involves more than 3" of rise or drop (especially when shooting longer than 300y) I think folks will be well served to "dial" for the elevation or adjust their aim point accordingly.
 
Question for @mtmuley - what is the SD/ES of your 300 RUM hunting load? I'd suspect these enormous capacity cases are tougher to really reel that in, making them clearly sitting in more in the back seat for real long range accuracy. And with factory ammo, something like that is a total crapshoot, making the original poster's questions pretty easily answered by NOT getting either one.

But having been there, done that, I was also unconvinced before learning more about it.

Too many other things come into play.. How heavy of a rifle, what kind of scope, obviously using a dial if planning to take a 600 yard shot.

I'd honestly suggest a .308 for any hunting for any non-reloader.

@BuckRut Who in their right mind would want to be 5" off anywhere within 200yards?
The gun is never really "off" by 5". I knew how it shot and I put down a lot of elk at ranges from 50 to 550.
 
Yeah, the MPBR calculation logic in this day and age makes my head hurt.

"we can hold right on, and only miss by 5" (if we hit exactly where we are aiming)". I'd venture to guess that the vast majority of us are greater than 2 MOA shooters in actual hunting situations. Let's say you're a better shooter and are shooting roughly 2 MOA. At 400 yards your POA is off by 5" and you have potential for accuracy to add another 4" (1 MOA) error in the same direction, then the potential for wind/conditions errors, etc it's just a poor way to do things given the tools at our hands these days.

That type of logic made a lot of sense pre-range finders though.
 
Buy the one you want. Zero it where you want. Practice. Go kill stuff.
Absolutely - in the end do your own thing your own way. But if an OP asks questions, one should expect answers/opinions. Sometimes "buying what you want" involves gathering information from others to know what you want. It's like if "?" icons in software just always responded with, "just click something damn it", how does that help the user? This type of reply is right up there with "I thought this was a hunting forum" replies. If the issue bores you why post?
 
Yeah, the MPBR calculation logic in this day and age makes my head hurt.

"we can hold right on, and only miss by 5" (if we hit exactly where we are aiming)". I'd venture to guess that the vast majority of us are greater than 2 MOA shooters in actual hunting situations. Let's say you're a better shooter and are shooting roughly 2 MOA. At 400 yards your POA is off by 5" and you have potential for accuracy to add another 4" (1 MOA) error in the same direction, then the potential for wind/conditions errors, etc it's just a poor way to do things given the tools at our hands these days.

That type of logic made a lot of sense pre-range finders though.
I agree wholeheartedly, but for some hunting settings you will never take a shot over 200y and it is a quick way to set up "newish" hunters and tell them just to aim and fire.
 
For the last 6 years, my 300RUM sat in my safe while I borrowed a pals .284 or one of his 6.5 Gaps. For use with exactly what the original poster was looking for. Handloading, etc. is a must, in my opinion if you're going to actually plan to shoot 600 yards, as is a very good rangefinder, detailed ballistic program, and repeatable turret on our riflescope. A box of factory ammo in any rifle, with any MPBR concept is BS and asking for trouble in that scenerio. And in my opinion, being nearly 6" off from the get go at 175 yards is insanity.
 
I agree wholeheartedly, but for some hunting settings you will never take a shot over 200y and it is a quick way to set up "newish" hunters and tell them just to aim and fire.

Yeah, that is entirely different than what i'm talking about. You could set up something as modest as a 308 to never be more than 1.25" from POA in that situation with a 200y max.
 
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