Moderate Recoil Cartridges for Wind

[Orr89rocz]

Are there any cartridges that you know of that buck the wind and are easy to spot your own shots?

They all are with a brake lol but the 6mm’s would be ok, and smallest round id use for deer at those ranges

 

[ebb]

If you think 338 NM is moderate then buy all means one of the short magnums. When I hunted in the western states and a big mulie or an elk was on the list I shot a 338 win mag. Not one of the new wiz bang cartridges but very effective, that was before I hand loaded and there were many types of good loaded ammo for it then.

 

[Bubba Boomstick]

If you think 338 NM is moderate then buy all means one of the short magnums. When I hunted in the western states and a big mulie or an elk was on the list I shot a 338 win mag. Not one of the new wiz bang cartridges but very effective, that was before I hand loaded and there were many types of good loaded ammo for it then.

The 338 bore rifles are on the top end of a tolerable shoulder fired rifles for me.

The 338 Win Mag is a great cartridge. It is probably more than I want for a mule deer rifle, but for elk I think you make a great suggestion. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Bubba Boomstick]

They all are with a brake lol but the 6mm’s would be ok, and smallest round id use for deer at those ranges

I agree. I think 6mm has enough frontal diameter to get the job done terminally while having enough mass to go through both sides.

 

[slm9s]

6cm, 243, 243AI, 6-06, 6-284 would all work great on deer. There's a 475 page thread on rokslide about killing medium/large game with 22cal bullets. I'm not on board with shooting elk with a 223, but those guys post impressive results.
here

 

[B Nettesheim]

300 Norma imp
Plenty of good hunting bullets and minimal recoil with the proper rifle and powder

 

[Bubba Boomstick]

6cm, 243, 243AI, 6-06, 6-284 would all work great on deer. There's a 475 page thread on rokslide about killing medium/large game with 22cal bullets. I'm not on board with shooting elk with a 223, but those guys post impressive results.
here

I am not sure if 22 cal leaves with a lot of margin for error. But I think your 6mm options look like laser beams which is what I am looking for. Thank you i will consider them.

 

[gmr4]

280 AI with muzzle break… 6mm in 10-15 gets blown almost out of vital zone at 300+.. someone mentioned looking at the numbers that will tell you what is most balanced

 

[rockhound78]

Maybe the old fashioned 25-06?

 

[WSnyder]

I am not sure if 22 cal leaves with a lot of margin for error.

Old school thinking. With the right bullet they do some killing.

 

[swd]

A 6.5PRC shooting 156 Berger’s would be a nice moderate cartridge that would handle wind well.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Curiosity, did you shoot that shot in a stable position?

 

[Bubba Boomstick]

Curiosity, did you shoot that shot in a stable position?

I did, thankfully. I was able to get prone in the snow, deployed my Harris bipod, and used my offhand to support the buttstock. I was shooting a Berretta BRX1 with a Steiner Scope.

Elevation wise, bullet impact was perfect. I dialed my scope for 1 mil of elevation, and it went right where I shot.

Windage wise, I should've compensated about 1 mil to the right of the vitals, which would have me aiming off of the animal. I held toward armpit of the deer expecting about 3 inches of drift so I would be within the rib cage.

 

[Bubba Boomstick]

280 AI with muzzle break… 6mm in 10-15 gets blown almost out of vital zone at 300+.. someone mentioned looking at the numbers that will tell you what is most balanced

Seems like the 7mm bullets are what people find is balanced between wind deflection and recoil. Even Erik Cortina likes the
7mm-6.5 PRC. He probably likes it for a reason.

 

[gmr4]

Yes I shoot an F Class 7PRCW but my best hunting rig is 280AI…. To 280AI cartridges are available factory if your not a reloader

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

The common theme from most answers is to know your ballistics and hold accordingly...to which, I do agree. Even from a bipod, I still say aiming error and gun/load accuracy are both at LEAST as important as drift at 300 in a hunting scenario. I can see exceptions so, were you shooting factory Norma ammo and a factory rifle? I just don't know enough details to be more specific. You can have a very decent factory rifle and ammo, and those two things alone could attribute for at least half of the error in shot placement for your one example, and that's with perfect gun handling etc. Lots of unknowns yet. How much magnification? Yes, your chosen load sucks as far as bc and velocity go but the devil is in the details. Like, is this a .5moa combo or a 2 moa combo? Frankly, I can believe either when talking factory gun and ammo.

 

[Dgd6mm]

^^^^^^^^^ 100%
Boomstick, I appreciate your reply to my question.
Mike has laid out some very good points and questions.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Yes I shoot an F Class 7PRCW but my best hunting rig is 280AI…. To 280AI cartridges are available factory if your not a reloader

Love my 280 AI hunting rifle. It shoots freaking great for a hunting rifle and the cartridge/bullet combo has been the hammer of thor out to 500, many times. Amazing how wind affects even a relatively good bc of a 7mm 168 HVLD though. Killed a smaller doe at 515 last year in pretty bad wind. Held for it but coulda held a couple of more inches or so. Still, DRT when I got to her, though. That gun, cartridge and bullet have become my "go to" setup and my workhorse rifle. I built it for myself several years back now. Maybe around 2009-2010ish. Knock on wood...Never lost a deer with it yet.

Nothing real special..Just a 700 LA that I trued up, bedded, chambered a PacNor 700 sporter contour for and hunted with it. Just a decent x-mark trigger and a blem cdl stock...but that rifle has shot many 500 yard 3 shot groups in the 1 inch range. It shoots way better than it's supposed to, for what it is. I did put a brake on it but that's about it. It just shoots and it fits me well. So, it gets used a whole lot, for just about everything.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

When it comes to western hunting I like a big 30 or 338. Now you know why. Theres real wind out west and its not just about energy. The small caliber guys will say you can kill them with anything and thats true but you cant do it as easy in big wind. If a guy could only have one gun for out west Id pick something in the 300 wm/300 prc range with a 215 berger. If you could have 2 Id pick a 300 wsm with 185s and a 338 lapua improved with 300s for the long shots. Just depends on the country you hunt. If I ever move back to Montana Ill be on the horn with Bartlien ordering that 338 barrel while Im on the road...

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

When it comes to western hunting I like a big 30 or 338. Now you know why. Theres real wind out west and its not just about energy. The small caliber guys will say you can kill them with anything and thats true but you cant do it as easy in big wind. If a guy could only have one gun for out west Id pick something in the 300 wm/300 prc range with a 215 berger. If you could have 2 Id pick a 300 wsm with 185s and a 338 lapua improved with 300s for the long shots. Just depends on the country you hunt. If I ever move back to Montana Ill be on the horn with Bartlien ordering that 338 barrel while Im on the road...

The stated wind was 10-20mph at only 300 yards. I agree with your premise for out west, generally, though. Just not really a tough shot but enough to hold for your own KNOWN ballistics by a little bit. Yes, if one wants to simply never hold off at all, the bigger, the better, mostly, along with higher bc and speeds. Not knocking the op but knowing holdoffs is part of the game, be it hunting or target shooting. He just didn't hold off enough for his setup is all I can read into this. Hunting in the field just requires some ky windage most of the time, even with the big guns, albeit somewhat less.