284 for a LR hunting rifle?

[Alex Wheeler]

I am going to have a remington 700 short action rebarreled soon. I plan to usr this for a long range hunting/predator rifle. I am looking to suggestions on what cartidge. At the moment I like the 284 due to good brass, good bullets, and those 168 hunting vld's should help buck the wind. What do you guys say?

 

[mattri]

Everyone's definition of "long range" is a little different, what ranges are we talking about? Also, hunting what? Whitetails, mulies, elk?

The 284 looks like an awesome round, depending on what you want out of it it may be just right.

 

[Preacher]

Not a single thing wrong with thinking about a 284 Winchester...
I've stacked up a few critters with mine in a XP-100..
If I was only allowed one caliber, you can bet it would be a .284 Winchester..
If I could only have 2 of them, the other one would be a 7 MM SAUM...

 

[flatlander]

The 284 languished in the shadow of its offspring 6.5x284 for years, primarily because it was handicapped by being available only in short actions. 284 ammo that's loaded to work through a short action magazine will have the bullets seated deeply enough to encroach quite a bit on powder capacity, and a reamer would have to be ground with what would be considered a pretty short throat (relative to what most of us are using in long actions with LR bullets) to avoid jumping a bunch to the lands.

Sure enough, a 284 could be built around a short action, but using 168s instead of shorter 140s would just make things worse. That's assuming you could seat any of the LR 168s short enough to feed and still have enough of the bearing surface in the neck to hold it in place.

 

[th82457]

The .284 is a great cartridge in the right gun as stated before. I have owned 3, one short action, one long action and one Ruger number 1. This cartridge needs to have bullets seated out to 2.9 to 3.0" to get the performance out of it, which means a single shot or long action. It is also a bit like the WSM's in that it will feed better with both a longer action and a straight line clip rather than a staggered box magazine due to the shape of the cartridge and the steep shoulder. Just my two cents. Go for the .284, but not in the Rem. short action.

Terry

 

[Alex Wheeler]

To me long range hunting would be 500yds or less. Farther if the conditions a very good. I dont think I would ethically take a farther shot. Game would be coyotes up to elk. I like the 7mm bullet's bc. I was playing with quick loads and a mag length 284 really gives up a lot, I will check the 140's out though. I think it would be great in a long action. Is there anything else that may be better suited to a short action?

 

[mattri]

A 7mm-08 will easily get you out to 500 without needing a magnum or long action.

 

[jonbearman]

I think the 7-08 would be a good alternative as well. I have one in just a sporter and it amazes me everytime I shoot it.You could ackley improve it to gain alittle punch as well.

 

[oldroper]

To me long range hunting would be 500yds or less. Farther if the conditions a very good. I dont think I would ethically take a farther shot. Game would be coyotes up to elk. I like the 7mm bullet's bc. I was playing with quick loads and a mag length 284 really gives up a lot, I will check the 140's out though. I think it would be great in a long action. Is there anything else that may be better suited to a short action?

Here is 284 on short action

http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek095.html

 

[barnesuser28]

Would you consider a wildcat cartridge? I know of a 6.5 SS, which is a 7 saum necked down to 6.5 and the shoulder pushed back, with some taper taken out and a 40* shoulder. This a 160 grain bullet seated to an OAL of 2.8"

a 140 berger seated to 2.800 next to the 140 berger
Hit 3240 with a 142 matrix and not top pressure yet. For the enitre read look at.... http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/6-5-ss-final-design-109263/ testing starts on page 19

Riley

 

[Lapua40X]

For long range (500+ yards) hunting I've come to prefer single shot rifles. With that thought in mind, realizing that they wouldn't feed from the SA magazine, wondering if you'd given any thought to using a single shot loading block and perhaps chambering your new barrel for 7mm STW. If not, then I'd concur with your choice of .284 to get the job done.

 

[grovey]

Do the 284 but with a wyatts box. 26" TUBE MIN

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Tell me more about the 7mm stw. Looks like a very hot round!

 

[FeMan]

Tell me more about the 7mm stw. Looks like a very hot round!

I absolutely love my STW. It isn't the most efficient cartridge but mine is a tack driver. I don't have a high enough twist for the really high bc bullets, but mine launches a 150 grain Barnes at just over 3400 fps and the 168 Bergers at 3200. I hunt with the 150 Barnes TSX and have killed four mulies at between 500 and 625 with it. One speed goat at 800 yards. The downside is that it eats barrels in short order. I am nearing 800 rounds and am ready to replace the barrel.

While I will keep my STW, I am starting a build on a straight .284. I will mainly use it for long range target and set it up for the 180 Bergers but I am hoping it will shoot the Barnes 168 LRX nicely and if so, I may use it to hunt with those bullets.

 

[grovey]

Those stw #'s seemed fluffed a bit. You must have a 30"bbl shooting beyond max loads. You wanna talk BIG 7'S? Look at these.

http://www.apsrifles.com/Allen_Magnum_Wildcats.html

 

[Lapua40X]

Those stw #'s seemed fluffed a bit. You must have a 30"bbl shooting beyond max loads. You wanna talk BIG 7'S? Look at these.

http://www.apsrifles.com/Allen_Magnum_Wildcats.html

Nope, no fluff; I was there to witness the speed goat shot.
It's the same rifle I took my Antelope with at 675 yards that same year; one shot through the heart. This rifle is hard on barrels and VERY hard on shoulders, but it shoots long distances like nothing I've ever shot before.

 

[Eyesac]

I was inspired by that http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek095.html
and have a savage SA in 284 repeater. I usually single load @ 3.14" but when hunting I load to mag length. Mag length is 2.98 and I use 162amax with (51.5gr H4350) great results.

 

[slm9s]

I use a 7RM and 7STW for non-long range elk. I think if I was going to shoot an elk at 500 yards I'd want a fast 30 or bigger if building from scratch. If I was building a 7, I would make it a fast 7 that would shoot the 180 class bullets. I wouldn't build a 7-08 for sure.

My two cents.

 

[Rustystud]

I have built a number of 284 hunting rifles on both long and short actions. I prefer the long action. If you are going to use a long action I would recommend the 280 Rem or 280 AI over the .284 win. Much easier to make feed and gives 150-200 fps velocity advantage. For a short action the WSM and RSAUM requires a magnum bolt face. The 7mm08 and 7mm/57 are both great cartridges. You can neck down Lapua 308 brass or get Norma or Lapua 7/57 brass, good hunting bullets include the Nosler Accubond, Swift Scirrocco, and the Barnes XXX. I would avoid the bullets made with J4 jackets as being to unreliable.
Nat Lambeth

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Thanks for he excellent replies, I just found a seal too good to pass up on a 7mm rem mag, so for now I am ok. I am still going to build one for next year. I will look at the ballistics on the 280, I didnt know it ran a little faster. Thanks