I'm just interested in your thoughts on what might be the best cartridge, bullet weight, and velocity for dealing with wind. This would be for hunting deer and elk so I would like to stay with .264 - .338 caliber. I think about stuff like this a lot and always enjoy reading your insights so thank you in advance.
Best cartridge for shooting in wind.
- Thread starter Jgraf
- Start date
Warren Dean
Team Savage F-TR
Are you shooting game at long range?
Bigger and heavier with high BC is better in the wind. Just depends on how much recoil you want to handle or how much muzzle blast you want to deal with using a brake.
140gr Berger VLDs out of a fast 6.5mm round do just fine in the wind.
But anything can be accurate in the wind if you practice enough and know how to make your wind calls correctly. I've shot gophers at 125-130 yards fairly consistently with a heavy barrel bolt action 22lr in 20+ mph crosswinds once I figured out the drift.
140gr Berger VLDs out of a fast 6.5mm round do just fine in the wind.
But anything can be accurate in the wind if you practice enough and know how to make your wind calls correctly. I've shot gophers at 125-130 yards fairly consistently with a heavy barrel bolt action 22lr in 20+ mph crosswinds once I figured out the drift.
I totally agree but what's the best "arrow" in your opinion?
I mostly do target shooting ( i.e. paper, steel, etc. ) but I like using the same rifles for rock chucks as far as I can, coyotes, deer, pronghorn, and elk. How about you?
What cartridge in a 6.5mm would you consider fast?
260 AI, 6.5-284, 6.5 SAUM, 6.5 Rem Mag, 264 Win, 6.5-300 WSM, 26 Nosler, etc.
Basically anything that will get the 140gr VLD moving over 2900 fps from the muzzle. The faster you go, the better it will buck wind.
I would recommend a 26" (or longer) barreled rifle in any of the above chamberings to maximize speed potential. Though 24" would probably be adequate with some of the modern powders like RL17.
I currently have a single shot Remington 40x that I had a guy rebarrel to a 6.5x284 (26" Rem. Varmint contour Bartlien stainless steel 1/8 twist) and bed in a McMillan game scout stock. Shooting 140 gr. Amax bullets I can't get more than 2800 fps with R-17 before pressure signs show up. Could this be a chambering or headspace issue? I can't remember the powder charge but I'm using lapua brass and I've tried CCI br primers and Rem. Mag primers (which I stuck with because I'm getting good accuracy). Or could this just be how my barrel is?
The elk requirement makes me lean toward either a 7mm cartridge or a .30 cal cartridge. A .30-'06 or .300 Win Mag with 190-210 hunting bullets will do the job just great, at the expense of recoil. In .284 diameter, I'd get a 7-08, if the range will not be over 500 yards (which should be plenty). If you want more power at longer range, .280 Remington is one step up, and 7mm Rem Mag is another step up. How often do you think you'll really need the extra speed? 7-08 is a sweetheart. However, .30-'06 is much more potent for larger game, and can be loaded light with 125-150 gr bullets for deer, and has very manageable recoil. Brass, loaded ammo, and bullets are everywhere for '06.
DCRYDER
Silver $$ Contributor
Probably a tight bore. You should easily get 2900-2950.
What pressure signs are you getting?
Is it a reliable chronograph?
having competed out to 1000 yards and having harvested quite a few elk...... the remington 700 with a heavy krieger barrel. the rifle is way more important than the cartridge. a big 7mm , like a rem 7mm or 28 nos. or a 300wm or bigger. for elk the 338 lapua or equivalent.
I don't know if it's a tight bore but would assume it's a standard bore. My pressure signs are cratered primers, flattened primers, ejector marks, and stiff extraction. My chronograph is a basic (least expensive) model of Shooting Chrony. Would it be 50-100 fps off or more?
What DCRYDER said.
I think the best one is one you can shoot
Without flinching. Larry
Without flinching. Larry
I knew a guy who couldn't get 140s very far past 2900 fps in a 6.5-284, but he was using a 24" barrel. The 6.5-284 isn't that fast, but it should easily surpass 2900 with 140s in a 26" barrel. Maybe try some Bergers and see what happens.
Different barrels with the same chambering done by different smiths with different reamers can definitely be different animals with performance on speed. I've experienced it myself in the past where one barrel would only get 3150 fps while running on the ragged edge of over pressure. Rebarreled the rifle with a different brand barrel but same chambering and it now shoots the same bullet at 3210 fps using 1 full grain less of the same exact powder from the same exact bottle with zero pressure signs. The other ironic thing was that the slower barrel was a 1 in 8.5" twist and the new faster barrel was a 1 in 8".
7mm Mag with 195 EOL will not only kill anything you plan to hunt in North America. It is also a beast at 1000 yard target shooting. G7 BC 0.387 out of a 195 Grain bullet.
All of the Amax bullets have a very long bearing surface for their given weight when compared to offerings by other brands. I would be willing to bet if you switched to a different 140gr bullet from Berger, or Sierra, that you would be able to get up to your desired velocity.
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