The ultimate 30 caliber long range hunting rig?????

[fredo]

Ethics aside, if I were building a "Big 30", it'd be a 300-338 Norma Mag...

 

[Hydenseek]

So here's the deal I'm hunting family land that is becoming overran by wolves. Anything I do is no less humane or moral than the US fish and wildlife dumping their pets on private land to hunt so I really am not interested in the moral debate. Somehow all of a sudden its like everyone is Ghandi. I'm not going hunting to waste what few deer we have left but if I want to shoot one from however far so what . If u miss him and it runs off its a fair chance it'll be eaten by a wolf by next season anyway.

 

[MClark]

I look at these cases from the terminal end and work back to see what it will take.
1000 foot pounds is a number used as a good minimum for deer size animals. A 230 grain Berger at 1440 will give this. However it is unlikely to expand. A half moa is achievable and will keep the bullet in the vitals (with good reading of conditions).
From a rifle standpoint look at what the 1000 yard target guys are doing, 30" barrel, barrel clamps etc.
Portability becomes a big issue, do you plan on a set up next to the truck or backpacking in?

 

[Hydenseek]

Either but more than like very close to the truck

 

[ttfreestyle]

Finding a bullet that actually does a good job at those distances has been our problem. My $.02 is the 300 RUM, but I drive a Ford truck and others drive different brands. Good luck.

 

[GSPV]

I look at these cases from the terminal end and work back to see what it will take.
1000 foot pounds is a number used as a good minimum for deer size animals. A 230 grain Berger at 1440 will give this. However it is unlikely to expand. A half moa is achievable and will keep the bullet in the vitals (with good reading of conditions).
From a rifle standpoint look at what the 1000 yard target guys are doing, 30" barrel, barrel clamps etc.
Portability becomes a big issue, do you plan on a set up next to the truck or backpacking in?

The light gun 1k benchrest rifles are almost universally 17 lb 6 Dashers. Keep in mind that they get a sight in and then most shoot very fast from there to achieve the groups that they do.

I'd argue that F-Open might be a better model because of the slow fire. Most are shooting big 7mm or the 300 WSM. Even those that shoot the 300 WSM with the big Bergers say that it took them a long time and much practice to be able to manage the recoil sufficiently. That's not "ouch, it hurts" manage the recoil, it's "oops, I screwed up and it went out into the five ring" manage the recoil.

But, there is a HUGE freakier distance between shooting in an F-Open situation and shooting in a hunting situation. No sight-in period. Bulky clothes, maybe cold/hot/breathing hard/etc, uphill, downhill, over uneven terrain. Lightweight bipod or similar rather than a SEB NEO out front. Rice bag or nothing under the back rather than a 10 lb DR bag. Hunting weight rifle rather than 22 lbs. Hunting trigger instead of a 2 oz Jewell.

I'm neither ignorant of long range shooting (when other kids were playing baseball, Beverly Spickard was my coach) nor am I a closet PETA member. I was taught respect for game animals from the time that I could walk. The respect is ultimately in a clean, humane kill. In my opinion, anyone that thinks that they have a high confidence of a clean, humane kill on a deer-sized animal at 1,400 yards is in a fantasy land. 400 yard? 500 yards? Even 600 yards? OK. 1,400-ish UNKNOWN yardage in real hunting conditions? Fantasy land.

To the OP: if you are talking about predator control, you should have said so in your original post, rather than the "all North American game" phrase that you used.

As to "so what", you are right, with respect to game animals, it is an ethical thing. I, personally, don't think being accused of having some ethics is a bad thing. YMMV.

 

[wapiti25]

hydnseek, you should talk to Aaron Davidson at GunWerks. They build long range hunting rifles that are tack drivers, two guy's that I hunt with have their rifles. This last Sept one of the guy's shot his antelope a 727 yds with the animal looking straight at him, "bang flop". A game warden was watching with a spotting scope from a hill top way off and came down to congratulate him on the shot. We use 7mm Remington Mag's, I built my own rifle. We went to a GunWerks shooting school. I shoot 600 yd F-Class and have shot the sling 600 and 1000yds. You may find recoil excessive from the big 300's to do much practice. I would shoot something as a 6 Dasher at 600 to learn or build a practice rifle that is twice as heavy as your hunting rifle. The rifles need to be copies except the weight. A lot of lead in the stock, forearm and butt. My practice rifle is a post 64 model 70 in 223 Rem, I have several other M70's up to 338 Win Mag. Good luck and good shooting.

 

[Coleridge]

I think Mr Hyde may have mis-spoke a little. He's not talking hunting game (at least for the 1400 yard part), he is talking about SHOOTING deer.


This would be typical platform (imagine a big suburban right behind the camera). You could easily carry a 25# rifle, rest or what you would/may need the 10-15 feet from the truck.

No hills, angles, unknown distance etc (thanks to piles of corn that keep the deer static, flat geography & a Vectronix).


Checking at the specific ranges the day before the hunt helps a bit (or even during the hunt/shoot if need or conditions change).

(note: NO bears were hurt or injured during the taking of this photography, just the only picture I have of the steel set up ;D The square piece is 1300 IIRC)


Also, it has been proven that little (6.5 & even 6mm) bullets will drop these great big giant deer in eastern NC, even when velocity gets down under 1700 fps. The big 30 cals should keep energy & velocity up for the further shot.

(can anyone see the benches from the first pic in the background? Waaaayy back there. This picture is looking back towards the shot)

We could discuss the ethics of shooting LR, head shots, the thoughts of baiting, what cartridge is marginal for deer or whatever but all that's pretty much off topic. Hyde isn't planning to pull up & shoot one out the truck window on a whim. Much time & preparation will be put in prior to the shot. If he just wanted to kill a deer he would stop letting the close ones go

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Still an unwise choice. If the cut is 1400 yards long, wouldn't it make a heck of a lot more sense to set up in the middle of the cut and have a 700 yard shot in either direction??? At least thats a more realistic distance where a person can make good clean ethical kills with practice. I don't claim to be a genious, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out...just sayin'

 

[Hydenseek]

The road is over 2 miles long but that's not the issue. While we're pretending I'm assuming none of you take a shot that might gut shoot a prairie dog either. I've seen articles on the daily bulletin of prairie dog shots, with a pistol, at over 1500 yds so who's to say one is more revered than the other.

For some reason gut shooting a harmless prairie dog with explosive bullets isn't chastised.

 

[ShootDots]

The road is over 2 miles long but that's not the issue. While we're pretending I'm assuming none of you take a shot that might gut shoot a prairie dog either. I've seen articles on the daily bulletin of prairie dog shots, with a pistol, at over 1500 yds so who's to say one is more revered than the other.

For some reason gut shooting a harmless prairie dog with explosive bullets isn't chastised.

Following this line of thinking, you are, in the strictest terms, correct. Who can say that a varmint and a big game animal don't occupy the same "throne", if you will, in the hierarchy of the animal kingdom. On the other hand, if you consider that a Majestic Big Game animal only deserves the same respect as varmint, then reasoning with that postulation would be an effort in futility, left only to the self masochistic among us>>of which I am not. Ergo, my opinion of your efforts has declined to the point that further debate would lead me to start with a bottle of crown! So This is my last "written breath" on this matter..

 

[Hydenseek]

Let's break out the crown!

 

[Ledd Slinger]

The road is over 2 miles long but that's not the issue. While we're pretending I'm assuming none of you take a shot that might gut shoot a prairie dog either. I've seen articles on the daily bulletin of prairie dog shots, with a pistol, at over 1500 yds so who's to say one is more revered than the other.

For some reason gut shooting a harmless prairie dog with explosive bullets isn't chastised.

Wow...I'm done too.

 

[Coleridge]

Let's break out the crown!

Then you'll be steady enough for that shot

 

[Hydenseek]

Let's break out the crown!

Then you'll be steady enough for that shot

I'll have to name my .300 white lightning!

 

[Coleridge]

I'm sure there are places with very few deer &/or that only allow one tag. I can understand how those people put deer, big game or whatever on a pedestal. Here we get unlimited doe tags (hint: there are lots of deer). Most farmers, land owners & many automobile drives (i don't know many people around that's been driving long that hasn't had a deer collision) consider them pests or varmints. Thousands are killed per year through crop deprevation permits. For some guys they think as much about deer as some really do about pdogs or coyotes. Think what you may but In the end all are living breathing critters. Does one really deserve a better end over the other? Not saying one guy is right or wrong, just something to think about while your casting judgment.

 

[Joe Salt]

Now I'm reading all this and wondering why no one has said! I wonder what one of my 230 gr. Burgers out of my 300 WSM at 3030 fps would do to an ISIS TERRORIST at 1400 yards? :-X

Joe Salt

 

[Hydenseek]

That would be too far for an ethical shot... Epecially without wind flags.....

 

[ShootDots]

That would be too far for an ethical shot... Epecially without wind flags.....

Are you NOW equating a Prairie Dog with a terrorist? Well, I WAS going to quit but this has my dander up! How DARE you put a prairie dog on the same level as an ISIS terrorists! I am going to place a call to PITA for such maltreatment of a poor animal! Horrifying!! Terrible!!

 

[Joe Salt]

Well I was going to call then WOODCHUCKS ;D But then again poor WOODCHUCKS. But I figure even if you WOUNDED ONE OR TWO no one would hold that against you!

Joe Salt