I am going elk hunting in Colorado this fall. I currently shoot a 280 rem. and I can also use my dads 30-06 and I will use one of them this year. Sometime down the road I would like move to something with a little more power maybe a 7mm rem mag. I like some other suggestions, I like the 300 win mag, but I hate to buy one because my dad has one and one day he will give to me and I hate to wind up with two.
I am an advocate of the 7mm Rem Mag. Great all purpose gun. I use mine for hunting everything from whitetail at close range to muley and elk at long range and I love the caliber. One thing to note accuracy wise is that the guys from Gun Werks with the Huskamaw scope say their favorite caliber for long range shooting is 7mm Rem Mag. I'm not saying to do something just because somebody on TV says to do it, but I personally love the caliber myself.
I have a .280 Ackley Improved and the ballistics are pretty close the the 7mm but is a little softer on the shoulder. I load 160 grain bullets to about 3,000 fps and that will kill any elk I might see.
I have a Remington 7mm Magnum in the Remington 700 CDL and I love the rifle. Elk no problem! And like the 300 Win Mag it is a Flat Shooter!
That would be my choice since someday the 300 will belong to you!
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With that said...if ever given the chance to hunt elk, it would be hard not to go with a 45/70 in maybe a sharps rifle or repro. That would be really neat.
Thanks for the advice, I think I will probably go with the 7mm mag. Before my dad bought the 300 he hunted with 7mm mag and really liked it and kinda wishes he had it back. I was also looking at the 7mm wsm, does anyone have any experience with one of those.
Why not use the 280 you have if its accurate enough to hit a elk well out to maybe 400 yards. The 280 sure is.. It's a great round and does not give up much to a 7mm rem mag that you own now. Use one of dads rifles as a back up if traveling to hunt. Your takeing of a elk depends as much on shot placement and the bullet you shot as the caliber.
I do love the 280, Ive shot a few whitetail and a few hogs and coyotes its a great gun it was given to me by my granddad and I will be using it on the hunt this fall. I feel comfortable shooting it at elk out to 300 yards, but would like something with a little more power for longer shots. That being said I dont think I'd ever have to take a shot longer than 300 yards but you never know. Mostly I think Ive just been bit by the bug to buy a magnum of some kind. Maybe it will wear off.
I second this post. The ultra mag/short mag brass is pretty spendy. When I was looking at getting into a magnum caliber rifle, I looked at all these calibers and I went with the seven because I liked the flatness/velocity/bullet grain combinations for what I hunt. I hunt mostly muley's and some elk in the near future and it's great specifically for open country hunting in my opinion.
I think the 270(or 280) is probably the best whitetail gun ever in my opinion, and I will take my 270 with me as a backup gun for deer and elk, but I myself am just more comfortable on the longer shots with the magnum. It's all personal preference though.
I use the same motto for guns as I do bows, "shoot what you shoot best, not what you think is cool."
338 win mag is what I love for Elk. When it's deer season, I use a heavier bullet and slow it down. Recoil is kinda heavy but not much more than an scoped 8lb 300 win mag. I like the 300wm too but not as much as the 338.
Yea, and getting stuck with two 300wm's would really, really suck
old thread anyhow
I agree with Dave Petzel from Field and Stream: Resist the lure of the tough kicking magnum calibers - the ammo is expensive, you will develop a flinch and the animal will be no deader shot with a .30 Thunderboomer than with a 30-06.
I wish there was a way for post over a year old to be put in an archive section,where they could be read,but not posted to!
Damn Zombies,Diggin up the dead again!!!!!!!!
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