A 500 Yard Gun

[HuntinGuy]

Originally Posted by Salavee

Excellent point and well worth consideration. The .280 will benefit by a hair margin to a handloader. The.270 with the same bullet weight has a slightly higher SD. For all intents and purposes they are ballistically identical.

You are maxing out a 270 bullet weight at 150, some vld 150's won't stabilize in an off the shelf 270. Plus 160-168 grain is definitely preferable to a 140 at 500 yards vs a large animal like an elk.

Not that a 270 can't and hasn't, my father has killed dozens of moose with his old pump rem 270, But at 500 yards and vs an elk, 280 is more than 1% better, BC and bullet weight, you can't argue.


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[Salavee]

Originally Posted by HuntinGuy

You are maxing out a 270 bullet weight at 150, some vld 150's won't stabilize in an off the shelf 270. Plus 160-168 grain is definitely preferable to a 140 at 500 yards vs a large animal like an elk.

Not that a 270 can't and hasn't, my father has killed dozens of moose with his old pump rem 270, But at 500 yards and vs an elk, 280 is more than 1% better, BC and bullet weight, you can't argue.


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I agree with that, being a heavy for caliber nut. They are making heavier bullets for the .270 now .. up to 165, maybe heavier, not sure, but the twist rate will have to be compatible. The .280 does present a few more options at the moment and it would be my choice of the two, for sure.

[Redneck 7]

Good day, right after I read the op comment, 2 things popped in my head and they were .308 for a calibre and a Leupold CDS scope would be the best option for what you're looking into. Grain down for the antelope hunt and still have oompff for a elk.

I read after but not all the comments and I realized I wasn't the only .308 suggestion. Just figured I'd let you know my opinion. For a rifle breed I'd say whatever is in your budget that fits and handles nice to you. I'd suggest a 700 but that's just me, I like Remington but I don't see why a tikka t3 wouldn't fit the bill for price and accuracy.

[500+BC]

The reality is that at 500 yards you can compensate for a bad rifle with better optics, practice practice practice and with the right loads and scope you can go a long way. IMHO spending more on the rifle and optics is the fastest way to get to 500 or further.

Calibres are more simle becasue the 7mm is a great cartridge because of its good overall BC its less drag can easily carry more kinetic energy to the target every time compared to .308 and 30-06, and sometime the .300 WM. The recoil is manageable no worse then my .30-06

the problem relies more on bullet choice IMHO ELK are tough bastards and you want a bullet that gonna do its job and do the required damage. I like nosler accubonds but there are other that do well.

[Nyksta]

Originally Posted by 500+BC

The reality is that at 500 yards you can compensate for a bad rifle with better optics, practice practice practice and with the right loads and scope you can go a long way. IMHO spending more on the rifle and optics is the fastest way to get to 500 or further.

Calibres are more simle becasue the 7mm is a great cartridge because of its good overall BC its less drag can easily carry more kinetic energy to the target every time compared to .308 and 30-06, and sometime the .300 WM. The recoil is manageable no worse then my .30-06

the problem relies more on bullet choice IMHO ELK are tough bastards and you want a bullet that gonna do its job and do the required damage. I like nosler accubonds but there are other that do well.

OP wants a rifle to hunt out to 500 yards, not what is best to get past 500. Most hunting is done from 50 to 150 yards. And everyone focuses on the absolute best results a cartridge can offer based on what seems like benchrest conditions. If we remember that we are hiking these rifles around and shooting from offhand and improvised rests, and OP said possibly his wife shooting; then the balance weight and length of the rifle needs to be valued as well. 7mmRemMag has great performance, but you need a longer rifle to acheive a full powder burn, the recoil or rifle weight is going to a pain whichever is the greater, and the balance could be way off if used by a smaller framed shooter.

For average hunting inside of 500 yards or less is what the OP is focused on, lets remember that when all this ballistic coefficient and energy on target stuff is discussed. Every cartridge presented here could do elk and moose inside of 500 yards easy. How the Rifle handles all day while hiking it will make or break the hunt enjoyment.

Browning X-bolt or Tikka t3 in 308 win would do nicely for average hunting. 270 win if the shots are regularly going to be from 300 to 500 yards jusr cause it has better BCs for the wind. Energy on target is not a factor, they all do fine.

[500+BC]

Originally Posted by Nyksta

OP wants a rifle to hunt out to 500 yards, not what is best to get past 500. Most hunting is done from 50 to 150 yards. And everyone focuses on the absolute best results a cartridge can offer based on what seems like benchrest conditions. If we remember that we are hiking these rifles around and shooting from offhand and improvised rests, and OP said possibly his wife shooting; then the balance weight and length of the rifle needs to be valued as well. 7mmRemMag has great performance, but you need a longer rifle to acheive a full powder burn, the recoil or rifle weight is going to a pain whichever is the greater, and the balance could be way off if used by a smaller framed shooter.

For average hunting inside of 500 yards or less is what the OP is focused on, lets remember that when all this ballistic coefficient and energy on target stuff is discussed. Every cartridge presented here could do elk and moose inside of 500 yards easy. How the Rifle handles all day while hiking it will make or break the hunt enjoyment.

Browning X-bolt or Tikka t3 in 308 win would do nicely for average hunting. 270 win if the shots are regularly going to be from 300 to 500 yards jusr cause it has better BCs for the wind. Energy on target is not a factor, they all do fine.

I agree i think its more bullet selection and shot placement basics of hunting, and for how tough ELK are shot placement only comes with practice practice practice your never gonna have ideal conditions when the elk is in front of you with my lucky its usually the opposite. In my experience people like try and compensate for this with larger calibres which in its own way can be counter productive.

[duck duck goose]

Thanks for the added input guys. I've been doing some shopping around and so far the Tikka seems like a good direction to go. Not too hard on the wallet, and seem to be nice looking rifles. My brother owns a T3 in .270 and it is a nice rifle to handle. With a little luck I will have time this weekend to get to a gun shop to try a few out to see how they feel.

[Smokinyotes]

I think the tikka T3 superlte is on sale at cabelas for about $750.

[HyperMOA]

I read the OP and have not read any other posts, so if this is a duplicate I apologize. 7mm Rem Mag is one of the rounds that Remington makes reduced recoil factory ammo for. It takes a large amount of the kick out of that magnum. Likely tolerable for the wife. Of course POI will change between loads.