TxDiesel007

Guys

My dad is bent on making a second long range shooting rifle for our collection. I have seen the man drop deer at 400 plus with a winchester model 70 7 mm magnum, with factory ammo (150 grain supreme bullets from winchester) The silver ones with ballistic tips. The scope he has is no laughing matter either. Nikon Buckmaster 4-14 x 50 mm with all sorts of adjustable goodies. Being that i dont shoot deer over 200 yards, not that good of a shot like he is, I dont worry much for this. But i know some of u guys shoot long range as well. and we have the above calibers in the poll to turn into long range shooters. Reason he chose those for budget, and we do frequent our range alot.

I have tried to talk him into a 270 wsm, but he aint convinced just yet. I am also lookin for a nice 300 winnie mag for him for christmas just he dont know yet... Mom will get him the scope and me the gun... and my bro will chip in for both...

But for the meantime, here are the conditions, factory premium ammo, shots beyond 300 yards will be most use for the rifle, and scope is the same as above on the 7mm mag...

Which would YOU turn into a long ranger?

Thanks!

Rick

Lary Ellis (Top)

Any of those will get the job done, though I lean a little more toward the heavier bullet weight calibers.

One thing to keep in mind if you are thinking of going with the venerable 30:06 caliber, for best accuracy use the 180 gr bullet. That round was developed from the ground up with exhaustive testing.

The powder was designed specifically for that bullet as was the barrel rate of twist. Everything about the 30:06 developed around the 180gr bullet and it's ballistic coefficient. That 180gr boat tail still performs very well today.

I have seen many 06's shoot great with the lighter bullets, but more often than not groups improved with the 180's. Sometimes things are built so well the first time around that you really can't improve on them

You may still find a particular load that works better in any weapon, but from my personal experience the 180 is the king for practical hunting purposes for a 30:06.

Rowdy III

Hard to go wrong with 30-06. Good all-round caliber. Do you subscribe to "Shooting Times"? Lots of good info in there on this topic and, as a bonus, you get to read the historical perspective on shootists from Sheriff Jim Wilson.

On another note - You want long range? I have a pristine 1896 Swedish Mauser 32" bbl, 6.5 cal. Swede, never fired when I bought it but no longer a virgin - talk about long range.

From "The Swedish Mauser" by Chuck Hawks,
"The m/96 was supplied with a clever, ladder-type open rear sight, mounted on the barrel in front of the action, where open rear sights are usually found. But this example is unusual that there are three stepped positions for ranges of 300, 400, and 500 meters with the ladder folded down (what the Swedish Army probably thought of as the "battle sight" position), and elevation stops for 600 to 2000 meters (!) when the ladder is raised. Windage adjustments were accomplished by sliding the front sight in its dovetail. This was done by Swedish armorers, not regular soldiers. Whoever did mine knew his business; I found the windage to be right on the first time that I test fired my rifle."

bentwings

You didn't list a .300 Win mag. I had a Win Model 70 .300 Win Mag with a 2x7 Leopold scope for many years. It was a great combination. It worked great out west and just as well in Northern Minn in the dense brush. I generally used 180 gr but I shot a lot of 150gr too. I even shot up a bunch of 220 gr hand loads. Other than make a lot more noise and kick a lot harder I didn't see any advantage to the 220 gr. The 150 gr would go completely thru a 1/4 wall steel tube and about 8 inches of wood at 100 yds so there is plenty of power there. Sight it in for dead on at 200 and you can hit anything you can see and reasonably shot at.

staarma

I voted for the ought six but my choice having owned most of the guns you listed plus tons more is my new 300 Ultra Mag. It shoots like no other gun I've had. I love my push feed 300 Win Mag but the Ultra is what I take Elk hunting when it has to count with one shot one kill at pretty much any distance. You may want to consider the ballistics next time you open a new reloading book.

meanfarmer

I agree with bentwings get the .300 win mag you will love it, mine is a T/C center contender it is a excellent gun not to pricey, the interchangeable barrels are great also.

Fronty Owner

I voted .270, but the 300 WSSM is a really good round

runamuk

I voted for the 30.06 because you can get rounds for it anywhere!

My preferance is the .308 because of better trajectory.

Course being from LIBERAL California what would I know about guns??

Rick

MikeyB

My vote is for the good old 30-06. Two weeks ago I pickup a Mossberg ATR in 30-06 at Wal Mart for $244. It's going to be my new basher rifle.

MikeyB

futuredieseltec

I voted for the 270. I have two and love them. IMO they are one of the flatest shooting guns out there. But like others said.... a 300mag is a great round also.

A.Y.

jkeyes

reading these posts it seems as thogh the 30-06 is the standard by which all others are judged.

-J-

Bosshawg600

Didn't see a 50 cal as a choice. Good thing with those, you miss by a couple of inches and it will still drop anything 9 even some low flying aircraft)

Brock

for long range, accuracy and bullet weight at terminal area I prefer a .308 of the ones you listed for whitetail and other similar prey. I also prefer it in the M70 or in a Browning Abolt with its floated barrel.

So for your choices I picked the M70 in 7mm-08.....really a .308 necked down for a .285 bullet...same accuracy as 308...little flatter than 270...less recoil than 270...and the 140grain bullet retains a significant amount of energy at 300 yards with a point blank of +/- 2 inches at 300 yds.

With the impending closure of the Winchester plant in Connecticut in one month...I just bought a M70 Classic Featherweight in 7mm-08 for the same reasons...mostly to get a legend before they are made offshore or never made again. Secondly because I have a 30-06, 300 WinMag, 45-70, etc.....and want something with a little less kick and great accuracy out to long bean field ranges.....for any future grandsons I might have LOL...but until then I will make sure she is shot regularly.

hope this helps....a search on 7mm-08 in Google will give you the feedback you are looking for with some ballistic tables to compare it against the 270, 06 and 308.

I would go:
1. 7mm-08
2. 308
3. 30-06
4. 270

Mostly because I know what those first two rounds will do in the hands of a sniper at long ranges with great downrange energy.

blown32

I went with the 7mm-08. My choice of the listed rounds is based on the game stated “deer” and the efficiency of the case to bore ratio. If you want something for elk or other bigger game I might have went with the 30-06.

The 7mm-08 is a very efficient cartridge and can be loaded for just about any need. I really think you should consider hand loading your ammo. If done with great care and precision you will be able to greatly improve the accuracy of most rifles.

Although I prefer a heavy barrel Remington 700 for long range work due to the light weight firing pins/bolt shrouds/heavy firing pin springs/trigger modifications that allow for VERY fast lock times and great triggers. But, the Model 70 Winchester is a fine rifle as well.

You may want to consider some of the many newer rounds out there. Most improve on the ballistics of past standard rounds in velocity and range, assuming the rifle and shooter do their jobs.

In any case adding a rifle to your collection is never a bad thing!

Redleg

I would combine two of your choices, Win Mod 70 in 30-06... the rifleman's rifle. But for reason's given in the other thread, I'm biased. I'm not an armor, but I believe the .308 was developed for shorter action, automatics. Although the tragectory is close, I would think the '06 would have more punch when it got there. The other reason for snipers changing to the .308 would have been readily available ammo on the battle field. But I know many still use Springfields (30-06)heavily, much less an M-14. jmho....