What gun to buy???

I'm sure you will get a lot of opinions? I like & use a 7mm Rem Mag with handloaded 160gr Nosler Partitions. It shoots plenty flat & it hits hard. As far as which model i'm looking at a Sako Finnlight but i own several Remington & a few Rugers, they're all made well & shoot straight. Have the trigger adjusted to a crisp 3lbs, mount your Leupold & head to the range. Goodluck!

7 Mag
 
Go with a 300 win mag. I would not get the Ultra mag.

I do not think the small, increased performance will justify spending A LOT more money on the ammo. Don't get me wrong, the ultra is great, I just don't believe you are buying that much more.

I have shot antelope and elk with mine and it has performed great. I would definately put a muzzle brake on it.

I own a browning A-Bolt and my dad has the Christensen Arms 300. I like them both...

With my wifes elk hunt, I am going to get her confident shooting a 25-06 and then in early fall, start her shooting my dads Christensen Arms 300 for elk (it has a muzzle brake).
 
This is like asking what type of ice cream do you like...

For elk, I really like the 338 win caliber. Something about only using one bullet...I have mine in a Weatherby mark V and really like that set up. I also like the 300 win and 300 wsm calibers as well. I am not as big as fan of the 7mm as a lot of others here, probably because I have never shot one out of a Sako or really nice rifle. All the ones I have shot kick harder than my 338, which is enough for me.

Really, any of those calibers from a 7mm to a 338 can be a great elk hunting rifle. Just make sure you get it in a Remington, Sako, Weatherby, etc. I believe the rifle choice is almost as important as the caliber when it comes to getting a great hunting rifle.
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-26-10 AT 10:53AM (MST)[p]I love my .300 wsm, but there will be some folks telling you not to get a Short Mag for this reason and that reason. But the thing that gets overlooked and the reason I went with the short mag is the reduced recoil which would be a good thing with your wife also using the gun. In a nutshell the shorter fater cartridges supposedly burn the powder more efficently and give you roughly the same ballistics as a .300 win mag with less recoil. And my A-Bolt with the Boss muzz break kicks noticably less then my 06 with better performance. Just my .2 cents.
 
Keep what you have and learn to shoot it. Spend some time at the range. I think everyone gets caught up with this "Magutitus" learn to shoot that 30-06 if you want upgrade the optics.
 
Yes, lots of opinions out there, here's mine.

I would suggest a 300WSM in a Kimber. Very nice Rifles that don't break the bank. They are light weight, accurate, and very functional.

There have been some claims of accuracy problems in the past and those against Kimber, for some unknown reason, repeat these claims over and over but the large majority of Kimber owners love their guns and for excellent reasons. IMO, about as good a quality "factory" rifle as you can get! The 300WSM will put 180 bullets out easy over 3000FPS, plenty of juice for any Elk.

Joey
 
You have one of the best guns now, why another. Go with 180 gr and don't worry about besides it is all about shot placement anyway.

MWoods
 
READ THIS: You DO NOT need a magnum caliber to kill an elk or pronghorn.....it amazes me at all the folks that have succumbed to 'magnumitis'. I agree with bigmoosie, you already have just what you need to take both an elk and your wife a pronghorn. Let your buddies help you work up a handload for each rifle so that it shoots at it's best and spend a bit more money and buy some higher quality optics for each rifle. Since you don't rifle hunt a great deal, I'm assuming that you may not be comfortable taking a longer shot, so there's no reason that your 30-06 won't do just fine for elk, and your wife's 243 is plenty of rifle for pronghorn. Practice with what you have and get familiar with how it shoots and go kill a monster elk and pronghorn.....good luck!
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-26-10 AT 11:31AM (MST)[p]Go to a large gunshop and look at the different rifles and try shouldering them to see which one fits you best. Wear a jacket like you will be doing while hunting. The big problem I can see is you trying to buy a rifle for you and your wife to use on the upcoming hunts.

Unless she is built like you with the same arm lenght, there is no way it will fit both of you.

Buy the new gun for you and let her use the .243 for her antelope hunt. Antelope are easy to bring down and the .243 will do great.

I also second the idea of saving money and you using the 30-06. That 30-06 caliber has killed more elk then any of the magnums over the past 60 years.

RELH
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-26-10 AT 11:49AM (MST)[p] MOOSEY......I AGREE THAT THE RECOIL IS MANAGEABLE IN THE .300 WSM, I LOVE MY TIKKA T-3 WITH THE 180 GR. TSX.....REALLY A FLAT SHOOTER.......WONT BREAK THE BANK AS WELL. (OH/ & ITS VERY LIGHT & A PLEASURE TO CARRY ALL WEEK)....YD.
 
I do think people sometimes put to much into what caliber is the best. It is fun to shoot a gun that kicks little, and it is comforting to have a gun that will anchor them with a properly placed bullet. Be wise in choosing what bullet to shoot, I think that is more important than the caliber, don't skimp. I would tend to lean more towards the common calibers if I didn't reload to keep costs down, but since I do I don't worry about shooting the Mags. My two cents.
 
"it amazes me at all the folks that have succumbed to 'magnumitis"

It amazes me that people take offense to those of us who CHOOSE to use a larger caliber. "Magnumitis" attitude???
Now thats funny. I am giving my opinion after shooting a 270, 06, 32 Special, 7MM, 22-250..
 
I think it is funny as well, some people just fear the magnum cartridges. I shot a 270 win for years and used to have that same attitude. "Jack O'Conner loved the 270, it is the best caliber" I will never shoot one again at an elk since I bought a 338 and killed my first elk with it. A 270 is a great deer caliber, just doesn't knock the elk down well enough for me even with great "bullet placement." That being said, to each their own.

Remember, he said it was a late season trophy elk hunt, which generally means longer shots than normal. I know I would not be packing anything less than a 300 on that hunt. From the few people I know who drew late season tags, they all took wonderful animals, but the shots were in the 450-650 range. I would not want to have a 270-30.06 caliber in my hands shooting that long...

As far as getting a caliber for both a you and your spouse to use, a 300 wsm is probably the best one around, as many others have said...
 
Alot of people don't know, but to set the record perfectly clear Jack O'Connor did love the 270, but later in his life he did make the comment that perhaps he promoted it to much and should of, perhaps have been promoting the 280, because of the better bullet selection and a touch more power.
 
It would be interesting to see how many that bash larger calibers, actually have owned or hunted with them. I just bought a 25-06 for my sons deer hunt. I figure it will have less recoil and get him started right. After he grows a little, I will get him shooting a 300 for elk.

To each their own...
 
Hey Ruff, Congrats on picking out a 25-06 for your son. I too started with one, my very first own gun, after using a couple different 30-30's and misc borrowed guns. The 25-06 really flat porked up a lot of bucks for me, made me a much better shooter, and was pleasant enough for the many squirrel and varmint hunts that i used as practice for buck hunting. Love that selection Ruff and congrats on the Family's draws this year as well!

$.02, Remington LSS's are very nice guns.

Joey
 
For all you I now own a 340wea. a 300 wea. a 7stw a270 wsm and have sold several other magmum's. My go to gun is now a Brown precision 280 with which i have killed most of the N.A. 28 with. I have killed more animals with magnums than most will ever kill. I have shot sevral times more with non-magnum calibers.I still say learn to shoot rarher than what you shoot them with. I have seen more people become poor shots because of recoil or the "noise" with most muzzle brakes. Talked with some hunters in New Zealand whose job it was to cull feral camels and horses in Australia they shoot all the big magnums and claimed that the best killer of all the rifles they shot was the old 06.Shoot whatever you want , I'm just saying you don't need a big magnum to get the job done.
 
I have seen very few guns I didn't like, wish I could say the same for people. Bottom line a person needs to know the gun limitation and their limitations. I would not feel at all under gunned on elk with a 30-06. I would just get about 75 yards closer than I would with my 300 mag shooting longer distances. I like to keep the foot lbs around 1600 on elk from my experience.
Funny story. My brother-in-law worked with a guy who decided he needed to shoot a 378 Weatherby for elk, and I think he thought there might be a few elephants running around in Utah. Any way this man did not do any manual labor and was thinnly built. Not very strong. Well the first time he went out and shot it, he loaded the largest and hottest loads he could do. On the second shot he dis-located his shoulder. The gun got sold.
 
>Hey Ruff, Congrats on picking out
>a 25-06 for your son.
>I too started with one,
>my very first own gun,
>after using a couple different
>30-30's and misc borrowed guns.
>The 25-06 really flat porked
>up a lot of bucks
>for me, made me a
>much better shooter, and was
>pleasant enough for the many
>squirrel and varmint hunts that
>i used as practice for
>buck hunting. Love that selection
>Ruff and congrats on the
>Family's draws this year as
>well!
>

Thanks Sage:

Heard a lot of good about them. I also want to try it out on coyotes.
>$.02, Remington LSS's are very nice
>guns.
>
>Joey


At one time 400" bulls were spikes. Its hard for many to believe, but it is true!
 
I was in a camp in Alaska when A lawyer from Kansas City showed up with his two sons. The guy was on a caribou and brown bear hunt, had a 460 wea. all of the guides in camp shot the gun before the hunt, the client never fired it. How would you like to go bear hunting with this guy. Just a little story about magnums, I'm sure the guide would have rather seen him show up with a 30-06 he could shoot.
 
I just converted my 300 RUM to a 338 Edge, burned the barrel out. And am currently having a 6.5x47/6.5x284 Norma built on a predator action, mcmillan stock, jewell trigger, broughton barrels. I have shot both the big guns and the small guns. I am 240#'s and have no problems with recoil, but I do have a problem with muzzlebrakes and how loud they are. Magnums get hot faster than small calibers, so you can't shoot as much, magnums will burn barrels out faster, they cost a lot more to reload. I went with a heavier gun that won't recoil as much, 6.5x47 can take 2000+ rounds down the tube, 6.5x284 will drop elk out to 1000 yards. 338 Edge will produce the same energy at 2000 as a 7mm will at 1000, but it's overkill. Accuracy is what matters the most.
 
400Bull said, "6.5x284 will drop elk out to 1000 yards."

Could you go into this a bit further? I'm going by the ballistics's books and can't see how that cartridge has near the down range energy left to ethically assume it would "drop" an elk.

Joey
 
Don't know why the original poster's posts are edited out, but shoot what the shooter is comfortable. I shot a friend's 300 mag, my 06, and another friend's 30-30 side by side and my subjective experience was that they all kicked about the same.

I bought an 06 for both its capability and for the variety, availability, and cost of ammo relative to others. I suppose that it was my dad's choice had something to do with it too.

Get a gun your comfortable with and can have confidence in, that you will shoot alot, and stay within it and your own limitations and you should have many years of happy hunting with it.
 
The 30-06 is a very versitile round. You can load it down safely to get the wife used to it and the ammo is cheap. That said I don't own one. If recoil and cost are not important it is always better to have more power than less. I love my 300RUM.
 
last year my brother bought a savage weather warrior model 116FHSAK in 300 win mag. this model comes with a adjustable muzzle break, you can turn it on or off and the recoil does not seem to change. his wife used it to take a deer,antelope,and a cow elk last year. she was going to use his 06 but it kicked lots more than the 300. it weighs about 7.5 lbs with out any optics
 

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