Magnum Rifle - Is there a sweet spot?

Discretion is the better part of valor.

But, if the future wasn't so uncertain, and finances weren't a consideration, what would you choose?
It will be fun to see if your initial choice remains after deliberations.

For me, I am still fond of the PRC. A thirty is as big a rifle bullet I'll ever need, and overloading a Thirty Aught Six to get there is less enamoring than using a new rifle and case and dies and I'll need a sling, and probably a new slower powder...

Darn you! Now you have me doing it!

It sounds like you’ve shortened the list and in the interest of intelligent caution have put the search in neutral but like Demi Human said, “You got me going!” I own 2 338 win mags and have found them very efficient on game animals. I like the round especially if elk hunting is in the cards. That being said my “short list” of desired magnums not in my safe:
404 Jeffery
9.3x62 (not a mag but cool)
375 H&H (or Ruger)
458 Lott
358 Norma
I also have a short list of rifles in my memory bank I’ve had in my hands at various gun shops over the years. Of course I then put them back on the shelf rather than purchase. A haunting mistake!
A Sako L61R in 300 H&H
A NIB Oregon manufactured Kimber 89 in 375 HH
A Ruger No. 1 in 450/400 NE
Good luck in your search and stay safe! There are a lot of ways to skin a cat (or in this case, appropriate cartridges to dispatch them.) Choose what keeps you smiling

hillman23 said:

It sounds like you’ve shortened the list and in the interest of intelligent caution have put the search in neutral but like Demi Human said, “You got me going!” I own 2 338 win mags and have found them very efficient on game animals. I like the round especially if elk hunting is in the cards. That being said my “short list” of desired magnums not in my safe:
404 Jeffery
9.3x62 (not a mag but cool)
375 H&H (or Ruger)
458 Lott
358 Norma
I also have a short list of rifles in my memory bank I’ve had in my hands at various gun shops over the years. Of course I then put them back on the shelf rather than purchase. A haunting mistake!
A Sako L61R in 300 H&H
A NIB Oregon manufactured Kimber 89 in 375 HH
A Ruger No. 1 in 450/400 NE
Good luck in your search and stay safe! There are a lot of ways to skin a cat (or in this case, appropriate cartridges to dispatch them.) Choose what keeps you smiling

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Nice list, mine is similar...

Stay safe.

forty_caliber said:

I've been thinking about acquiring a new rifle in a "magnum" caliber. I'm not anticipating winning an all expense paid African Safari or having sudden polar bear invasion down in Texas. It's just an idea I've been toying with for a while.

I've always wanted a "belted magnum" since a stranger I met at the rifle range in my youth let me fire his .458 Win Mag. Damn near knocked 12 yr old me out of the chair and kicked like a mule...I couldn't get the grin off my face for days. I realize that the time for this technology may have come and gone or at least is passing by. This type of case certainly isn't a requirement.

In any event in my research I keep running into roadblocks of one kind or another that keep me from settling in on the definitive choice.

.375 H&H - cases and dies are hard to find but keep coming back to this one.
.338 Lapua - way to expensive for a pinch-penny miserly man such as myself.
.300 Win Mag - Hmmm... possibly but does it have enough attitude to really shine vs .308
.300 RUM - Horror stories of it being a barrel burner <1000 round life
7mm Rem Magnum - Flat trajectory like a .270 but comparable energy to a 30-06?
Lots of others that give me pause due to availability or just plain lack of knowledge...338 Win Mag, .300 Norma, 416 Rigby.

Lost in the data.

.40

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Like yourself I have always been intrigued by the big belted magnum cartridges. I have owned the 300 win mag, 300 wsm , and still have a 7 mm rem mag. Any of the three and any magnum rounds 30 caliber and less are suitable for your home state of Texas. More reach for the recoil you will receive.

I am still wanting to get a 375 or up magnum just to try it on the range and for game. The 375 Ruger may be the round for me. I have never been bitten by the reloading bug hard enough to jump in.
You being someone that reloads it makes buying magnum cartridge more sensible. You can shoot reduced loads at deer and hogs and just for target fun! You can shoot full bore loads just because you can!

Safe shooting and have fun deciding,
Jeff

hillman23 said:

It sounds like you’ve shortened the list and in the interest of intelligent caution have put the search in neutral but like Demi Human said, “You got me going!” I own 2 338 win mags and have found them very efficient on game animals. I like the round especially if elk hunting is in the cards. That being said my “short list” of desired magnums not in my safe:
404 Jeffery
9.3x62 (not a mag but cool)
375 H&H (or Ruger)
458 Lott
358 Norma
I also have a short list of rifles in my memory bank I’ve had in my hands at various gun shops over the years. Of course I then put them back on the shelf rather than purchase. A haunting mistake!
A Sako L61R in 300 H&H
A NIB Oregon manufactured Kimber 89 in 375 HH
A Ruger No. 1 in 450/400 NE
Good luck in your search and stay safe! There are a lot of ways to skin a cat (or in this case, appropriate cartridges to dispatch them.) Choose what keeps you smiling

Click to expand...

458 Lott? Sounds like a Lott of fun!

Most familiar with me here might acknowledge me as “anti-magnum,” but rather I might point to my perspective of the value found in matching performance with the task. For me to justify 75-85grn of Powder and all of that recoil, I must be taking on a pretty big task.

I break it down like this: if I’m trying to kill something really big, at least a medium bore or even a big bore magnum is justified (338-416, and 458+ respectively). If I’m trying to kill something far away, then a small bore magnum is justified. Of these, I prefer 300wm for small bore, now 300PRC, with a distinct love for 7RM and 338WM acknowledged as distant second place. For mid-bore, .416Rigby has been my favorite, shortly behind it today the .416 Ruger for the ease of dropping it into standard length actions. But if I were to have to choose between a mid bore and a big bore, I default at least to 458 WM, favoring 458Lott if the action is sufficiently long and strong enough to take it. Absolutely love the 458wm.

My .358 Norma mag is still advertised in Rifles for sale section. It can shoot 250 grain bullets to easy 2900 FPS . Being a .358 bore you can load pistol sized .357" (which bore actually us) bullets to strangely high or low velocities on the cheap. I once shot 124 gain bullets out of it over 4000 fps on a lark. The Recoilcheck stock and weight makes it kick like a .308 with the factory 250 loads. You get everything you need except primers and powder to shoot any thing on the planet at crazy far out or normal hunting distances for the rest of your life (probably) all for $700 PLUS shipping !
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/359-norma-mag-with-brass-bullets-and-dies-or.860034/

forty_caliber said:

I've been thinking about acquiring a new rifle in a "magnum" caliber. I'm not anticipating winning an all expense paid African Safari or having sudden polar bear invasion down in Texas. It's just an idea I've been toying with for a while.

I've always wanted a "belted magnum" since a stranger I met at the rifle range in my youth let me fire his .458 Win Mag. Damn near knocked 12 yr old me out of the chair and kicked like a mule...I couldn't get the grin off my face for days. I realize that the time for this technology may have come and gone or at least is passing by. This type of case certainly isn't a requirement.

In any event in my research I keep running into roadblocks of one kind or another that keep me from settling in on the definitive choice.

.375 H&H - cases and dies are hard to find but keep coming back to this one.
.338 Lapua - way to expensive for a pinch-penny miserly man such as myself.
.300 Win Mag - Hmmm... possibly but does it have enough attitude to really shine vs .308
.300 RUM - Horror stories of it being a barrel burner <1000 round life
7mm Rem Magnum - Flat trajectory like a .270 but comparable energy to a 30-06?
Lots of others that give me pause due to availability or just plain lack of knowledge...338 Win Mag, .300 Norma, 416 Rigby.

Lost in the data.

.40

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I run four catriridges you list (.375 H&H, .300WM, 7mmRM, .416 Rigby), plus 3 additional magnum rifle cartridges - 7mm WSM, 325 WSM and .264 Winchester Magnum

The magnums really split into 3 categories in my mind:
1) Plains game/thin skinned non-dangerous big game cartridges - basically "elk guns". The 6.5mm, 7mm magnums and .30 magnums (with a couple specific bullets) really shine for this. They let you build western hunting rigs that buck the wind like nobody's business and extend the distance you can shoot in any given conditions by maybe 50-200y depending on what you're comparing them to. They do not have any particular "thump" factor - kicking a little less or a little more than a .30-06. They benefit from big optics edging into "tactical" territory. I own and have hunted a lot of these, and the 7mm WSM shooting 175gr A-Frames is where I landed as the "best" at least for me as a reloader and wanting a light rifle while maintaining pass-through terminal performance from the muzzle to long range. There are also catridges that are not explicitly magnums like .280 AI that fill this role.

2) "Crossover" magnums that offer both some long range capability and some bear/thin skinned dangerous game stopping capability. This is basically the .358 Norma Mag, .338 WM, .325WSM, and 8mm Remington Magnum. Of the three, the 325 WSM is the one I use for weight reasons more than anything else. But it's not super well supported. Not bad, but you'll probably form brass from .300 WSM. The 220gr A-Frame is my preferred bullet. This rig has less reach than category 1) but more than a dedicated stopping rifle. The .375 H&H with 260gr Accubonds is probably the biggest rifle in this category. You probably want a CRF rifle with a high-reliability open trigger here.

3) Stopping magnums suitable for stopping thin skinned dangerous game, and at least some capability on thick skinned dangerous game. The .375, .416, .404 and .458 magnums all fall in this category. My personal preference is for the .416 Rigby. You definitely want a CRF/open trigger rifle here in my opinion. No point in toting around a stopping rifle in an unreliable configuration. If you want thump, this is where you get it. Some like the .458 Lott and .416 Rigby may have more thump than you want at full power. On the soft shooting end there is the non-magnum 9.3x62 that's the lightest rifle you can use for dangerous game in some places.

Gordon said:

My .358 Norma mag is still advertised in Rifles for sale section. It can shoot 250 grain bullets to easy 2900 FPS . Being a .358 bore you can load pistol sized .357" (which bore actually us) bullets to strangely high or low velocities on the cheap. I once shot 124 gain bullets out of it over 4000 fps on a lark. The Recoilcheck stock and weight makes it kick like a .308 with the factory 250 loads. You get everything you need except primers and powder to shoot any thing on the planet at crazy far out or normal hunting distances for the rest of your life (probably) all for $700 PLUS shipping !
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/359-norma-mag-with-brass-bullets-and-dies-or.860034/

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I have no need for it, but that's a very good deal for someone.

The lord only knows why my best friend just ordered a new hunting gun over the weekend. T/C Encore in 458 Win Mag with a 16 inch barrel. Configured as a PISTOL!! I think he's off his rocker again. recoil junkie!!

jmr40 said:

I've owned several 7mm and 300 magnums. After buying a 6.5 CM I sold my last magnum and considered it an upgrade. Here is why I no longer care for a sub 375 magnum. Everything from 26-35 caliber will all kill any game animal in the lower 48 including moose, elk or bear. It is only the really big bear in Alaska where I'd feel more comfortable with something bigger than 26 or 27 caliber. And even then 30-06 is fine. I don't see where anything between 30-06 and 375 magnum is an advantage other than effective range.

If I'm going to Africa and need something bigger than 30-06 it's going to be a 375. And for a variety of reasons the 375 Ruger is the better cartridge. Ammo is cheaper and just as available, plus it is a bit more powerful. But the biggest advantage is the availability of rifles at MUCH better prices. The 375 H&H is so long that it either needs a magnum length action or a long action that is modified to work. Either of those options means a much more expensive rifle.

The key is being honest about your shooting skills. A 308 class cartridge including 7-08, 260, 6.5 CM, etc. will take elk size game out to 400 yards or a bit more. Moving up to 30-06 class cartridges including 270 and 280 will be good for 500 yards on the same size game. You don't really see any advantage with the 7mm and 30 magnums until you start shooting at 600+ yards. I can't shoot well enough to hit game at 600 yards. When I came to the realization that 400 was pushing the envelope for me and 250-300 was more realistic I sold my magnum.

But if I were interested in anything with "magnum" on the headstamp it would be 300 WSM. It comes within 50 fps of 300 WM, but since it burns 10-15 gr less powder recoil is noticeably less. It gives 98.5% of the speed of 300 WM, but with recoil exactly 1/2 way between 30-06 and 300 WM.

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Now there's an honest, reasonable thinking man.

35 Whelen is a very useful cartridge for big game in North America and abroad. It hits hard but recoil isn't too bad with a 24 inch barrel, walnut stock, and Maga-Ported to eliminate muzzle jump. I bought a used but not abused Winchester 670 and sent it to JES for rebore. Very happy with the results.

TR

Sneakshot92 said:

The lord only knows why my best friend just ordered a new hunting gun over the weekend. T/C Encore in 458 Win Mag with a 16 inch barrel. Configured as a PISTOL!! I think he's off his rocker again. F#%!+÷& recoil junkie!!

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My brother had a 450 Marlin in a 10-inch Encore barrel as a pistol. I put a few rounds through it and never manage to completely let go of it but never managed to keep both hands attached to it either. It was almost as mean as a S&W 340PD . He replaced it with a 44 Mag 10-inch barrel and that is a really smooth shooting gun in comparison.

The Op question seems like a noob searching for something to bite his shoulder. I have five belted mags. I reload for them all. They all kill stuff really well. Done.

.338 Magnum, the "Goldilocks" (i.e. "sweet spot") of rifle magnum cartridges. In my opinion .

Sneakshot92 said:

The lord only knows why my best friend just ordered a new hunting gun over the weekend. T/C Encore in 458 Win Mag with a 16 inch barrel. Configured as a PISTOL!! I think he's off his rocker again. F#%!+÷& recoil junkie!

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Long ago I was at a very rural gun shop. Had an outdoor range. Guy came in that had a #1 Ruger sporting weight in .45-70.

He had some “Ruger only” hand loads that were very near .458 WM levels. I shot one. It was nearly dark and the fire ball had to be the size of a bushel basket. To say the recoil was brutal would be a massive understatement.

Two days later my shoulder was black and blue from my collar bone to my arm pit. Shine wore off that in a hurry

My dad built a Remington 700 titanium for a guy in 458 American, thing had to weight 5 pounds with the sights. That little bugger was snappy.

I agree that belts are passé but the only magnums I’ve ever been interested in are the .300 H&H and .257 Weatherby.

cdb1 said:

agree that belts are passé but the only magnums I’ve ever been interested in are the .300 H&H and .257 Weatherby

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I think the belts are velocity, performance, and accuracy enhancing.

Maybe that’s because I love my 7 mag

I think belts do more harm than good.

troy fairweather said:

I think belts do more harm than good.

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My Mother would disagree with you on that point, especially concerning yours truly when I was growing up.

troy fairweather said:

I think belts do more harm than goo

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That’s flawed thinking. Belts are used rather than suspenders on big boy cartridges.

If you don’t need a belt, you haven’t grown up. All the baby cartridges say “I want a belt like daddy when i grow up”. And that’s the truth.

If you don’t think so, just remember all belted cases are bigger, stronger, faster.

^

The belt was an attempt to regain some of the properties of the superior flanged cartridge and still work in the German gimmick magazine.