300 Win Mag or ?

I was going to suggest the 300WSM, but if you have a long receiver already I think I would go with the WM.

Something in 6.5 maybe?

.338 Lapua?

I like the WM but would be nice to get into something which was a bit cheaper to reload.

1000 and beyond puts you in 30-378 Weatherby or 338 Lapua territory. Everything associated with "Lapua" is twice as expensive as it needs to be, so keep that in mind.

338 Lapua or the 300 Winchester Magnum. My brother-in-law built and ran with a 300 WM in 1,000 yard competition and did fine with it. Me? After decades of having my shoulder thumped I have found a new love of the 308 and shorter distances.

Ron

A 6.5-284 will have less wind drift, less drop and maintain velocity further than a 300WM and do it with less recoil. The 6.5-284 stays supersonic a couple hundred yards longer compared to a 300WM. Since you said it won't be for hunting the extra energy of the 300WM won't really make a difference. Even if you changed your mind the 6.5-284 holds above the magic 1000ft/lbs past 800yds.

Otrman;

Another possibility is the 7mm Practical. It's a wildcat, but really nothing more than the .300 Winchester magnum case necked down to 7mm. You gain the benefits of the better B/C's and S/D's of the 7mm bullets for long range work, while having enough boiler room to stay supersonic while reaching out there.

I've seen one in action, a 1240 yard shot on a two-liter plastic pop bottle. Don't know about you, but I was impressed.

900F

At this tie researching long range target is all about 7mm bullets, and the 7mm shehane do some research before biting off a big chunk of anything. The 6.5x284 eats barrels you will need a new barrel in less than 1,000 rounds. If I were setting up a personal long range target rifle to shoot non competitive I would choose 300 win mag as it's known, cheap, available components, fall back on factory ammo if need be the 300 win mag gets a lot of bad press, but turns out one of the most versatile cartridges I have ever owned.

Since you're a handloader, straight 284 or 284 Shehane. If you're doing paper punching, the 300WM is more than required. I think you'll find that the 284 is easier to get to shoot smaller at long distance.

The 300 WM is a great cartridge. It will each 1,000 yards with ease. Heck, a properly loaded 308 Win will reach a thousand yards. A 300 WM makes things easier with wind. Yet, if you want a common cartridge where brass is easy to locate, the 300 WM is hard to beat for it's simplicity. I like the 300 WM. expect 2-3,000 rounds in barrel life. But it is a great round..! It just works well. Yes there all these odd-ball Wildcats but a a 300 WM is hard to beat. Keep it simple.

I was thinking in terms of better as maybe 338 Lap, but 300 WM will certainly function well at those distances also. I shoot a 300 WM, 700 action, and it's a nice performer with my loads.

GS

The more recoil a rifle has, the harder it is to shoot accurately off ones shoulder than milder recoiling ones.

A .300 Win Mag gets about 1200 rounds of accurate barrel life at 1000 yards. That's more than 700 with the 6.5x.284. But they both buck the wind about the same.

Belted cases are harder to reload for best accuracy than rimless ones; in fact, new ones usually shoot more accurate than any normally reloaded ones. I'd pick one of the rimless 300 mags over the Win Mag any day.

7mm short mags or just about any 6.5 works great at 1k.
I 'd bet a 270WSM would be very impressive with the effort a handloader could give it.

Bart B. said:

Belted cases are harder to reload for best accuracy than rimless ones; in fact, new ones usually shoot more accurate than any normally reloaded ones.

Click to expand...

I know you have a lot of experience and have probably forgotten more than most of us know but I haven't found this to be the case at all. I currently own and shoot rifles chambered for belted cartridges, a Kimber Talkeetna in .375 H&H and an Accuracy International AWM chambered for .300 Win Mag. I sold two rifles recently that were also chambered for .300 Win Mag. Two 5-shot groups using reloads are shown below ... and I sold this .300 Win Mag rifle! I have a lot of experience reloading for and shooting belted magnums (as well as rimless, rimmed and rebated) and have excellent results. I neck size only and bump the shoulder back 0.002" if the case is getting tight in the chamber. Case life is good and accuracy is great. I'm about to sell a Kimber chambered in 300WSM since I much prefer the belted magnums. I'm going to add a hunting weight .300 Win Mag rifle to my collection shortly ... another Kimber to keep my Talkeetna company.

Been eyeballing one of those new Rem 700 Long Range rifles. I'm cheap, and want something with more legs than my .308. Looked at the available calibers, and narrowed it down to either the .300WM or the 7mm Rem Mag. Crunched all the numbers for the loads I planned to use. The .300 has more punch off the line, the 7 has better BC's. At 1k yd, it's kinda 5/4 and pick'em. What really swung it for me was 2 facts; the 7 uses, on average, 5-10gr less powder per round to produce the same velocity, and when I plugged my numbers into a free recoil calculator, the 7 produced about 16.5lb free recoil, while the .300 produced about 21lb. Rule of thumb is that anything over 20 is uncomfortable for most people. I plan to shoot paper a lot more than animals, and sitting down behind a gun with the intent to fire more than a couple rounds means recoil factors in.

Just my personal experience with research. As others have stated, anything in the 6.5-7mm range would give superior ballistics with less recoil for punching paper at long range. If you were shooting teeth, claws, and horns, the extra thump of th .300s and up would be reassuring, though.

The 6.5x55 SE will do everything you want.

I have a 6.5-06 that's pushing a 140 berger hybrid at 3005 fps. This thing is a laser! It doesn't just buck the wind, it slices through it. You can also visibly watch your hits through the scope at 500 yds+. The recoil is light but the business end is very serious.

My LR guru is on his way back from the 2015 Emerald Games and Creedmoor Cup matches at Tullamore, Ireland.
I note from the Emerald Game results that the high score at 1200 yards in F-Open with some worm burner round was one V better than in F-T/R with a .308; 68-4 vs 68-3.

If you're only shooting paper I think you'd do well with any of the 6.5mm calibers. I shoot the .260 Rem personally, and I don't feel like I'm at a disadvantage at matches against guys who are shooting .300 Win Mags. In fact, I beat every shooter with that caliber at the last match I shot.

If you really intend to be beyond 1000 yards most of the time, you might look to the .338 Lapua, etc. But, if you plan to shoot in the 500-1200 yard range most of the time I don't think you'd have any problem with the 6.5 family. I've shot mine with good results to 1,250 yards, and haven't gone further because I haven't had the chance to get anywhere where I could shoot further.

Also, the 6.5 family is generally cheaper to shoot and less punishing on the shooter than the .300 WM. Obviously if you're planning to shoot living things at ranges beyond 1,000 yards you should start looking into calibers like the .338 LM. But, that isn't the game most folks are involved in.

farmerboy78 said:

I have a 6.5-06 that's pushing a 140 berger hybrid at 3005 fps. This thing is a laser! It doesn't just buck the wind, it slices through it. You can also visibly watch your hits through the scope at 500 yds+. The recoil is light but the business end is very serious.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I bet that thing is awesome. I'm running that bullet at 2715 fps in my gun, and it's a beautiful performer… I can't imagine it gets any worse with an extra 300 fps!

yup you can go more exotic but he 300 win has got it done for decades and you can buy a box of shells at Walmart and theres piles of long range match bullets to choose from so your about guaranteed to find something that shoots.. Theres also probably not a finer all around long range big game rifle.

otrman said:

It only took two shots to decide the 300 WM is just not for me, lol. Like Driftertank, may be if I was after something with teeth, but those steel plates are not too dangerous. Besides, I don't think there is any thing in FL that needs that much gun.

Click to expand...

Rifle weight, fit and position is going to make a big difference. I had a 300wm that I could shoot 50+ times and not be bothered by recoil. I have a hunting weight 300wm that is not pleasant to shoot more than a few times. If you're experienced and shooting a rifle with some heft to it the recoil is manageable. That said, I got rid of my precision wm and have been shooting mostly 308w and 6.5creedmoor. Long range on a long action, I'd probably lean toward a 7rm or maybe even a .284.

MtnCreek said:

Rifle weight, fit and position is going to make a big difference. I had a 300wm that I could shoot 50+ times and not be bothered by recoil. I have a hunting weight 300wm that is not pleasant to shoot more than a few times.

Click to expand...

I was shooting a new lightweight .300 Win Mag rifle last week and found it very easy to shoot (in terms of felt recoil). It's a hunting rifle weighing around 7lb without a scope and it sure likes Federal 180gr Nosler Partition ammunition. I know this will shoot consistent 0.5 moa groups with Barnes 180gr TTSX reloads given the results using factory ammunition.

MCMXI, I'm talking about belted 30 caliber cartridges that'll shoot 20-shot strings under .250 MOA at 100 yards, .400 MOA at 500 and under .600 MOA at 1000.

That aside, your 100 yard groups are very good for a hunting rifle.

Bart B. said:

MCMXI, I'm talking about belted 30 caliber cartridges that'll shoot 20-shot strings under .250 MOA at 100 yards, .400 MOA at 500 and under .600 MOA at 1000.

Click to expand...

OK ... I see what you mean. But is this more a case of recoil management rather than cartridge potential? We all know that it's easier to shoot lower recoiling rifles accurately, either due to rifle weight or cartridge energy, but are lower energy, small caliber cartridges inherently more accurate than higher energy, larger caliber magnum type cartridges? On a side note, since moving to Montana I find myself far more interested in rifle and cartridge combinations that offer sufficient accuracy (ideally less than 1 moa) and excellent terminal performance out to 600 yards. My .375 H&H Mag is my favorite hunting rifle.

Bart B. said:

That aside, your 100 yard groups are very good for a hunting rifle.

Click to expand...

I was pleased with the rifle's performance, particularly since the three groups shown are factory loads and the shooting conditions were far from ideal. I will be buying one of these rifles for sure.