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March Madness: The Sweet 16 of Long-Range Deer Cartridges
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March 08, 2013
March Madness: The Sweet 16 of Long-Range Deer Cartridges
By Dave Hurteau
I’ve heard a rumor that there is a big basketball tournament going on, but I can’t say for sure. What I do know is that March means the Sweet 16 of Deer Something, and this year that something is long-range cartridges for our favorite medium-size cervids.
While I have done enough open-country hunting to have an opinion here (go .257 Weatherby!), I am mostly a big-woods guy and, in any case, don’t have nearly the technical knowledge or experience in this field that well-known gun writer Layne Simpson does. And so, for that reason—and to give you guys someone else to hammer on for a change—I asked him to choose and seed the contenders, in two Divisions.
To better define the category, Simpson writes:
Long-range deer cartridges are what southern beanfield rifles are chambered for; same goes for rifles used to bump off whitetails standing at the far ends of Texas senderos; or for shooting big whitetails and mule deer across sagebrush flats in Wyoming and Montana. These cartridges are capable of reaching across vast, wind-swept fields in Alberta to tag whitetails weighing 300 pounds and up and even heavier trophy mulies, and they're ideal for shooting Coues deer in Old Mexico at distances that take your breath away. In other words, not exactly .35 Remington country.
Got it. Okay. Simpson’s seeded selections are listed and explained below in two Divisions. Now let’s get started. Check out the bracket above (you can click here to print out a copy if you want to fill it out by hand). Then vote for your preferred long-range deer cartridge in each matchup below to begin the first round of play for Division I. We'll follow up with Division II, then move on the Elite Eight, Final Four, and finally the F&S Long-Range Deer Cartridge Championship.
Division 1
[1] 7mm Remington Magnum: Introduced in 1962 in Remington’s best-selling Model 700 rifle, it has become America’s favorite magnum cartridge. Those who use it on long-range deer understand why.
[2] 6.5-284 Norma: Once used mostly by 1,000-yard target shooters, this old American wildcat turned Finnish factory cartridge is now being discovered by hunters who appreciate its qualities.
[3] .30-06: Often described as America’s most useful big-game cartridge, this accurate old warhorse shoots flat enough and hits hard enough with a level of recoil easily tolerated by most hunters. It will never die.
[4] .257 Weatherby Magnum: The favorite cartridge of Roy Weatherby, who used it to kill a Cape buffalo just to prove it could be done. Works even better on deer and shoots banjo string flat, to boot.
[5] .257 Roberts: This light-kicking cartridge is named for Ned Roberts. In today’s +P loadings it is more effective on deer than it was when he created it back in the 1920s by necking down a 7x57mm Mauser case.
[6] .243 Winchester: Based on ammunition sales in 2011, the .243 Winchester was the most popular big-game medicine at Federal Cartridge. So many happy deer hunters cannot all be wrong.
[7] .25-06 Remington: When creating this one back in the 1920s, Adolph Niedner called it the .25 High Power Special. Its 120-grain bullet at 3000 fps defies gravity and turns a distant deer every way but loose.
[8] .260 Remington: Mild-kicking, quick-acting poison on deer, the .260 suffers from neglect simply because America’s hunters have never taken a serious liking to bullets measuring .264 inch in diameter.
Division 2
[1] .300 Winchester Magnum: Three out of five doctors recommend the .300 Winchester Magnum for shooting deer at long range. And plenty of Alberta outfitters who specialize in big whitetails and mule deer agree with the prescription.
[2] .264 Winchester Magnum: Winchester’s full-page advertisements in 1958 said the new cartridge “Makes a helluva noise and packs a helluva punch.” It still does and like most magnums it is at its best in a 26-inch barrel.
[3] 7mm STW: Push a 140-grain bullet to 3400 fps, zero it three inches high at 100 yards and it strikes below point of aim a mere half the body depth of a deer at 400 yards where it delivers over 2000 ft-lbs of punch. Enough said.
[4] .270 WSM: A bit faster than the .270 Winchester, this cartridge is a great choice for the deer hunter who absolutely must have a magnum cartridge short enough to squeeze into a short-action rifle.
[5] .270 Winchester: The cartridge that Jack O’Connor built continues to offer excellent accuracy, a flat trajectory, plenty of downrange energy and a level of recoil easily managed by most hunters. Long live the .270.
[6] .280 Remington: Developed by Remington back in the 1950s for the company’s Model 740 autoloader, the .280 has become a favorite in bolt-action rifles. Try it and you will see why.
[7] .308 Winchester: Originally created for war, the .308 is now extremely popular among hunters. It is accurate, it doesn’t kick too hard, it kills deer dead enough, and many different rifles are chambered for it.
[8] 7mm-08 Remington: A necked-down .308 Winchester, the “Seven-O-Eight” can be just as accurate. It also kicks lighter and kills deer just as dead, making it a wise choice in any short-action rifle.
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Comments (48)
WHAT NO .284 WIN?!?!? I consider it a much more effective long range deer round than both the .243 and .260
No 300WSM, mine will reach out and touch something, just like the old AT&T ad.
I think I'll go out and burn a few 25-06 rounds, now that you got me thinking about this! Nice sunny still day hereabouts.
I bought a 30-06 as the successor to my .243 last fall, so I'm really torn on who to vote for. Every deer I shot dropped in it's tracks with the .243 but I did not get one with my rifle last season. What to choose...
Nice curveball in the usual deer cartridge matchup. Out west here, my favorite deer cartridge is a far cry from my long-range favorite. If you are looking for the diminutive coues in the Chiricahuas, you often need something capable of crossing canyons and connecting 500-600yards away. Fast cartridges with long, heavy bullets rule this arena, where doping the wind is very difficult, at best.
Simpson makes the brackets and the 7mmSTW is included. What an odd coincidence.
Seriously though there are some great calibers in here, I own some and want to own most of the others. I'm guessing the .257 is going to win this years bracket, with the 6.5 and 270 shorty close behind.
Proverbs this is why I had the .284 WIN comment. It has dropped coues deer in their tracks well past at 500+ yards a few times and Eastern's out to 490.
All I can say is that I am way more interested in the winner of this than the basketball tournament.
The ultimate long range hunting cartridge is the weatherby .30-378.
Where is the ole' 30-30...? !
Bud, this is between the long-range cartridges.
Apparently, a lot of the voters are more willing than I am to blow their whole allowance on powder. I have an old Remington 700 ADL Deluxe, in .243, that one of my uncles anchored 28 whitetails with, out to 500 yards. My wife used that rifle this year and tried to blame it when she missed a buck at 75 yards, nobody bought it. I have, also, killed several deer with a .308 chambered Encore pistol. None of them went very far after being hit. Most of my whitetails (well over 20) have been killed with a Contender pistol chambered in .357 Rem. Max. The longest kill, with that pistol, was over 300 yards. This fall I, finally, got to kill a whitetail with my Hart Rifle Barrels warmed over 700 in .280 Rem. 100 yard frontal chest shot. dropped where it stood. May be my new favorite rifle, unless the the sun is shining, then, it's still my Manlicher stocked, custom barreled 722 in .257 Roberts, that shoots under MOA with factory ammo.
Wow, I'm amazed that the wildcard .25-06 is whooping on the 6.5-284 Norma! I really like the .25-06, but looking at the 6.5's f class record, it should definitely be a winner in this "match".
The long range daddy of them all is missing .... .300 Roy!
There's is one thing for sure - the best bullet/caliber is just like the best boat - they are both plentiful with compromise.
However, the greatest single factor for the rifleman is confidence, because it's not WHAT you shoot that matters - moreover, it is where you hit.
My personal best was Remington's early-1960s offering - the 6.5mm Rem Mag. I took ants, whitetail, mulies, and groundhogs (87 gr. BTHP). The rifle I had shot most loads well within 0.75" at 100 yards.
I came up through the .270 Win trying to emulate what Jack O'Connor accomplished. And took more deer, ants, and elk.
The magnum mentality took over a few decades ago, and I tried the .300 Win Mag without too much success - lost confidence I guess.
Downgraded to the .308 Win and a 7mm-08, and renewed what had apparently been lost in terms of confidence with two respectable whitetails.
I'm now working with a new (bottom of the line) Rem 700 in 7mm STW (don't ask me why) but I guess because a friend out west built a high-end 7mm Rem Mag that was deadly at a half-mile. So far, I'm building mine on-the-cheap, and with less than 10-rounds fired so far, it's potential appears to be well under the MOA threshold at 100 yards with factory ammo.
My two sons have benefitted from my cast-offs, and continue to take large game as their time permits. The youngest bagged a very nice 6-pt whitetail with a neck shot at nearly 200 yards...when he was 10 years old. Nearly 20 years later, it remains his favorite rifle. I guess he just has confidence in what that Rem Mod 7 can do?
Soooooooo, where's the ballet for Div 2????????????????????? We can be trusted with more than one at a time.
If we're wondering about long distance rounds for deer where is the .338 or .338 Lapua? The only Short Mag you could come up with is the .270?? Really? No Ultras? I'm looking at this list and thinking that shooting "distance" in the lower 48 is not the same as shooting "distance" in Alaska. Maybe a couple of these cartridge tournaments might be called for with the winners of each in a "shoot" out so to speak? Maybe one for the Short & Ultra mags. One for some of the Larger Calibers above the .300. And this one might go the distance a bit better. You could choose the first an second from each and have a finale!
the .308 win is a great bullet...too bad they are impossible to find! thanks obama
Although I've never owned or even fired some of these calibers, I voted with the majority in every case! :-)
Guess reading alot is worth something....
My first choice: 7 m/m Rem. Mag. in a Ruger 77.
Second: .308 Win., currently in a Savage 99 rifle.
Did someone say .30-30.
Ah! .35 Remington.
Give me a .270 wsm and I'll be deaf to anyone's argument! That being said, I just bought a 7mm wsm to try this fall.
If I am looking for a long range deer cartridge I want something that shoots really flat and hits hard. It is tough to find a better combination of the two than the 257 weatherby. I'm not a huge quarter bore fan and prefer .284 caliber but have seen what the WBYs can do out to FAR! Because of it's laser like bullet flight I think the 257 Wby wins round one.
If you are looking for a rifle that shoots nearly as flat but hits a fair amount harder that look no further than the 7mm stw. Its sends a 140 gr bullet almost as fast and has about 400lbs more kinetic energy. I think the 7mm stw will win the second round and deserves to win the entire comp. like i said I am a .284 fan!
Dave--do we really think the 30-06 is NOT going to make it to the Final Four? Come on, man!
Where did the 300 Wby Mag go? Hellooooooooooooo?
In my humble opinion, nearly any suitable bullet from a rifle you listed will do the job, if we do ours.
When I was 14 my dad bought me a left handed bolt action Remington 6mm. A great caliber that shoots flat and takes deer down at 600 hundred yards consistently. 30 years later I am looking for a new long range rifle just to expand my collection and see if there is something even better. Interested in the outcome of the march madness.
25-06 is a great round. 120g Sierra HPBT drops them where they stand. No tracking with very little meat lost. I like that. Found the 7mm Mag will drop them where they stand also but you loose too much meat.
Msgt-k, those 120 gr sierras sure do the trick in my 25-06. I push them with H4831 and they are really accurate out to 300 yds. I don't dare shoot at anything living beyond that range, but I'm confident that those rounds will perform great at a further poke.
My hunting buddy and I just built 6.5 WSM rifles. Remington 700 mag actions, Brux barrel 30", Holy cow, they shoot really good and not nearly as much recoil as the "big magnums"! 142 gr SMK runs at 3400fps and the 107gr rip it at 3800fps. Using H1000 or RL22.
This is a fantastic long range rifle. If you can see it, you can kill it!
I hope it will become a "Standard caliber" soon.
My fav has to be myRemington sendero 300 RUM. Handloads shoot ragged holes at 100. 3400 with 150 Scirroco's. Makes 300-400 yards easy. (Not a hot summer load, btw) Beyond that here in the windy Dakotas is more than i consider in good conscience, but i am confident thecartridge/rifle are capable. Deer head sized pumpkins at 600 are fun! Nightforce scope helps.
I don't know a single person with a hunting rifle in 6.5-284. A little surprised it made the bracket. Maybe 6.5x55 should have been used instead!
i do not have experience with many of these cartridges, but for me the 7mm wsm fills the bill nicely. with heavy for caliber hunting bullets with high b.c., a good rangefinder (leica) and scope (zeiss) my factory rifle (savage) is more than accurate enough and brings enough power for any deer or elk out to 800 yards (the limit of my experience). I feel confident that this combination would do nicely at longer range but reading the wind becomes problematic much past 800. at least for me.
A couple of unsolicited comments on comments above, just my opinions:
.30-378 Wby is the long range king, but the blast and recoil requires a muzzle brake and a heavy rifle.
7mm STW is a fine round, but offers no real advantage over a 7mm Weatherby Magnum. Start barrel shopping early if you shoot one a lot.
.300 RUM is a toss-up in real performance with the .300 Weatherby.
Three of the best long range deer and elk cartridges out there have been left off the tourney: 7mm Weatherby, .270 Weatherby, and .300 Weatherby; not to mention the .300 WSM.
LOL
I guess all these amateur nimrods know more than Layne Simpson. And What the hell? Some retard actually commented about the 30-30 and another making a 500 yard kill with a .243 RIGHT!!!
There are a lot of good longrange cartridges but the field was limited to 16. This bracket could look like the NCAA tournament which is now up to like 67 teams I think.
30-06 hands down is the best round. Not even close.
A good shooting .280 remington is all a hunter needs. BUT I have at least six others if the urge hits me.
this is my kinda bracket.
OK, enough votes to call the bracket. Let's move on to Division II.
Its hard to go wrong with a .30-06 anytime when hunting deer. Its a much better deer rifle but I wouldn't start a kid out with one. I'd give the kid a .243, but other than that,.30-06 all the way when it comes to long range.( Until it meets the 7mm-08, anyway.)
Any of these cartridges will work fine for long range deer. Remember that the cartridge is one of the least important pieces of long range shooting behind an above average properly bedded barrel and a slick trigger, great scope with some type of BDC, range finder, and lots of practice. This last piece causes many long range elk shooters to opt for a 7 mm Rem Mag or 300 Win Mag. The best barrels are not cheap. Also remember that the big boys like the .30-.378 are difficult to properly seat a high BC bullet correctly and still have them fit most magazines. A custom action like a Stiller will work or even a rebarreled Ruger No. 1. Choices, choices...lots to be made if you want to shoot long range and all are important if you are to be successful.
Roger Willy K: That 6.5 WSM sounds like a nice rig. I have never seen one but have experience with 6.5 Norma and .270 WSM. I visited with Brux a few weeks ago via phone and decided that my next project will include one of their barrels. I suppose you used long Rem actions? The max I can realistically use for barrel length is 26", have managed 28 as I have to put the gun on a horse.
HBEnfield: Quite a few westerners use the 6.5 x .284 because it is easy to hit at long distances with by most anyone. I have a sheep guide friend who owns a custom 6.5 that has been used to kill just over 100 Bighorns in about ten years. All his hunters leave their rifle in camp after they shoot his "little gun". I first had one back in the seventies, killed lots of deer with it, then a buddy bought an Oehler and I found out the 6.5 was actually less velocity than my old .270. Of course the 6.5 was built on a short Rem 700 action when it should have been on a long one. Much better bullets now than in 1975 also. Anyhow I traded it off, probably for a magnum something LOL.
Not that I'm a fan but a gentleman I learned to know thru the Beekeeper has a high opinion of the .270 WSM and the experience to back up his opinions.
David Miller is a hunter and gunsmith with vast experience and can build anything he wants. He shoots a .300 Weatherby. As I understand, his primary deer hunting is for Coues deer. He doesn't need the power to kill these deer but it does shoot flat and buck the wind better than many choices above.
This is a great idea. I hope you can keep it going! This voting among the followers of this great site is the best judgement I have seen to date. FYI, I like a 30-378 as a long range cartridge but it is way overkill for a little deer, as is the .300 Win, the .300 Roy or the .300 Dakota. I shoot the Dakota and it would deck a deer at 1000 yards but that might be further than you were thinking for long range. My 500-600 yard deer rifle is a 25-06; hundreds of inexpensive rounds for practice and one shot kills. I'm not sure I could afford to practice sufficiently with a 30-378, even if I mortgaged my house.
is there ever going to be a second round? It looks like there are pretty clear winners of the first round
007,
Beekeeper's sidekick and several more of our extended band of elk and deer hunters swear by the 270 WSM. I can't argue with their results, I just don't want to add another diameter bullet to the reloading stock.
Cheers
From the way the cartridges are paired and exhibited on the graph for us to make choices I wager that this will come down to the 7 mm and the .300 with magnumnitis prevailing again. I would like to do this sort of thing with all participants adding their favorites initially although the process would be much more lengthy. Rifle nuts are the nuttiest of the gunnuts myself included.
anyone want to tell me why the 22 long rifle shell is impossible to find now? what the hell!! i am so sick and tired of looking all over and not finding a single box of 22 shells.
Not sure what the criteria are for this but looking at the numbers for most common, commercial loads, the 270WSM is very hard to beat for a long range deer load. Good maximum point blank range. Lots of energy and velocity over 300 yards. Manageable recoil. I know the shells are expensive and can be hard to find, but should that really be considered for this competition?
Post a Comment
All I can say is that I am way more interested in the winner of this than the basketball tournament.
No 300WSM, mine will reach out and touch something, just like the old AT&T ad.
The ultimate long range hunting cartridge is the weatherby .30-378.
The long range daddy of them all is missing .... .300 Roy!
the .308 win is a great bullet...too bad they are impossible to find! thanks obama
I don't know a single person with a hunting rifle in 6.5-284. A little surprised it made the bracket. Maybe 6.5x55 should have been used instead!
A couple of unsolicited comments on comments above, just my opinions:
.30-378 Wby is the long range king, but the blast and recoil requires a muzzle brake and a heavy rifle.
7mm STW is a fine round, but offers no real advantage over a 7mm Weatherby Magnum. Start barrel shopping early if you shoot one a lot.
.300 RUM is a toss-up in real performance with the .300 Weatherby.
Three of the best long range deer and elk cartridges out there have been left off the tourney: 7mm Weatherby, .270 Weatherby, and .300 Weatherby; not to mention the .300 WSM.
30-06 hands down is the best round. Not even close.
This is a great idea. I hope you can keep it going! This voting among the followers of this great site is the best judgement I have seen to date. FYI, I like a 30-378 as a long range cartridge but it is way overkill for a little deer, as is the .300 Win, the .300 Roy or the .300 Dakota. I shoot the Dakota and it would deck a deer at 1000 yards but that might be further than you were thinking for long range. My 500-600 yard deer rifle is a 25-06; hundreds of inexpensive rounds for practice and one shot kills. I'm not sure I could afford to practice sufficiently with a 30-378, even if I mortgaged my house.
I think I'll go out and burn a few 25-06 rounds, now that you got me thinking about this! Nice sunny still day hereabouts.
I bought a 30-06 as the successor to my .243 last fall, so I'm really torn on who to vote for. Every deer I shot dropped in it's tracks with the .243 but I did not get one with my rifle last season. What to choose...
Nice curveball in the usual deer cartridge matchup. Out west here, my favorite deer cartridge is a far cry from my long-range favorite. If you are looking for the diminutive coues in the Chiricahuas, you often need something capable of crossing canyons and connecting 500-600yards away. Fast cartridges with long, heavy bullets rule this arena, where doping the wind is very difficult, at best.
Simpson makes the brackets and the 7mmSTW is included. What an odd coincidence.
Seriously though there are some great calibers in here, I own some and want to own most of the others. I'm guessing the .257 is going to win this years bracket, with the 6.5 and 270 shorty close behind.
Proverbs this is why I had the .284 WIN comment. It has dropped coues deer in their tracks well past at 500+ yards a few times and Eastern's out to 490.
Where is the ole' 30-30...? !
Apparently, a lot of the voters are more willing than I am to blow their whole allowance on powder. I have an old Remington 700 ADL Deluxe, in .243, that one of my uncles anchored 28 whitetails with, out to 500 yards. My wife used that rifle this year and tried to blame it when she missed a buck at 75 yards, nobody bought it. I have, also, killed several deer with a .308 chambered Encore pistol. None of them went very far after being hit. Most of my whitetails (well over 20) have been killed with a Contender pistol chambered in .357 Rem. Max. The longest kill, with that pistol, was over 300 yards. This fall I, finally, got to kill a whitetail with my Hart Rifle Barrels warmed over 700 in .280 Rem. 100 yard frontal chest shot. dropped where it stood. May be my new favorite rifle, unless the the sun is shining, then, it's still my Manlicher stocked, custom barreled 722 in .257 Roberts, that shoots under MOA with factory ammo.
Wow, I'm amazed that the wildcard .25-06 is whooping on the 6.5-284 Norma! I really like the .25-06, but looking at the 6.5's f class record, it should definitely be a winner in this "match".
25-06 is a great round. 120g Sierra HPBT drops them where they stand. No tracking with very little meat lost. I like that. Found the 7mm Mag will drop them where they stand also but you loose too much meat.
My hunting buddy and I just built 6.5 WSM rifles. Remington 700 mag actions, Brux barrel 30", Holy cow, they shoot really good and not nearly as much recoil as the "big magnums"! 142 gr SMK runs at 3400fps and the 107gr rip it at 3800fps. Using H1000 or RL22.
This is a fantastic long range rifle. If you can see it, you can kill it!
I hope it will become a "Standard caliber" soon.
OK, enough votes to call the bracket. Let's move on to Division II.
007,
Beekeeper's sidekick and several more of our extended band of elk and deer hunters swear by the 270 WSM. I can't argue with their results, I just don't want to add another diameter bullet to the reloading stock.
Cheers
From the way the cartridges are paired and exhibited on the graph for us to make choices I wager that this will come down to the 7 mm and the .300 with magnumnitis prevailing again. I would like to do this sort of thing with all participants adding their favorites initially although the process would be much more lengthy. Rifle nuts are the nuttiest of the gunnuts myself included.
WHAT NO .284 WIN?!?!? I consider it a much more effective long range deer round than both the .243 and .260
Bud, this is between the long-range cartridges.
There's is one thing for sure - the best bullet/caliber is just like the best boat - they are both plentiful with compromise.
However, the greatest single factor for the rifleman is confidence, because it's not WHAT you shoot that matters - moreover, it is where you hit.
My personal best was Remington's early-1960s offering - the 6.5mm Rem Mag. I took ants, whitetail, mulies, and groundhogs (87 gr. BTHP). The rifle I had shot most loads well within 0.75" at 100 yards.
I came up through the .270 Win trying to emulate what Jack O'Connor accomplished. And took more deer, ants, and elk.
The magnum mentality took over a few decades ago, and I tried the .300 Win Mag without too much success - lost confidence I guess.
Downgraded to the .308 Win and a 7mm-08, and renewed what had apparently been lost in terms of confidence with two respectable whitetails.
I'm now working with a new (bottom of the line) Rem 700 in 7mm STW (don't ask me why) but I guess because a friend out west built a high-end 7mm Rem Mag that was deadly at a half-mile. So far, I'm building mine on-the-cheap, and with less than 10-rounds fired so far, it's potential appears to be well under the MOA threshold at 100 yards with factory ammo.
My two sons have benefitted from my cast-offs, and continue to take large game as their time permits. The youngest bagged a very nice 6-pt whitetail with a neck shot at nearly 200 yards...when he was 10 years old. Nearly 20 years later, it remains his favorite rifle. I guess he just has confidence in what that Rem Mod 7 can do?
Soooooooo, where's the ballet for Div 2????????????????????? We can be trusted with more than one at a time.
Although I've never owned or even fired some of these calibers, I voted with the majority in every case! :-)
Guess reading alot is worth something....
My first choice: 7 m/m Rem. Mag. in a Ruger 77.
Second: .308 Win., currently in a Savage 99 rifle.
Give me a .270 wsm and I'll be deaf to anyone's argument! That being said, I just bought a 7mm wsm to try this fall.
If I am looking for a long range deer cartridge I want something that shoots really flat and hits hard. It is tough to find a better combination of the two than the 257 weatherby. I'm not a huge quarter bore fan and prefer .284 caliber but have seen what the WBYs can do out to FAR! Because of it's laser like bullet flight I think the 257 Wby wins round one.
If you are looking for a rifle that shoots nearly as flat but hits a fair amount harder that look no further than the 7mm stw. Its sends a 140 gr bullet almost as fast and has about 400lbs more kinetic energy. I think the 7mm stw will win the second round and deserves to win the entire comp. like i said I am a .284 fan!
Dave--do we really think the 30-06 is NOT going to make it to the Final Four? Come on, man!
Where did the 300 Wby Mag go? Hellooooooooooooo?
In my humble opinion, nearly any suitable bullet from a rifle you listed will do the job, if we do ours.
When I was 14 my dad bought me a left handed bolt action Remington 6mm. A great caliber that shoots flat and takes deer down at 600 hundred yards consistently. 30 years later I am looking for a new long range rifle just to expand my collection and see if there is something even better. Interested in the outcome of the march madness.
Msgt-k, those 120 gr sierras sure do the trick in my 25-06. I push them with H4831 and they are really accurate out to 300 yds. I don't dare shoot at anything living beyond that range, but I'm confident that those rounds will perform great at a further poke.
My fav has to be myRemington sendero 300 RUM. Handloads shoot ragged holes at 100. 3400 with 150 Scirroco's. Makes 300-400 yards easy. (Not a hot summer load, btw) Beyond that here in the windy Dakotas is more than i consider in good conscience, but i am confident thecartridge/rifle are capable. Deer head sized pumpkins at 600 are fun! Nightforce scope helps.
i do not have experience with many of these cartridges, but for me the 7mm wsm fills the bill nicely. with heavy for caliber hunting bullets with high b.c., a good rangefinder (leica) and scope (zeiss) my factory rifle (savage) is more than accurate enough and brings enough power for any deer or elk out to 800 yards (the limit of my experience). I feel confident that this combination would do nicely at longer range but reading the wind becomes problematic much past 800. at least for me.
A good shooting .280 remington is all a hunter needs. BUT I have at least six others if the urge hits me.
this is my kinda bracket.
Its hard to go wrong with a .30-06 anytime when hunting deer. Its a much better deer rifle but I wouldn't start a kid out with one. I'd give the kid a .243, but other than that,.30-06 all the way when it comes to long range.( Until it meets the 7mm-08, anyway.)
Any of these cartridges will work fine for long range deer. Remember that the cartridge is one of the least important pieces of long range shooting behind an above average properly bedded barrel and a slick trigger, great scope with some type of BDC, range finder, and lots of practice. This last piece causes many long range elk shooters to opt for a 7 mm Rem Mag or 300 Win Mag. The best barrels are not cheap. Also remember that the big boys like the .30-.378 are difficult to properly seat a high BC bullet correctly and still have them fit most magazines. A custom action like a Stiller will work or even a rebarreled Ruger No. 1. Choices, choices...lots to be made if you want to shoot long range and all are important if you are to be successful.
Roger Willy K: That 6.5 WSM sounds like a nice rig. I have never seen one but have experience with 6.5 Norma and .270 WSM. I visited with Brux a few weeks ago via phone and decided that my next project will include one of their barrels. I suppose you used long Rem actions? The max I can realistically use for barrel length is 26", have managed 28 as I have to put the gun on a horse.
HBEnfield: Quite a few westerners use the 6.5 x .284 because it is easy to hit at long distances with by most anyone. I have a sheep guide friend who owns a custom 6.5 that has been used to kill just over 100 Bighorns in about ten years. All his hunters leave their rifle in camp after they shoot his "little gun". I first had one back in the seventies, killed lots of deer with it, then a buddy bought an Oehler and I found out the 6.5 was actually less velocity than my old .270. Of course the 6.5 was built on a short Rem 700 action when it should have been on a long one. Much better bullets now than in 1975 also. Anyhow I traded it off, probably for a magnum something LOL.
Not that I'm a fan but a gentleman I learned to know thru the Beekeeper has a high opinion of the .270 WSM and the experience to back up his opinions.
David Miller is a hunter and gunsmith with vast experience and can build anything he wants. He shoots a .300 Weatherby. As I understand, his primary deer hunting is for Coues deer. He doesn't need the power to kill these deer but it does shoot flat and buck the wind better than many choices above.
is there ever going to be a second round? It looks like there are pretty clear winners of the first round
anyone want to tell me why the 22 long rifle shell is impossible to find now? what the hell!! i am so sick and tired of looking all over and not finding a single box of 22 shells.
Not sure what the criteria are for this but looking at the numbers for most common, commercial loads, the 270WSM is very hard to beat for a long range deer load. Good maximum point blank range. Lots of energy and velocity over 300 yards. Manageable recoil. I know the shells are expensive and can be hard to find, but should that really be considered for this competition?
Did someone say .30-30.
Ah! .35 Remington.
If we're wondering about long distance rounds for deer where is the .338 or .338 Lapua? The only Short Mag you could come up with is the .270?? Really? No Ultras? I'm looking at this list and thinking that shooting "distance" in the lower 48 is not the same as shooting "distance" in Alaska. Maybe a couple of these cartridge tournaments might be called for with the winners of each in a "shoot" out so to speak? Maybe one for the Short & Ultra mags. One for some of the Larger Calibers above the .300. And this one might go the distance a bit better. You could choose the first an second from each and have a finale!
LOL
I guess all these amateur nimrods know more than Layne Simpson. And What the hell? Some retard actually commented about the 30-30 and another making a 500 yard kill with a .243 RIGHT!!!
There are a lot of good longrange cartridges but the field was limited to 16. This bracket could look like the NCAA tournament which is now up to like 67 teams I think.
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