Gun Suggestions

CPiper

Senior Member
7x57 said:
I hate sounding like a broken record but If you haven't practiced it don't try it on game! If you are saying that you have never attempted a shot on game at that distance but you have practiced it - that is one thing. However, if you haven't practiced it - don't start off by shooting at game or you are setting yourself up for a miserable experience.

How would you even know where to shoot? Too many people buy a new rifle, get it bore sighted and fire a half a box of ammo at 100 yards and think they are suddenly set up to make a 300+ yard shot. Often times you will find out that ballistic charts are not accurate and what you thought would put you dead on at 200 yards really has you 3 inches low. The margin of error compounds as the range gets further.

EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!! THATS what Im trying to communicate; and IF someone is "boneheaded" enough to do it, why not do it with a .300 or 7mmMag, FOR THE DEER's SAKE!!
:whip: ::ke:
 

duckbill

Senior Member
Delton said:
What people don't realize is, just how how fast a bullet will drop past a certain range.

What's hitting 1.5" high at 100, could be 18" low at 400... or more.

Another thing people don't realize is that something as minute as your heartbeat can throw a bullet WAY off at 400 yds.
 

Bucky T

GONetwork Member
They do start nose diving after a certain point. The reason I said 200yds is that most ballistic charts base their information on standard calibres at 1 1/2" high at 100, which will basically put a standard deer round on zero at 200yds, give or take a little.

7X57,

Correct me if I'm wrong on this, you seem to be the Woody's authority on ballistics and shooting!

Tommy
 

duckbill

Senior Member
Thomas Lackey said:
7X57,

Correct me if I'm wrong on this, you seem to be the Woody's authority on ballistics and shooting!

Tommy


Not really! He just stays at a Holiday Inn Express a lot! :rofl: :rofl: ::ke:
 

Buzz

Senior Member
I know a few things about ballistics. ;)

Click on http://209.118.73.200/WebBallistics/ to see a ballistics program I've written. Over the years it's gone from Basic, to VB, to VC++, Java, and now ASP.Net using C#.

It's written to favor Internet Explorer and the graphs won't work properly with Firefox. Play around with the "Compare External Ballistics" feature and put your favorite cartridges against each other. You can look up the Ballistic Coefficents at Hornady, Sierra Bullets, Nosler, Barnes, Speer, etc.
 

BIGGUS

GONetwork Member
25-06 REM. But he'd have to be a whopper! :shoot:
 

CPiper

Senior Member
I may be takin a whack in the dark here, but .....

When folks say "GUN" what do they mean?
Gun as in maker and model OR Caliber?

The gun maker is not as important as the caliber and what type of bullet you use for the game you are after.
And shot placement is even more important then the make and caliber.
And again, the broken record, hunters get all wrapped up in the make, model and caliber and give optics and marksmanship 3rd or 4th level consideration.

A person can buy a Jarrett .300 for $10000.00 and put a $2500 scope on it and still not be able to hit nuttin.
Having enough range time to become extremely proficiant and intimate with your weapon is of paramont importance if your going to be taking 200+ yard shots on a regular basis. :hammers: :hammers: :hammers:
 

GT-40 GUY

Gone But Not Forgotten
As for which cal. to use any of the above mentioned will be a good choice. What I would do is call Canjar triggers in Colorado ( i think ) and find out what actions they make their single set trigger for. Then pick the rifle and cal. you like. The Canjar has a pin in the trigger that when is not used adjusts 1 lb. to 3lb. When the pin in the center of the trigger is pushed forward the trigger releases at about 2 ounces. I have 2 of them and love them. Then I would findout which load and bullet weight that would shoot the most accurate and have enough weight ( example = 150 gr. for 3006 ). for long range. when I have the bullet I have finally chozen I would call Shepard scopes and see what they have to match your trajectory. Their range finding scopes are faster than Nightforce scopes from what I have been told by guys that have both. They seem to like the Shepard better. You don't even need a range finder. When you have this combination you should be confident beyond 450 yds. once you learn to read the wind ( heat waves ).
Joe
PS: If High Power shooters can hit 10" pie plates time after time with an M-16 using open sights at 600 yds. shooting prone you should beable to do it with a good bolt action.
 
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Booner Killa

Senior Member
I'll second that on the optics. If you were to top a custom made rifle that cost you 5-10000 dollars with a lousy piece of glass, that would be like having the fastest horse in the Kentucky derby and having a 300lbs jockey. It makes a whole bunch of sense.
 

Lead Poison

Senior Member
Before getting the rifle and scope.....

You'd better buy the highest quality range finder on the market and be VERY proficient in its use.

At 450 yards, the drop of ALL hunting cartridges starts to fall in a hurry. Even the big belted magnums start falling to the point where KNOWING the range is CRITICAL.

Out to 300 yards, all the standard hunting cartridges are more than adequate, provided you're proficient with them and KNOW the true range of your target.

I personally believe that you'd be better off getting a standard hunting caliber (270-280-30-06), pratice until you're very proficient and limit your shots to not over 300 yards.

Just my two cents. :shoot:
 

GT-40 GUY

Gone But Not Forgotten
Hey Lead Poison,

I always clean my bullets before I go hunting so the game does not die of lead poison. A little off topic, but I couldn't resist.
 

GT-40 GUY

Gone But Not Forgotten
Lead Poison,
What you are suggesting is a good idea, but if you don't practice at every 50 yds. out at those long ranges and keep records with you to adjust your holdover or clicks on your scope you could miss a deer at 400 yds. You ought to check out the Shepard scopes. The range finding rectical is set for the trajectory of your particular cartrage that you will have to always use for it to work correctly. It has different size circles that are the hight from the bottom of the chest to the top of the back. You can get them for deer or elk and other game I think. Put the circle that fits the chest size and the bullet will drop right in the middle of the circle if there is no wind and you can squeeze it off correctly. Then you need to read the heat waves to judge the wind. When shooting Highpower using an AR-15 .223 and having accurate reloads with .80 grain bullets a 25 mph wind from right to left will make that .80 grain bullet move 65 inches at 600 yards.
 
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Lead Poison

Senior Member
GT-40 Guy, you're absolutely right. My comment about the range finder was tongue in cheek. :cheers:

My point was, I definitely don't recommend shooting deer at those distances. I personally believe that due to the ballistics of the typical deer cartridges, shots should really be limited to no more than about 300 yards.

If you keep shots within 300 yards, the classic deer cartridges like the 270-280-30-06 are more than flat enough and most people can shoot them better than a hard kicking magnum.

On the other hand, at ranges well beyond 300 yards, like those mentioned in the 400-450 range, not even the big belted magnums are going to help you enough to take shots that far away. That's why I really don't see a huge advantage in choosing a big magnum.

If the person wants to shoot those distances and does a lot of shooting with a capable rifle, a quality range finding scope like the Shepard will definitely be a big benefit.

As far as lead poisoning, I assure you, those deer died from lead entering a vein or a vital organ...hence, lead poison :bounce:
 
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