Caliber selection for a 1600m+ rifle

[Purcy]

Hey guys ive been searching around for a new rifle for a while now. i was pretty set on a 300wm but everyone seemed to talk shit about them and call them 'barrel burners' and what not. So im asking what do you think a suitable caliber would be? This will be a one mile rifle.

Thankyou for your help!

 

[Roddd]

300 wm would get you there, and not hurt your wallet like a 338 LM or a 375. I think for a mile and under, the 300 is a very capable round. We have a lot of talented ELR shooters here, they'll chime in and steer you in the right direction.

 

[jakelly]

What are you trying to kill at a mile? If it is just paper and steel I would try the 6.5 SAUM

 

[LRShooter101]

FYI, there is an ELR Forum:
ELR - Beyond 1000 Yards
Chances are you might have better luck there.

That being the case, you are going to need to provide a lot more information than what you started with if you would like any kind of a logical, rational, or educated reply.

What are you shooting at that range, 2 legs, 4 legs, or paper/steel?
Factory or Custom Built Rifle?
Factory or Handloaded Ammo?
Rifle Budget?
Ammo Budget?
What Does or Does Not Matter, Barrel Life, Recoil, etc?

Not trying to discourage you, but with a lead off post like that, makes me wonder if you are aware are of the demands of ELR shooting? I have seen plenty of shooters who thought ELR shooting was going to be cool, to only quickly end up frustrated, broke, and ultimately throw in the towel.

Do you have a very strong base for precision shooting, especially for shooting at distances of 600-1,000 yards? If not, please start there, because there are no short cuts for ELR, and trying to make it successfully without a very strong foundation there is usually a recipe for failure.

Please provide some more details, and I am sure you will get plenty of help.

 

[zackm]

+1 for LRshooter101 that said i would go with a 300 win mag.

1. It is not going to break the wallet shooting it and your going to have to put a lot i mean a lot of rounds down range to to get serious about elr shooting.

2. Recoil is not bad with a muzzle brake

3. With the right load it will get to 600, 1000, 1200 and 1600 and be on target

The 338 lapua and 375's are not the gun to learn on. Get conf. At 600 and 1000 before you ever try and send rounds to 1600 and take your time and learn to reliad before getting one of the "big bores"

 

[Purcy]

sorry about that. ive shot many calibers from .22 up to .416 Barrett. My main target will be steel but its nice to have the peace of mind that i can take out one of the many deer that roam the property from a reasonable distance. I'm a little strapped for cash so I'm looking for something under 4500 (not including optics). I pretty regularly shoot one of my bud's 300s and love it to bits. Its just everyone's comments about that caliber is getting me concerned. And yes i will be reloading my own ammo.

 

[zackm]

Then i would try a 338 lapua in a sako trg, or custom from maybe hart rifle co in pa. Saw him at the great american outdoor show in harrisburg pa and he is very good custom gun maker and been around a long time doing it. He quoted me 2600 for 338 lapua with a 1/2 moa guarentee. I have a 300 win by him now that does that all day long. Leaves you plenty of money for a nice optic maybe a nightforce actar. That is just my .02 cents.

 

[rcampbell]

I don't have any experience shooting that range, but I wonder if 7mm Rem Mag would be a good choice for paper punching at that range?

 

[Masked]

I'd still go 300wm.

300wm loses it's legs at around 1500 -- IE. I wouldn't attempt to kill anything with a 300 beyond 1500...However, I have seen good shooters pound steel from 1750+.

That being said, it wasn't a windy day...Weather was on their side.

I always find that to be MORE of a challenge...IE, I also shoot 308 to 1000...But, it is what it is.

I reload for 300wm...208 Amax, Hogdon H1000, Hornady brass, CCI primers -- 2950 FPS...Very very reliable load.

Cost per round comes out to $1.25 on the first reload....Gets cheaper after that, obviously...In store, I normally find the "good stuff" for about $2-$3/round respectively.

Lapua is going to be at least $5/round but, $3ish/per relatively if you reload.

 

[ghostwriter247]

I'd have to go over the math again but I figured up 300 smks lapua bras plus powder and your under 1.35 or so with the 338 lapua round reloading

 

[zackm]

you would be correct ghostwriter247 that is about what i pay to reload my own 338 lapua. The hardest thing to swallow for the 338 lapua is buy the brass to start at almost 3.00 each but that said buying the lapua brass is well worth it. if you take care of it it will make it worth your while to use it you will get a lot of reloads from it i am on 4x for some of mine and no issues.

masked I like the 308 at 1000 also nice to see someone is in my camp on that. i use mine for punching paper and ringing steel at 1000 yards. i use berger 175 gr vlds and 178 gr hornady a-max and both are sonic past the 1000 yard mark.

back to this thread though. i think the 300 win mag would be a good choice also. i am currently working a load for my dads 300 win mag to shoot 1675 yards. that is as far as i can shoot right now. we have a 210 gr berger load that shows promise and as soon as i can find some the 230 gr bergers look to show some promise at the elr stuff.

 

[ghostwriter247]

Just my two cents so take it for what it's worth. I think under 1500 yards the 300 wins just for economy. Of course that being said it seems to depend on the cache of saying 338 lapua. I'm gonna go with a 338 just because I have delusions of shooting at a mile someday but really for me, I just want the 338 more

 

[John1911.com]

I'm not a ELR guy. But I am looking at this as a "someday", and after much thought, I decided on 300WM for me. At least to start.

It's not just what the 300WM can do at longer ranges, trigger time is trigger time, and 300WM makes more sense from 600-out to 1500ish. Even working on fundamentals at 100 for a tune-up. 300WM makes MUCH more sense.

Or let me put it in a ecological perspective. For me, I live in the shorter ranges. Even stretching out, I'm not doing 90% of my shooting at 1500yds. I would be doing some small subset: 10%? 15%? Let's get crazy and say I am getting 30-40% of my shooting out at those ranges. An extreme exaggeration. That equals 60-70% of my shooting will be in closer than that. Probably much closer.

if I lived on a 2000yd or 1 mile range, maybe my perspectives would be different. But I suspect the OP is much like me: looking at stretching out there and visiting once in a while. Not pitch a tent and live beyond 1500 yds.

I don't know, but I've been told some of the newer 300WM bullets are even getting to lower 338 performances. Again, I don't know. I'm not an ELR guy.

I also can't help but notice, I seem to see NICE 338LM rifles posted in the forsake (I mean for sale) section quite a bit. And it's usually not, "I've got 2 or 3 of these and need to let one go". I think the average shooter is over-gunned when they buy 338 and get's tired of all the extra-mojo.

My qualification to post here is my lack of qualification. My advice is worth what you paid for it.

TTR

 

[Straight Shooter]

A one mile rifle? In my opinion it's best to try to get there while still supersonic. You will have to drive the heaviest Bergers in 7mm and 308 pretty hard to get there. For me a long barrel 338 Lapua is about the minimum price of admission to this club. This is just to plink steel and paper. If you want to hunt at a mile the Chey Tac case in 338 and 375 is the current trend for the ELR crowd. The shorter the time of flight the less chance of environmental conditions pushing you off target. Then a scope with at least 65 MOA available above a 100 yard zero will be needed.

$4500 will get a rifle like this in style and get change.

 

[Purcy]

Thanks guys all been so helpful!! With all that being said it seems like the 300wm is the right choice for me. I would love to own a 338lm but being an Australian citizen reloading costs way too much. Thankyou for all your help

 

[inferno218]

Good call with the 300wm. Some of the numbers you can get out of the 215 and 230 Bergers are very impressive.