Thread: Calibre, Rifle & Scope Sugestions For Longer Range Hunting

As @kiwi303 said, your going to get alot of different opinions, none that are necessarily wrong but everyone has their own idea of whats best/what works for them. My thoughts are, projectile choice is equally as important as calibre. At 500m a 6.5prc with a good projectile could easily out do a magnum 30 cal with the wrong projectile. Reloading for yourself obviously negates this problem as you can load whatever you want to do the intended job within reason, but if your not wanting to reload going forward then the availability of factory ammunition thats loaded with projectiles suitable for the kind of hunting your wanting to do should weigh heavily on calibre choice. No use buying a rifle you cant find ammo for, or can find ammo for but its loaded with projectiles not really suitable for game.
@dannyb 's 30-06ai would be a great option, especially seeing hes already got a great load sorted for it/offered to load more for you/teach you, with a proven bullet that works great on game, and it will have plenty of juice to knock over any animal you could find in nz at 500m.

For what its worth, i run a element nexus on my 300wsm for long distance stuff and i rate it highly. No doubt theres better scopes out there, but value for money i rate it highly.