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

Originally Posted by Jus

Depends if you are an experienced shooter or not as to what caliber. As far as light weight goes, a large caliber that has good ballistics for extended ranges is going to kick, the lighter the rifle the harder it is to shoot it consistently. 7mm would be range to look at, milder recoil than the fat 30 cals that need a heap of powder to be ballistically efficient (without a heap of wind deflection and scope that has enough moa adjustment for a slow fat pill will be heavy) 7rem mag wants a longer barrel, as do most magnums. A 270 would be a good bet, killing energy out to 700m, plenty of ammunition around, nearly 100 years old and nothing in nz will walk away from it if you do you part, milder recoil then a magnum too

I have a couple of 270's here and would love to know what load will have 'killing energy out to 700m' ??

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

I have a couple of 270's here and would love to know what load will have 'killing energy out to 700m' ??

I do find it interesting how quick people are to bag out a creedmoor but will stand by a .270 as being a great "stop anything in its tracks" cartridge. Not having a go at the old .270 by any means but the 6.5 creedmoor really isnt far behind & it does it more efficiently with less powder. 6.5 creed will shove a 143gr ELDX at 2850fps give or take, a .270 will go around 100fps faster on average with a 145gr ELDX but its a less efficient bullet so by 500 yards they both end up with basically the same energy and speed, with less recoil and burning over 10 grains less powder.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

I have a couple of 270's here and would love to know what load will have 'killing energy out to 700m' ??

Yeah none because a .270 is NOT a LR rifle . Full stop.

One thing I don't think has been mentioned yet is get something with good barrel life and high component availability, anyone can shoot 500 but to do it consistently in every condition you'll come across takes lots of practice.
You don't want a barrel shot out to soon.

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Get closer.....?

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Originally Posted by Nathan F

Yeah none because a .270 is NOT a LR rifle . Full stop.

Agreed. A 270, like all the other non magnum loadings is really only a 400 metre rifle max imo

Originally Posted by 6.5 CRD

I do find it interesting how quick people are to bag out a creedmoor but will stand by a .270 as being a great "stop anything in its tracks" cartridge. Not having a go at the old .270 by any means but the 6.5 creedmoor really isnt far behind & it does it more efficiently with less powder. 6.5 creed will shove a 143gr ELDX at 2850fps give or take, a .270 will go around 100fps faster on average with a 145gr ELDX but its a less efficient bullet so by 500 yards they both end up with basically the same energy and speed, with less recoil and burning over 10 grains less powder.

That is all completely true, but neither is a 500 yard cartridge. At even 400 (metres) energy and velocity have dropped so that the wound channel is not that big in diameter, so combined with the fact that bullets are going to hit further away from aim point as groups open up with distance it is not too hard to end up with a hit animal running off. The advantage will still be to the 270 because of the larger diameter pill even if energy is the same.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

That is all completely true, but neither is a 500 yard cartridge. At even 400 (metres) energy and velocity have dropped so that the wound channel is not that big in diameter, so combined with the fact that bullets are going to hit further away from aim point as groups open up with distance it is not too hard to end up with a hit animal running off. The advantage will still be to the 270 because of the larger diameter pill even if energy is the same.

Agreed, even though i have successfully shot deer at over 500m with my creedmoor, i certainly wouldnt recommend it, just because it can doesnt mean its a good idea or the right tool for the job.

I would have to imagine the wound channel difference between a creedmoor (.264) & .270 to be pretty minimal?

7mm magnum or 300wm would in a stainless Tikka would be my pick.
Yes there are new fancy cartridges that will do it marginally better, but the trade-off of is higher ammo cost, ammo/brass availability, and less rifle choices available chambered in fancy new cartridges.

Get a 20inch suppressed 7saum or something similar with a vx6 on top, kill anything from 10 to 1000m and call it a day.
You'll soon get sick of long barreled, loud ass obnoxious bang sticks sticks with muzzle brakes after a while. Especially if you get right into it and start doing a heap of it.
Just remember they all run with a guts full of lead at 50ms or 500ms , it's all about the nut behind the butt....

Have you taken a look at Nathan Foster's Ballistic Studies page? He's done a lot of research and it's all there for uou to read.
Or just get a 7mm saum and end the search hahaha ��

@SDP , have you been able to work out what might suit from the thread?
The problem with your question is there’s a lot more info needed about yourself, shooting skills, experience, recoil tolerance etc ….and too many options. You’ve filled in some parts, like you don’t reload. So that narrows the options down to calibres where there’s supply of SUITABLE factory ammo for longer range shooting (on animals). Need high BC frangible pills.
If you are new to hunting & shooting and don’t have a lot of experience I would advise you to park any expectations of shooting game at +500 yards at this point. Buy a non magnum caliber 708, 308, 6.5 or larger 3006/280/270 family. Plenty of these come up for sale 2nd hand at very reasonable prices. All are capable of taking deer at 300-400 yards, and in the hands of experienced capable hunter 500 yds is possible. And most are compatible with short, light rig that makes life easier in getting thru the scrub and around the hills.
Buy a decent suppressor, and save your coin for really good optics (VX6 3-18, or VX5 3-15x44, or similar Zeiss, Swaro, etc). This scope can be moved to your next bigger rifle when you’re ready for that step. Invest in reloading set up and learn to reload. Spend plenty of time in the hills learning to get best out of this rifle and hone your hunting/shooting skills.
Then you’ll be well placed to look at more specialised calibres and set ups. As @Pongo12 and others above have stated big, heavy long barrelled rifles might provide optimum long range potential but are pain in butt dragging thru bush, let alone monkey scrub. And you’ll probably still shoot most animals at sub 300 yards anyway.

Good points @chainsaw
I remember when 300yards was a long shot for me. It took a fair amount of fine tuning to become consistent at that range. Then to get out to further ranges took even longer.
Can't bet time on the hill. It's not just about how far you can shoot.