GUNS!!!!!!!!

[mcf258]

So didnt get my elk draw last year but now have preference points.

Was going to use one of buddy’s guns last year but thinking buying my own this year.

Simple bolt action galore so probably that direction but say that I wanted something semi auto with more than 3-5 mags in case we get a real Trumptard civil war but not heavy as fuck like most of the AR-10s, 30.06 or win .30,

What do you guys recommend to split the difference in functionality?


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2 other points.

My one and only elk rack was courtesey of my buddies semi-auto jamming after he shot and wounded the bull. I was able to put him down w my 30-06 bolt action while my buddy looked on helplessly.

Accuracy. Get some superior glass, practice, and reach out to 6-700yds or beyond depending on ability.

[Conundrum]

Just get a bolt action, and leave the Trumptards to themselves. I will likely always archery hunt elk here in Idaho precluding rifle elk hunts, so my choice for big game hunting was a Bergara 7mm Rem mag. Probably should have got the 6.5 Creedmore under those circumstances..........but ammo is "sometimes" more widely available for 7mm RM. It was about $700 and it cost about about $125 additional to lose the floor plate and buy mags.

Shot a cow at 226y with a 6.5CM this year. Killed it no problem but I was not impressed with the hole and damage. Had I been off target at all or longer range I don't think the outcome would be the same. Going to save the 6.5 for deer and pack my 7RM or 300WM for elk from now on.

[mcf258]

Shot a cow at 226y with a 6.5CM this year. Killed it no problem but I was not impressed with the hole and damage. Had I been off target at all or longer range I don't think the outcome would be the same. Going to save the 6.5 for deer and pack my 7RM or 300WM for elk from now on.

Exactly my point. For a deer rifle only which is the situation I'm in the 6.5 would have been fine(it's also one more round in the magazine.) For Kinnikinnick though the 7mm RM, .308, 300WM, or 30-06 is a better choice.

What ammo did you use on the cow?

[Conundrum]

ELDX 143.

[mcf258]

ELDX 143.

A quick ggl reveals that's great ammo, but probably a tad light for elk as your experience shows.

[Conundrum]

Yeah, it's an awesome shooting rifle so I was going with accuracy and knew I wouldn't be out past 200 much.

[highangle]

2 other points.

My one and only elk rack was courtesey of my buddies semi-auto jamming after he shot and wounded the bull. I was able to put him down w my 30-06 bolt action while my buddy looked on helplessly.

Accuracy. Get some superior glass, practice, and reach out to 6-700yds or beyond depending on ability.

It's fine to glass that far, but learn to hunt closer than 6-700yds unless you are on a high fence operation and only wasting your own live action targets.

And I've had a Browning since the early 90s.
It's never jammed, except for that one time in '98 I dropped it 20' out of a treestand in C1 and it landed on the butt and the impact short-shucked it...

[mcf258]

It's fine to glass that far, but learn to hunt closer than 6-700yds unless you are on a high fence operation and only wasting your own live action targets.

And I've had a Browning since the early 90s.
It's never jammed, except for that one time in '98 I dropped it 20' out of a treestand in C1 and it landed on the butt and the impact short-shucked it...

Shooting at longer ranges is an option that could play into the choice of a rifle's action. I'm not reccomending long shots for their sake or shooting beyond one's skill and ability.

[The Reverend Floater]

So didnt get my elk draw last year but now have preference points.

Was going to use one of buddy’s guns last year but thinking buying my own this year.

Simple bolt action galore so probably that direction but say that I wanted something semi auto with more than 3-5 mags in case we get a real Trumptard civil war but not heavy as fuck like most of the AR-10s, 30.06 or win .30,

What do you guys recommend to split the difference in functionality?


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Christ. If I see one more nerd hunting mule deer with an AR...Why do you want a heavy, semi automatic, magazine fed carbine for hunting big game?

If you want a hunting rifle, buy a bolt action with a nice optic. You'll gain accuracy, lose weight and have the right tool for the job.

If you want to prepare for a pretend war, buy a 5.56mm and again have the right tool for the pretend job. You'll save on ammo, feel cool, and you can bedazzle the piss out of that thing.

[The Reverend Floater]

A quick ggl reveals that's great ammo, but probably a tad light for elk as your experience shows.

I think we've discussed this here before but a 6.5CM can certainly kill elk dead, but it's simply less forgiving than a more traditional elk cartridge. 143g ELD-X is about as lethal as it's going to get.

It's personal preference and tolerance but I like knowing my .300WM is basically a power button on elk. That said, I love my 6.5CM for muleys.

[Talisman]

If you want a hunting rifle, buy a bolt action with a nice optic. You'll gain accuracy, lose weight and have the right tool for the job.

This! Please get a large enough round for the job of taking the elk down with one shot within your range of capability.

[highangle]

I think we've discussed this here before but a 6.5CM can certainly kill elk dead, but it's simply less forgiving than a more traditional elk cartridge. 143g ELD-X is about as lethal as it's going to get.

It's personal preference and tolerance but I like knowing my .300WM is basically a power button on elk. That said, I love my 6.5CM for muleys.

300 WSM is pretty sweet...
Norma Bondstrike 180gr [0.615bc] 3084fps from 24" barrel. 2.9" high @100 = hold zero on 8" target 0 to 350yds, where it's still flying >2550fps and packing >2600 ft/lbs.
@200yds, it's a touch hotter than .30-06 with 180gr Power Point at the muzzle.

[highangle]

This! Please get a large enough round for the job of taking the elk down with one shot within your range of capability.

If every state made it law that blood on the ground=punched tag, we might see more people bragging about sneakin'up on'em to get in can't-miss range than bragging about the $11000 worth of store-bought sniper technology they used to shoot at a jumping heat shimmer from the hood of the truck.

"Hunting" vs "Shooting"

[Conundrum]

I think we've discussed this here before but a 6.5CM can certainly kill elk dead, but it's simply less forgiving than a more traditional elk cartridge. 143g ELD-X is about as lethal as it's going to get.

It was discussed a few pages back. I've been hitting inch groups at 200 which is the only reason I hunted it knowing 200ish would be max distance. Next year in more open country, it will stay in the safe for elk.

[exsparky]

Don't forget how hard those bastards can be to find sometimes after you shoot them even at short ranges.

Increasing that distance isn't needed.



I dropped him next to.... not a god damn thing but waist high brush... and its getting dark.

[The Reverend Floater]

It was discussed a few pages back. I've been hitting inch groups at 200 which is the only reason I hunted it knowing 200ish would be max distance. Next year in more open country, it will stay in the safe for elk.

Hey, not knocking it. Plenty of friends use a 6.5CM on elk and kill them easily. It's not that different than a .270, after all. I just like knowing I can fudge a shot with a .30 and still drop the beast.

[Conundrum]

Hey, not knocking it. Plenty of friends use a 6.5CM on elk and kill them easily. It's not that different than a .270, after all. I just like knowing I can fudge a shot with a .30 and still drop the beast.

I’m knocking it a little. It was fine but I’d prefer more margin.

[Kinnikinnick]

Christ. If I see one more nerd hunting mule deer with an AR...Why do you want a heavy, semi automatic, magazine fed carbine for hunting big game?

If you want a hunting rifle, buy a bolt action with a nice optic. You'll gain accuracy, lose weight and have the right tool for the job.

If you want to prepare for a pretend war, buy a 5.56mm and again have the right tool for the pretend job. You'll save on ammo, feel cool, and you can bedazzle the piss out of that thing.

Yeah I literally said without all that weight.

Dont want a ar15 man crutch for any reason. Besides need more long range power outside the range of all those ar 15 for when Paul Revere the 8th spreads the word that “the red hats are coming, the red hats are coming”
J/K!

The BAR would probably be my first choice as I’d like to be able to rapidly put a 2nd round downrange if I miss the mark and wound the animal.

But seems much cheaper to go Bolt action and if as suggested I should invest more into the glass.

Thanks


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[TNKen]

.338 Lapua Magnum if you need to reach out and touch something. Unfortunately, ammo is kinda pricey.

[AKPogue]

.338 Lapua Magnum if you need to reach out and touch something. Unfortunately, ammo is kinda pricey.

Kind of pricey? 🤣

[zion zig zag]

BAR
The BAR would probably be my first choice as I’d like to be able to rapidly put a 2nd round downrange if I miss the mark and wound the animal.

But seems much cheaper to go Bolt action and if as suggested I should invest more into the glass.

Thanks


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People have been making quick follow up shots on game with bolt actions forever. Hard to go wrong with a Tikka t3x stainless in common cartridge of your preference (30-06, 7mm RM, 300 wm). Pair it with a sub 16 oz, $500ish scope and you have a light, accurate mountain rifle that'll hunt any game in NA.

As far as the cartridge debate goes, I'm in the camp of erring to the side of more energy and speed and use a 7mm RM myself. But not everyone deals with recoil well, and it can affect their accuracy. After much hand wringing and consternation in this very thread, my son chose a 7mm-08 for his new rifle. And I watched him DRT an elk at 380 yards with it this fall, because at the end of the day shot placement and bullet construction matters.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Agreed. Practice firing, shucking, and firing again without dismounting the rifle. Quick follow ups are easy once you do. And yes, bullets matter more than headstamps.

[highangle]

I bought a BAR because I was living in the Deep South and hunting whitetail in the woods, usually from a climbing stand, where you can't move a step to get a clean shot and anything over 25yd usually means shooting through a hand-sized lane through the vegetation, with a high likelihood of a deflection.
Sometimes in the middle of the day, my buddies and I would meet up and do drives, usually along the edge of a cutover, to flush deer out into the big woods, as most open country in the South is not National Forest...

There's no way a bolt action can keep up with the FN BAR in those thick conditions.

And as a range toy, nothing south of 20lbs has the mild recoil of a gas-operated semiauto with a muzzle brake. Moreover, a semiauto rifle can be carried safely in C1, so a hunter can chamber a round when he starts hunting, and have a ready rifle when he first encounters game. And a box magazine is safer and more convenient to do the necessary around people than any top loader or floorplate rifle.

And the Browning BOSS is a muzzle brake that allows for control of barrel whip and allows the shooter to dial in his rifle to a given load [rather than developing a handload that shoots best in a given rifle]. Modern scientific process control is a wonder. It allows ammo factories to load extremely consistent ammo. So consistent that my BOSS BAR will print 1-hole groups @200 with round nose Power Points [no sense in paying for boattail spitzers in the woods] @ setting 5.5, and will do the same with Federal Nosler Partitions @ 5.8.

In the sagebrush, desert, tundra, or above treeline, a bolt action is really in its element and all the good things about a bolt action far outweigh the pluses of a heavy semi. But in the thick stuff where most American deer & elk & bear live, you can't beat a BAR for bringing home the bacon.

[mcf258]

I bought a BAR because I was living in the Deep South and hunting whitetail in the woods, usually from a climbing stand, where you can't move a step to get a clean shot and anything over 25yd usually means shooting through a hand-sized lane through the vegetation, with a high likelihood of a deflection.
Sometimes in the middle of the day, my buddies and I would meet up and do drives, usually along the edge of a cutover, to flush deer out into the big woods, as most open country in the South is not National Forest...

There's no way a bolt action can keep up with the FN BAR in those thick conditions.

And as a range toy, nothing south of 20lbs has the mild recoil of a gas-operated semiauto with a muzzle brake. Moreover, a semiauto rifle can be carried safely in C1, so a hunter can chamber a round when he starts hunting, and have a ready rifle when he first encounters game. And a box magazine is safer and more convenient to do the necessary around people than any top loader or floorplate rifle.

And the Browning BOSS is a muzzle brake that allows for control of barrel whip and allows the shooter to dial in his rifle to a given load [rather than developing a handload that shoots best in a given rifle]. Modern scientific process control is a wonder. It allows ammo factories to load extremely consistent ammo. So consistent that my BOSS BAR will print 1-hole groups @200 with round nose Power Points [no sense in paying for boattail spitzers in the woods] @ setting 5.5, and will do the same with Federal Nosler Partitions @ 5.8.

In the sagebrush, desert, tundra, or above treeline, a bolt action is really in its element and all the good things about a bolt action far outweigh the pluses of a heavy semi. But in the thick stuff where most American deer & elk & bear live, you can't beat a BAR for bringing home the bacon.

So it's ok for semi-auto users to put shots on game depending on follow up shots to make a kill, but those that choose effective shots at longer ranges w/in their ability should learn "to hunt closer than 6-700yds."

I know I'm an m-series, low post count jong that should keep my mouth shut but I can recognize a double standard when I see one.

[Talisman]

In the sagebrush, desert, tundra, or above treeline, a bolt action is really in its element and all the good things about a bolt action far outweigh the pluses of a heavy semi. But in the thick stuff where most American deer & elk & bear live, you can't beat a BAR for bringing home the bacon.

I don't know about where you live but in SW MT elk and mule deer can be in the timber which isn't thick compared to the Deep South, but elk and mule deer are common in open meadows and agricultural fields. One issue with taking an elk in the timber are the number blow downs that can make getting the meat out difficult even with mules. My 30-06 Browning A-bolt fills an elk tag each season with one shot, but I pass up on long crosswind shots. I know from shooting an heirloom M-1 Garand my aim gets worse with each follow up shot when quickly squeezing off shots, but a BAR with a muzzle brake may help me.