Which part? Knowing your rifle, taking your time, and making a good shot? I'll agree, not everyone should do it, myself included.
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Elk rifle
- Thread starter cecil30-30
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Pretty much the wind variables at those distances I would think, especially with a lighter bullet. That's a poke with any caliber IMO.
I got my 300wm in the hopes of hunting a elk some day, I love a 243 but I know what I want to happen when I hit the trigger. I can kill 1 close with my 22 mag but not legal or ethical, also I'm old and can't track for miles, a head shot is drt with anything if your close but with the 300wm I take a lot of the hope and praying out of the thoughts when I shoot. Biggest hurdle is hit where you should and I don't take tv show shots on purpose, heart/lungs for me,
Yep, it's a science to some for sure, but wind still isn't totally predictable, otherwise those guys would hit the X ring at 1000 every time. The high end target competition guys that is.
Good for them!I'm going to stick with the heavier bullets to take up the slack for my less than stellar marksmanship abilities.
But consider.... if you shoot a lighter caliber, with a better bullet, you'd practice more. You practice more, you'd be a better & more confident shot & no amount of bullet weight makes up for poor shot placement.
Creek bottoms
Well-Known Member
I absolutely agree with the principals of marksmanship. As the old author, Robert Ruark wrote, 'Use Enough Gun'.
That's down to the performance of the bullet, both at cutting through the air & how the the bullet actually performs in tissue.I'm sure there are, but at what distances? As Daniel said earlier, the larger caliber gives you an edge with the heavier bullets stabilizing at longer distances, and you also have the added benefit of the shock still at those distances. I'd just rather be prepared for a longer shot if it presented, and not worry at all about having enough ummph to reach out there and maintain the terminal performance.To each their own I suppose.
High BC bullets bucks the wind better. A 77gr .224 bullet drifts far less than a 165gr .308 bullet.
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Indeed. I shot my 300 WinMag a lot early on while load developing, but when I got the 6.5 creedmoor I pretty much stopped and started load development for it. Now I've stopped all centerfire shooting and have only been involved in .22 LR match shooting for the past couple of years. But if I ever get the chance to go out West on a hunt I'll still make sure I'm proficient with the WinMag, and likely take my 300 WSM as the backup.
They make .308 high bc bullets too tho to compare apples to apples I would think. And on a side note I've shot some nice sub 1/2 MOA groups at 1000 with my WinMag, using 180 gr NAB's and NBTs,(hunting low BC) it's just that the load I was shooting doesn't have the terminal performance to attempt a shot at an animal that distance. I was actually surprised at how well they performed.
Indeed. I shot my 300 WinMag a lot early on while load developing, but when I got the 6.5 creedmoor I pretty much stopped and started load development for it. Now I've stopped all centerfire shooting and have only been involved in .22 LR match shooting for the past couple of years. But if I ever get the chance to go out West on a hunt I'll still make sure I'm proficient with the WinMag, and likely take my 300 WSM as the backup.
Proficient, that's the key.
Too many guys shoot a magnum because they think it will make up for poor shooting and knowledge, same thing with guys shooting heavy bullets. I'd rather someone use less gun that they know and are deadly with than buy more horsepower and hope it works.
I work with a guy that's shot 5 elk with a 7rem mag and he has recovered 0 elk. He was just amazed that they didn't drop because he's shooting a magnum.
His uncle has shot 19 elk with a 280 Rem and a 7mm08. He has recovered 19 elk. He gets made fun of by his nephews because he won't shoot a magnum, lol.
Yep, it really does come back to shot placement nearly every time. 
people kill elk with bows and arrows every year as well. 
people kill elk with bows and arrows every year as well.
They do make some awesome high BC .308s.
To compare 'apples to apples', look how much they weigh. Look how much extra recoil you have to deal with. Look how much they cost. Look how much powder you have to burn. Look at the total cost in being able to shoot 1000 of them a year.
Also look at how big those groups would be if you were shooting off the bench & actually in a hunting situation.
More evidence that bigger isn't better......
And more evidence that someone may need to practice a little more lol lighter recoil or not. hip shots, not cool.
hip shots, not cool.
I agree with the principle of shooting what you're comfortable shooting and are proficient with. That's going to be different for different people.
To keep up the performance you'd have to go heavier. Push a 210-220 in that 300wm and the recoil goes up substantially. That's why the high bc 6.5 bullets became so popular. Think we had that conversation the day we shoot at mountain top when you were wearing us out with your creedmoor, and I was wearing my shoulder out with a 300wm
