maconbacon
Active member
Hello all, hoping to get some advice from all you experts on gun/cartridge choices
I’m short, I am somewhat new to rifle hunting. I have toted a 308 win the past few years and took a bull elk with it last year. It is a good gun but I am ready to step up and get something a little more advanced I guess I would say.
I am looking for a caliber suited for long range hunting (not competition, my max distance in the future would probably be 500 yards but I’m not currently comfortable at that range and keeping to 300 for now) in the mountains. So, I’m looking for something that is flat shooting, affected by cross wind minimally, and comes in a light setup since 99% of the time it’ll be dead weight on the pack. It should be able to handle up to medium to large size game (up to bull elk). I’d prefer something with low recoil so I’d like to avoid magnum loads.
Through my research, I’ve come across two calibers that intrigue me: the 6.5 PRC and 280AI. From what I can tell they are fairly similar ballistically. My main hang up on the PRC is bullet mass. Since I shoot lead free, the idea of using a 120 gr bullet on elk seems light to me. Could be totally off base, but that just seems light. I’ve found some lead free factory offerings at 140 gr for the AI which seems more comfortable to me. The downside with 280AI is there aren’t many factory rifles chambered in this that I’ve found. Same boat with the PRC, but it seems to be rising in popularity and only a few years old while the 280AI has been around a long time and may take awhile to grow if it does at all.
Anyways, what does the sage HT hive suggest? Or am I splitting hairs / analysis by paralysis? Thanks in advance
I’m short, I am somewhat new to rifle hunting. I have toted a 308 win the past few years and took a bull elk with it last year. It is a good gun but I am ready to step up and get something a little more advanced I guess I would say.
I am looking for a caliber suited for long range hunting (not competition, my max distance in the future would probably be 500 yards but I’m not currently comfortable at that range and keeping to 300 for now) in the mountains. So, I’m looking for something that is flat shooting, affected by cross wind minimally, and comes in a light setup since 99% of the time it’ll be dead weight on the pack. It should be able to handle up to medium to large size game (up to bull elk). I’d prefer something with low recoil so I’d like to avoid magnum loads.
Through my research, I’ve come across two calibers that intrigue me: the 6.5 PRC and 280AI. From what I can tell they are fairly similar ballistically. My main hang up on the PRC is bullet mass. Since I shoot lead free, the idea of using a 120 gr bullet on elk seems light to me. Could be totally off base, but that just seems light. I’ve found some lead free factory offerings at 140 gr for the AI which seems more comfortable to me. The downside with 280AI is there aren’t many factory rifles chambered in this that I’ve found. Same boat with the PRC, but it seems to be rising in popularity and only a few years old while the 280AI has been around a long time and may take awhile to grow if it does at all.
Anyways, what does the sage HT hive suggest? Or am I splitting hairs / analysis by paralysis? Thanks in advance