Poll - One all around single cartridge under conditions

[2rocky]

I’ve only shot the 7mm08 and it impressed me. Being that you reload you can take advantage of heavier bullets if desired vs the 6.5 mm options while keeping recoil under your threshold.

 

[USAF Ret]

@USAF Ret i have been using my 6.5 prc the last 2 years. It’s fantastic. I’ve shot a bull elk, cow elk, mule deer, antelope, and whitetail with it. I shoot Barnes LRX ammo (127gr) and it’s been great. I also shoot with a silencer so recoil is nothing. Can’t recommend the 6.5 prc enough.

I just sold mine. I am regretting some, but it went to a good home.

 

[USAF Ret]

I am holding on the the 7-08, 6.5CM, and the 280 AI. I am going to play around with some different monolithic handloads to see what comes up the best for performance, accuracy, and recoil.

Got a message and looking like the ID elk, maybe mule deer, is going to be a go for 2026.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

 

[Wolfshead]

Happy Thanksgiving!
I voted 308 because that’s what I have, and I think that in second place is the 7-08.
During the end of the pandemic I could get 308 ammo, 7-08 (for me) was non-existent.
It also has the ability to load light to heavy bullets making it very versatile.
I hunt whitetails out to my personal limit of 300 yards with my 308, and would be very confident hunting Elk or Moose with it if the opportunity were to arise.
I recently killed a Buck, shooting the Barnes 130 grain ttsx at around 270 yards and it dropped him right there.
I’m 65, and either played or coached football for 40 years, so I have my share of aches and pains, especially my shoulder.
My handloaded 130s are pretty light on the recoil and travel an average of 3170 fps.

 

[slatebuilder]

Of the choices listed a 6.5 CM with 143eldx, However…….

With shoulder and neck problems pending, none of the choices listed. Clean house and start from scratch. A .243/6mm is easier to shoot than a 6.5mm/260. The 223 is that much easier again than the 6mm’s. Though a 6ARC, 6BR, or 6x47 might be pretty dang easy to shoot.

Also, lead is the way. Monos would not be an option, unless required by law.

Good Luck!!!! Kill a big one and have fun.

 

[slatebuilder]

You got that right Mt. Muley.

In a little over two weeks my cow elk season begins and will run for a month.
I have missed the past three elk seasons. First from getting Covid, then from not having a leg to stand on due to two bad knees, then from having a knee replaced early last fall and needing recovery time.

Now at 77, I have 1 1/2 good legs to stand on. Any hunt could be my last, any mishap could end my hunt, or prevent this coming hunt. I will need help too. I have one stout lad of 43 and a horse packer, if he is not otherwise occupied????

I won two critical sequential cow elk draw tags. First for the state elk unit, and then for 30,000 acre private land trust nature sanctuary that allows very few opportunities for people at all, even to just hike, it is for the wildlife only.

To keep local ranchers in their support loop, they offer enough cow elk tags via a lottery to limit elk foraging on cattle ranches.

I have been in training, Lots of careful aerobic exercise in rugged country,

My rifle of choice is tuned like a violin. Sako finnlight carbine, 20 1/4-inch match grade super tight fluted barrel, weighs 5 5/8 pounds , 165 grain Barnes TTSXBT going 2,900'/sec with a BC of .442. With a zero at 240 yards, it is 17.93" low at 400 yards and offers 1640 ft pounds of energy. It is a tack driver, short range and long.

My spare rifle is a Model 70 .270 weighs 7 3/4 pounds, 24 inch barrel, loves 130 grain Barnes TTSXBT @ 3,150'/sec with a BC of .380 and is 15.8"low at 400 yards with about 1,240 ft pounds of energy. Also, a tack driver but the .308 rules with superior critical numbers, two-inch trajectory difference @ 400 yards does not amount to two dead flies.

For the past month I have been doing my fast walk, up and down shooting course. I have six targets I randomly set out over some big country. For my targets I have 1/4 inch plywood cut exactly to match 8"x11" standard paper with a black six-inch bull.

I slit an 11" piece of garden hose length wise down the middle and use is a clamp to hold the target paper to the plywood, Then on each side I slip a 1/4" by 16" iron rod down the garden hose and with a rock, drive the rod into the ground to pin the target to the ground, they stay put even in strong wind.

I have been doing a course like this for 40 years. I walk, climb set out my six targets, all over, shoot my way back, guessing ranges before using a range finder. I run, jog and crawl. Shoot prone, standing kneeling and sitting with a Whelen sling and use my homemade shooting sticks. I like to go from deciding to shoot to actually firing in three-four seconds.

For such practice course shooting I use cheap lead bullets like the Hornady 165 SP in my .308.

I do not shoot past 400 yards, never needed to. I cut off the parts of an old wetsuit where the knees are and have them around my knees when hunting. I crawl a lot.

At extreme ranges I would be useless, but at any distance from 400 yards and under my field marksmanship skill are honed sharp, and I am quick too, plus under any and all conditions, even huffing and puffing after a short burst climb, I can keep my bullets in a six-inch circle. Long range shooters would laugh at this.

I hope your hunt is everything you are looking for. It’s good to be back in the saddle again!

 

[Mustangs Rule]

I hope your hunt is everything you are looking for. It’s good to be back in the saddle again!

Thank you