7mm-08, .243, or the good ole .308?

[dee]

Big, What's wrong with your 30-06 ??? Why not just put some $$ into it and use it for both long and short range?? If there is a recoil issue with the Mrs. have a muzzle brake installed. .30 cal. bullets are available in very large range of weights and designs. Other than just having another rifle in the safe.... BTW I love my .30-06 3 bullets through one hole at 200 yds. is fine with me. I head shoot does for meat every year. Never requires a second shot, never have to look for them either. MG

The muzzle break makes a big diff. I got to shoot a 7mm rem mag this weekend with one and it was pretty nice, although very load.

 

[junkyguns]

the 180 grain that killed the elk came from a weatherby in 300 weatherby mag shot distance was 538 yards a down hill shot across a canyon , luck played a large part in it it took a bumper jack to pick my jaw back up after he fell !

I am a firm believer in the muzzle brake I have it on my 300 wby and it feels like a 308 even after a 5 or 6 round sight in !

as far as the a-max delima controled expansion is correct but to much control on a texas sized deer will have the bullet making a mushroom half a second after the deer is dead !

 

[junkyguns]

Thanks big country ! it was my first one (elk) and had been long awaited. it only takes a couple of the $500+ nonresident tags to make you want to give up I was very glad that one came into range ,after passing one up last year and then not seeing another makes you want to drop the first one you see no matter the size.

 

[Big country]

Thanks big country ! it was my first one (elk) and had been long awaited. it only takes a couple of the $500+ nonresident tags to make you want to give up I was very glad that one came into range ,after passing one up last year and then not seeing another makes you want to drop the first one you see no matter the size.

Yeah I bet after a few fruitless trips the little 3x3 aint lookin so bad.

 

[Big country]

Big, What's wrong with your 30-06 ??? Why not just put some $$ into it and use it for both long and short range?? If there is a recoil issue with the Mrs. have a muzzle brake installed. .30 cal. bullets are available in very large range of weights and designs. Other than just having another rifle in the safe.... BTW I love my .30-06 3 bullets through one hole at 200 yds. is fine with me. I head shoot does for meat every year. Never requires a second shot, never have to look for them either. MG

Actually it's looking like that is going to be a better option at this point. Like I said I'm just trowing Ideas around right now. But I might replace the Leopold fixed 7 with a Nikon 3x9 and buy my fire safe this time around. I'd be willing to bet that the rifle I'm looking at aint going no where, so if she decides she want something a little lighter we can pick up the XS7 just about any where for about $350 or so. I was just wondering if there was anything spectacular about any of these 3 calibers that would set them apart from the rest. I would like to thank everyone for there input on this, I've learned allot from this thread and I'm sure if it keeps going I'll learn allot more.

 

[junkyguns]

Yeah I bet after a few fruitless trips the little 3x3 aint lookin so bad.

a 3x3 isn't a leagal bull in colorado but it sure would have been tempting if it was the first one i saw ,fortunatley this 6x5 showed and provided me with a good shot and now it is all a memory !

 

[junkyguns]

here is a larger pic of it

 

[Big country]

That is a nice pay off for what I'm sure was a lot of hard work.
What is a legal bull in Colorado?

 

[junkyguns]

hard work is right , we started out at 7400ft elevation made camp at 10,000ft+ it is a bit hard to breath up there for a fellow from houston living at sea level all my life forthe most part anyway, if a person ever wanted to quit smoking just take them up the mountain !

any way a legal bull must have at least 4 points on one side and brow tines of atleast 5"
Mine ended up being 43" main beams and 33.5" spread not huge but a respectable bull had he not had a couple of broken points the spread would have been around 38-40 " and he would have been mounted
if you ever wanted to go on an elk hunt central colorado has the best "public land" to hunt on and it only cost you the tag fee of $551.00 this year , probably more next but the land access is free and there are a few rv parks available in the area, or you can just rough it with a tent as we did ( my neighbor owns property there and has a big home on it complete with satallite t.v. and heat!)

 

[Big country]

hard work is right , we started out at 7400ft elevation made camp at 10,000ft+ it is a bit hard to breath up there for a fellow from houston living at sea level all my life forthe most part anyway, if a person ever wanted to quit smoking just take them up the mountain !

any way a legal bull must have at least 4 points on one side and brow tines of atleast 5"
Mine ended up being 43" main beams and 33.5" spread not huge but a respectable bull had he not had a couple of broken points the spread would have been around 38-40 " and he would have been mounted
if you ever wanted to go on an elk hunt central Colorado has the best "public land" to hunt on and it only cost you the tag fee of $551.00 this year , probably more next but the land access is free and there are a few rv parks available in the area, or you can just rough it with a tent as we did ( my neighbor owns property there and has a big home on it complete with satallite t.v. and heat!)

I've heard that central Colorado is a hunters dream. If that's roughing it I wouldn't mind one bit.
Good job. He is a respectable bull indeed. You said you weren't going to mount him? What about a European mount? I've seen some very pretty European mounts on elk. I think dbgun knows how to do it you might PM him for details and do it your self. I've never tried it but I hear it's not very hard. Hey! I think I just gave my self a new thread Idea.

 

[junkyguns]

Big C , I would mount it but I have 8" ceilings and it would wind up roughly 4' off the floor and I have two great danes that would just love a nice chew toy like that !

( truth is wife won't let me )

 

[M. Sage]

Big, What's wrong with your 30-06 ??? Why not just put some $$ into it and use it for both long and short range?? If there is a recoil issue with the Mrs. have a muzzle brake installed. .30 cal. bullets are available in very large range of weights and designs. Other than just having another rifle in the safe.... BTW I love my .30-06 3 bullets through one hole at 200 yds. is fine with me. I head shoot does for meat every year. Never requires a second shot, never have to look for them either. MG

I'm with you on that one. Head-shots seem like the way to go. Just make sure you don't accidentally get another deer on the other side. Or if you do, make sure you have two tags, and be sure and claim you did it on purpose!

as far as the a-max delima controled expansion is correct but to much control on a texas sized deer will have the bullet making a mushroom half a second after the deer is dead !

LOL Point taken!

Actually it's looking like that is going to be a better option at this point. Like I said I'm just trowing Ideas around right now. But I might replace the Leopold fixed 7 with a Nikon 3x9 and buy my fire safe this time around. I'd be willing to bet that the rifle I'm looking at aint going no where, so if she decides she want something a little lighter we can pick up the XS7 just about any where for about $350 or so. I was just wondering if there was anything spectacular about any of these 3 calibers that would set them apart from the rest. I would like to thank everyone for there input on this, I've learned allot from this thread and I'm sure if it keeps going I'll learn allot more.

A good scope can make a huge difference! My advice is to go with the largest diameter objective you can. A 50mm objective or bigger collects so much more light it's almost unbelievable.

Also, get some good, strong rings with it. I don't know what kind of rings you've got your scope in now, but rings make all the difference in the world. Accuracy is nothing more than repeatability, and rock-solid rings is part of the equation when you're talking about a rifle.

 

[dee]

I'm with you on that one. Head-shots seem like the way to go. Just make sure you don't accidentally get another deer on the other side. Or if you do, make sure you have two tags, and be sure and claim you did it on purpose!



LOL Point taken!



A good scope can make a huge difference! My advice is to go with the largest diameter objective you can. A 50mm objective or bigger collects so much more light it's almost unbelievable.

Also, get some good, strong rings with it. I don't know what kind of rings you've got your scope in now, but rings make all the difference in the world. Accuracy is nothing more than repeatability, and rock-solid rings is part of the equation when you're talking about a rifle.

+1 on the rings most people don't think about them another thing is bases I would buy a decent base also.

 

[Big country]

I try and stick with Leupold rings and bases if I can, the rings and bases and the scope are all Leupold right now.

 

[crash700]

Out of the calibers you mentioned, I would go with 7mm-08 or 308 Win.