Savage Actions for long range.

Brakes are great tools at times, but like you say, hearing protection in the field is a real pain. Myself, I really have no use for a brake equipped rifle in the field....

HMG said:
Anyone have experience with muzzle brakes? Im considering one as well, but dont know if i want to trade the pain of hearing protection for the lessened recoil.
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Are some of you guys saying that you don't use any hearing protection in the field (plugs or headset)? Even without a muzzlebrake, I still use hearing protection while hunting (it is a pain but I like my hearing). This is a major reason they should allow suppressors in Canada (and yes I did write the powers that be about it, instead of just whining on BB's about what should be done). Criminals always get what they want, the gov't has forgotten who they work for. Democracy has become a sham disguise, the gov't is the new dictator.

People I can understand, but who ethically hunts animals out to 1000y ;) Why not just get a .338 Lapua Magnum then (a Savage 110BA or Armalite AR-30)?
 
^^^
Hahahahahahahaha. Realistically, 300 WM is the dividing "Braking Point" for lots of guys, though in a heavy rifle 60-80 rounds in a day unbraked is quite manageable. The 300 magnums will reveal if you have a flinch or not in a real hurry.
 
Or cause a flinch ;)

If you're a new shooter, work your way up to a magnum or get a muzzlebrake. If you're going to shoot it a lot, build or buy a rifle that's somewhat comfortable. Best not to develop/ingrain a flinch in the first place. It's even worse if it's from the only rifle you'll shoot.
 
Thanks for all of the posts guys. Its all input im chewing over.

Couple of questions. What are the terminal ballistics for 6mm and 6.5mm rifles? Will these still be usable for hunting heavier game? Secondly where can i get more info on these calibers?

Also what would be the approximate savings in ammunition from a 300 mag to a 308?

As for the 300 mag ive been shooting then for a while now so i know whats involved with thier recoil. Not that i much like it but its not the end of the world.
 
HMG said:
Thanks for all of the posts guys. Its all input im chewing over.

Couple of questions. What are the terminal ballistics for 6mm and 6.5mm rifles? Will these still be usable for hunting heavier game? Secondly where can i get more info on these calibers?

Also what would be the approximate savings in ammunition from a 300 mag to a 308?

As for the 300 mag ive been shooting then for a while now so i know whats involved with thier recoil. Not that i much like it but its not the end of the world.
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I looked into a 6.5x55 and did the math. 900+ ft pounds is still doable with the 140g VLDs at 700 yards whereas you 300WM will get that at 1000. 900ft lbs is the minimum I would go to for hunting.
6mmBR shooting a 105g Berger VLD gets just over 900 ft lbs at 600 yards and 243 at 700 yards.

Honestly bro, you are not going to be ready to shoot a deer at 1000 yards any time soon. Start off with a 6.5 or 6mm in something you like that is recoil friendly and pocket friendly and go from there.
 
Thanks again everyone for the replys. Seems i have a lot to learn with this sport, and the more research i do the more i how much is involved and how rewarding it will be to learn. The websites posted were of huge help to me in getting information.

Well all of this has really brought me to question the issue of caliber choice. At this point id agree with most of you that trigger time is of the most value, and a 300wm will cost a lot to feed.

Also would like to say the more i research all of this, the more interested i become.
 
As you are looking at savage and long range, Check out the model 111 long range hunter. Under $1000.00 TAXES IN and comes in 7mm 300 mag and 6.5x284 with an on/off brake already installed. I have the 6.5 version and with very little load development, I am already into .400 3 shot groups at 100 yrds. Will be going farther as snow allows. All loads tried were under 1 inch and very close to each other. Bullets from 100 gr to 140 all hit within 1"@ 100yrds. When I wear the barrel out I will most likely replace it with the same cal. as the recoil is about what you would expect from a sporter weight in 243.
 
I'd go with 6.5 or 7mm non- magnum cals. manegable recoil, good killing power out to 700 yds or so, and decent reloading costs. There are lots of options for specific chamberings, maybee just plain jane .280 rem in a custom barrel would be very effective and practical. You can even buy factory ammo for it.
 
cdn shooter said:
You must have had a really bad experience with the .300. Just out of curiousity what bullet are you shooting out of the 6mm or 6.5 that puts 1200ft lbs and 1700 fps impact velocity on game at a 1000y like the 208 amax or 210 berger can?
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Velocity wise, the 6.5mm 140 berger will be doing 2650 at 1000 yards if launched at 3000. Perfectly within the means of the 6.5-284, wsm, SAUM. Energy wise, you won't have that sort of energy.

His original post mentioned nothing about hunting.

Bad experiences... none. I have spent a great deal of time helping shooters be successful at precision shooting, and using a light 300WM as a precision rifle hurts - especially with heavy bullets.

I don;t care if you're using a 223 or a 300WM at 1000 yards. It is ALL about having the right gun, the right ammo, and a shooter that knows how to make them work. Unless you have those three attributes, you have no business trying to make a humane kill at 1000 yards.

FYI, it was a 300 WSM that won the US nationals, not a 300WM
 
If you build the gun in something like 7mm-08, 6.5x55, you'll still have a sensible rifle out to what is very extended range for all but the very seasoned experts to be shooting at game, say out to 400 m.

I don't know how much you hunt, but for me the mental part of shooting at game is very different from paper, and so too is the physical game, i.e., shooting from field positions. Not often you'll be able to shoot off of sandbags at game.

Also, it is not just the cartridge, but all sorts of other aspects of the rifle that matter. Ideal weight and several aspects of stock design will generally be very different on a hunting gun vs. a dedicated long range paper puncher. I'd say though that to have a 7mm-08 in a 10 to 11 lb semi-custom gun would be a good compromise, though, allowing potentially quite long range shooting (say to 500 m), and good fun paper punching for further.

RG

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Obtunded said:
Velocity wise, the 6.5mm 140 berger will be doing 2650 at 1000 yards if launched at 3000. Perfectly within the means of the 6.5-284, wsm, SAUM. Energy wise, you won't have that sort of energy.

His original post mentioned nothing about hunting.

Bad experiences... none. I have spent a great deal of time helping shooters be successful at precision shooting, and using a light 300WM as a precision rifle hurts - especially with heavy bullets.

I don;t care if you're using a 223 or a 300WM at 1000 yards. It is ALL about having the right gun, the right ammo, and a shooter that knows how to make them work. Unless you have those three attributes, you have no business trying to make a humane kill at 1000 yards.

FYI, it was a 300 WSM that won the US nationals, not a 300WM
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First, a 6.5mm 140gr Berger VLD will be doing 1650ft/s at 1000 yards, not 2600. That's impossible, I verified it with JMB ballistics also. You probably had a typo so no problem lol.

Just to say, I'm not really a hunter, apart from water jugs. I've been shooting the 300WM for a while, and this is more of a reply to your previous post. I'm almost done my Savage action/Shilen 30" bull barrel build with Mystic's great assistance. As soon as I have my working rifle, I will post a review on the 210gr VLDs by Matrix Bullets, that have a BC of .752. If you think that's a low BC, I'd like to see what you think is a high coefficient. I will be working up a load with Retumbo powder and with my barrel, they should go over 2900ft/s without getting into max load.

This build is made to get me out to a solid mile, and I'm not sure many other calibers (apart from the actual big boomers, 300WM isn't really all that powerful, compared to some cartridges) could carry well that far out.

On recoil... The simplest way of turning a .300 Win Mag into a .308 is by taking 1.5" off the original stock, putting the original buttpad back on and then slipping on an aftermarket butt pad. Two recoil pads with the proper length of stock is the easiest, cheapest and quietest method of taking a rifle that used to bite and making it feel like a wee little .308. Just make sure your scope has a long eye relief.
 
500m is a longer way than most folks think.A shot like that on moose or elk would be a good one!
Choose the right bullet for your hunting (TSX etc) and the 6.5s and the .308 will do you just fine to 500m
providing your shooting skills are up to snuff.Like someone already said one of these calibers will allow you
to practice more which is really more important than the caliber you shoot.
 
I have the discontinued 110 .300 winmag fcp-k. I have to say the stock was quite cheeseburger looking and didn't physically fit my body but that is the softest gell butt pad I've ever seen. A little bondo on the forestock and comb with a topping of satin black textured paint fixed it right up. The box mag needed some tweaking to feed reliably and o don't like the slop the bolt has in it's bore and raceway.

Now for the good stuff. The trigger is pretty nice, not as nice as my pals AI but I have no interest in changing it. I don't think for safety sake you can beat the accutrigger for it's light pull but inability to inadvertantly fire. With that butt pad and brake the recoil is under .308 levels. This is my first centerfire rifle and I'm also brand new to handloading, I've been at it one year now. The farthest I've reached out is 306yards, I shot 2 5 shot groups they were 1-7/8" and 2" with 180gr sst's. My last day out was load testing for some 150gr smk's. I settled on a load that printed a slightly oblong hole at 100y so mabey 1/8"- 3-/16". I moved out to 200y and was low on ammo, I just wanted to zero the scope so took 2 shots, they were touching side by side. Made some windage adjustment and 2 more shots just leaving a sliver of paper between. 1 more click and 2 more shots, both holes touching again. All my shooting is done prone off the bipod exactly like I would i the field as I was in the field. I don't do sandbags and ranges. Perhaps I'm just lucky but I think I have a damn fine rifle. Sure fit and finish aren't greatest but it sure shoots.
 
Ive noticed that some savage actions have a tang style safety and other the side lever like the Remingtons. Is this specific to a model of savage or are all models available with either?
 
HMG said:
Ive noticed that some savage actions have a tang style safety and other the side lever like the Remingtons. Is this specific to a model of savage or are all models available with either?
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You might have that mixed up with the savage rimfires. I believe the rimfires have a side lever safety similar to the remingtons. Other than that, the centrefires, for the most part like mystic has pointed out, have the top tang.
 
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