I like optics that start at 2.5… mine usually stp at 8 any I find it’s plenty for my hunting. That said I have 2 3-10x42 and I don’t mind them, but 2.5-10 would be better…You me and the other guy would agree.
The majority would not.
In my opinion you're on top of this, this is good analysis. Really, the only way i could imagine expecting 400 yard shots is in the mountains or on the plains, and even then i would expect with skill one could - and should, ethically - close that gap. At responsible ranges using modern bullets as you mention (i load 168 grain copper Nosler's in my .308 carbine which I carry when the bear potential is mostly over late in fall) i'd choose the .308, notwithstanding the '06 being more versatile. Apparently the .308 is somewhat more inherently accurate, and it recoils less, which means followup shots if necessary should be faster. (The more recoil, the more practice necessary to shoot well with the given calibre.) If big bears were in my hunting territory and i was averse to carrying anything over 30 calibre, that is the point at which i'd opt for .30-06 and chose a modern 200 grain minimum flat-nosed copper bullet.Yeah I just can't see where that would actually be needed over say a 168gr TTSX or 175gr LRX that won't lose any weight and still ends up being a very deep digging bullet if thats what someone prioritizes.
Or a 168gr TMK if someone likes those, which also do a number on non dangerous stuff.
If past 400 yards is really what someone expects, I guess I'll concede that, but with the provision that a flatter shooting gun than either is probably an idea
You could do the same with a .308. Pretty sure we're in the same neck of the woods. Where are you finding 400 yards to shoot?
My back yard.
not a range. Well there is one 4.5 hours away lol. I understand our local club is going to expand to 400 but it's just in the planning stages i believe.
Totally agree, what seems like a long shot for one is an average shot for an other. One day at the range a friend had is 338 lapua on the shooting bench and was shooting steel at 580m and asked if I wanted to try, well I said hell yeah! Sat at the bench shouldered the rifle and followed his lead and on my first shot hit the steel, I thought cool but must be luck.. took an other 6-8 shots and all but one hit the steel at that distance a distance I never shot at before with a rifle I never shot before and a chambering I never shot before!
It's not a matter of whether it can be done, it's a matter of whether it should be done - in a hunting situation where the goal is not to take as few risks as possible of wounding game. At the range? That's indeed the place to enact one's sniper fantasies. That or the battlefield.
400 yards is not far. Nor is it the goal. But being prepared to shoot at that distance isn’t a bad thing. There are some people that have no business shooting anything at 100 yards either. But they go hunting and shoot at things.
