600 yard rifle

I would actually agree with a .338 Lapua. It is an awesome caliber!! PERIOD. However, for the recoil concious... Take a look at the 6.5X.284 Nearly the same as a .300 mag and just a fraction of the punishment. Nice to hear from 'Sunray'?!! Wondering if he's ever launched a bullet at an animal or just plays X box all day.... Do yourself a favour and take all advice with a 'grain of salt'. 99% of gun nutz will offer something useful. I support and appreciate that 99%. It is up to you to 'filter' the other 1%! ;)
 
Go over the Long Range Hunting forums. There are lots of guys using plain old 7rem mags and 300win mags and they are killing game out past 600 yards some times a lot further (like a lot).
With the high BC bullets available nowadays those 2 cartridges are more than enough for what you are considering. And yes you should consider one of the 300 mags even if you don't like it you should at least look at the numbers.
 
.375 Cheytac? :cool: Actually an easy answer is the .300 you don't want. 7mm STW is a great choice and the 7mm rem will do as well. .338/06 wouldn't be on my list at all.

600 yard shooting is about 80% wind.
 
the lapua or the 50 if your looking for elk at 600+, the cheytac should do too, and I know someone who has gotten elk at 600 yards with a 300 WM but said he didn't get the penetration he would have liked to for a kill shot. Thats a bit of a distance for me to want to try a 7mm, not that there's anything wrong with it, but if you want to take an ethical shot at that distance, I think that your better off going to the big stuff in that case.
 
Why 338 Lapua? That's a lot to lug around and expensive to practice with- ballistically it's more than up to the task.
At 600 drop is considerable but predictable, wind plays a role though...
I would suggest to do a bit of research without having any hang-ups on what caliber.
Ultimately you will want to minimize the effect gravity and wind have on your bullet, generally this will mean a high BC bullet travelling at a brisk pace;
The bigger the hole, the heavier the slug which means more recoil or a heavier gun and or a brake...or;
I'd be leaning towards a 7 Rem mag, a 6.5 Win Mag or a 300 WM,
Also a pound and a half is way too light, I like 3.5 for hunting- minimum.
YMMV
Lots of other options too though...
If your going to do it though, please burn up at least one barrel during practice (in field conditions).
 
A .338-06 loaded with a heavy bullet will allow you to enjoy .300 Winchester recoil without the performance. Is a 600 yard shot possible with a .338-06? Sure, but a medium capacity medium bore cartridge is not at its best as a long range cartridge. Very credible shooting can be accomplished with 6.5 and 7mm cartridge, on the '06 case, standard or improved, maximizing performance with tolerable recoil and blast. Such a cartridge when combined with a 24"-26" #3 contour barrel on a good bolt gun will provide a nicely balanced but light, flat shooting, hunting rifle. Trajectory is only part of the story though. The difference between a very flat shooting rifle and a .30/06 requires only a few clicks of elevation to equalize, but the flatter shooting cartridge will have a shorter time of flight, minimizing the effects of wind, and spin drift. This can spell the difference between success and failure. A high BC 168 gr 7mm bullet with a MV of say 2800 fps will still have 2000 fps at 600 yards, which is well inside the velocity envelope necessary for the bullet to display good terminal performance. From a 200 yard zero, you would need to put on about 11.5 minutes to achieve a 600 yard zero. Time of flight is about three quarters of a second, and 3.5 minutes will take care of a full value 10 mph wind, and 1.75 minutes in a quartering wind.
 
From Brian Litz:

Applied Ballistic for long range shooting second edition.

This chart represents the external ballistics for OPTIMAL range, not it's absolute maximum lethal range.

LETHALITY CHART FOR .30 CALIBER LARGE CAPACITY CASE

similar to .300 Weatherby....................NO bullet for 600 LBS game at 600 yards available
similar to .338-06...............................Only the 300 Burger VLD at 650 yards MAX. (borderline)
similar to .338 Lapua...........................Only the Berger 300 VLD at 800 yards max.

Thank you to Brian Litz, everyone should own a copy of this book.

After reading this chapter, please read: HIT PROBABILITY FOR HUNTING. (Accounting for uncertainty)
 
If you are sure of your shot, even a 308 @ 600 yards will do a clean job, i know for a fact that caribous hit at 600 yards with a 165 gr Nosler Accubond @ 2850 fps will fold like kleenex, hit at that distance... JP.
 
There are quite a few gun/cartridge combinations that can be used effectively on game out to 600 yards. There are VERY few hunters who should ever attempt anything over about 300 yards.
 
If you are sure of your shot, even a 308 @ 600 yards will do a clean job, i know for a fact that caribous hit at 600 yards with a 165 gr Nosler Accubond @ 2850 fps will fold like kleenex, hit at that distance... JP.

I have to agree, but the key is as you said "If you are sure of your shot".
I spend a LOT of time at the range shooting a .308, handload and know my abilities.
I would not take a shot at a 4-5" target at 600 yards knowing I had to be "sure of your shot"
unless I had my windage dead on, a rock solid support, a scope powerfull enough to actually
see the target clearly and knew my external ballistics well enough to predict my bullet drop to the inch.


Take it for what it's worth, I dont hunt and only shoot paper. The above comment is in regards to a TARGET, not an animal.
( I do meet a small percentage of hunters at the range sighting in hunting rifles, shooting 300 yards with a 9 power scope
and left-over ammo mixture that boggles the mind, expecting to hit the target on a cold shot "because they've been hunting for 20 years and never missed a deer")

Tell me to shut it up if you see fit.
 
I have to agree, but the key is as you said "If you are sure of your shot".
I spend a LOT of time at the range shooting a .308, handload and know my abilities.
I would not take a shot at a 4-5" target at 600 yards knowing I had to be "sure of your shot"
unless I had my windage dead on, a rock solid support, a scope powerfull enough to actually
see the target clearly and knew my external ballistics well enough to predict my bullet drop to the inch.


Take it for what it's worth, I dont hunt and only shoot paper. The above comment is in regards to a TARGET, not an animal.
( I do meet a small percentage of hunters at the range sighting in hunting rifles, shooting 300 yards with a 9 power scope
and left-over ammo mixture that boggles the mind, expecting to hit the target on a cold shot "because they've been hunting for 20 years and never missed a deer")

Tell me to shut it up if you see fit.

No i agree that a shot that i am not 100 %, i will just pass, if there is a doubt, i will pass, if wind is present to much, i will pass, but sometime, things fall togheter and you just know you wont miss, that what i am talking about...
Shooting a lot of paper and knowing your rifle and ammo and a lot of practice on real distance, not virtual calculations, will give you many indications that will permit you to take the wise decision, never rely on luck for a long shot, shooting for me is an exact science... JP.
 
No i agree that a shot that i am not 100 %, i will just pass, if there is a doubt, i will pass, if wind is present to much, i will pass, but sometime, things fall togheter and you just know you wont miss, that what i am talking about...
Shooting a lot of paper and knowing your rifle and ammo and a lot of practice on real distance, not virtual calculations, will give you many indications that will permit you to take the wise decision, never rely on luck for a long shot, shooting for me is an exact science... JP.


Well said.
 
If you want to go with a 7mm cartridge, and want something that will have a relatively flat trajectory out to 600m, you could look at a 7mm RUM. They are a little harder to find these days and don't have the greatest barrel life, but if you hand load and put a good quality aftermarket barrel on it, the cartridge would be capable of what you are looking for.
 
300????

next it is gonna be 200 , then 150???



There are quite a few gun/cartridge combinations that can be used effectively on game out to 600 yards. There are VERY few hunters who should ever attempt anything over about 300 yards.

At 600 your bullet is going to drop, it will vary with the performance of your cartridge.But what you have to do is know this amount of drop and be able to correct for it so the choice is chambering in that aspect is a null and void topic.

What you do want to do is make sure your bullet selection for the estimated impact speed is correct and the performance and expansion is what you need to do that job.

Like others have stated , no need to go with the uber-boomers unless cost is no option and you have no reaction to recoil.

I think that some in the .284 bore size with a high BC bullet would be a nice starting point.

This shot is totally doable , just have to practice.
 
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