Best hunting cartridge for 800 yards and in?

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sunray said:
800 yards is too far for any cartridge. Even if you can hit a 9" pie plate, every time, at that distance, no cartridge has sufficient energy for a clean kill.
A 180 grain Remington Hypersonic .300 Mag, sighted in at 250, drops 33.4" with 1644 ft/lbs. on energy at 500. A 160 grain 7mm Mag drops 41.6" with 1371 ft/lbs. at 500. At 800, energy will be far less and the drop far more.
It's highly unlikely any guide would allow you to take a shot that far away anyway. B&C sheep or not. You see one or the whiteish blotch of something that far away, you stalk.
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There are several common .30 cal cartridges that have the same amount of energy at 800 yards than a .30-30 has at 100, some even have more at 800 than the old .30-30 has at the muzzle. Is a .30-30 not a capable deer cartridge within 100 yards?

E.G. a 300 RUM with a Nosler 210 grain LRAB still is going 2107 fps with 2071 lb-ft of energy at 800 yards. That is a bit more than the typical 170 grain .30-30 load at the muzzle. Even a handloaded .300 WM can have more energy than a .30-30 at the muzzle.

It is certainly possible to ethically take game at 800 yards with the proper equipment, skill and conditions. I just don't think the OP has a appreciation of just how much it takes. Obviously hailing out long bombs you're not sure of is unethical.
 
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I see guys shooting things all the time on TV at 800+ yards. They are always one shot kills. Instant drop kills. They are always shooting Berger bullets. So if you use Berger bullets, you can shoot whatever you want, as far as you want because they make you shoot better. That's where this latest fad all came from I think.
 
Tenguns said:
I see guys shooting things all the time on TV at 800+ yards. They are always one shot kills. Instant drop kills. They are always shooting Berger bullets. So if you use Berger bullets, you can shoot whatever you want, as far as you want because they make you shoot better. That's where this latest fad all came from I think.
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What they don't show are all the bad shots which end up on the cutting room floor.
 
Tenguns said:
I see guys shooting things all the time on TV at 800+ yards. They are always one shot kills. Instant drop kills. They are always shooting Berger bullets. So if you use Berger bullets, you can shoot whatever you want, as far as you want because they make you shoot better. That's where this latest fad all came from I think.
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Yes I often wonder how many misses they have before they get a hit they can use on tv. At the same time look at the specialized rifles and scopes they use. Also note the number of helpers they have to dope range, wind , drop and the sheets of tables they have for reference. One man on his own would have trouble doing all the calculations with time enough left to acquire an aim point and get a shot off before the animal started moving and all the calculations have to be started again. Not impossible but improbable for most.

Jim
 
Ganderite said:
Long range kill shots. I once saw a moose shot twice at 425 yards, through the lungs (once in each side. The moose was walking and turned around after getting hit the first time).

It was shot with a 308 using 180gr Norma Pointed Soft points. The recovered bullets had zero mushrooming. They could have been reloaded and shot again.

That was 425 yards. Hitting an animal on the first shot at a lasered 800 yards on the first shot in an environment where the wind would be hard to read (no flags or waving trees) would be very difficult. And then hitting the animal with a bullet that had enough energy to perform would also be difficult.

In my opinion, anyone who would try the shot is probably TOTALLY IGNORANT ON USING THE CORRECT BULLET FOR THE JOB.
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There fixed it for you.
I agree many guys have absolutely no clue as to how a bullet works at distance. There are many great bullets on the market like the Norma, but they are designed for hunting use at much closer range.
As others have pointed out, there is a velocity factor involved in getting expansion. Most knowledgeable LR hunters use bullets that are very fragile knowing that the only way for instant kill is to have the bullet fragment violently once it gets inside the rib cage. I don't care what the creature is, when a fragile bullet literally grenades inside the ribcage turning lungs and heart into burger, the animal dies RFN!

Another plug for Nathan Fosters books. They ARE worth the investment if LR hunting is the goal.
 
One would have to practise a lot to get good at shooting at those distances. Consider the sniping shows and what those guys have to do to get good at long range shots.

Get closer enough said.
 
sheephunter said:
Energy is not a reliable measure of how lethal a particular cartridge is, other than ensuring there is enough for the bullet to expand and penetrate. It all comes down to accuracy and bullet selection. If the rifle and shooter are accurate and the bullet performs well at low impact velocities, you have an 800 yard rifle. With modern long-range optics, bullet drop at 800 yards is basically a non issue but the wind is a factor.
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Agreed! Many think energy is the key. Velocity is the real key as unless the bullet is going X amount of FPS it will not open up and create sufficient damage to end life.
 
OntJim said:
Yes I often wonder how many misses they have before they get a hit they can use on tv. At the same time look at the specialized rifles and scopes they use. Also note the number of helpers they have to dope range, wind , drop and the sheets of tables they have for reference. One man on his own would have trouble doing all the calculations with time enough left to acquire an aim point and get a shot off before the animal started moving and all the calculations have to be started again. Not impossible but improbable for most.

Jim
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I think a ton of footage hits the cutting room floor.
These shows infuriate me as many imply that anyone can pull of shots as they show when in fact it takes many years to achieve the amount of skill required.
I think these shows are doing a major dis-service to the hunting community.
 
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