Big Bore Metallic Silhouette
- Thread starter BCBRAD
- Start date
Homesteader
CGN Regular
- Location
- In a Wallow West of Edmonton.
Guys knock em down with a hot loaded 243 in a perfect world. The 6.5's and 7BR take em a lot cleaner.
I think you would be a little light for the rams, but if it's a gun you enjoy shooting give it a try you may make up for it on chickens + pigs because of the reduced recoil. I'm not sure what weights they are using in 243's but in my 7mm-08 I am using 139gr for chickens, pigs, turkeys and 160gr for rams. If I remember correctly the 139's have a really hard time out of my rifle to knock down a ram.
6mm and 105's work on everything except the rams, the day your shooting into a head wind and the wind is holding the rams up your going to have fun.....but if your hold is stead just knock a leg off the rail and they will fall over for you.......I still beat myself up with a 30 cal.....
There are a few guys shooting dashers and 6BRs but they do, on occasion lose a ram. I use a 6.5 with 140's loaded to about 2580. Recoil is acceptable and I have never lost anything I have hit. Sadly, I just don't hit often enough! Some shooters use lighter bullets in the 6.5 for chickens, pigs, and turkeys, but I need to keep things simple to match my intellect so I just use the one load.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
I would have gone 6.5 140gr as a min but likely a 7mm 150gr as ideal.... slow, big and heavy.
but you have a rifle so go shoot it. If you find you are getting alot of "puff" but no knock down with the Bergers.. consider a Hrn hunting bullet/HPBT or a Sierra MK or Nosler RDF or Partition or Ballistic tip.
The tougher the bullet, the more energy you are going to put on that ram vs blowing the jacket apart. I doubt anyone will like you using a Barnes X but that will likely hit "harder" then a Berger.'
Swift SciroccoII.... that would be very interesting.....
More Dwell... more tip over....
Jerry
Back when I was doing this, the 7mm-08 with 145-150 gr bullets worked very well. FWIW - dan
The 6mm 105 bullet that seems to work the best on the Rams is the Berger hunting 105 VLD. Maybe it's a higher ballistic coefficient retaining more velocity, but there you go.
6.5 is generally the standard in silhouette. You don't see many 7-08s on the line anymore. The 6.5s work just as well, kick less and bullets are cheaper.
In some circles there seems to be a definite shift to the 6 mm in silhouette. As mentioned above, the reduced recoil means that while you may lose the occasional ram, common thought is that you more than make up for it by more hits on chickens and pigs and turkeys.
It does make a difference what range you shoot on. How the rams are set and the prevailing wind direction definitely makes a difference.
The smallest cartridge that seems to work mostly 100% of the time is the 6.5. You can use a 108 type bullet on the first three stages, then a 139 or 140 in the 2600 ft./s range will take over any ram you hit. I have seen that combination very occasionally fail to take over a ram, but on those days and conditions everybody is losing Rams.
If you have a Dasher? Load up with some 105s and go have some fun.
P.S. You have a great range down the Blackwater in Prince George. But the prevailing wind comes over the top of the mountain and back down the hill into the rear of the animals. You will lose some rams on that range. Give Don or Mike or Merl a call, you have some great guys shooting silhouette in PG.
6.5 is generally the standard in silhouette. You don't see many 7-08s on the line anymore. The 6.5s work just as well, kick less and bullets are cheaper.
In some circles there seems to be a definite shift to the 6 mm in silhouette. As mentioned above, the reduced recoil means that while you may lose the occasional ram, common thought is that you more than make up for it by more hits on chickens and pigs and turkeys.
It does make a difference what range you shoot on. How the rams are set and the prevailing wind direction definitely makes a difference.
The smallest cartridge that seems to work mostly 100% of the time is the 6.5. You can use a 108 type bullet on the first three stages, then a 139 or 140 in the 2600 ft./s range will take over any ram you hit. I have seen that combination very occasionally fail to take over a ram, but on those days and conditions everybody is losing Rams.
If you have a Dasher? Load up with some 105s and go have some fun.
P.S. You have a great range down the Blackwater in Prince George. But the prevailing wind comes over the top of the mountain and back down the hill into the rear of the animals. You will lose some rams on that range. Give Don or Mike or Merl a call, you have some great guys shooting silhouette in PG.
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