MOOSE AT 550 yards

toebako said:
For the original question, 338RUM. A cheap gun that can reach out if needed.
As for the shooting/hunting debate I will steer clear.
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I once met a junior to me (from times past in our high school some years back). He walked into the outdoor store, went right to the gun counter, and asked what was the biggest caliber gun they had. The salesman walked over to the rack, and picked up a rifle. At the time, the .338 RUM was the "heaviest" on hand. The salesman asked the purpose - kid's answer: Hunting. Okay, said the salesman. He proceeded to ask what other guns he had experience with. None, he had a brand new PAL / Outdoor's Card, and this was to be his first firearm.

Yes, this story that is unfolding truly happened.

Myself and the guy behind the counter are on fairly good terms, you should have seen the eye-rolling we were doing! The kid insisted on putting it on layaway. We were in disbelief, but he obliged.

I told the salesguy to pull out a cartridge, to show my friend just what he was getting himself involved in. A .338 RUM is NOT the cartridge to be taken lightly. Still could not convince him otherwise. He was deadset on hunting with a veritable cannon. We tried to explain that bear or moose could easily be taken with a .308 (or even less), but he absolutely would have none of it. I'm just about in tears, I wasn't sure from anger or frustration - that he openly states he expects to be able to hit a moose "about half a mile away". From what I gathered, as I was turning red in the face, was that he was also under the assumption the new scope to be mounted on top was boresighted with a laser, and would be as accurate as one. Nevermind windage, elevation, temps, holdover, and all that fun stuff us peons fuss about. :D

I just shook my head and walked away. There's only so much mental abuse one can take in a day!



I should go tomorrow and find out whatever happened with that RUM. :D
 
That .338 Ultra will end up for sale on consignment somewhere, maybe with only a single shot fired from it's barrel. That kid is about to develop a scope rash he'll never forget; bet he buys a big scope and mounts it with the ocular 3" behind the cocking peice of the bolt. Hope he has a pal that can drive him home. I wouldn't worry about any moose he might see, he'll never hit one at any range, never mind a half mile. The only way his choice might of been any worse is if that rifle had a 20" barrel and he shoots into the wind with no hearing protection.
 
"For sale: .338 RUM rifle and scope combo. Minor blood marks on scope. Minor brown stains from wiping elsewhere, after picking up dropped rifle. Best offer. Low-ballers welcome."



:D
 
sealhunter said:
With a thousand variables, and the knowledge that me and the few I hunt with take a lot of effort to eliminate or reduce the variables, I wouldn't ask one of them to punch their tag if an animal was lost...even more so given the fact that I have never lost, seen one lost, or been in on a hunt, where an animal has been lost.
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You haven't hunted much then.
 
I've hunted with the aforementioned beast (338Edge now) since its introduction (340Wby for near 20 years before that) and have cautioned many people about the "bumps in the road" of translating all that horsepower into dead animals at long range.
The fast 338's the job done...With enthusiasm I might add!:D

The selection of a long range rifle/cartridge is a personal one. Selecting a fast 338 is a good idea for those of us committed (commit able? :D) to the cause. I can promise that sooner or later said selection will make you bleed. Though I pretty much ignore it considering it it part of living with the beast. If you aren't the type of guy that well..."pain don't hurt"....you should look elsewhere.

There area several pictures of me posing with an animal with the small trickle of blood from my forehead and one very ugly photograph...I'm a chronic stock crawler when I get hair in front of me.....What can I say:redface:

For new shooters a fast 338 would be the devil itself.
 
Boomer said:
I have nothing against the man who has proven many times what he can do with his rifle from attempting any shot he thinks is reasonable. But when the discussion turns to long range shooting, where flat shooting rifles have more than a foot of drop at the target, the inexperienced will believe he is capable to shooting up to his rifle without ever attempting such a shot on paper, and having no idea of the gremlins that await him. Some years ago we put on a 800 yard dynamite shoot, where to score a bullet would hit a 12 ounce pop can filled with a bullet sensitive dynamite at the berm 825 yards distant. The first thing that happened was that the locals who showed up with their hunting rifles quickly returned them to their pick ups when they saw our match rifles (which we had previously zeroed to that range). That means that the majority of those who showed up believed that their hunting rifles were capable of 800 yard hits. As it turned out, it was a miserable day with a 60 Click cross wind with horizontal rain and ice pellets, but at least the bugs hadn't come out yet. The one hunting rifle that stuck around was our South African Doc's Weatherby Accumark in .30-378 topped with a Mk 4, 4.5-14 Leupold . . . he won by the way.

Which brings us to our next point. Having the accuracy to hit our target is only one part of the problem. The bullet must have enough residual energy left to penetrate and expand so that a killing blow is delivered. Few game bullets will expand much below 2000 fps, so the long range hunter will often choose a match bullet to achieve the maximum accuracy, retained velocity, and bullet upset. Whether or not this is a good idea I don't know, but I do know that after shooting seals at relatively close range with match bullets they do not act the way I want my bullets to act. It might very well be that they work wonderfully at long range, but I do have the jacket sans core from a 200 gr MK that I recovered from the back of an 1100 yard target board that would seem to argue against that premise.

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It could be argued however that had the bullet been a 300 gr .338 rather than a 200 gr .308, that even with a failed jacket, the game would still be killed cleanly given a proper bullet tract.

Suffice to say though that there are proven long range shooters who are more than capable of taking big game at long range. I can't do that, so my long range shooting is limited to paper and vermin. I prefer the premise that if you can get closer - then get closer and if you can get lower - then get lower.
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Well said as usual Boomer.
 
mouthpiece said:
Sako TRG42 in Lapua .338 and a zeiss 6-24 scope should work fine.
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:agree: if you can afford it,.. 600 yards is a piece o cake for the 338 Lap mag in the right hands it can take a man size target at three times that range. but it'll cost your wallet and your shoulder to get enough practice to do it. I shot 30 rds 3 days ago and its still a little tender
 
Close range shots prove you're a good hunter
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Not always.My hunting partner killed his first deer at less than 50 yards.He came around the corner while driving on an old trail,and had to go into the ditch to avoid hitting a deer standing on the trail.He got out of his truck only to discover that the deer was standing in the ditch looking at him.He reached into the truck,grabbed his gun,loaded it,and shot the deer.He then came to my home to get me to help him dress it.
He killed his first bear when he went to check his bear baits later than normal after having dinner with his wife.He came through the trees only to come face to face with a nice bear at about 10 yards.He shot the bear and then called me to come and show him how to dress it.
He killed his first moose after hearing me shoot my bull,and then coming to see what I had shot.As we both approached my dead bull,a second bull stood up beside the first one at about 40 yards giving him an easy shot.
In all three cases,he was a new hunter with very little hunting experience,or hunting skills,but he had plenty of luck going for him.
 
550 yards? LMAO.... That's beyond 99.99% of the shooting public's capability. got wind markers? Bullet drop and wind drift will play havoc with a shot that far.

If you really are serious about taking a shot like that, buy a 50 BMG and some good optics, rangefinder and match grade ammo.... The whole set up will only cost about $15000....
 
As per the original question. I have no experience hand loading but with factory ammo I would go with a 300WSM instead of the 338 RUM. Only about 200 ft/lbs less energy at 500 yards without all the recoil and a flatter trajectory.
 
I have no experience hand loading but with factory ammo I would go with a 300WSM instead of the 338 RUM. Only about 200 ft/lbs less energy at 500 yards without all the recoil and a flatter trajectory.
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So which factory 300wsm load only has 200ftlb less energy at 500yards than the Federal 338RUM factory load below?

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/rifle.aspx?id=320

Now a Federal 300wsm load using the same make and model of bullet to provide a fair comparison.Did your comparison involve the same bullet type?If not,the comparison is seriously flawed.

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/rifle.aspx?id=290

Notice that the 338RUM load shoots flatter than the 300wsm load at 500 yards,as well as retaining approximately 700ftlbs more energy at 500 yards.
 
hudson said:
x2! I won't ask cuz i have no business shooting out that far either. Maybe try calling them in. Respect though for passing on the shot.
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Yessir. It was infact, a general comment. But if you look in your crosshairs, and you can't tell me where your bullet will land relative to that, or at least to your backstop - keep on stalking.
 
tactical870 said:
550 yards? LMAO.... That's beyond 99.99% of the shooting public's capability. got wind markers? Bullet drop and wind drift will play havoc with a shot that far.

If you really are serious about taking a shot like that, buy a 50 BMG and some good optics, rangefinder and match grade ammo.... The whole set up will only cost about $15000....
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Wow :eek:! I never knew that 99.99% of hunters were that poor at shooting longer ranges. I guess we had all better stick to 100 yards or less with our turdy turdies. And $15000 for a rifle capable of doing such a crazy shot is way out of most of our budgets.

With facts like yours, who can argue... :nest:

With some of the crazy "facts" posted in this thread I would say that there are allot of folks who need to spend more time at the range and less time on the interweb. Just MHO of course...
 
tactical870 said:
550 yards? LMAO.... That's beyond 99.99% of the shooting public's capability. got wind markers? Bullet drop and wind drift will play havoc with a shot that far.

If you really are serious about taking a shot like that, buy a 50 BMG and some good optics, rangefinder and match grade ammo.... The whole set up will only cost about $15000....
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I dunno have you ever been to a High Power Sillouhette match?

Not saying ever fellow out in the woods should be attempting such a shot, but 550yds is doable, by a whole lot more tha 0.01% of the hunters out there.
 
Not saying ever fellow out in the woods should be attempting such a shot, but 550yds is doable, by a whole lot more tha 0.01% of the hunters out there.
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Having been a member of the local range for well over 20 years,my estimate would be that perhaps 1 in 10 of the members at most are competent at 550 yards.When you factor in the number of people that aren't members,and that don't practice shooting,that ratio would probably be closer to 1 in 30 or even lower.
 
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