Recommend me a new hunting rifle.

The only reason Northern Europeans use/used 6.5x55 for large game is because they had nothing else. If they could choose they would prefer 30-06 or 9.3x62. I have shot quite a lot of smaller deer with the 6.5CM but it just doesn't knock them like a 308. Even for our Sika deer I will be going away from 6.5CM because they sometimes just run too far. No problem if one is in big open terrain but close to roads, shooting on smaller permissions where you cant retrieve once over the fence etc. I think the 7PRC would be a very good choice and my choice would be a Tikka. Put a slightly heavier scope on top to balance better, recoils nicer. If one considers shooting an animal at 500m one will need to do a bit of testing and making sure the drop chart is correct etc. One will need to fire quite a few shots. Factory 175ELDX in 7PRC seems to have a good compromise in weight, speed and soft enough to open at distance.
edi
 
I love 7mm more than my 6.5x55. Not going to lie.

I love 7x57 mauser, but I do handload it. 150 noslers at 2850ish fps and I'd totally take it for elk.

IF, I didn't reload id go 7mm rem mag.

But, if you could run monos in your creed and get good accuracy. That may be what the doctor ordered too. They should drive nice and deep
 
Declared Bishop said:
So I am in Alberta, and I hunt right along the CAN/US border. I was able to snag an undersubscribed antlerless elk tag this year. I have never hunted anything this large before, and I think I want to step up from my 6.5 Creedmoor to a 7mm Rem Mag or PRC for hunting elk and moose.

I am just looking for thoughts and rifle recommendations on an appropriate rifle for this endeavor. It's a hunting rifle, so I don't need anything extravagant or something I will be afraid to nick up. It will probably see 2 boxes of ammo the first year to sight it in and 5 rounds yearly after that.

Budget-friendly and accurate.

Thanks Hive Mind!
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The Weatherby Vanguard Obsidians are total sleepers for like $799 or less

All steel, old school rifles.

thewoodsrunner said:
500 meters?! That's a half a kilometer. I cringe for the game when i hear this sort of thing.
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Cringe for yourself, some people are perfectly capable of it.
 
Declared Bishop said:
Are those not match bullets for target shooting?

Sierra Tipped Match King and Hornady ELD Match?

Would the game kings and ELD-x not be better suited?
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Those are the Tipped Match King and the ELD Match yes.

Worry less about what the box and marketing departments say, and concentrate more on how they actually perform on game. Those two bullets specifically are incredibly effective on animals.
 
Best choice 270 or 30/06 Found just about anywhere,variety of bullet selection and a wide variety of rifles chambered for from bolt actions to lever actions etc.This is two IMG_0220.jpegof my favourites a Mauser 66 in 270 and Win 95 in 30/06IMG_0219.jpeg
 
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EJG said:
The only reason Northern Europeans use/used 6.5x55 for large game is because they had nothing else. If they could choose they would prefer 30-06 or 9.3x62. I have shot quite a lot of smaller deer with the 6.5CM but it just doesn't knock them like a 308. Even for our Sika deer I will be going away from 6.5CM because they sometimes just run too far. No problem if one is in big open terrain but close to roads, shooting on smaller permissions where you cant retrieve once over the fence etc. I think the 7PRC would be a very good choice and my choice would be a Tikka. Put a slightly heavier scope on top to balance better, recoils nicer. If one considers shooting an animal at 500m one will need to do a bit of testing and making sure the drop chart is correct etc. One will need to fire quite a few shots. Factory 175ELDX in 7PRC seems to have a good compromise in weight, speed and soft enough to open at distance.
edi
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Interesting comments/info EJG!

My 6.5mm kills so far have been with the 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, which was really coming apart inside chests and doing dramatic damage, and 100gr TTSX going high shoulder. Recovery distances were as you can imagine short to nonexistent haha. Haven't lung/hearted enough with other bullets to compare.

What bullets were the deer you've seen hit being shot with? The deer I've taken and seen taken with larger tend to run a ways that can vary widely, like with any other cartridge I've seen them shot with.

The magnum class 7 PRC dropping them faster, I can definitely see though haha
 
You know guys this pissing into the wind contest is ....
Well it is just pissing into the wind,lol.
A well placed bullet into the boiler works of an Ungulate or a mighty Herbivor aka Ursus horribilis will do its job.
It is our job to get it there in an efficient manner ..that is what is called Hunting .
Tight Groups and Cut Tags with full freezers.
Rob
as a side note, we all know this too ..right ?
I do apologize if it sounds like I am lecturing ...but I can assure you that was not my intention either.
 
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FLHTCUI said:
You know guys this pissing into the wind contest is ....
Well it is just pissing into the wind,lol.
A well placed bullet into the boiler works of an Ungulate or a mighty Herbivor aka Ursus horribilis will do its job.
It is our job to get it there in an efficient manner ..that is what is called Hunting .
Tight Groups and Cut Tags with full freezers.
Rob
as a side note, we all know this too ..right ?
I do apologize if it sounds like I am lecturing ...but I can assure you that was not my intention either.
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Not lecturing at all, and also very correct.
The other piss analogy that unfortunately comes up all too often is "don't piss on one's leg and tell them that it's raining"
Obvious BS and myth is just that, and should be treated as such?
What we all know, and what we all should know also seems to be a difficult concept for some to arrive at.

R.
 
Mulletard said:
I love 7mm more than my 6.5x55. Not going to lie.

I love 7x57 mauser, but I do handload it. 150 noslers at 2850ish fps and I'd totally take it for elk.

IF, I didn't reload id go 7mm rem mag.

But, if you could run monos in your creed and get good accuracy. That may be what the doctor ordered too. They should drive nice and deep
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I've - and others have seen on the Chrono's some " Pretty PATHETIC fps Velocities " of Factory 7 Rem Mag ammo ! :sick:
 
Joel said:
Interesting comments/info EJG!

My 6.5mm kills so far have been with the 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, which was really coming apart inside chests and doing dramatic damage, and 100gr TTSX going high shoulder. Recovery distances were as you can imagine short to nonexistent haha. Haven't lung/hearted enough with other bullets to compare.

What bullets were the deer you've seen hit being shot with? The deer I've taken and seen taken with larger tend to run a ways that can vary widely, like with any other cartridge I've seen them shot with.

The magnum class 7 PRC dropping them faster, I can definitely see though haha
Click to expand...
The 6.5CM does not have a good reputation in Ireland, at least not for dropping deer. Same as the 6.5x55 did not have the best reputation and there are two camps on this. All seem to agree that 308/30-06/270win do a very good job on deer. I am fascinated by the incredible BC values for such a small cartridge as the 6.5CM and it can be stoked up to good speed even with 20" barrel. I mainly used my 6.5 as a precise surgical tool and be a bit ahead of a 308 at distances over 400m. I started shooting 6.5 in 2021 and took close to 100 deer with her at distances from 10m to longest 630m. At first, coming from using a 308 for many years I was disappointed with the deer running. Of course some dropped on the spot but many didn't and ran further than what i was used to. After discussing with others I changed my shot placement more to the Hilar position which possibly helped a bit. For driven hunts I used a 308 and for very long shots I also had a 300wm and could keep comparing. Funny that you mentioned the 120gr Nos BT, years back when there were more 6.5x55 around that was the bullet of choice for many after other bullets disappointed. So much so that some guides would not take out a guest with that cartridge on evening Sika stag in the rut. Our deer are quite small but are very tough. Terrain is rough and can be boggy. When after females we try take the calf as well, maybe also the follower. Shooting in the evening one wants to avoid long tracking. Actually I sold my hunting 6.5CM today but we have 2 or three more in safe. My son has one as well. We mainly use 143 ELDX or 140 ELDM. I thought the ELDM was a bit more accurate. All going well I will be out this weekend for my first hunt of the season with my 308 CTR. Just getting all the bits together for two 7PRC builds one for myself and one for business partner which should be done in a few weeks as well as a 300WSM all have carbon barrels. The WSM to replace my 300wm that I recently sold.

edi
 
EJG said:
The only reason Northern Europeans use/used 6.5x55 for large game is because they had nothing else. If they could choose they would prefer 30-06 or 9.3x62. I have shot quite a lot of smaller deer with the 6.5CM but it just doesn't knock them like a 308. Even for our Sika deer I will be going away from 6.5CM because they sometimes just run too far. No problem if one is in big open terrain but close to roads, shooting on smaller permissions where you cant retrieve once over the fence etc. I think the 7PRC would be a very good choice and my choice would be a Tikka. Put a slightly heavier scope on top to balance better, recoils nicer. If one considers shooting an animal at 500m one will need to do a bit of testing and making sure the drop chart is correct etc. One will need to fire quite a few shots. Factory 175ELDX in 7PRC seems to have a good compromise in weight, speed and soft enough to open at distance.
edi
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What kind of bullet are you shooting in your creedmoor?
 
EJG said:
The 6.5CM does not have a good reputation in Ireland, at least not for dropping deer. Same as the 6.5x55 did not have the best reputation and there are two camps on this. All seem to agree that 308/30-06/270win do a very good job on deer. I am fascinated by the incredible BC values for such a small cartridge as the 6.5CM and it can be stoked up to good speed even with 20" barrel. I mainly used my 6.5 as a precise surgical tool and be a bit ahead of a 308 at distances over 400m. I started shooting 6.5 in 2021 and took close to 100 deer with her at distances from 10m to longest 630m. At first, coming from using a 308 for many years I was disappointed with the deer running. Of course some dropped on the spot but many didn't and ran further than what i was used to. After discussing with others I changed my shot placement more to the Hilar position which possibly helped a bit. For driven hunts I used a 308 and for very long shots I also had a 300wm and could keep comparing. Funny that you mentioned the 120gr Nos BT, years back when there were more 6.5x55 around that was the bullet of choice for many after other bullets disappointed. So much so that some guides would not take out a guest with that cartridge on evening Sika stag in the rut. Our deer are quite small but are very tough. Terrain is rough and can be boggy. When after females we try take the calf as well, maybe also the follower. Shooting in the evening one wants to avoid long tracking. Actually I sold my hunting 6.5CM today but we have 2 or three more in safe. My son has one as well. We mainly use 143 ELDX or 140 ELDM. I thought the ELDM was a bit more accurate. All going well I will be out this weekend for my first hunt of the season with my 308 CTR. Just getting all the bits together for two 7PRC builds one for myself and one for business partner which should be done in a few weeks as well as a 300WSM all have carbon barrels. The WSM to replace my 300wm that I recently sold.

edi
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Gotcha!

Thats a lot different from here actually. Seems that unless its a high shoulder shot (impacting spine) whether its a 6.5 CM, 7mm-08, 270, 30-08, 308, etc that a whitetail is going to go on a death sprint. 10 yards? 75? Could be anywhere in between. The last one I got with a 308 was low on the heart, like bottom 1/3, and it left a highway of blood, pieces of bone, etc but still went almost 70 yards.

On the other hand, the 123gr ELDM from 6.5mms seems to be quite effective and make wounds just as gnarly, even from a 6.5 Grendel!

Well, you guys sure aren't lacking in experience and data for your conclusions anyway! haha.

Thanks Edi!
 
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