I am searching for a new rifle to buy and have that thread posted elsewhere! What I am asking here is what kind of ammo I should be looking at for hunting big game like Moose, Elk and Deer and what some advantages and disadvantages are for higher and lower grain counts, types of rounds; partition, boat-tail etc. for .300 Win. Mag. , .270 Win. , and 7mm Rem. Mag. I'm not very experienced with the details of ammunition so a thorough explanation would be GREATLY appreciated!
Would like to know more about ammo and grains.
- Thread starter MDK-187
- Start date
A thorough explanation requires a book. Fortuntately, there are lots of 'em. Find a copy of Jack O'Connor's 'The Hunting Rifle', Stoeger Publishing, ISBN:0-88317-054-X.
A reloading book like 'The ABC's of Reloading' will cover a lot of it too.
Meanwhile, read these.
http://www.chuckhawks.com/hunting_bullet_guide1.htm
http://www.chuckhawks.com/hunting_bullet_guide2.htm
If you're new to shooting, pass on any magnum. The felt recoil is excessive for learning to shoot. You don't need any of 'em for Moose, Elk or Deer. A .270 with the right bullet will do. A .30-06 or .308 with 165 grain hunting bullets will be a bit more versatile though. A 165 out of either will kill any game you care to hunt without a lot of felt recoil.
A reloading book like 'The ABC's of Reloading' will cover a lot of it too.
Meanwhile, read these.
http://www.chuckhawks.com/hunting_bullet_guide1.htm
http://www.chuckhawks.com/hunting_bullet_guide2.htm
If you're new to shooting, pass on any magnum. The felt recoil is excessive for learning to shoot. You don't need any of 'em for Moose, Elk or Deer. A .270 with the right bullet will do. A .30-06 or .308 with 165 grain hunting bullets will be a bit more versatile though. A 165 out of either will kill any game you care to hunt without a lot of felt recoil.
My first rifle was a 300WM, I wouldn't recommend it, but it worked OK for me. I never developed a flinch, but I would say the recoil took a few trips to get used to.
Grains is the weight of the bullet. There are 7000 grains in one pound. Typically the lighter the bullet, the faster it's going, so you don't really reduce recoil much with lighter bullets, unless you get into loading your own and make some reduced loads (Which was one of the things I did to get more trigger time with the 300WM).
Partitions are bullets that have a soft point in the front, for expansion, and a sealed lead core in the back, that retains weight but stay the same shape. Best of both worlds theoretically.
Boat Tails are bullets that have a kind of boat tailed profile to the bottom of the bullet. This is done to improve aerodynamics. If these have a soft point they will be good for hunting. If you ever see Match bullets, they are typically Boat Tail Hollow Points, these are not suitable for hunting large game, as the hollowpoint is an aerdynamic feature, not meant for expansion.
If I were going to buy a lighter caliber rifle that would still take large game, I'd personally probably get a 7mm-08. But if you can try some guns, that'd be the best way to start, see what a magnum feels like compared to a non-magnum, I saw a 300WM for sale that had less than a box of ammo through it. It's not for everyone, and 300WM isn't even that bad compared to some of the beasts out there
Grains is the weight of the bullet. There are 7000 grains in one pound. Typically the lighter the bullet, the faster it's going, so you don't really reduce recoil much with lighter bullets, unless you get into loading your own and make some reduced loads (Which was one of the things I did to get more trigger time with the 300WM).
Partitions are bullets that have a soft point in the front, for expansion, and a sealed lead core in the back, that retains weight but stay the same shape. Best of both worlds theoretically.
Boat Tails are bullets that have a kind of boat tailed profile to the bottom of the bullet. This is done to improve aerodynamics. If these have a soft point they will be good for hunting. If you ever see Match bullets, they are typically Boat Tail Hollow Points, these are not suitable for hunting large game, as the hollowpoint is an aerdynamic feature, not meant for expansion.
If I were going to buy a lighter caliber rifle that would still take large game, I'd personally probably get a 7mm-08. But if you can try some guns, that'd be the best way to start, see what a magnum feels like compared to a non-magnum, I saw a 300WM for sale that had less than a box of ammo through it. It's not for everyone, and 300WM isn't even that bad compared to some of the beasts out there
