Elk rifle question

[Bryan8541]

This is good advice.

Every time I carry my Kimber MT 8400 300 WSM I say to myself, “I could sell the rest and just hunt with this gun for everything.”

I have it topped with a 3-9 SWFA and shooting 200 grain bullets. It will handle what you describe just fine and be much nicer to carry around the mountains than a GAP or AR.

Im looking into the kimbers. Im sure there is some but hows the recoil on a 300 wm or equivalent in a kimber being that light. Is it a 10-15 round gun at the range and your done or can you put a few boxes through it.

 

[deerhunter628]

I love my Kimber Mountain Ascent .308

 

[ramont]

8541 scout sniper out of 1st battalion 1st marine Camp Pendleton

What years were you a Scout Sniper? Just curious since I know that the Marine Corps Scout Sniper Schools taught that the M40 was only accurate out to 1000 yards (even though the Army felt that it was only accurate out to 800 yards). Regardless, the M118 (all the versionis of it) cartridge was only specified to be able to hold a little over 1 MOA at 600 yards (7" at 600 yards) so I was impressed to hear that you could hold under an MOA at over 1000 yards with that ammo/rifle combination.

 

[Newtosavage]

I love my Kimber Mountain Ascent .308

Seem like great choices for backcountry elk rifles. I handled three Kimbers at the Cabelas store just two days ago and was very tempted to walk out with either a .308 or .280AI However, shooting that .280AI would require a lead sled on the bench. LOL

 

[belly-deep]

Im looking into the kimbers. Im sure there is some but hows the recoil on a 300 wm or equivalent in a kimber being that light. Is it a 10-15 round gun at the range and your done or can you put a few boxes through it.

Recoil is stiff. Definitely a 10-15 round gun for range sessions. They do come threaded now, though.

Power and portability have no free lunch, but both are welcomed in the elk mountains.

 

[davsco]

Im looking into the kimbers. Im sure there is some but hows the recoil on a 300 wm or equivalent in a kimber being that light. Is it a 10-15 round gun at the range and your done or can you put a few boxes through it.

i had a tikka t3 lite in 300 win mag and it kicked like a friggin' mule, maybe two mules. way worse recoil than my heavier 340 wby and 7 stw. i ended up selling it in part due to the recoil but mostly because i had that niche covered with other rifles. the t3x's are advertised as having better recoil pads etc so should be a little easier on the shoulder. i just bought a cooper backcountry in 7stw, about the same weight as the tikka but does have a brake on it.

bottom line is you never feel it in the field while taking the shot, but not fun to sight it in and get the needed practice for it.

 

[rileybassman]

i had a tikka t3 lite in 300 win mag and it kicked like a friggin' mule, maybe two mules. way worse recoil than my heavier 340 wby and 7 stw. i ended up selling it in part due to the recoil but mostly because i had that niche covered with other rifles. the t3x's are advertised as having better recoil pads etc so should be a little easier on the shoulder. i just bought a cooper backcountry in 7stw, about the same weight as the tikka but does have a brake on it.

bottom line is you never feel it in the field while taking the shot, but not fun to sight it in and get the needed practice for it.

I think the issue with the tikka is the recoil pad... I had a kimber montana that was half a pound lighter then the tikka t3x... but the tikka's recoil was much stouter (Kimber's come with the decelerator which is a good pad) I put limbsavers on the tikka's and now they are about the same.

 

[theleo91386]

Any 300 WM that you can shoot all day off a bench (without a brake) will be a very unpleasant rifle to pack around in elk country for a week. My experience is that you'd probably be fine scoping your 45-70 and getting comfortable with it out to 300 yards. There's definitely a lot of elk getting shot at 700+ yards these days but there's not that many of them that people could have stalked in a lot closer. Between 300 WM or 308 I'd opt for a light and handy 308.

 

[CorbLand]

I am no expert when it comes to rifles and all the little things that go into killing elk with them but I have seen a lot of elk killed with .270 under 400 yards. I have seen even more killed with 30-06 165 grains out to 500 yards. I killed a cow at 410 with a 6.5 creedmoor this year. Had a friend kill his at 705 with a 300 RUM and his brother killed one with a 7MM at 650. My buddy has killed 2 elk in the 400-500 yard range with a .280 AI.

There are plenty of options out there. Find one that carries good energy out to the distance you want to shoot. Buy it, a ton of ammo and get out shooting. A well placed bullet means more than anything.

 

[sneaky]

What were you doing in the Corps that required you to shoot 1000+ with a .308?

8541 is the old scout sniper MOS designator before they switched it to 0317 I believe

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[sneaky]

Seem like great choices for backcountry elk rifles. I handled three Kimbers at the Cabelas store just two days ago and was very tempted to walk out with either a .308 or .280AI However, shooting that .280AI would require a lead sled on the bench. LOL

No it wouldn't. I have a Cooper M92 Backcountry that is lighter than that Kimber, and it doesn't kick at all with the factory brake. 280AI is an easy caliber to shoot.

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[CorbLand]

No it wouldn't. I have a Cooper M92 Backcountry that is lighter than that Kimber, and it doesn't kick at all with the factory brake. 280AI is an easy caliber to shoot.

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I can second this. I have shot that rifle and it does not kick. Neither does my buddies Kimber Mountain Ascent in .280AI with a factory brake.

 

[Bryan8541]

What years were you a Scout Sniper? Just curious since I know that the Marine Corps Scout Sniper Schools taught that the M40 was only accurate out to 1000 yards (even though the Army felt that it was only accurate out to 800 yards). Regardless, the M118 (all the versionis of it) cartridge was only specified to be able to hold a little over 1 MOA at 600 yards (7" at 600 yards) so I was impressed to hear that you could hold under an MOA at over 1000 yards with that ammo/rifle combination.

2002-2006. We shot the m40a3 with a fixed 10x Unertl scope. USMC Sniper School would drop you with no hesitation if you could not hold a 10” group on target at 1,000 yds. Lots of good guys dropped because of shooting and stalking. Trained with an SF unit at a high angle shooting school in Nevada. They had some badass gear and equipment they let us play with but when it came to long range shooting it didn’t matter how much cool stuff they had, our 14 pound M40 walked all over them.

We shot Lake City 175gr HPBT. When rounds were short and we had to range days we would get 173gr. We did mil dot unknown distance out to 700yds with the M40A3. The 1,000yds plus comment came from we have a platoon reunion every October on farm land in Kansas. Some of the guys have high dollar long range rifles.

 

[Bryan8541]

8541 is the old scout sniper MOS designator before they switched it to 0317 I believe

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Thats correct, i think, not certain that you can enlist as 0317. 8541 you had to run a STA indoc then you get into the platoon then get thrashed everyday and your sole purpose in life was to train and pass school.

 

[sneaky]

Yep. What was the sequence? PIG then HOG? Professionally Instructed Gunman to Hunter of Gunmen.

Thats correct, i think, not certain that you can enlist as 0317. 8541 you had to run a STA indoc then you get into the platoon then get thrashed everyday and your sole purpose in life was to train and pass school.

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[sneaky]

Isn't that how everything goes in the Corps? Get in a platoon and get thrashed? Lol. I did 12 years in arty in the gun club. Muzzle brake blast on a rifle is nothing like off a 155. The very reason I can't hear crap anymore.

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[Bryan8541]

Yep. What was the sequence? PIG then HOG? Professionally Instructed Gunman to Hunter of Gunmen.

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Yea, pig then hog. I was fortunate that i was only a pig about 4 months before getting a spot in school. That 40 pound pig egg and running everywhere you went got old quick. I was west coast but we had 5 spots given to us for the east coast in Quantico so thats where i went. It rarely works like that, but there was a need for snipers in iraq so guys getting ready to deploy were priorities.

 

[Bryan8541]

Isn't that how everything goes in the Corps? Get in a platoon and get thrashed? Lol. I did 12 years in arty in the gun club. Muzzle brake blast on a rifle is nothing like off a 155. The very reason I can't hear crap anymore.

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My primary MOS was 0341 mortars, we gad 2 arty guys attached to us to teach/help call for fire. Gordon and Templeton. Funny MF but didnt like to hump or pt. I didnt like mortars, playong spades and setting around while everyone else trained, heard there was a STA indoc and plt sgt let try for it and i was gone.

 

[sneaky]

Sounds about right. I hate spades, refused to even play it lol. We freaking leveled Fallujah for Phantom Fury, I think we fired more rounds into the city than anyone had since Hue City. Good times.

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[Bryan8541]

Thank you for all the information fellas. I'll look into tikka and kimber as well.