If you never shot over 600 yards?

[huntnful]

If you were to never shoot at an animal over 600 yards for the rest of your life, what cartridge and bullet would you shoot?

Personally I think this 6PRC with 109 ELDM's is pretty legit.

1. Satisfies my need for speed (personal ego thing) and a super easy neck down to achieve it
2. I have been extremely please with heavy for caliber ELDM terminal performance of all calibers
3. 109's have a legit BC to help combat wind a little at that max yardage.
4. True short action
5. Still shoot long range steel with good consistency
6. I'm mostly a deer hunter
7. Even for an elk, I feel so confidently placing bullets almost exactly where they need to go with the 6mm's that I wouldn't hesitate to put 1 or 2 ELDM's in the lungs out to 600 yards.
8. Minimal recoil

I personally think extreme long range (1200+ yard) capabilities has driven a lot of my decision making in the past, and even currently. When in all reality, I've never needed it haha. Longest shot opportunity I've ever been presented with, where I genuinely could not get closer, or I would just not be able to see the animal anymore was 974 yards. I'm definitely still going to have a cannon in the arsenal. Just thinking out loud.

For me I've only killed 5 animals beyond 600 yards I think. All across canyon shots with nothing realistic to close the distance to. Maybe 10%ish.
974
880
840
630
603

So all the animals under 600 yards (90% of them), I genuinely feel like I would have killed them the same with my above choice. And there's nothing saying I wouldn't have killed the further animals with the 6mm either.


Curious to hear others thoughts and reasonings.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I’m already at the self imposed limit. I currently use 6.5 CM but I’d go 6CM I think… hoping it gains more traction with rifle manufacturers soon, since I’m not a big custom guy. I do have rifles I could rebarrel but will wait for barrels to burn out which will be a long time

 

[Jake Larsen]

Just built a short barreled 7Saw2 on this exact premise. Short barrel so that once it’s suppressed, it’s still a manageable overall length. 6Creed would also fit the bill. Need something with good speed so that I’ve still got adequate velocity out of a 18” barrel at the longer ranges.


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[Dos Perros]

I have a chopped 308 for this purpose.

 

[j_volt]

I am good with a crossbow to 550.

 

[wind gypsy]

Live in the east now, don't shoot enough in mountainous terrain to shoot over 600 yards at big game anyway these days.

6 Creed is plenty for me. I haven't shot much for animals with sub 270 win cartridges so I'd like to see a little more first hand dead stuff before I say absolutely I don't want anything bigger for Elk but I'll probably land there.

 

[JohnJohnson]

I shoot 6.5CM for everything right now but I really do want to put together a .223 once I start reloading. Either that or a 6CM.

 

[huntnful]

Live in the east now, don't shoot enough in mountainous terrain to shoot over 600 yards at big game anyway these days.

6 Creed is plenty for me. I haven't shot much with sub 270 win cartridges so I'd like to see a little more first hand dead stuff before I say absolutely I don't want anything bigger for Elk but I'll probably land there.

I hear you on wanting more personal experiences before making that full commitment. I just shot a 300 pound pig with a 22 creedmoor at 300 yards. It felt more dense, and substantial than any elk I’ve killed. And it put a baseball sized hole through his lungs and he went 10 yards. Had me rethinking my whole life .

 

[huntnful]

I shoot 6.5CM for everything right now but I really do want to put together a .223 once I start reloading. Either that or a 6CM.

A 22 creedmoor with 88 ELDM’s would certainly be a contender for me as well in this category.

 

[Wyo_hntr]

6mm creedmoor. 108 or 109eldm. Only because 6mm/243 is the smallest legal cartridge for elk in my state of residence.

I'd probably be fine with a 22 creed if it were legal.

 

[mt terry d]

If you were to never shoot at an animal over 600 yards for the rest of your life, what cartridge and bullet would you shoot?

Personally I think this 6PRC with 109 ELDM's is pretty legit.

1. Satisfies my need for speed (personal ego thing) and a super easy neck down to achieve it
2. I have been extremely please with heavy for caliber ELDM terminal performance of all calibers
3. 109's have a legit BC to help combat wind a little at that max yardage.
4. True short action
5. Still shoot long range steel with good consistency
6. I'm mostly a deer hunter
7. Even for an elk, I feel so confidently placing bullets almost exactly where they need to go with the 6mm's that I wouldn't hesitate to put 1 or 2 ELDM's in the lungs out to 600 yards.
8. Minimal recoil

I personally think extreme long range (1200+ yard) capabilities has driven a lot of my decision making in the past, and even currently. When in all reality, I've never needed it haha. Longest shot opportunity I've ever been presented with, where I genuinely could not get closer, or I would just not be able to see the animal anymore was 974 yards. I'm definitely still going to have a cannon in the arsenal. Just thinking out loud.

For me I've only killed 5 animals beyond 600 yards I think. All across canyon shots with nothing realistic to close the distance to. Maybe 10%ish.
974
880
840
630
603

So all the animals under 600 yards (90% of them), I genuinely feel like I would have killed them the same with my above choice. And there's nothing saying I wouldn't have killed the further animals with the 6mm either.


Curious to hear others thoughts and reasonings.

Slightly off topic and seriously not intending to bust anyone’s balls over this but how many animals have you shot at over 600 yards?
Full disclosure here, I’ve missed or wounded my own share all at ranges less than that.

 

[Timjohnson11]

My progression has been 300 WSM to 28 Nosler to 6.5 PRC to now a 6 CM. I’m in Utah where 500 - 700 yards shots are common. I’m also handing my rifle to clients multiple times a year who come ill prepared..

To answer your question, I’d say 6.5 CM if running standard barrel lengths or a 6 CM if running shorter, suppressed barrel.

With that, I’ll be running a 22.5” 6 CM this year with 109 ELDMs and Scythe Ti. Hunting elevation will all be 7,500+.

 

[huntnful]

Slightly off topic and seriously not intending to bust anyone’s balls over this but how many animals have you shot at over 600 yards?
Full disclosure here, I’ve missed or wounded my own share all at ranges less than that.

Just the ones listed. But two of them I missed on my first shot, and ended up killing them with a follow up. The one at 880 and the one at 840.

The only animal I’ve hit with a rifle and not recovered was a real nice buck at 525 yards. Quartering slightly away. Shot him with a 6.5 creedmoor and 143 ELDX my first year of big game hunting. Never did recover him to see exactly where I hit him.

But walked over to where I last saw him, and bumped him and watched him go over a mile out of site.

 

[Harvey_NW]

The only animal I’ve hit with a rifle and not recovered was a real nice buck at 525 yards. Quartering slightly away. Shot him with a 6.5 creedmoor and 143 ELDX my first year of big game hunting. Never did recover him to see exactly where I hit him.

But walked over to where I last saw him, and bumped him and watched him go over a mile out of site.

It probably just bounced of his hide at that distance because it didn't have enough energy

 

[Brucebarker024]

If that was my max distance on game (which mine is 700 in good conditions) I’d probably shoot a 6 creed, prc, SAUM, UM. I shoot a 7 SAUM with a 180 hybrid right now and the recoil is very manageable but a lighter rifle, recoil, and less barrel would be nice and it doesn’t seem like I’d be sacrificing much at all in terms of ballistics or lethality.

 

[huntnful]

It probably just bounced of his hide at that distance because it didn't have enough energy

Haha I wish that was the case . Poor buck probably went off and died with a hole in his liver. I thought about it for weeks. It was also the catalyst to made me start shooting larger cartridges and calibers.

But in all reality, a bad shot is a bad shot, and that’s what it was. I’m actually not even 100% certain I hit him. Never did find a drop blood while tracking him. I was shooting a VX5 scope. Hopefully it lost zero just before I took the shot and it was a clean miss

 

[SDHNTR]

.308. Does it all and barrels last forever.

 

[Tricer]

Big 280AI Fan. Absolutely love that cartridge it would definitely be one of my top picks if I had to sell them all and keep one.

 

[philos]

I am good with a crossbow to 550.

Is that A.M. or P.M.?

 

[RockAndSage]

Don't want to sound like I'm bandwagoning, but either 22CM or 6PRC, at least for a bolt gun. I've appreciated speed too many times on running coyotes to disregard the value of a very flat trajectory at very high speeds, especially when they're angling toward or away. Same with antelope that just don't want to stop moving for more than half a second.

I've always been a fan of very fast smaller bore cartridges, and have never questioned the efficacy of high-speed .22s on deer at moderate distances, but the TMK evidence here has been extremely interesting in how far out it extends .22 viability, including to elk well beyond what I'm personally capable of ethically. But, frankly, a lot of the discussion on here, and Form's points and data about recoil's effects on both shooter accuracy and overall volume of practice it relates to specifically, are what have won me over to going smaller than I would have before, for bigger game. Up until recently 25-06 AI (and .257 Weatherby) were the sweet spot for me, but new evidence and perspective have shifted things. Somewhere between .22CM and 6PRC seems that sweet spot now.

Now, that doesn't mean it wouldn't still be insanely fun to do a modernized .257 Weatherby by necking down something else, like 30 Nosler.

All that said, my next project is a precision 6mm Max upper for my primary rifle, for hunting. Balancing precision with weight, length, etc. If that goes well, then my first foray into wildcatting might very well be necking that case down to make a .22 Max.