Tying myself in knots trying to settle on a calibre

[Acal57]

Hi,

I'm getting into mountain hunting to take advantage of my backyard. I live in Northern Coastal British. It's great bear rain forest country.

I want a rifle for high country goats, sheep and blacktail deer, who, at least in this part of the world, may as well be mountain goats. Also, it is called the great bear rainforest for a reason. Black bear envounters are a daily occurrence and grizzly encounters are a matter of when and not if.

I want something with enough energy to drop and anchor a goat at 400 yards and enough thump to give me a chance with an ornery bear. It must be a shortbarreled, lightwight package and be able to thrive in wet, cold conditions. It needs to be very reliable and not prone to jamming.

As I'm Canadian, rifle and brass availability are also a concern.

I already have a 6.5x55 and a 45-70. Love them both but the former isn't authoritative enough and the latter lack the range.

There's the 300 win mag, but everyone else already has one. Pass.

I'm looking at Weatherby's new 338 rpm but I'm not really a Weatherby kind of fellow. Are there any rumors of a new 338 prc?

Any suggestions?

 

[Acal57]

*British Columbia

 

[Tmac]

Sounds like you want a controlled round feed stainless steel rifle. A Winchester action could be a solution. I am OK with push feeds and would find a reliable stainless action, like a Tikka. If a custom action, I’d want one designed to run in muck, not a tight bench rest design.

In similar circumstances in AK I was very comfortable with my stainless 280 Rem loaded with 175gr. partitions. Mine was push feed, never had issues with them. Were I doing it again, a faster twist barrel in 280Ackley or possibly some sort of 7mm like the new PRC may be my choice with 175 or heavier bullets.

Now if you mean costal griz, aka Brown Bears, 30 caliber and 200+ gr bullets would be my minimum, if not a 338.

 

[dieselchessy]

300wsm seems like an easy answer to me.

 

[6mm Remington]

280AI
30-06
300 WSM

 

[ResearchinStuff]

there's so many ways to go, and so many camps you can fall in. There are pictures on here of elk, bear and moose killed with a 223, oryx with a high-velocity 22 cal, and everything up to and including giraffe with a 6mm rem. There's also people who believe you have to shoot a magnum to kill anything (one thread on another site this fall was wondering if 300 rum was enough for mule deer).

Bottom line- whatever you use needs to be a reliable rifle system (Tikka, sako, blaser are standouts here), it needs to have a reliable sighting system (Nightforce, trijicon and swfa are standouts), you need to shoot it well (bias towards lower recoil rounds), and you need to disrupt a lot of tissue to cause a blood pressure drop and incapacitation (biases towards fragmenting bullets like the tipped matchking or the eld series). Suppressors aren't legal for you, and a muzzle brake will wreck your ears, so something that you can really control recoil on well seems pretty important.

You can get there with almost any reasonable cartridge choice, but some will be easier to shoot well than others, and some will be easier to find ammo for. In your shoes, I'd handload some 147 eld-m's hot in the 6.5x55 and go kill stuff. If that's not an option, pick whatever cartridge you can shoot a bunch, get some appropriate projectiles for the velocity, and go kill stuff.

There's interesting stuff to see on these threads that might help you find comfort in whatever you end up choosing:

.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ 176 PAGES? HERE'S THE CHEAT SHEET. “Bullets matter more than headstamps.” “Spent primers offer the supreme tutorial”. I’ve read it here and elsewhere online. It got my attention. I started digging and asking questions and listened. The 77gr TMK delivered by a .223...

rokslide.com

6.5 Creedmoor/260 for Deer, Elk, and whatever else.....

Seeing that the 223 thread is such a success, I thought maybe I would start one for the Creedmoor/260. Seems like people are asking a lot about using them and various bullets, especially for elk. I've used mine for the last few years almost exclusively. I have some pics of bullet damage, albeit...

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6mm/6.5

I didn't want to derail another thread. So I started this one. Who has shot/witnessed a big game animal past 500 yards with a 6mm or 6.5? Many members here love to tell you their opinion about it, but I am figuring out that damn few have done it. So if you have, please tell me the chambering...

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6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

With the success of .223 and 6.5 threads on big game, thought I’d throw this one into the mix. Show and detail your results harvesting big game (deer, bear, elk, moose, African game) using 6mm/.243 cartridges. Please detail bullet, MV, impact velocity, and whether hand load or factory ammo.

rokslide.com

6.5 CM for a once in a lifetime Oryx hunt. Give it to me straight

I’ve read hundreds of post on taking Elk/Oryx with a 6.5 CM. Seems like everyone is on one side of the fence or the other. I got lucky and drew an Oryx tag in NM for April 23’. I’ve got a Tikka CTR 6.5 shooting 142 gr Accubonds Long Range. The guns a tack driver. I’ve got plenty of time before...

rokslide.com

 

[rootacres]

Man I could make a strong case for a 300 WSM. Considering your particular situation I probably wouldn't drop below a 30 cal though you'd probably be fine with some of the 7s. If I lived where you do Id probably have a 300 WSM.

300 WSM is a great option, 300 PRC should be a consideration, that 338 RPM is a very intriguing round. The 300 PRC and probably 300 WSM with the right projectile will buck wind on longer shots up in the mountains marginally better than the 338 RPM.

 

[Brendan]

300 Win Mag. Better Brass Availability than the WSM if you reload (although I do see ADG for the WSM if you can get it) and slight speed / energy advantage.

Quit whining about "Everybody has one." That generally will make components and ammo easier to find when you need it, easier to trade for / buy on the secondary market, and you said that rifle and brass availability is a concern. End up with a more obscure caliber and/or one that not as many people use could bite you in the ass under certain scenarios (Advantage here to the 300WM over the PRC too, and some people have run into "bolt click" issues on reloads with PRC SAAMI reamers, pretty sure that's the 300 PRC as well as 6.5...)

My 300 WM with a 26" barrel shoots 2900 FPS with the Berger 215 and H1000, if I had to replace the barrel I'd probably just end up with another one. Maybe the PRC with the right reamer, but in reality that'd just be to try something new, I wouldn't really be gaining much if anything.

 

[bbell]

If you want a larger caliber what about a .338 Winchester?

 

[highside74]

300WM
Bullets are readily available in every town.
Reloading components are available without issue for the most part.
Kills all North American big game dead

 

[BCsteve]

.300WM, .300WSM or if you want something new and different, .300PRC

 

[wildwilderness]

You want short compact then the 300 WSM is the way to go!

Forget all the long action suggestions and 24” barrels

There are many awesome compact builds, chassis with folding stocks, etc. go with a 20” barrel. Black bears are thin skinned, no worries. Plenty of 300 wsm ammo and components

 

[prm]

30-06 shooting a good 180gn bullet, or a 168 TTSX. Or a 300 WSM.

Actually, my 338 Federal would do what you stated. 175 Hammer Hunter at 2800, or 160 TTSX at 3k. But the ammo/brass availability eliminates that…

 

[keystone112]

Another vote for the 300 PRC.

 

[ARK_Ginger]

Sounds like you need to reload your 6.5x55 with ELDs or similar.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

there's so many ways to go, and so many camps you can fall in. There are pictures on here of elk, bear and moose killed with a 223, oryx with a high-velocity 22 cal, and everything up to and including giraffe with a 6mm rem. There's also people who believe you have to shoot a magnum to kill anything (one thread on another site this fall was wondering if 300 rum was enough for mule deer).

Bottom line- whatever you use needs to be a reliable rifle system (Tikka, sako, blaser are standouts here), it needs to have a reliable sighting system (Nightforce, trijicon and swfa are standouts), you need to shoot it well (bias towards lower recoil rounds), and you need to disrupt a lot of tissue to cause a blood pressure drop and incapacitation (biases towards fragmenting bullets like the tipped matchking or the eld series). Suppressors aren't legal for you, and a muzzle brake will wreck your ears, so something that you can really control recoil on well seems pretty important.

You can get there with almost any reasonable cartridge choice, but some will be easier to shoot well than others, and some will be easier to find ammo for. In your shoes, I'd handload some 147 eld-m's hot in the 6.5x55 and go kill stuff. If that's not an option, pick whatever cartridge you can shoot a bunch, get some appropriate projectiles for the velocity, and go kill stuff.

There's interesting stuff to see on these threads that might help you find comfort in whatever you end up choosing:

.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ 176 PAGES? HERE'S THE CHEAT SHEET. “Bullets matter more than headstamps.” “Spent primers offer the supreme tutorial”. I’ve read it here and elsewhere online. It got my attention. I started digging and asking questions and listened. The 77gr TMK delivered by a .223...

rokslide.com

6.5 Creedmoor/260 for Deer, Elk, and whatever else.....

Seeing that the 223 thread is such a success, I thought maybe I would start one for the Creedmoor/260. Seems like people are asking a lot about using them and various bullets, especially for elk. I've used mine for the last few years almost exclusively. I have some pics of bullet damage, albeit...

rokslide.com

6mm/6.5

I didn't want to derail another thread. So I started this one. Who has shot/witnessed a big game animal past 500 yards with a 6mm or 6.5? Many members here love to tell you their opinion about it, but I am figuring out that damn few have done it. So if you have, please tell me the chambering...

rokslide.com

6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

With the success of .223 and 6.5 threads on big game, thought I’d throw this one into the mix. Show and detail your results harvesting big game (deer, bear, elk, moose, African game) using 6mm/.243 cartridges. Please detail bullet, MV, impact velocity, and whether hand load or factory ammo.

rokslide.com

6.5 CM for a once in a lifetime Oryx hunt. Give it to me straight

I’ve read hundreds of post on taking Elk/Oryx with a 6.5 CM. Seems like everyone is on one side of the fence or the other. I got lucky and drew an Oryx tag in NM for April 23’. I’ve got a Tikka CTR 6.5 shooting 142 gr Accubonds Long Range. The guns a tack driver. I’ve got plenty of time before...

rokslide.com

There's a 223 with an SWFA 6X recommendation buried in that post, and it only took 7 posts to get there. My faith in this community may soon be restored.

 

[ljalberta]

I’ve come to prefer smaller calibers in short and handy rifles. That said, if you’re looking for something bigger, for ranges out to 400 yards, I’d take a peak at the 338 federal. It’s not going to beat you up as much as the bigger magnums in a lighter rifle package.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

I’ve come to prefer smaller calibers in short and handy rifles. That said, if you’re looking for something bigger, for ranges out to 400 yards, I’d take a peak at the 338 federal. It’s not going to beat you up as much as the bigger magnums in a lighter rifle package.

In what rifle?

 

[TN2shot07]

Another 300 wsm vote, for all the reasons listed above. The 338 rpm is definitely available in a rifle that fits your needs but the components may be an issue

 

[ljalberta]

In what rifle?

Something short and reliable. If cost is a concern, I’m not sure who’s making one in a production rifle these days.