First deer rifle ever since I was 13 and I keep going back to it (37 now). (7.62x51mm NATO) and the .50 BMG. The difference between hunting in the forested mountains and chasing deer out where the deer regularly start running away 400 yards out if they see you creates a whole different experience. When coupled with bullets that have a high ballistic coefficient, the, It also has less wind drift and less bullet drop than the .223 Remington or the 6.5 Grendel. Ammo prices are a bit steeper than the previously mentioned cartridges, but the American Eagle 75-grain TMJs are relatively easy on the wallet. And here, the 6.5 PRC shines as well. You'll now receive newsletters of our best articles on techniques, Mag. Still, 2 inches high was all it needed. That's why the three best rifles we have sorted have a 500-yard impact range below 40''. Lets look at some of the popular calibers. While other cartridges have emerged and gained popularity, the 6.5 Grendel still has a permanent place in the conversation when talking about long-range shooting. With the popularity of this cartridge due to Americas favorite rifle, the AR15, more and more people are stretching out its legs. Type your new password and hit button below to confirm it. The 308 is a good round and in many cases there's no reason to replace it with a 6.5C unless you just want to.. On the other hand if you're starting fresh, there's not much reason to buy a 308 over a 6.5C. I had my own doubts because I am a bit of a cynic. john cooperi have 7mm browning a bollt what is the best over the counter round you can buy. In other words, can I just remove my .223 Wylde/5.56 NATO223 upper assy and install the PSA .224 Valkyrie upper? All you need is a magazine for the .224 round and the 6.8 SPC mags do a very good job. . Just took me a 600+ pound cow elk 1 shot with my creedmore 200 yards away. Beyond 600 or 800 yards, however, the efficiency of the high B.C. Availability is not the best either, so online buying or reloading may be the best option for this cartridge. From 600 to 1000 yards they use a 300 Winchester. . A good example of a rifle that demonstrates the .308s long-range chops is this rifle I built with Shilen a few years back. It drops almost 400 inches at 1000 yards and drifts 100 inches at the same with a 10 MPH full value wind. .25-06 Rem The .25-06 Remington rifle cartridge used to be a rare wildcat. Loaded with a 130-grain bullet, it will carry more than 1000 foot-pounds of energy out past 600 yards. Even at a 1000 yard drop, the cartridge range is around 210'', which makes the 26 Nosler perform quite capably at such a range . Just $1 per month , These rounds have the reach and the power to put down big-game animals way out there, By Cost, ease of part acquirement, availability, things you can run in an AR platform, or a perceived "coolness" factor? That closed the tips of the open-tip match (OTM) bullets and made the projectiles slightly shorter in length. Even with kinetic energy factored in, after 500 yards, the 6.5 CM pulls away as the leader due to its retained velocity. Faster velocities mean flatter trajectories. With a flatter trajectory and less wind drift the .300 Win Mag offers a useful step up in performance in a similar size rifle. 53 in. Thats what makes a long-range hunters heart go pitter patter, and its what has kept Weatherby in business since 1945. i think the 50 bmg would make most every ones list on this topic. Yeah, 6.5s are all the rage, and their blinding popularity has taken some shine off the old .270, but the latter is still one of the very best long-range hunting cartridges. He would then fire-form the brass in a barrel dedicated to that process and then run that brass through a die with a .30-caliber mandrel, at which point he turns the case neck for uniformity and trims the brass to the right length. The 300 PRC will cruise above the speed of sound out to 1,650 yards. The .257 Weatherby is one of the flattest-shooting cartridges made. There are far too many cartridges out there to narrow down, let alone the shooter's need factored in. For hunting it makes more sense to run with something a bit stouter. RELATED: How the Brand-New 27 Nosler Revives the .277. It is a screamer, and with increased velocity comes increased range. Shoots flatter than a 243- wheich already kicks a 6.5 cm was. It outperforms the .280 Remington (also known as the 7mm-06 and the 7mm Express), and for years wildcatters and handloaders have been singing its praises. Those projectiles shed their speed slowly, so the 6.5 PRC can catch up with much larger and harder-recoiling cartridges at 600 yards and beyond. Nosler Trophy Grade Long Range, 175-grain AccuBond Long Range at 3,125 fps. Subscribe to OL+ for our best feature stories and photography. Hardly a week goes by without the introduction of a new productwhether a bullet, a type of gun powder, a riflescope, an electronic gizmo, or what have youthat doesnt help shooters put projectiles on target with greater precision. I also encourage others to understand that their limits legitimately aren't limits for other people sometimes. still possess remarkable capabilities. 2) even if that were true .308 and 300 win mag use the same bulletsso 300 win mag would see the same increases and would stay just as far ahead. If I reload then a wildcat cartridge like 6x47 Lapua. That, combined with their relatively small size, means that compared to cartridges of similar powder capacity, the 6.5s will almost always do more, in terms of external and terminal ballistics, with less recoil. are shooting remarkably flat. At least inside of 600 yards. I have used it on more big game animals than any other cartridge since 2007. Based on the 7.6239/220 Russian cartridge case, the Valkyrie changes the personality of the AR-15. After reaching out to 1,250 yards on a trip to the amazing High Bar Homestead in Gillette, WY, I am now a firm believer in the .224 Valkyrie. But the military also discovered the benefits of the .300 Win. Why? It happened to shoot the Federal Premium 90-grain Sierra Match Kings very well and hitting a steel torso was fairly regular between myself and my shooting buddy, Kat Ainsworth. in the 1960s when Marine Lance Corporal Carlos Hathcock used the round to win the Wimbledon Cup, a 1,000-yard rifle competition in 1965. There are not many places you can shoot 500 yards. His custom-made barrels had a 1:17 twist. Then the 400 yard. The .224 Valkyrie is the flattest shooting 0.224 caliber cartridge you can put in an AR-15. To put that in perspective, seven-thousands of an inch is the equivalent thickness of two sheets of paper. Hornadys Precision Hunter 145-grain ELD-X at 2,950 fps is the flattest-shooting .270 Winchester load. As for its effectiveness on game, theres little doubt about its track record there. It was introduced in 1962 and essentially knocked the .264 Winchester Magnum several notches down on the popularity list after hunters and shooters put the 7mm Mag to the test. Stinnett said he would take the 6.5 Grendel brass made by Lapua and run it through a sizing die until the shoulder is pushed back far enough to chamber. The deer wont know the difference. The company set out to push the limits with this thing, designing it as a flat-shooting 6.5mm cartridge with performance capable of taking full advantage of the newest long-range shooting reticles used in today's scopes. Get Our Top Shooting Drills and Zeroing Targets ($47 value - but FREE for a limited time). Also look at Federal Premiums 180-grain Nosler AccuBond offering at 2,960 fps. The quicker it gets to 200 yards the less time gravity has been working on it and the less it will drop. Surprising how many people seem to have forgotten the .264 W mag. Richard Mann It will be passed down to my son and so forth. I wasnt there to see it actually happen, but I dont doubt that it could have. Weve never had it so good when it comes to picking among the best long-range calibers to shoot. These are the calibers that I have seen shot to 2000 yards or more that are very accurate. The flattest-shooting popular rifle cartridge at 1,000 yards is the 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum, followed by the .26 Nosler, the .28 Nosler, the .22 Creedmoor, and the 6.5 Weatherby RPM. At 1000 yards, probably a greater distance than can be effectively aimed, a round is traveling at 1200 fps. The rebated . A .270 Win is one of the flattest shooting rifles that won't beat you silly, but it still drops over three feet at 500 yds (and don't forget wind drift; it's easily =/< to drop, always a big factor). Performance in the field is another. Published Apr 14, 2022 12:07 PM EDT. A personal favorite of mine is the Federal Premium 130-grain Bergers, which at the time of this writing costs $1.50/round. The password should contain at least 8 characters with at least one number or special character. Once dialed in, I was able to put rounds on a steel silhouette with ease. However, none of these choices are necessarily easy on the pocketbook, with most loads over $1/round. Swifts 150-grain Scirocco at 3,036 fps delivers outstanding terminal performance. As with Hornadys two recent 6.5 caliber introductions, it has found favor with long-range competitors, but also with hunters who like to hit at distance with heavy bullets. Out here on Guam, I use a Browning BAR 7mm Magnum and has NEVER let me down 25-06nobody ever talks about it. The .277 is an oddball bullet diameter, in that it doesnt fall into the much more common 6.5mm, 7mm, or .30-caliber categories. But the truth is you dont need to suffer with bad .308 ammo. Prices can be high for match-grade ammo, but Wolf offers extremely affordable plinking ammo with their 100-grain FMJ steel-case loads. Whether you're shooting a break-action, pump-action, or semiautomatic, Sign up for the Field & Stream newsletter and get the latest intelligence straight to your inbox. In this article, I aim to help you decide which cartridge may be best for you, your wallet, and what you may be able to expect out of these long-range capable cartridges. Newer cartridges do offer better ballistics, but at the expense of more recoil, shooter barrel life and less off-the-shelf cartridge selection. A good 1000-yard stock will feature a flat fore-end, 3 or so wide . That lineup started with the .264 Win. In the world of practical precision rifle competition, exemplified by the NRL, PRS, RTC and other series, there is an arms race among light-recoiling 6mm cartridges. So it just depends , but I wouldn't lump 556, 224, etc into this category. This cartridge is flat shooting from 100 yards out to 1000 in the right rifle, and we think it is likely to become the premier precision rifle cartridge. The RPM does not have a belt or the customary Weatherby radiused shoulder, and it was designed to go with an ultra-light hunting rifle. When you are really far away (let's say 800), it's almost always possible to close the distance without spooking the animal. It sure isn't my spectacular marksmanship. This includes gear reviews, features on technical innovations, stories on shooting techniques and general hunting coverage with the occasional fishing story thrown into the mix. Of these the 6mm Dasher is the current champ, in terms of popularity and winning. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. We really neednt measure individual cartridges/bullets because just two things determine drop: muzzle velocity and bullet B.C. Not long ago, Team Global Precision Group used the .416 Barrett to ring steel at a mind-blowing 6,012 yards (3.4 miles, 5497 meters, 18,036 feet). Only a handful of .277-caliber cartridges are made today, but the .270 Winchester is still by far the most popular, given all the guns and loads out there for it. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. Ditto some of our fastest 7mms and 300s. Ammunition choices have increased lately, and Hornady has ammunition with the 87-grain VMAX and 103-grain ELD-X for long-range hunting. And stay in touch with newsletters of our best articles on techniques, guns, & gear. The .300 Win. There are a lot of reasons for this. But if you can shoot this cartridge well, with its supersonic speed out beyond 1,650 yards, youre just about unstoppable at distance, and there are lots of factory loads and riflesaffordable and expensiveto choose from. Bill Poor recently claimed to hit a target at 5280 yards/4837 meters or 3 miles. 28 in. It also induced instability that rendered the round unstable and inaccurate at 800 yards and beyond. I have shot my .338LM to 2616 yards at a match. in earnest, awarding a contract to Federal Cartridge Co., in 1987 to produce .300 Win. Mag., and the story of its adoption and evolution in that role is what really lands it on the list of best long-range calibers. During benchrest competition the targets have a paper backer that is moving placed behind them. Nosler is loading the 27 with their famous AccuBond, which is one of the best big-game bullets ever crafted. Heres your winner. Where the 6.5 Creedmoor excels is with its engineering. 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