Quote:
Originally Posted by hunter29180
discussion about 3 calibers for all around hunting and other predator elemination.
the choices under discussion are 308, 7.62 x 39 and 7.62 x 54r..
how would you rank them and why?
animals to be hunted..deer, antelope,moose, hogs,bears,caribu expected ranges from 200 yd to 1500 yd with occasional shots up to 2000 if the rifle can do this.
predators..the usual up to and including some 2 legged types... 
feel free to bring forth others for consiteration for the uses and ranges above!!
must be commerically available and reloadable!! |
The .308 and the 7.62X54R are only effective to about 800 meters. the X39 400 meters. The ranges you state alone would require very precise projectiles and stable platforms and the round would have to be on par with a .408 CheyTac or a .416 barrett.. The .338 lapua at the very least and thats gonna be pushin it on the bigger animals at that range.
Moose, some of the bigger bears and elk are stretching the .30 cal to the far side of optimism. They are capable, you just gotta be one hell of a crack shot to put that pill where it matters most, which is something thats likely NOT to happen in a full charge my a mature bull moose or a hungry pissed off kodiak.
Reduce the ranges to a realistic 500-600 yards maximum, and omit the moose and bears from the animals to kill list and the .308 win reigns king, with the 7.62X54R coming in 2nd and the 7.62X39 on the 100-200 yd list at 3rd.
Real world picks for me, based on experience. would be:
.223 rem for small game and predators out to 400 yds
.308 win for medium game out to 600 yds
.338 Lapua for medium to large game at extended ranges, though Id probably keep my ranges limited to 1000 or less mainly because of my comfort with my own skill level of shooting. i.e. closer is better..
1000 yds is a long ass way out. lots of time for variables to affect the bullet and truth be told ti just isnt practical to engage anything aside from a paper target or unsuspecting steel gong at that kinda range. Just being honest here. I know what I am capable of behind a rifle and shooting ranges past 500 yards give me the willys, not because its hard and i cant do it, because I can and have, but because theres all kinds of variables you cant calculate at longer ranges that makes the margin of error too large to consider a clean kill on anything. Now I know the military logs kills beyond 1000 yds regularly, but the guys behind the trigger are highly disciplined shooters with state of the art cutting edge equipment at thier fingertips.
Its easy to be an internet commando or a mall ninja riding the free wifi at starbucks and post your "skillset" online where theres nobody that knows different and nobody to prove otherwise. And I read alot of opinions and claims on the internet these days from folks that id wager only own 1 gun and they just bought it.