What is the best sniping caliber....
I know I'm opening up a can of worms here but here it goes anyway...
I want a bolt action rifle for 300+ yard shots... What is the best caliber to get...
I want to choose from
.300 Winchester magnum
.308
.30-06
.388 Lapua
What do you recommend. What are the Pro's & Con's on these rounds other than price.
I just shoot targets no varmints
I want a bolt action rifle for 300+ yard shots... What is the best caliber to get...
I want to choose from
.300 Winchester magnum
.308
.30-06
.388 Lapua
What do you recommend. What are the Pro's & Con's on these rounds other than price.
I just shoot targets no varmints
0
-
Of the ones you have listed, and picking just from those, I'd go with the lowest power, since you are only shooting targets. That makes it the .308. Common caliber available in hundreds of versions, gives you lots to pick from, factory and handloads abound, known for its accuracy inherent to the cartridge, low recoil, bullet selection you cant do better than, brass is cheap for reloads, takes less powder than the others, can be had in a shorter action for quicker shooting and a lighter weapon, less noise...geez the list goes on, I know I missed something. I know you said you arent hunting with it, but it makes a great gun for hunting too, not much you couldnt shoot with it in North America, if you wanted to. Wont be hard to sell it later if you decide you want to either. Thats my opinion.
SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC0 -
Hello Mauer
If it is just for plinking, I'd go for the 308Win. Because of the variety of ammo, just as Robsguns mentioned.
In .308Win it's also easier to find great quality rifles at more costeffective prizes.
You can have a great .308Win rifle or a .50 blackpowder long-gun of some sort, and do nice bulletplacements - it's also much to do about the shooter.
Most important : Go with what you're comfy with and can handle shooting. Most of all - if you haven't got the optics, it ends up being a crappy setup.
That's why I put a Schmidt&Bender on my Steyr Scout.
.300Win-mag is also a powerfull round, kicks a little more - but if you can take it and have a wallet that can cope with the higher cost of the rifle. This can be a nice round for targetting and hunting.
Eventhough I heard it doesn't vary too much from what a 308Win can do at 300yards and such.
.300Win-Mag has a flatter trajectory - but for .308Win you can actually find scopes that have Bullet-Drop incorporated in them.
So if you buy a 308Win, you can find scopes that you set on 300yards and puts the Cross dead on your target, if the target changes - you simply changes the scopes ranging too. 400yard shots - set it to 400yards.. once it's zeroed, you need to know your ammo and correct with the scope and winds.
.338Lapua is a powerfull round. Most people won't like the recoil or blast that comes from it.
A friend of mine in Denmark tried it, when it first arrived in a version used to big game hunters.
He said he tried several shots, sitting on his (biiiiip) shooting with bipod and making nice groupings at 200metres.
Then he wanted to try it in prone (laying down), he fired one shot and absorbed every joule of recoil throughout his stretched body - then he told me - when he stopped crying, he sat down on his (biiiiiip) and shot the rest of the pack of ammo and went home.
ONLY SHOOT IN UPRIGHT POSITION, unless you're big enough to cope with that.
My friend is about 1metre95cm.. 120kg's.. that's 6'2" and 260lbs and he didn't like the recoil.
Besides that : he's used to a 12.7mm / 50BMG with an excessive recoil-damper on the barrel and oil-dampers in the buttstock.
30-06 is a slightly more powerfull round than 308Win (I believe..), hasn't got the same variety of factory made bullets or military surplus ammo anymore. But still have a great deal of varying cartridges. It isn't obsolete as such, shoots quite nice.
Had a Parker Hale Safari rifle once, in 30-06. quite okay groupings.
Regards
Peter E Jeppesen
Greenland.
Just owns a silenced .22LR Anshutz rifle =o) .308Win Steyr Mannlicher - Scout ;o_ That's all I need, but not all I want.
Don't do anything I've allready done - It's just plain stoooopid. =o)0 -
Forgot to mention - the 338Lapua is used by some long range snipers around the world.
It can darn near take ones head clean off at 1000yards and still pack a punch for the guy behind the target.
Doesn't know the effective range of 338Lapua, but it doesn't stop at 1000yards, more like 1500-1800yards.
It's a bit excessive for hunting, as a clean heartshot or lung shot most likely will result in the bowel ripping up.
But I do believe it'd be a great round for reloaders.
I hear good hunting ammo for deer, reindeer and bigger bears can be made. Maybe even found.0 -
Lets take this TOPIC to the General Discussion Forum...Its not really a Topic for this Forum...Therefor I 'm locking the Topic....
Captain Kirk, Tech Staff0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
4 comments