Best caliber for long distance shooting?

[AusTac]

Just get a 50 better to have the firepower and never need it rather than need it and not have it, ya know in case a deer appears at 2kms

[hazza3006]

Most Target shooting is done with a 308 or less in the F open where they can choose any claibre they want for shooting 1000yrds most go for 6.5's and 7s not 30's and defitnatley not the magnums. they just dot have the shootability, recoil, shock wave and other factors detract from accuracy, for shot after shot performance. Ok for a one or two shots but not 36.
Get to know your 308 and on a day with not too much wind I can hit dinner plates no problem at 700. Given reasonable conditions I would not hesitate to take a Sambar at 500-600 with a 185 in a 308.

Target shooting is not hunting. The heavy recoil for one or two shots a week is a small trade for more terminal performance.

yep and when it comes to Sambar and Buff in particular, bigger is definitely better for sure. I'd rather get the job done and dusted, than fluff about with theory based on target shooting etc. 338 Lapua Mag minimum for sure... not that i'd ever try a 600m shot at deer or Buff anyway, so i'll just stick with my good old time proven 30-06 with 180grn Hornady Interbond pills for Sambar, cause i know shots past 100m rarely exist...

[bladeracer]

Target shooting is not hunting. The heavy recoil for one or two shots a week is a small trade for more terminal performance.

Sure the 300wm might hit harder on paper, but the 308w kills things, I mean really kills things dead, too much so in fact, fist size holes if it hits bone Dunno I just see 300wm as overkill in the field. Just IMO of course.

I agree with you, .308 is just fine at proper hunting distances. I'd want more velocity and a heavier bullet for long ranges where I have zero chance of getting to an injured animal to finish it off quickly.

My neighbour shoots dozens of sambar every year using .300WSM at normal distances.

[Lumbajak]

. Depends on the game if pigs I would swap the 308/or 6.5x55 over at about 300 for the 300wm with atleast a 190/200gr projectile with high bc and dope set up.
600 metres is a looong shot on a living creature.
Personally I would like to be sure of 1 Moa accuracy in the field in any conditions to achieve this on any animal.
Goats and thin skinned or smaller game 308/6.5 or even 7 08 will have the berries to do the job out to 600 given the same parameters as above.
Buff/scrub bulls get yourself a howitzer for over 300 etc haha

[bladeracer]

600 metres is a looong shot on a living creature.
Personally I would like to be sure of 1 Moa accuracy in the field in any conditions to achieve this on any animal.

Even a half-MoA rifle doesn't guarantee clean kills at long range.
A 1MoA rifle will drop its bullets into a 200mm circle at 600m - meaning it'll hit somewhere within 100mm of your aim point.
With a high-BC bullet - like the Hornady 220gn ELD-X (BC .650) - at 2300fps from a .308 with a 200m zero, you have 3.4m of drop at 600m. Even if you dial the scope in, misjudge the distance by just 10m short or long and your 200mm circle is 250mm above or below where you want it. Add a full-strength 10mph wind and your 200mm circle is now 250mm high or low _and_ 900mm off to one side. At 600m the bullet is doing 1540fps and carrying 1160ft/lb of energy.

Put that same bullet in a .300WinMag with 400fps more velocity and you have only 2.4m drop and your 10m range mistake reduces to 150mm over or under, and the wind reduces to 700mm. And it hits at 1850fps with 1680ft/lb of energy

Go to the .338 Lapua with the 270gn ELD-X (BC .757) at 2800fps and your 10m error reduces to 120mm high or low and your wind to 540mm. Velocity is stil 2050fps and you have 2520ft/lb of energy making a near miss pretty damn fatal.

Long-range shooters like the WinMag and Lapua because it allows them to make the hits.

[Archie]

Not that I want to keep e-beating up on this poor guy, because he was only asking a simple question. But something else did occur to me today.

The other issue with long range hunting is not only that the potential for wounding increases with distance. Its also, that if you have to go and find a wounded animal because it ran off, the first issue is usually getting to where you last saw it and trying to find some blood etc. Pigs etc.. well, if I'm honest I might not care too much in that case, hypocrite that I am. But I think in most cases, you're going to want to try at least.

And in many parts of Oz - not all of course - there doesn't seem to be a 300m stretch where that doesn't involve at least a gully and frequently a lot more. So if you bugger it up at >500m, then you can easily be a 30+ minutes hike away from getting to where you need to start to do the proper work. I've never hunted sambar, but if half of what people tell me is true, then I suspect a badly-hit sambar will be in the next state by that time.

[AusTac]

Not that I want to keep e-beating up on this poor guy, because he was only asking a simple question. But something else did occur to me today.

The other issue with long range hunting is not only that the potential for wounding increases with distance. Its also, that if you have to go and find a wounded animal because it ran off, the first issue is usually getting to where you last saw it and trying to find some blood etc. Pigs etc.. well, if I'm honest I might not care too much in that case, hypocrite that I am. But I think in most cases, you're going to want to try at least.

And in many parts of Oz - not all of course - there doesn't seem to be a 300m stretch where that doesn't involve at least a gully and frequently a lot more. So if you bugger it up at >500m, then you can easily be a 30+ minutes hike away from getting to where you need to start to do the proper work. I've never hunted sambar, but if half of what people tell me is true, then I suspect a badly-hit sambar will be in the next state by that time.

Some.of the terrain i see the critters hoping up is mind boggling! Vertical cliffs and all sorts like its nothing

[scoobs]

22LR. because LR = Long Range right?

[Bigjobss]

22LR. because LR = Long Range right?

Damn I always thought it stood for Ludicrous Recoil? I've been scared all these years for nothing!