I have been out of hunting for too long! If my hopes pan out I eventually want to get in on a big game hunt ie. Elk moose bear before I croak. I am embarrassing myself for the lack of staying up on things hunting related as I have been out of it for a decade plus. What big rifle do you have actual experience with and what would your ideal if buying one? My old fuddy duddy no big bore experience is leaning me towards a 300 win mag or 338 win mag. Ok give me a learning!
No need to bash yourself, it's good you ask about these things. What distance do you expect to cover? Estimated shot distance to clarify. What type of terrain are you going into? How far do you intend to hike in? How recoil sensitive are you? I hunt with both, .300 WM and .338 WM. Just depends on where I'm going. They're both hammers with the right bullet.
7mm rem mag works great for elk and deer. I've never used it for elk yet, but it's great on whitetail deer, and I know it's a flat shooting bullet and carries a lot of energy down the range. If you are carrying your rifle around a ways, those 300 win and 338s are recoil monsters. You can get around the recoil with something like a BAR, buy those are heavvvvvvy. My dad has a 300 win mag Browning BAR, and it's nothing you want to carry more than a mile or so.
You'd like my .300 WM "parts gun". About 8.5 lbs. w/scope. Recoil- more than .243, much less than .308.
I'm used to my Ruger m77 mk2 all weather Stainless/ composite 7mm rem mag. It's a tack driver. It's been stone reliable since I got it in 94. Light enough, doesn't kick too bad, and I think it makes me a better shot. I haven't weighed it, but I think it's about that same 8.5 lb gun weight.
Distances and budget (including glass, etc) would help, but with those monsters, get a good brake if you want less recoil. I was shocked at what a good brake will do with recoil. Another thing to consider is ammo cost and availability. Things are likely going to disappear or skyrocket in price if a certain email deleting president happens. Fwiw, a Savage 11 long range Hunter in 300wm is about $700 and a hell of a rifle for that price point.
No plan on the hunt yet. As for recoil, back in my deer hunting days I shot 30-06 for top end recoil and could do it all day. I am a little feller bout 5'11" and a slender 290. I tend to lean towards wanting a shot in ethical for me range and I am no sniper so prefer to stay under 400yd and ideally 300 or less. Mainly asking because within 10 years want to get this off the bucket list and not worry about age becoming a factor in ability or injury. Bought several raffle tickets and odds are if should I win a gun it won't be what I want but could use it to trade up before i leave the shop. Does that help any?
PS. Before the kids got my guns I tended towards the working mans guns savage and stevens. Low cost yet still effective and of the several I had I liked the safety and operation were all the same on these so no looking away to figure out where things were, just automatic muscle memory.
At 400yds or under, a 30-06 or even 308 would do the deed....albeit with some more arc to the bullet path than a magnum. Use a heavy 180gr (or similar) premium bullet (partition, accubond, etc) and put it where it counts. Learn your ballistics of the chosen bullet at certain yardages, learn your scope dope, windage for your bullet, and your holdovers. Ammo is a heck of alot cheaper in the above 2 than the magnums. Fwiw, I've never hunted elk or moose, but plenty of them have succumbed to non magnum rifles.
No problem on deer, elk and moose but what kind of bear are you going after. There is a big difference between an Alaskan brown vs a black bear and you don't want anything small going after one of those big bear.
I am kinda floating the impossible to answer question loaded with what ifs. I don't know exactly what I will be doing and am just trying to cover any base for unknown future hunts. Lets just throw out there a maybe moose or brown bear for top end critters and yes I would like to stay at 300 yds but would definitely practice to 600. And what rifles are capable of doing this within reason. I loved when I deer hunted my .308 but would never try to put a moose elk or bear down at that range with one. I am just after a big game unknown situation what would you get with no experience or availability to try out big magnums because I don't run in big game circles. Basically what is the best do it all big bore that is semi affordable and not so exotic that ammo or parts are impossible to find.
I understand kicking tires and floating ideas. So, I'll share why I have and use both the .300 and .338 WM. .300 WM- It was a "parts gun", assembled from stuff I had laying around. I did build and install a very effective adjustable compensator for it. It makes all the difference. Intended use is deer and elk at potential ranges up to 600 yrds. in more open country. .338 WM- Winchester M-70. Cut barrel back and built a 3-chamber compensator. Recoil is right around a .25/06. Intended use was primarily elk in black timber and steep terrain. Intended use was 300 yrds. max. I suppose the question is the bears? You want to go after the big boys? If so, .338 WM hands down. The factory ammo is pricey though. If black bear is your goal, take a look at the 30-06 again. It will take elk and moose out to 300 yrds. also. Ammo is less expensive so you'll be able to practice more. Nothing wrong with Savage, they make an accurate rifle and I like the new trigger. I may be wrong, but you actually should consider 2-3 new rifles. Maybe 9-10. Just because.
Yup any north American animal can be easily killed with a 300 or 7mm mag except the big old grizzly's I suppose. even a 7mm 08 works well. I like my 300 win mag, hand load a 165gr bullet and shoot across cranberry bogs several hundreds across for white tails. Hate those back blasting muzzle brakes that reduce recoil at the cost of noise population. Had my 300 Mag Na Ported, recoil about the same as my 243, don't get that ear splitting no0ise in the face and other people at the range are not coming and complaining. Mag-na-port International--The Mag-Na-Brake: Mag-na-porting Rifles Al
I'd put the 7mm into the same class as the 30/06, just with more range. If you don't plan on shooting long distances I'd stick with 30/06 for ammo cost.
Most Alaskan guides that I've talked to consider the .338WM to be the lightest caliber that's adequate for brown bears. Most prefer that you use a .375H&H or larger.
