First off, hey Jim! I love what you’re doing here and I’m excited to be this early to support something like this. Being a 25 year old petroleum engineer in western North Dakota, what you preach is what I live daily. Also if you see this, I’d love to help out in any way possible with backfire and love that you’re sticking up for the real Americans in this country.
Okay so now to the point of my post. I have very happily found myself with about $900 of gift cards to Scheels and was looking to get myself a nice dedicated large game gun. I have a VERY custom mosin nagant, a .338 win mag (mossberg patriot ), a .30-30, and a very heavy but accurate .308 build. I am looking to get myself a nice bolt hunting rifle, but am struggling to pick a cartridge. I have many other guns so anything smaller is not a concern of mine. My main need is something for any deer size animal and up. My initial gut feeling is just get that 7mm PRC. The game size I’m after is whitetail and Mule deer with the occasional elk/moose. For the time being, my hunting will be in North Dakota and ranges can be quite long (up to 600 yards depending on the area). In the near future I will be moving to Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, or Alaska, so the need still stands.
My question for everyone on this is: do I wait for the gun I want in 7 PRC or do I resort back to a .300 win mag or a 7 rem mag? I would also be open to the .300 PRC as I really don’t mind recoil especially after shooting my .338 and I do reload. Thanks everyone for the input and I hope this answers others questions as well with all the cartridge changes these days.
What a great problem to have! I love all rifle caliber’s and reload old cartridges as as well as newer stuff. Looks like you already have a hammer in your 338 so if it was me I would go with the 7mm PRC. It will do everything you need it to and more. As for the moving soon part I currently live in Colorado and would not move here if you love to hunt often. Tags are too restricted. I lived in Alaska for almost 8 years and would go back tomorrow if I could. Take your 7 PRC to Alaska and have a ball. Later STW
Hey Michael! Thank you so much for the support. Welcome to Backfire Plus!
I think I agree with Ken. You have a good hard-hitter already, so I’d go for something more aimed at long range. 7 prc would be a sweet build.
Also, you might consider a 6.5 PRC if you don’t have one. The 7 PRC has too much recoil to reasonably spot your own impacts easily, but a 6.5 PRC with a suppressor is sweet for actually seeing the bullet impact. If 90% of your hunting is deer or smaller, it could be a better fit.
Last thing I’d personally think about is if a suppressor is in your future. I’d rather have a cheaper gun and a suppressor than an expensive gun and no suppressor.
So many rifles out there I would look at fierce carbon rival if in your budget, I bought the mountain reaper in 300 prc primarily because the PRC is made for accuracy. Match chamber gives it slight advantages, same with 7 prc. If moose is in your future I would do 300 PRC it will do everything you want. Just my opinion hope it helps.
Tikka T3 lite in a 300wm or 300wsm and you will not look back and wish you had gotten something else. Take the extra money from a $900 rifle and buy a great scope. Not saying any of the others aren’t great but this is a low risk way to get something that really works for not a pile of money.
), a .30-30, and a very heavy but accurate .308 build. I am looking to get myself a nice bolt hunting rifle, but am struggling to pick a cartridge. I have many other guns so anything smaller is not a concern of mine. My main need is something for any deer size animal and up. My initial gut feeling is just get that 7mm PRC. The game size I’m after is whitetail and Mule deer with the occasional elk/moose. For the time being, my hunting will be in North Dakota and ranges can be quite long (up to 600 yards depending on the area). In the near future I will be moving to Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, or Alaska, so the need still stands.
and I do reload. Thanks everyone for the input and I hope this answers others questions as well with all the cartridge changes these days.