remington 700? caliber?

chesapeake · May 26, 2013

I am in the market to purchase a remington 700 model rifle, i am prob going to order or purchase it new. I have definately decided on a remington 700, but what i cant decide is what caliber to go with?

I will eventually like to go and shoot some big game out west with it and maybe canada, but not africa. I am not a big varmit hunter either. I was thinking 7mm ultra mag or 300 ultra mag or 300 short mag, but i am not an expert in rifles, so just looking for thoughts and opinions.

Thanks

Kingjamez · May 26, 2013

The obvious choice is .308. Ammo is plentiful, range out to 1K yards, capable of taking most big game.

-Jim

sgt23preston · May 26, 2013

Sgt Preston here...

I'd keep it simple but powerful: 308 or 30-06...

Those calibers of ammo has been readily available & reasonably priced (before the current shortages)...

I expect that demand will level off & supply will return when we get a real President...

LocknLoad · May 26, 2013

.308...good enough for the USMC snipers, good enough for me.

MarineFAC · May 26, 2013

The previous two gents got it right - .308 or .30-06. Find a good commercial load that sends a 150-180gr bullet out the front at 2800fps and prints at 1-2 MOA. You are ready for anything from white tales to elk to moose. I shoot a Rem 700 Mountain Rifle in .30-06 with Barnes Vortex 180gr triple shock bullets - bit much for white tales (have yet to have to track one after being shot) and dropped elk in Colorado at just over 400 yds. Besides the Ultra in Ultra Mag is for Ultra loud, Ultra hard kicking and Ultra expensive. Take a look at the ballistics - not that much more bang, for a lot more bucks. Best of luck and let us know what you decide.

sgt23preston · May 26, 2013

LocknLoad said:
.308...good enough for the USMC snipers, good enough for me.

Sgt Preston here...

For real long range shots (1 mile) they have been using the .338 Lapua...

BUT there are not many places in the USA or Canada to make 1 mile shots these days...

Back in my day (1961-1965) we qualified at 500 yards each year with the M1 Garand in 30-06 looking thru a peep sight...

I can't imagine taking a shot much longer than that without some really sophisticated optics and a bi-pod...

I love my 308 these days..!

sailskidrive · May 27, 2013

308 or 300 Winchester Magnum.

The 308 and 30'06 ballistics are so close together I really don't see a reason to go with the older long action cartridge.

Biggfoot44 · May 27, 2013

Ultra Mags are to be most charitable , highly specialized.
Presuming from your question that you were looking for either flatter shooting and or a bit more horse power that the .308 , there are a cpl of popular and widely available ( and well proven ) choices. 7mm Remington Mag , and .300 Win Mag. The 7mm will have recoil roughly equiv to a .30-06 , the .300 somewhat more , but less than those UltraMags , or the .338 and up choices. The WSM's in 7mm will give esentially equal performance , in a short action , rather than standard length action. This may or may not be a factor that makes any difference to you ( aka majority of hunters ) .

Pinecone · May 27, 2013

If you don't reload, .30-06 tends to have a wider range of available bullet weights in factory ammo. And right now, .30-06 is available, but .308 is hard to find.

.30-06 is big enough to take any NA game animal.

.308 gives up some velocity to the .30-06 with the same bullet.

That said, one of the .300 Magnum rounds will be better for the larger game. And shoot flatter.

BTW military snipers have gone to .300 Win Mag, .338 Lapua Mag, or .50 BMG.

Minuteman · May 27, 2013

A buddy and I checked out a 700 in 338Lapua, that's a real long range shooter. Would take any game at range.

A step down would be 300 WinMag. But unless you really need that kind of range, I read that the .260Rem has virtually the same flight performance as 300WM, but much less recoil.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.260_Remington

Can't go wrong though with a .308, that was my choice in this catagory.

Pinecone · May 27, 2013

For hunting, the .300 Win Mag shoots a heavier bullet, so for the same velocity as .260, more energy in the .300 Win Mag. For paper, energy doesn't matter, but it does for hunting it really does.

.338 Lapua is really nice LONG range round, but figure on somewhere around $5 PER ROUND.

chesapeake · May 27, 2013

Wow, guys thanks for the quick feedback :party29:

I guess i was going with the larger is better theory, but for what i need not necessarily the case. I am now thinking .308 or .300 WIN Mag, sounds like no need for ultra? I just want a good all around rifle, maybe shoot an antelope, mule deer, elk and moose all with the same round (obviously not same trip, haha) but for when the day comes and i go i want to be ready.

I havent looked at balistcis tables or done any real life range comparisons, just getting started and thought this would be the best place to throw out this question.

WDM · May 27, 2013

.30-06

Doobie · May 27, 2013

Excellent answers/suggestions by all. Price and availability of ammo should definitely be of consideration. During "normal" times you want a caliber that is commonly stocked and affordable...I am a fan of the 300 Win Mag...I use it for groundhog (great practice), deer, and bear. It could just as easily be a 308, 30-06, 7mm etc...During the ammo shortage I had no trouble finding 300 Win Mag or 30-06...308 was a different story.

diesel-man · May 27, 2013

30-06

2nd choice 300 Win Mag.

If you truly want an Ultra Mag, shoot someone else's or buy a used one...plenty of bruised shoulders that have given them up.

Naysayers, go shoot 20+ rounds and let me know the next day how your shoulder feels...or better yet show us how many shoulder pads or foam that you use to fire more than a couple rounds.

If you like punishment....contact Chad...

:party29:

Deep Creek Rock · May 27, 2013

I have an older 700BDL SS in 30-06, and love that gun!

30-06 will give you the most bullet choice, and will kill any game in North America. In fact that caliber has taken more head of game WORLDWIDE then any other caliber. It will make a nice range gun, and wont beat up your shoulder too bad like some of the mag calibers can.

If you buy a 700 in .308, pay attention to the twist rates. Some of the Remington 700 varmint models had slower twist rates to stabilize very light varmint bullets.

WheelHead · May 27, 2013

+ on the .308
I have a few rifles in .308 and shooting and reload is very practical. Not a lot of recoil means I can shoot all day unlike my .300 Win or 300 Wby.

Jerry M · May 27, 2013

For your first rifle definitely choose a standard caliber. Killed a black bear in Quebec a few years ago with a .270 Winchester; killed two Caribou two years ago with a .308 Winchester in the Arctic; killed 6 for 6 shots last year in South Africa with a .30-06 Springfield:
http://mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=103760

The key is practice until you can put the bullet in the animal's vitals.

Good luck

Jerry

Minuteman · May 27, 2013

Doobie said:
Excellent answers/suggestions by all. Price and availability of ammo should definitely be of consideration. During "normal" times you want a caliber that is commonly stocked and affordable...I am a fan of the 300 Win Mag...I use it for groundhog (great practice), deer, and bear. It could just as easily be a 308, 30-06, 7mm etc...During the ammo shortage I had no trouble finding 300 Win Mag or 30-06...308 was a different story.

Very much agreed, and I was waiting for someone to make this point. Heck, when I google price per round, I most often am pointed to my own thread back here on MDShooters! http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=70294

Unfortunately I didn't really look at these top hunting rounds, I just picked a wide variety of popular calibers.

Now that you've got me interested, I'll take a quick look on AmmoEngine (and others when necessary (usuallyAmmoSeek)) for a few of these calibers, in this mid-long range popular hunting calibers. I'll look for both availability (results is how many types available) and cost (both estimates, from only that one site).

Sorted by cost per round, average, low to high:

.30-30 - High $2.30, Low $.90, Average , Average $1.75 - 16 Results
.260 Rem - High $2.75, Low $1.64, Average $1.85 - 8 Results
.243 - High $3.63, Low $.85, Average $1.86 - 45 Results
.30-06 - High $2.91, Low $0.60, Average $1.98 - 8 Results (AmmoEngine)
.30-06 - High $3.90, Low $1.00, Average $2.00 - 200 Results (AmmoSeek)
.308 - High $2.63, Low $1.96, Average $2.15 - 8 Results
7mm Rem MAG - High $2.91, Low $2.24, Average $2.41 - 4 Results
.270 - High $2.91, Low $2.24, Average $2.49 - 5 Results
.300 WIN MAG - High $3.47, Low $2.19, Average $2.61 - 5 Results
.338 WIN MAG - High $3.47, Low $2.32, Average $2.91 - 5 Results

.338 Lapua Mag High $7.30, Low $4.50, Average $7.25 - 12 Results

-----------
Just looking at this data, I'm going to have to agree with all the 30-06 folks, that it looks like the best value. You get range, performance, it's available, lots of different types of rounds, and the average cost is relatively affordable.

Kman · May 27, 2013

First thought is .308, but a little more umph and good availability for larger game is 30-06.

Either is a winner in 700.

remington 700? caliber?

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