300 Yard Deer Rifle

[snapping turtle]

Your Granny was a tough old bird and obviously a fan of "use what you have".
But why punish yourself if you don't have to. The 7mm RM punished on both ends. The. 243 is plenty of gun for whitetails, as is the 6.5 Creedmoor and both are more likely to have you practice since you don't have suffer to do it.
Deer are just as dead with less personal self abuse.

she lived into her 90’s and that farm girl was tough. That rifle was my grandfathers. Might have been the only time I had ever seen it. And yes high powered rifles were not legal to hunt with then. She said she was protecting her property. “That stupid deer eat all my tomatoes and green beans.” “Even the marigolds “ “nothing eats marigolds “.

 

[Woobie]

she lived into her 90’s and that farm girl was tough. That rifle was my grandfathers. Might have been the only time I had ever seen it. And yes high powered rifles were not legal to hunt with then. She said she was protecting her property. “That stupid deer eat all my tomatoes and green beans.” “Even the marigolds “ “nothing eats marigolds “.

Thats awesome! Thanks for sharing that story. Sounds like your grandma was stronger, tougher and more resourceful than most of the self-aware, culturally sensitive, fake lumberjacks with skinny jeans roaming our cities. And I'm willing to bet she was more of a lady than we're accustomed to seeing these days as well.

 

[saintnick81]

Seriously....does anyone in this thread ever take a 300 yard shot on a deer. Just curious as we have issues getting out that far on most private land without serious work clearing/cutting and mowing.

Not read the entire thread so if it has been discussed apology's. Just seems the outside edges of being realistic.

I had 4 does last night that stayed out at 235 on the other side of the field I hunt. 300 would be the farthest shot that would be required where I hunt.

 

[Hookeye]

If your gun shoots sub MOA, 300 yards should be a piece of cake. Go prone on bipod and fill the freezer.

 

[throttletony]

I posted on the 1st page, but I like this conversation.
To chime in again here, I've had excellent experience with T/C rifles (owned a T/C Dimension and a T/C Venture) and they are amazing guns for a hunting/mountain gun. The T/C Compass is a bit cheaper - it is a price point gun - but if the barrel is similar quality as those others, that thing will do its part and more. Savage is also pretty good quality for the price point, and I think the Rugers are decent, Remingtons (hit or miss on quality control, I've owned one 700 BDL that was accurate), Mossberg is also ok.

Essentially ALL the gun companies have a $400 gun that should work for you. I'm quite certain that the majority of these guns are better than the majority of $500 guns from 10 years ago. I think that manufacturing standards for production-line guns have generally gone up, with the exception of perhaps Remington. Most consumers want $1000 performance for a $250 price tag.

I'll say again that .243 is awesome, widely available, affordable, and offers mellow recoil. I'm surprised that some of the posts here are suggesting 7mm Rem Mag, or 300 Win Mag.... sounds like massive overkill for what you want to accomplish.

The simplest choices for available/affordable store bought ammo are .243, .308, 30-06, .270. I didn't see if you mentioned reloading, which would open up other realistic options.

 

[throttletony]

I'll also point out that T/C (a company that I really like) and a lot of companies guarantee 3 shot groups into a certain size (1" at 100 yds, which gets rounded off to 1 MOA... though technically 1 MOA is 1.047" right?).

I always thought that groups should be 5 shots... at least that's how we used to do it where I'm from.

 

[LEaSH]

Groups of three and five are both reasonable to measure. So in the field the rapidity of shots should mimic what I might've grouped at the range. But I bet the Compass might begin to string at 5 or so rapid shots.

I've never taken more than two shots in the field. But I hear lots of shots in the distance 3-4-5 shots sometimes more.

 

[natdscott]

1.0472" approximates the subtension of 1 MOA at 100 yards.

That said, the 4.6% difference between the two is not germaine to a discussion of hunting rifles unless their bore sizes are measured in 3-digits worth of millimeters. For the record, I do agree, and I calculate my groups and scores as such for rigor, but it is not entirely necessary.

I totally agree with the 5+ shot thing. 7 shots is generally very indicative of how a load will perform. If you want to REALLY know what I rifle can do, you find the best load you can for 3-5 shots, and then load up 20 of them.

If I could get it to shoot okay at 100 yards, 20 rounds in a circle at 300 yards will tell me most every qualitative thing I need to know about that load and barrel out to 1,000 yards...as in "it shoots", or "it's okay-but-not-awesome", or "circular file that bit@#".

ThrottleTony, I think .243 is akin to .20 gauge shotguns. It gets it done nearly all the time with as much finality as it's big brother, but a lot of guys (specifically GUYS) seem to think 3" 12 ga is required. I don't know if it's an ego thing, or a want to take marginal shots, or just the simple love of recoil and bloodshot meat, but it's a very real phenomenon.

There is no animal in the State that cannot be soundly killed, dug up, and reburied by a .243 and a decent bullet. I wouldn't TRY the Polar Bears or Elephants at the zoo, but a monolithic would still kill 'em.

-Nate

 

[natdscott]

Groups of three and five are both reasonable to measure. So in the field the rapidity of shots should mimic what I might've grouped at the range. But I bet the Compass might begin to string at 5 or so rapid shots.

I've never taken more than two shots in the field. But I hear lots of shots in the distance 3-4-5 shots sometimes more.

Most featherweight barrels will hold 2-3 very close, and then can go "into the wild", as it were.

Function of how the factory barrels were made, and what was done to them after that...

-Nate

 

[snapping turtle]

243 and 7mm rem mag are almost ballistic twins at 300 yards drop wise. My recommendation was based on the possibility of using the same deer rifle for other game that the 243 is not suitable for that the 7mm is. Elk moose goats ect. The fact that your launching 50 extra grains of bullet weight gives one those options heck even a bison should fall nicely to the 7’mm RM.

nothing else I know of only drops 10 inches at 300 that is as widely available in every bait and tackle /gun shop in the nation.
22-250 is flatter but not legal. Just a basic fan of 7mm cartridges in general 7mm TCU 7-30 waters 7mm -08 and 7mm rem mag.

 

[ScouT6a]

For 30+ years, I have regularly shot man size silhouettes out to 300 meters with open sights. Getting to mount a scope on the rifle is icing on the cake.
On six of the eight properties that I can deer hunt on, a 300 yard shot is a chip shot. I have made 130-140 yard shots on deer with a flintlock long rifle.
I do own a Savage 110 in 7mm Remington magnum that I picked up, used, for $269. It is a sub MOA rifle out to 1000 yards. When I start launching bullets at 1000 yards, I only do that on a piece of property with a substantial back stop.
As I get older, and having incurred a substantial shoulder injury, I don't enjoy putting large amounts of 7mm mag ammo down range.
I know when I squeeze the trigger on my 6.5 Grendel, it is not going to kick me. That makes it a lot easier to shoot small groups at long range.

 

[Hawkeye7br]

Seriously....does anyone in this thread ever take a 300 yard shot on a deer. Just curious as we have issues getting out that far on most private land without serious work clearing/cutting and mowing.

Yes. Shot a buck last week, rangefinder said 351 yards across corn & beanfields, 308 heavy barrel and Springfield Armory scope at 10x. He dropped like sack of potatoes. Doe with him took off, I watched her run 400 yards into the woods. When I looked back, the buck was struggling to his feet. He made it to the woods as well. Long story short....stumbled onto him 90 minutes later and 800 yards from where he was shot. Appeared dead, but eyes weren't yet glazed and no rigor yet.

Quick autopsy after field dressing, bullet was a bit above center of the chest and well within the rib cage. Hard to believe he got back up and went half mile. Not sure if poor bullet choice (Hornady 130) or just desire to live. I confess, never thought about wind, and had not read drop charts for that distance.

Quick bone to throw....the 22 long range rifle matches we run at Riley takes a shooter off the bench and makes you work for the shot. I felt very comfortable in the sight picture when hunting after spending time at the range shooting prone, sitting, and standing against a post.

 

[natdscott]

This is SWAG, but it should be nearing 2" per mph crosswind, so it's pretty serious.

Energy should have been good, but if you hit a rib, that varmint bullet may not have performed admirably and it's sectional density is toward the low end to expect a pass through on a deer sized animal.

Choose a controlled expansion HP or PSP with an SD somewhere above .200. Get a boattail if it can be had in what you want. In .308, I would personally start at a 150 grainer.

 

[natdscott]

My recommendation was based on the possibility of using the same deer rifle for other game...

Cool, and solid logic, but they didn't ask about bison.

...'strictly a deer gun. '

 

[saintnick81]

I want to say thanks to everyone that provided input. After reading here the other day, doing some more reading on the web, and talking to some folks in the real world who know their stuff I did end up ordering the Compass in .308. I do a bit of reloading but I like the idea of having a lot of factory options. The low price will also allow me to not skimp on the glass, which will likely get purchased in the spring.

As I have not really done any shooting past 100 yards I am sure I will have more questions before next gun season.

 

[throttletony]

congrats! I bet it'll be great.
Personally I've had good luck with Nikon and Vortex optics, and older Leupolds.

Happy hunting

 

[Hawkeye7br]

If you're thinking of 300 yard shots, you should also invest in a good rangefinder. A deer in a field with nothing around to scale aginst is a nightmare for most folks, including me. Is it a small buck at 260 or a big buck at 360? They may look the same but bullet drop is significant.

 

[saintnick81]

If you're thinking of 300 yard shots, you should also invest in a good rangefinder. A deer in a field with nothing around to scale aginst is a nightmare for most folks, including me. Is it a small buck at 260 or a big buck at 360? They may look the same but bullet drop is significant.

I have a bushnell trophy that I know is accurate out to 200. Says it will do a tree out to 600. May have to look for an upgrade.

 

[saintnick81]

congrats! I bet it'll be great.
Personally I've had good luck with Nikon and Vortex optics, and older Leupolds.

Happy hunting

I have had the Vortex Crossfire II recommended by many people for the distance I am shooting. Definitely be having a conversation with Alan when the time comes.

 

[Hookeye]

Learn to judge deer age/size by body shape.