Your Favorite Rifle

[larry]

I don't own it yet but I have been looking at many ballistic charts on the 30-378....Unreal ballistics for a .30 caliber gun. Check it out sometime....

Do yourself a favor and save a shit load of money and compare the ballistics of the 30-378 to the 300 ultra. Ultra does a little BETTER or equal, depending on the load, with way fewer grains of powder. I'm loading 101grns of Retumbo and getting 3600 out of a 180 Barnes MRX.
30-378 comes with a muzzle break from weatherby, I would put one on the 300 ultra. there is a quiet break on the market that saves on the ears. 300 ultra runs circles around the weatherby.

[Mike Leonard]

My Barnes book shows a max load with 180 XLC which were moly coated but the triple shock design with relief grooves is suppose to offer the same pressure reduction advantage.
30-06 Spgfd. 2965 FPS 61 gr. of powder

300 Win Mag. 3173 FPS
300 Weatherby 3276 FPS
300 Rem. Ultra Mag 3400 FPS
30-378 Mag 3436 FPS


79 grains of powder for the 300 Win Mag.
104 Gr. for the 30-378 Mag

The big 30's are definatly potent performers but all of that comes with a price. More $ for powder brass, long barrels, recoil muzzle blast and usually very expensive rifles.

Noted Gun Expert, rifle champion, and international hunter Wayne Van Shwoll ,probably said it best in his fine book Accuracy for Hunters.

Without the aid of a wind gauge , sophisticated range finders, forward observers because of fickel mountain winds and a whole lot of luck the average hunter will make more consistant long range kills with a moderate rifle than he will with the over bore magnums.

I say to each his own however guns are interesting.

In a recent conversation with one of the most successful Professional Hunters in Africa I was told. We love to see Yanks come to Africa with a worn 30-06 and a used 375 our comfort level goes way up. When we see a fellow step off the plane with a 300 Ultra and a 378 or 460 Weatherby we worry.

The favorite 300 magnum in Africa is still the 300 H&H

[larry]

My Barnes book shows a max load with 180 XLC which were moly coated but the triple shock design with relief grooves is suppose to offer the same pressure reduction advantage.

The XLC's required more powder to achieve the same velocity of the triple shock. If you take a look at an updated Barnes book you can see the difference, even more so than the book shows when you load both up and go to the chrono. One thing you are forgetting about long range success Mike is energy and velocity. The bullet requires so much velocity to expand and so much energy to penetrate. Long range shooting with an -06 is non existant, and pretty limited with a 300 winnie. To each his own old timer.

[Brady Davis]

Already have the 300 ultra. Something about having the gun thats just a hair bigger and faster

Some guys like to soop up their trucks, add chips and exhaust...I want a big gun. Plus, as Mike said, you can't have just one...or two....or even ten.

30-378 is next on my list. No real ryhme or reason....Just good clean fun.

Anyone on here got a .50 cal? I keep seeing one set up and ready to go at our gun shop. If I had $7000 I didn't need right now, I'd be one proud owner.

Also, I currently don't own any AR-15's, assault rifles, etc, but I'm kind of paranoid that soon that right will be stripped away (Clinton era sound familiar). I am seriously considering spending all gun $$ on those for awhile. Who knows when about 10 AR-15's would come in handy right? !!!

[larry]

it's not bigger and faster

[jackoak]

they are all my favorite i got a room full but the ones i carry everytime for bear is a colt trooper 357mag or a rem.7600carbine in 35.rem.
probly my alltime favorie is winchester model 94 only thing is every since they quit making them all i do is buy all i can afford to damn sham

[Big Mike]

Just found out I drew my Az coues tag, sounds like a good excuse to build a new favorite rifle. LOL!! mmmm 270WSM might be my new favorite!!

[Mike Leonard]

Yes I know long range shooting was pretty much non existant till the 300 Ultra and such came on the scene. For the life of me I can't understand why they started those 1000 yard matches so long ago. Hmm? Oh well you know those old timers. LOL!


Energy and and expansion very important.As a member of the Copper Club I have asked the question as to minimum velocity for adequate expansion and the theory of minimum energy has been thrown around for years. Copper fouling is still a bit troublesome when you get over 3100 FPS. but it is getting better. Berger VLD's have proven very effective in the 7mm Rem. Mag. and 6.5x284 at 1000 yards on trophy elk. The BEST OF THE WEST TEAM AND OUR OWN SHORTY HAVE PROVEN IT ON CAMERA MANY TIMES.

But then again these guys can shoot.


I am not that much of a long range shooter prefering to get as close as possible in the eithic of true hunting and not just killing. I have how ever taken a few long range shots in my day.My longest elk was a mere 497 yards, I was dead solid with Harris bi-pod back against a pine a dead wind. One shot from a puney 308 Winchester with a 165 gr. Rm. Core Loct. and it was back straps. Seemed like a long shot till I though about some of OLD TIMERS in the Vt. Nam days upsetting Charlie's with a 308at twice that range.

Got to love some of those old timers. LOL!

[houndcrazyfool]

i have shot just about all of em and you cant beat the new short mags

[larry]

Yes I know long range shooting was pretty much non existant till the 300 Ultra and such came on the scene. For the life of me I can't understand why they started those 1000 yard matches so long ago. Hmm? Oh well you know those old timers. LOL!


Energy and and expansion very important.As a member of the Copper Club I have asked the question as to minimum velocity for adequate expansion and the theory of minimum energy has been thrown around for years. Copper fouling is still a bit troublesome when you get over 3100 FPS. but it is getting better. Berger VLD's have proven very effective in the 7mm Rem. Mag. and 6.5x284 at 1000 yards on trophy elk. The BEST OF THE WEST TEAM AND OUR OWN SHORTY HAVE PROVEN IT ON CAMERA MANY TIMES.

But then again these guys can shoot.


I am not that much of a long range shooter prefering to get as close as possible in the eithic of true hunting and not just killing. I have how ever taken a few long range shots in my day.My longest elk was a mere 497 yards, I was dead solid with Harris bi-pod back against a pine a dead wind. One shot from a puney 308 Winchester with a 165 gr. Rm. Core Loct. and it was back straps. Seemed like a long shot till I though about some of OLD TIMERS in the Vt. Nam days upsetting Charlie's with a 308at twice that range.

Got to love some of those old timers. LOL!

Huh, so yer a member of the copper club too. 1000 yard bench comps and the energy and velocity to kill a big game animal are two very different things at that range, and as you should well know, was not a realistic goal til the high vel energy rounds were created. Forgive me for not clarifying "long range hunting" not "long range shooting", hell you can shoot your .22 over a mile The Best of the West guys do it for sure, but they also have the velocity and energy to do it. I didn't know that the distance of a shot defined wether or not you were hunting or just killing, thanks for clearing that up for me. Far as the charlie at twice that range point you think you are making, charlie is considered a "soft target" a bull elk is not. The energy and vel. required to dump an elk at long range (497 really isn't what I am calling long range) is only obtainable with the big 30's on up, for the most part. Ballistics are math and math is exact. Your old stories of old calibers don't make the math add up to kill big animals at a long distance. Period

[Brady Davis]

it's not bigger and faster

THey are faster

[Shorty]

Gunwerks Long Range Hunter. Mine is in a 6.5-284 shooting 140gr. Berger VLD.

As for the balistics on the 30-378 the 7mm shooting 168gr Berger VLD will pass it up at 600yds and out run it all the way. You also have a ton more energy when it gets there and all with 30% less recoil. I'd look into that too. Go to www.thebestofthewest.net they have some cool stuff there on guns and calibers, bullets and all sorts of things.

[bigboarstopper]

ruger 10/22. Never fails. Cheap gun, cheap ammo, Cheap fun. Hands down my favorite gun.

[Grizzly_Adams]

Savage 99E chambered in .300Sav but for just shooten as long as i have ear plugs i love my mini-14

[liontracker]

Ruger #1 IN .338 Win.Mag. shooting 250gr bullet, bbl cut to 22" with quick detach scope and interchangeable peep sight. Light and fast handling. Shoots 1 inch groups. Hell of a timber gun. So far has killed 17 Bull Elk and 4 big bears with one shot each.