Best Belted Magnum For Elk & Moose

Hi,

I´ve taken European elk with the 30-06, 8x60S, 9.3x62 and the .375H&H with bullet weights ranging from 180gr up to 300gr -all of them worked nicely. The 9.3x62 has replaced my .375 H&H as my favorite elk gun as it has less recoil.

My new pet is an 8x68S which allows me shots out to 350m without correcting for height (sighted in +7cm at 100m). BUT in Finland most elk are taken at distances at under 100m so do I need it?

Not really but it´s fun shooting a 187gr bullet at 970m/s from a factiry load (RWS H-mantel) and the recoil is not bad at all.

Lot´s of elk in Scandinavia are shot with the good ol 6.5x55 (which is my main deer rifle) so do we need magnums?

BUT when has guns been a question of "need"?

cewe wrote: Hi, I´ve taken European elk with the 30-06, 8x60S, 9.3x62 and the .375H&H with bullet weights ranging from 180gr up to 300gr -all of them worked nicely. The 9.3x62 has replaced my .375 H&H as my favorite elk gun as it has less recoil. My new pet is an 8x68S which allows me shots out to 350m without correcting for height (sighted in +7cm at 100m). BUT in Finland most elk are taken at distances at under 100m so do I need it? Not really but it´s fun shooting a 187gr bullet at 970m/s from a factiry load (RWS H-mantel) and the recoil is not bad at all. Lot´s of elk in Scandinavia are shot with the good ol 6.5x55 (which is my main deer rifle) so do we need magnums? BUT when has guns been a question of "need"?

European elk?  Ain't that what we call "moose?"

Donny wrote: At the range I frequent, I see all kinds of shooters. But one variety repeatedly jumps to the forefront when discussing belted magnums. These are the guys who go out and buy the big spitzersmasher magnums, sit down at the 100 yard bench and proceed to ruin themselves permanently for anything larger than a .243 through poor shooting form. They will sit square facing the target, lean forward across the bench nice and low, put the rifle on one skinny bag, crowd the scope and fire away....about 10-20 shots.  With each subsequent shot they are farther off center. When they have had enough, they usually leave disgusted with their new purchase and the blame lies with either the rifle, scope, or ammo. They have now acquired a flinch that they will probably never be able to lose. Across the years, I used to try and give some of these guys advice on shooting form, but 9 out of 10 times my suggestions would meet with suspicious hostility, so I have given it up. Now I just sit back and watch their elbows skid  across the bench and chuckle. Stupidity has it's own built-in rewards system and these guys take home the prize 90% of the time. If they were decent shots previously, that is now gone. And it ain't coming back anytime soon.

Donny: I have seen the same done by folks who shoot .30-06's, .270's,
etc. at the range. In fact, I have seen folks trying to hit the target for the
first time to adjust the scope, without realizing that the scope is loose on
the mount. I don't think it matters what caliber the person is using, be it a
belted Magnum or not. Some folks just don't know how to handle
firearms, nor to shoot them. There was this guy with a bipod clamped on
the barrel of his .30-06, and he could not even hit paper at 100 yards. He
asked me what I thought the problem was, so I took the bipod off,
supported the rifle just between the trigger guard and the fore-end on a
sand bag, and shot a nice little group near the center of the target.

If you want to see something scary, stop shooting your rifle and move
back so you can keep an eye on the other shooters. Just see the things
people do when shooting their firearms at the range :) These things have
nothing to do with firearm type nor caliber.

I also believe that depending on where and what folks hunt, there is a
chance to see more Magnum calibers. For example, you will see quite a
lot of Magnum rifles' users at the firing ranges of Alaska, not necessarily
because they like Magnum rifles, but because in here we really hunt in big
bear country.

Edited by RayAK