.. I love posting pics (as some of you may have already figured out), but I'll refrain from doing so. Make sure you are perfectly zeroed in for a known distance and then shoot at different yardages. Learn where POI is in relation to POA at those ranges/yardages. My vote goes to 30-06 because I grew up with one and know it well. However, If going 650+ yards and mainly for practice, my choice would have been 7mm rem mag with a good high BC pill. 162 A-max comes to mind....
Mainly the fact that I will be going out to Alaska in a couple years to hunt brown bear in the mountains and I need to be able to shoot that far across valleys.
This goes without saying, but be cautious about shooting a big bruin that far away. I'd hate to see one get wounded and then you go searching for it in the brush. That's how bad things happen. I went to school with a guy that got mauled to death by a big bear when it went into the brush. They searched for it and it attacked. It's odd that the thread title has no big "brown bear" in it. Can I change my vote to one of my favorite cartridges? IE: 338 win mag... Last time you didn't include 30-06 at first, now you spring the bear thing on us. Hmmm.....
Bears also have a good layer of fat that plugs bullet holes. In my experience, bears leave poor blood trails because of this. I don't see a versatile deer/elk/moose rifle as being the best brown bear cartridge/rifle.
Well that does change things a bit.
Often times you will just because of how rugged the country is or there is a bear on the upper side of a mountain and you don't really want to be on the downside of those things.
Good Idea! Thanks! off to plan it!
Oh yeah. This things can soak up lead like nobody's buisness. I read a story about a bear charging two guys that was shot with 2 magazines of 10 shots each with a .270 and 1 mag of 10 from a .30-06 before it dropped. Had the heart and bottom of both lungs shot out and kept coming.
Mmm... I see what your are saying .. but I think I'd like to be closer than 600 yards if I were to hunt or shoot something that will hunt back.
I really hate to ask, but how much experience do you have with shooting magnum cartridges such as the 300 and 338WM? In your OP, you want a rifle that you can practice a lot with at 600 yards, then list "deer, elk, and moose" as the primary targets. Then later add brown bear to the discussion. I'm like Andy, and don't want to be taken the wrong way here, but there's a lot that needs to be considered. I also want to add, that MOST guys are NOT going to be doing a lot of practicing with a big magnum rifle. By a lot, that could even be 40 rounds per outing with a magnum, plus the other non magnum cartridges you shoot that day. This could be in excess of 200 rounds fired in one day. Having shot a 30-06 since I was 12 years old, let me describe my exact feelings on cartridges and where I stand:
I don't take it the wrong way. I am more than happy to receive advice. I have done a good amount of shooting out of magnum cartridges. Shot a good 1000 round out of a .300 Win Mag and about 500 out of a .338. For me the Nosler Partition was a no brainer. I have started looking more into the 7mm Rem Mag though because the ammo doesn't cost a whole lot, especially since I want to practice a lot at long range. That is definately something that restricts the .338 though because .338 LM rounds cost 60 bucks for 10 rounds.
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