(Continued from Part 3.)
7×57 Mauser
Here is one good 7×57 Mauser load: Federal Power-Shok Jacketed Soft Point 175 Grain 7mm Mauser. It has a muzzle velocity of 2,390 fps.
6.5×55 Swedish Mauser
My preferred roundnose 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser load uses a Hornady 160 grain RN at 2,400 fps.
Round nosed bullets are falling into disuse. I was only able to find one manufacturer offering loaded 6.5×55 round nosed soft point ammunition and it was at an excessively high price.
Reloaders have either Hornady or Sierra RN bullets to choose from. I have plenty in stock. Brace for sticker shock here. Consider buying this ammo instead: Norma Whitetail 6.5×55 Swedish 156gr Soft Point.
.308 Winchester
For .308 Winchester, look for a180 grain RNSP, and expect 2,450 fps. For example:
Federal Fusion 308 Winchester Ammo 180 Grain Bonded Round
.30-06 Springfield
A good .30-06 roundnose load is the Remington R27830 Core-Lokt Soft Point Core Lokt 220 Grain. It has muzzle velocity of 2,410 fps.
Long Range Hunting
As the economy gets worse, hunters will take to the field attempting to fill the fridge. It does not take long for an area to be hunted out. Only the better and most persistent hunters will be successful. It will be hard work, not a pleasure hunt, and there could be direct confrontations with competing hunters who want to take your kill. They may attempt to do so at gunpoint. It may pay to take a security team with you to protect the hunter and the game taken. I
f there is still a government in place, game wardens will be frowned upon. My friend who endured the Great Depression had many stories. One of these was about a local Game Warden who had heard a shot and came in to find out who had done the shooting. My friend said a man met him at the top of the trail, by accident. Before the Game Warden went down that trail he was told that if they proceeded that ”only one of us is coming back”. In desprerate times, hunting will become serious business.
Any opportunity to hunt will be used. If you have land, expect the locals to hunt on it. It will be difficult to control more than 5 acres. Very accurate modern rifles, ammunition, and optics assisted by technology have greatly changed the hunting scene. Any opportunity to take game might be necessary to fill bellies.
Long-range hunting is currently in vogue, yet we should carefully consider first the many factors that will contribute to a successful hunt at both normal ranges and longer ranges. While most game is harvested within 100 yards or less, in a survival situation when desperate for food, long range hunting may prove to be the only way to get some meat on the table. Therefore, it would be good to study up. The late Chuck Hawks was a long-time and well-respected authority on hunting cartridges. But the times and technology have changed. While essentially there is little new under the sun, modern rifle technology as changed the game more than just a bit.
The Trend in Long Range Match Grade Hunting Bullets
Hornady Amax/ELD-X and Speer SPBT (not to be confused with their Hotcor) are an examples as these bullets that have very high ballistic coefficients and these reported do work very well at extended ranges of 600 yards or more if one is able hit the animal in the vitals. Yet it might blow up under 100 yards if large bones are hit. Inexpensive Barnes Match bullets would also be good enough at those ranges and better at 300 yards and that is good enough with me as I will not take shot over 300 yards on game, however good the bullet may work. I would likely miss the vitals.
Long Range Hunting Video Demonstrations
From these excellent video demonstrations, we can learn a great deal about hunting deer and long range shooting. Even with the F-class style of hunting, there are practical limits. I’ve learned a great deal from videos like this. They save me time and money in ammunition. The better educated, the better we’ll shoot in the future.
These are valid tests no matter how one slices or dices it. For the F-class shooters who often use 6.5CM, it is the lightest cartridge I would use on a average deer at my limit for ethical hunting that is 300 yards or at 600 yards if I were to be so lucky to make an ethical shoot like that. I would not use a 6.5 cartridge on elk unless I had a perfect broadside shot under 200 yards There is little room for error with 6.5 cartridges. Therefore the bullet used is very important consideration. In fact that consideration is key if we expect to be successful given whatever opportunity presents itself. Inside of 200 yards for elk when using a 6.5mm bullet I want a Remington Core-lokt or Nosler Partition.
Suggested Long-Range Hunting Videos:
Long Range Hunting, Rifle Selection
While vintage and proven cartridges and bullets are adequate for long-range hunting, it is my intention to give myself every advantage so that my hunts will be more successful than they might have been otherwise. In any event, if we understand what makes the ‘ideal’ or best tool for the job, we can better identify optional tools at hand that are best suited for long-range hunting. While some rifles are better for defense work, our other rifles might be a better choice for hunting. It could be high time that we dust off the old tried and true and buy modern ammunition that will improve the performance of these old rifles. Modern cartridges are more accurate and better suited for long-range hunting than the original ammunition used in these rifles.
Flat-based cup-and-core bullets are perfectly good out to 300 yards if they hit the animal in the vital organs. And flat-based bullets tend to be more accurate than boat tail bullets inside of 300 yards. If your rifle does not “like” boat tail bullets, then try a flat-based bullet. Modern boat tail soft point ammunition does offer some superior choices. These have a very high ballistic coefficient that most importantly bucks the wind much better and generally are more accurate than vintage bullets. High-velocity and flat shooting cartridges are a better choice for this task and because of their high velocity, flat-based bullets are not as much pushed around by the wind.
A short list of the flattest shooting cartridges that are not high recoiling magnums that are also inexpensive to shoot would be .270 Winchester, .243 Winchester, .25-06, 7mm Winchester Magnum and the good old Ought 6 (.30-06) and wouldn’t you know it, 6.5×55, 7×57, 7mm-08, .308 Winchester etc. And now the relatively new 6.5CM joins the stable.
What Makes an Ideal Long-Range Hunting Rifle?
This video is about a professional shooter narrowing down his rifle selection and choosing the best rifle for the job on long-range hunting challenge at 500 yards: Aero Precision SOLUS 6.5 Creedmoor. Of course, his taste for the very best rifle money can buy exceeds the ability of most folks. And so does his knowledge and skill. I was surprised and pleased to see that his reasons for choosing his rifle are approximately the same as my own and that my rifle roughly approximates many of the basic features of his, including the weight of the rifle that is almost exactly the same 13.5 pounds. A heavier rifle is a more stable platform from whence to launch a projectile more accurately, enhancing one’s ability to shoot with sub-minute of angle accuracy that is much needed for longer-range shots. Longer and heavier barrels also provide stability to the rifle platform with stabilizing weight as well as making higher velocities, and flatter and straighter trajectories possible.
One good way to offset the weight and help make a heavier rifle to carry a bit easier is by making the balance of the rifle closer to the point where the hunter would prefer to hold and handle the rifle. In my crude low-budget homemade example, the center of mass is exactly under the floor plate right where it is most comfortable for my hand and the best place to attain a secure grip. And I could also carry it with a sling. High-end rifles are worth the extra expense if the attention to details like this are built into the rifle and they will make shooting with precision a bit easier. If you can afford the best, then you can forget the rest!
Everyone Loves a Swedish Accent
Fortunately, my rifle could be built within my severe budget limits. I purchased the components over several years. The most difficult part of the rifle to find required several decades, and that was the rifle itself. Swedish Mausers are highly sought after, not only because of their accuracy, and so their price is in accordance with their high quality and availability. In my opinion, it is superior to the modern 6.5CM and more desirable as a battle rifle, yet the 6.5CM became wildly popular for its own exceptional attributes that are not widely understood. It was not only the brilliant marketing, but also the simultaneous and complimentary design elements of the cartridge, with projectile’s ogive and barrel throat and other attributes that were developed together. It was a redesign of the 6.5×55 from the ground up and brilliantly put together and marketed. The cartridge is forgiving and shoots well with most medium-slow powders as does the .30-06 and the 6.5×55, and the powder column is shorter allowing a fuller case that often tends to produce the maximum possible accuracy.
The cartridge was also so designed to attain higher velocities out of shorter 22-inch barrels because it can use modern and higher pressures to achieve its velocity. 6.5CM another advantage over modern 6.5×55 rifles here in the States that do not have easy access to the modern and high-pressure 6.5×55 SKAN cartridge to attain a modern level of performance.
Personally, for the purposes of hunting, I would prefer a Tikka or Sako in 6.5×55 as the 6.5×55 cartridge can be handloaded to modern pressures and attain blistering velocities of 2950 fps with 140 grain projectiles that could easily take down elk. Erik Cortina, the professional shooter in the video, often refers to the 6.5CM in other videos as the 6.5 “Needs more”. For the purposes of hunting, I agree. I suggest that he reviews the advantages of modern high-pressure 6.5×55 cartridges in a modern 6.5×55 rifle. He could start a trend.
As a practical bolt action battle rifle, the M96 Swedish Mauser in its original form is hard to beat and my preference whatever my budget might be. Unfortunately finding one of these beauties in fighting trim for the future is becoming increasingly difficult at poor man’s prices because of their well-deserved popularity and scarcity. I lucked out and got one. It was a Hand of God sort of thing. Almost free to me is my kind of price point. This makes the 6.5 Creedmoor the successor, and like its progenitor, it would be an excellent long-range deer cartridge if the right bullets were used.
Hornady’s 143-grain ELD-X (Extreme Low Drag-Expanding) commercial ammunition would be my top choice. This ammunition can be sub-MOA in budget-friendly 6.5CM rifles. A friend, who was once a professional hunting guide, used this ammunition in his 6.5CM rifle to produce 3/4″ groups at one hundred yards, and a 6-inch group at 400 yards with a typical 3×9 scope with a duplex reticle. This was only the second time he had attempted to shoot long range and he is already there! The 6.5CM became wildly popular because it is easy to shoot with precision and easier to hit long-range targets with a fairly inexpensive rifle using readily available and affordable commercial ammunition.
(To be continued in Part 5.)