What would you suggest ?

[thatguyshm]

I own two 338 feds and a 338-06. It all depends on what you want to shoot out of it. Would I shoot my 338 fed to 500? Sure, but I'd rather use the 06.

One of my feds is the DPMS with an 18" barrel, and it shoots very well. It is a bit picky with hand loads due to the weight of the bolt and having to pick up another round, but I'm okay with that after you get a good load.

My other 338 fed is a Ruger Hawkeye with a 22" barrel. It shoots well under an inch, but I'm still fine tuning it for velocity.

That being said, in order to achieve good performance with the 338 cal bullets, you need to pick your poison. The fed shouldn't use anything over 200grs, and depending on the bullet, I wouldn't go past 225 unless you had a thinner jacketed 250 in the 338-06. My 338-06 shoots the 225 Accubonds at 2800fps over a stiff charge of rl17.

20" and 500 yards is a bit tricky. I would crack open a reloading manual and start there. You'll want something that burns at most 60gr of powder, preferably medium burning powder. That might help you decide a bit more then trying to say how will x caliber work.

If it's a hunting rifle, most shots will be taken dawn and dusk.. Throwing a big flame out the end of your muzzle probably won't be ideal, even if it does "burn" all the powder...

Just my thoughts on it, hope it clears the mud up a little bit..

Shm

[GaCop]

How about 450 BM?

[theloyalsavage]

Wyo85,
i see you're from Wyoming. So I'm assuming the following

You want a compact rifle because the deer, elk and moose where you hunt are in high narly places, where the blow downs will rip the laces from those 300 dollar danners, let alone that 28" weatherby from your shoulder; hence the 20" barrel.

at times you wiil venture above the dark timber/tree line, so there is a chance that you will have a 500 shot. You want a little extra energy insurance, a little extra "Texas heart" shot insurance for that 500 yard elk or moose shot. A little "more" than a 308 case can give you.

Even though you want a 20" barrel, You don't want a pencil barrel. Why?. A 500 yd shot requires you to be steady, even when there is no wind. An 8-8.5 lb (with good optic) rifle will be steadier because when you're panting like Barney Fife at the sight of Marilyn Monroe, your panting won't shake the rifle as much as it would a 5.5 lb ultralight arms toy. And you don't want to be flinching in antiicipation of that crimson crescent moon about to appear just nigh of your eyebrow. Shaking, flinching, and successful 500 yd shots are as concurrent as Hillary Clinton's lips moving and truth's being told.

You are a meat hunter. So forget the 6.5 mm with the exploding bullet that , with high shoulder shots ,will remove the very ground from beneath bullwinkle's feet. Won't work too well to penetrate at angles often encountered in timber, let alone the aforementioned blow downs, where you will see most of your quarry. Many backstraps have escaped the fork this way.

You Want something that shoots relatively flat. Want something that won't kick the snot out of you. You want something efficient? Forget the 300 and 338 wm's, and probably 7mm mag and the wsms.

where does that leave us?

06 casing. 30 caliber. Match grade barrel. barnes 168 ttsx. (Yes it will expand sufficiently at 500 yds and it will penetrate farther than that 6x6 wants it to). With your 20 inch barrel, all your requirements are met. Nothing more, nothing less.

[yobuck]

Danners must have gone way up in price since i bought my 2 pairs. lol

[rovert]

.284 Winchester.

I like the 30-06 idea. I'm not sure I'd go long action with a 20" barrel when the short action is an option. A short action would allow you to have, effectively, another 1" + of barrel while producing a rifle of the same overall length as a 20" barrelled long action.

What about the RCM's. I'm an -06 case guy through and through but the .338 RCM will approximate the .338-06 in a short action. There is a lot to like there.

[theloyalsavage]

In my 2/19 post, I forgot the assumption that you might step in grizzly dung in those Wyoming blow downs.

if so, pick it out of your danners with a spare 338-06 cartridge, instead of the originally suggested 30-06.

either will meet all other requirements, nothin mor, nothing less.

[m12lrs]

The classic

.375 H&H

great on all North American big game all the way through grizzly bears

Works great in a short barrel.

[theloyalsavage]

500 yd shot with a 375 h&h? that 20" barrel just grew to 24, with that 4" muzzle brake you'll need.

[handirifle]

Personally I think he's mixing apples and oranges. A 500yd shot is NEVER easy, and under hunting conditions it gets worse. Longer barrels MAY not have powder still burning in them, but they WILL still have the pressure building velocity for the larger cartridges being mentioned. If one does ballistic charts, make sure you use a 20" barrel and ACTUAL velocities, not something from a book, since the various powders will vary velocities a LOT.

You could use a 45-70 for all you requested, but not the 500yds. Never hunted moose, but sure do not read of many folk taking shots at moose at that range, and of the folks that hunt elk, you always see long range guys going for every fps they can get, and that means long barrels.

To me, a short barreled cartridge is best kept to the 200-300yd limit. Good luck.