What's the ultimate long range rifle cartridge?

[Coasthunterjay]

338 lapua all the way!

[Wenatcheejay]

It's all about how far and what you want to knock down. For LR shooting I'd first look at a scope to build the cartridge around. Don't skimp on the scope. You also need a rangefinder that will consistantly give you an accurate reading. I like my 6.5 284 but I have never shot anything with it. I would call that an intermediate cartridge. Past five to six hundred yards I would look at the .338 cartridges I tanked an elk at 550 yards a few years ago with my .338 ultra mag. Here is a great site dedicated to LR shooting, it might give you a few ideas.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/

[huntnphool]

For hunting I would have to go with the Lapua but for sniping the CheyTac is the ticket. They are working on a 375 CheyTac as well but the .408 is deadly.

[Intruder]

I still lean to the 30 cals for the BC advantage.  If you shoot the 210s & 220s that have high BCs they perform really well out past 800.  When you start pluggin different loads into the Bal Calc you can really see the difference between the .338s w/ BCs in the mid/low .500s and the 30s in the low .600s.  Plus, depending on the actual cartridge, load, etc. you can sometims shoot em 100-200 fps faster due to their lighter weight.

[Wenatcheejay]

Sierra .338 300 grain MatchKing has a BC of .76. In a .338 RUM It still has over 1900 ft/lbs of energy at 1000 yds. 

[ICEMAN]

Man I need one of those .338 RUM.  Going to put that on my gottahave list.

[dbllunger]

Unless you are totally into having a wildcat or other tons of work calibers go with a factory round.  30 cal plus RUM or ?/378's shooting a heavy bullet at way over pressure for reloaders.  If only shooting factory ammo then then anything on the 378.  I shoot a 300RUM using 180's @ 3400 from a custom built that is a little heavier then a stock 700.  All the recoil I can handle with out a brake.  Bottom line is that you need to hit what you are shooting at just make sure you can handle the recoil or brake it.

[high country]

you really oughta look at the 375 mach v......a 375 bronze solid at 6 grand.

[boneaddict]

I would say .338 Lap as lots have stated.  Though I can shoot my 25 further than anything I own, which gets you in the 6.5 class, though I think air currents would have more effect on them, so back to the .338.  I still want a 50 cal on the roof of my garage for those 1000 yard coyote shots though.   The ones I spot over by JDB's house or the close ones by Slenks.

[ICEMAN]

Bone, for those really long coyote shots, how about using your phone, and calling in the coordinates.., asking one of your buddies to take the shot out his window? 

[rasbo]

I want what ever the american sniper used in Iraq to make the mile and a half kill ,might have been afganistan..Cudos to him

[boneaddict]

Only for Slenk since he is on my team.  That damn jdb can fend for himself.  He doesn't know it yet but he got duped the other day.  He was going coyote hunting and I found out about it so I asked him to go with me, and took him to a place where there wasn't any coyotes. 

[SagebrushStalker]

How bout a 300 Pegasus on a custom job 

[Charlie]

He was going coyote hunting and I found out about it so I asked him to go with me, and took him to a place where there wasn't any coyotes. 

Now that would have been a sound strategy Bones, if you would have got one! 

[dbllunger]

I believe it was a Canandian Sniper not American and he used a 50.