What magnum do you suggest for a teen?

[grundy53]

Go to sportsmans and buy a Roy .257 WTBY Vanguard blue and syntheitc
4-500 hundred and put a good scope on
kill anything in NA

I love mine. 25 caliber bullet and almost the same amount of powder as my three hundred win mags!

[Curly]

 My vote is for a 338 RUM

[BULLBLASTER]

I have no issue with a brake on a hunting rifle, but i will also have another nonbraked rifle along at camp or in the truck for hunting the brush or tracking a wounded animal... well maybe ots opposite... i have a braked rifle in the truck for when the situation calls for it (long range).

[RadSav]

18 years old 195# you should be able to handle anything you want.  If you have way too much money and endless supplies of powder go ahead and get the RUM or 30-378 WBY.  Myself I've never found any need or desire to shoot a RUM.  But, then again I mainly hunt and like to eat what I kill.

I am a big fan of the old standard magnums - 7Rem, 300Win and 338Win.  IMO the 270 WIN has nothing on the 7REM.  Especially if you want a long range weapon.  The 300 WIN just may be the most versatile cartridge ever made with available gun and ammo choices.  And when you want to pound the turds out of elk it is really dang hard to beat the 338.  The other benefit to these as "hunting" magnums is they perform well from 24" barrels.  While you get more from them in longer barrels it is not essential to see their benefits.  Whereas the RUM and Weatherby really need to have longer barrels to exceed the performance levels you would get from the old standard magnums.

I do like the 270, 300 and 325 Short Mags.  But they do have their limitations.  You can run them in shorter barrels and shorter actions.  They are handi to carry and all of mine are tack driving SOB's.  But all three of mine are lightweight guns and are more punishing at the range than my old standards making them less fun to shoot when game is not the intended target.  None of them do anything I can not do with the old standards other than be housed in light weight back country rifles.

You are 18!  If you are not eager to get married you will have one of each soon!   My advise...Buy them all, buy them now and buy what ever the heck you want before some sexy young thing ties you down and the two of you spawn the Devil's offspring

[Shane54]

To answer some questions. I am looking for a gun that will easily shoot 700+ yards! kill an elk at 500. And not be to potent for mule deer. @radsav I like the way you think! What's the opinion on a 7mm rum? Or 7mm stw

[bobcat]

7mm RUM is what I would get! If you don't already reload, you'll want to start, so include the cost of a reloader and all the accessories in your budget.

[Shane54]

At the moment I have $1800 to spend.

[CAMPMEAT]

To answer some questions. I am looking for a gun that will easily shoot 700+ yards! kill an elk at 500. And not be to potent for mule deer. @radsav I like the way you think! What's the opinion on a 7mm rum? Or 7mm stw

6.5 Creedmoor
6.5x284

Both will do what you've been asking about and not a magnum.........

[jasnt]

The midle magnums are a waist of time in mordern days (I know it stings) but if ya want more power to shoot further(which is why we need more power ?? ) than the shortmags will get you than ya might as well go to the stuff with 80+grains of powder

But this gets really expensive.....


yes it does. My 300 eats up powder at 74.2 grains a bite. That's only 94 shots a pound! The rum will be closer to 80 shots per lb.

Learn to reload and you can make that magnum a do-all gun.  I even load my 300 for coyote. Shooting a 125gr. SST at 3350fps 

[RadSav]

To answer some questions. I am looking for a gun that will easily shoot 700+ yards! kill an elk at 500. And not be to potent for mule deer. @radsav I like the way you think! What's the opinion on a 7mm rum? Or 7mm stw

Wasteful...but that's just me  

Sounds to me like you really want a max powder burn rifle.  If that's what you want buy one.  You can afford to take crazy risks at 18!  That's how you learn life's most valuable lessons.

[tonymiller7]

Performance, blah blah blah...recoil, blah blah blah...practicality, blah blah blah

I think you get the point.  Don't let anybody tell you what you SHOULD buy or what you NEED to buy.  Or you don't need that, blah blah blah.  Go and buy EXACTLY what you want!!  It's your money, and you sound like you know enough that you won't get yourself into trouble.  And it sounds like you'll have enough dough to buy a super nice rifle in any caliber YOU CHOOSE!  Plus you're turning 18, so I hope you go and buy a tack driving long range cannon of your choice that could kill a tank.  And you know what else, I'm jealous that you get to do that.  Congratulations on turning 18!!!

Disclaimer:  I know in this thread you are asking for opinions but it sounded like you pretty much had your mind made up in the classifieds.

[headshot5]

To answer some questions. I am looking for a gun that will easily shoot 700+ yards! kill an elk at 500. And not be to potent for mule deer. @radsav I like the way you think! What's the opinion on a 7mm rum? Or 7mm stw

Haha!  Get a 270 Win...     It will do all of the above with the right bullet.  Really what I think you should do is look into getting some good glass and maybe a 300 Win mag or a 338 Win mag. 

[BULLBLASTER]

I can reload for my 300 rum using berger bullets and be well under 1$ a shot... definitely not a bank breaker... for the amount a big cannon will get shot i wouldnr let the cost of shooting scare me. Also imo meat wastage is more about bullet placement than headstamp or diameter. I have destroyed more meat with a shoulder shot using my 243 than a rib shot with my 300 rum.
I also agree get what you want! I personally love to shoot big bullets so i have a 300 rum and a 375 h&h that shoot pretty big bullets.

[brokenvet]

To answer some questions. I am looking for a gun that will easily shoot 700+ yards! kill an elk at 500. And not be to potent for mule deer. @radsav I like the way you think! What's the opinion on a 7mm rum? Or 7mm stw

Barret rifle .50BMG   will do what you want and then some.

Although I own a 7mm Rem mag just in case I decide to hunt the great bears, other than that I am  not a magnum fan.   

[Shane54]

I have a pretty good idea of what I want. I'm making sure I'm just not going straight for something with out consideration of other rifles. I'm loving all of these opinions guys! I think I've narrowed it down to 7mm rum 300rum and 300wsm. What do you guys think out of these three calibers. I might think About a 338 also. The 257 wby is a sweet rifle just not pushing the bullets I want.