first left hand rifle please help

[superdown]

hi everyone i have been hunting/shooting with a remington 700 mountain rifle in 270 win for a few years and thought is was about time to get myself a left handed rifle i am all but decided on the browning a-bolt micro hunter the choices for me as far as chamberings go 7mm-08, 308win,or270,7mm,300wsm i was thinking 7mm-08/308win but not sure if they are adequit for deer/bear occasional elk any oppinoins appreciated.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     thanks,superedown

[handirifle]

superdown
Of all the ones you mentioned and the game you mentioned, I'd go with the 300WSM.  Why?  I think it is the only one to give the performance you want for ALL the game you mentioned to an easy 300yd level.

The 270 and 308 and 7mm (I assume you meant the 7mmWSM) are all capable but the recoil will not be much different and the potential for handling heavier bullets is much greater with the 300.

Loaded with 150 or 165 gr it will take deer at any range you can hit them and heavier bulets will do the bear and elk to easy 300yds.  The other WSM's are close but the other calibers you mentioned are in a different class.  With the exception of the 308 the others are not really elk cartridges.  Some consider the 308 light for elk.

[Judson]

For what you want to hunt I would consider a larger cartridge and a rifle with a little more weight.    If you look at pressures you will see that the 300WSM is some what less in power then a 300 Win Mag.    Do you really want the recoil of a 6 1/2 pound 300 Win mag?    For Elk sized critters a thirty is about as small as you want to go unless you are willing to pass up some shots.    You did not mention if you are a hand loader or not but when you look at action length for the various rifles you will find that most rifles chambered for the short mags fall short here.    Also you will see that factory ammo is rather limited in bullet weight with the short mags.    My self, I would go for something like a 300 Win Mag in about an 8 1/2 pound rifle or mabe a .338.

[SteveAZ]

First of all, good for you. I'm left handed and shoot left handed but never owned a "proper" rifle until a few years ago.

I finally found a Remington 700 BDL in 7 Mag.

Any of the calibers you mention, 7mm-08, 308 win, 270, 7 mm, or 300 wsm would be adequate for deer and bear and if you limit yourself to 200 yds or so, elk.

I have shot all of those calibers. Our club holds a sight in service each year to pay for insurance so I have opportunities to shoot many different rifles in many different calibers. If you have never shot a 300 WSM or 300 Mag you are in for a real treat. Shooting as much as I do I don't consider myself recoil sensitive but I gotta tell ya, for me the 300 is a chore.

Given that you are going to use it for hunting and not for target shooting or plinking it isn't too much of a problem. I strongly encourage everyone to shoot AT LEAST a box (20 rounds) every year, more if possible. You gain a familiarity and confidence with your gun that will serve you well. That said, there are a lot of people that find a reason not to burn a box of 300's each year because of the recoil.

Unless you're planning to shoot at elk beyond 350 yards, you probably won't need the extra power of the 300, the 7 Mag is plenty. You can buy many factory cartridges that work well on all three. 160 gr Nosler Partitions are hard to beat. If you reload there are many more options.

If you're seriously thinking of the 300, try to shoot one first.

Steve

[handirifle]

I gotta say this, I have shots the 300 and 7mm mags quite a bit and I can tell no difference with FACTORY loads.  When someone loads up the 300 I gotta tell you it rivled very hot loads from thje 45-70.  NOT something you wanna sit down and shoot all day.

But the 300WSM will do ALL you ask of it.  I cannot see a 300WSM loaded with a partition bullet of 200 or 220gr causing concern for ANY angle shot on an elk.  It is REALLY powerful, and it shines with the heavy bullets.

[ms]

If it was me I would go with a 270 or 3006. I have 300 win mag I wouldn't go with a wsm. Because I heard some guy that reload that bullets over 180 they have problems with them.  I 'am waiting on tikka t3 is coming in  left handed nov5. Good luck hunting:lol:

[ORsouthpaw]

I have alway shot left handed with right handed rifles as well. This year I bought a brand new LH A-Bolt Medallion (.300WM) I can say that .300WM does have quite a bit of recoil but as was said it's somewhat comparable to the 7mm Mag with factory loads. If your going to after elk I would say go with largest caliber that you can shoot well. By the way I love my A-bolt!

[handirifle]

The only reason one would have problems with longer bullets on the WSM is if they try to load them out farther than factory stuff.

In my opinion you should keep everything as close to factory dimensions as possible for HUNTING ammo.

In that I mean that neck sizing only, loading the bullets long etc is asking for a jam in a crucial moment.  I'd hate to lose an elk cause I wanted to get 3/4" groups instead of 1" groups buy loading the bullets long, only to find they didn't feed properly when I worked the action fast.

Bench shooting is one thing but most of us never shoot enough simulated hunting scenarios to forsee such problems.

A 200 or 220gr spire point bullet will look exactly the same on the outside of the case.  The 45-70 is a good example.  If you looked at factory stuff, you could not tell the diff from the 300gr to the 405 if it were not for the hollow point.  It just intrudes on powder more.  that's where guys cause themselves problems.  they load the bullet out farther to put more powder in and now set themselves up for feeding problems.

Just my opinions.

[handirifle]

By the way, was looking at the remington ballistics site.  The do not list the WSM but do list the short action Ultra mag.

Their ballistics with identical 190gr bullets are EXACTLY the same as the 300 Win Mag.  I'm talking velocities, trajectory etc.

This is with less powder and slightly less recoil.

The 300WSM is just as effecient.  That's how the army was able to match 30-06 ballistics with the 308 (7.62 Nato)  They upped the pressure but recoil is less but quite a bit and if you reload you less you powder slower too.

[superdown]

:-D well everybody i truly value all of your oppinions so what i would like to say is that ive shot/owned the following 22-250,243,6.5x55,300savage,308win,356win,358win,300win mag,50cal muzzle loader oh and almost forgot 30-30win,250sav,303brit,7.7jap,30-06sprng,270win,45colt in a trapper so at least with some of the cartriges i would assume that im hopfully not to recoil shy. ihave heard that the 7mm mag of various titles is a favorite for elk in a lot publications ive read.                                                                                                                                     thanx ,superdown

[Gregory]

Have you considered a Browning Stainless Stalker?  I've got a lefty model in 25/06 and I'm very fond of it.  A 30/06 would be ideal for want you plan to hunt.  I don't like the 26" barrel on the magnum calibers though.

[SteveAZ]

If you would like to compare recoil of different cartridges, take a look at this site.

www.chuckhawks.com

On the main site, rifle page, all the way down at the bottom is a rifle recoil table.

He has a comprehensive list of different cartridges with different bullet weights and has computed recoil energy for each.

BTW, I'd be interested to hear when you've decided.

Steve