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  1. #1
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    Default Head shots at 300m - which scope?

    A friend has the ability to take head and neck shots at 300m. His current rifle is a 308 and he has taken head shots out to 170m with a fixed scope.

    We will load with 150gr SST's to start practising with. A 25-06 rifle is in the pipeline.

    The big question: which magnification should he get? My suggestion was 4-16.

    Brand is not that important: Lynx, Leupold or something similar will do.

  2. #2
    Member Andrew Leigh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Head shots at 300m - which scope?

    So with his current record how do you know you is good to 300m?
    One too many wasted sunsets and one too many for the road .........

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Head shots at 300m - which scope?

    I know some really great shots, I don't know any that can consistently take brain shots at 300 meters. Your friend is either supernaturally good or there are going to be animals dying an agonizing death from thirst due to jaws being shot off, because someone miss-read the wind or made another seemingly insignificant mistake. There is a huge difference between being able to do something and being able to do it consistently, animals are not paper targets they feel pain.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Head shots at 300m - which scope?

    Quote Originally Posted by TStone View Post
    I know some really great shots, I don't know any that can consistently take brain shots at 300 meters. Your friend is either supernaturally good or there are going to be animals dying an agonizing death from thirst due to jaws being shot off, because someone miss-read the wind or made another seemingly insignificant mistake. There is a huge difference between being able to do something and being able to do it consistently, animals are not paper targets they feel pain.
    Completely agree. I say the same about the long range "hunters" who sit on the back of a bakkie 700m away...

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Head shots at 300m - which scope?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bowhunter View Post
    Completely agree. I say the same about the long range "hunters" who sit on the back of a bakkie 700m away...
    Absolutely agreed , i have many arguments with this long range paper shooters , and want to apply it the hunting , no person can consistently hit the bull first shot

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Head shots at 300m - which scope?

    Ds J...Reading your query,3 things spring to mind.

    .A 16 power magnification would do the job.
    .An exact echo of TStones answer.
    .If your friend has reached a level of markmanship where he is capable of taking head shots at 300m every shot then he is an individual who has spent many years in practice,has good ballistic knowledge,is an advanced re-loader and will have by now an almost inflexible knowledge/opinion on exactly what is required......not only in the choice of scope,but also in the choice of rifle,caliber ect.

    I have worked with culling crews who are absolute proffesionals,most have custom set ups and some of these boys really can shoot BUT they shoot within their limitations and from 300m on there are too many variables involved such as the time the shooter has commited to the shot to the time the bullet reaches the animal,it can move its head. There are many other factors that also come into play which can cause the bullet to hit outside of a 3 inch target [the brain].

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Head shots at 300m - which scope?

    Somehow I am successful at choosing the wrong words and creating the wrong impressions. Exaggerating is not my intention.

    This oke is really good and a natural. I really don't doubt his ability. He wants to practise to take head shots up to 300m.
    The variable of a moving animal has not crossed my mind because I don't even dream of attempting such shots.

    He has taken several animals with accurate body shots at close to 400m with a borrowed rifle. This was for rations on a farm he frequented for some time. I am sure that head and neck shots should be doable with the right gear.

    However, since we know the dangers of shooting at those ranges he is set on practising a lot before taking on real animals.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Head shots at 300m - which scope?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ds J View Post
    Somehow I am successful at choosing the wrong words and creating the wrong impressions. Exaggerating is not my intention.

    This oke is really good and a natural. I really don't doubt his ability. He has taken several animals with accurate body shots at close to 400m with a borrowed rifle. This was for rations on a farm he frequented for some time. Therefore I am sure that head and neck shots should be doable with the right gear.

    However, since we know the dangers of shooting at those ranges he is set on practising a lot before taking on real animals.
    I regularly shoot blesbuck at 400 meters with heart lung shots, I would not dream of trying a brain shot at 300 meters. Maybe the fact that I have found a lot of dead, or worse, not dead animals due to attempted head shots makes me prejudiced but I simply do not see any ethical hunter trying this at 300 meters.

    Have a close look at the size of a springbok or even a blesbuck's brain, then have a look at the distance even a mild wind drifts a bullet at 300 meters. And to be blunt, as Pre 64 said, if your friend need to ask this question he should not be trying this.

    The problem with practicing is that stationary targets are just that, stationary. Animals move their heads a lot and at 300 meters that head can easily start moving the moment the sear breaks. There is no way of predicting that, or compensating for it.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Head shots at 300m - which scope?

    I work on a reserve where I frequently have to supplement feed predators in boma as part of their introduction to the reserve. Due to jacket shed and lead deposits in the carcass head shots are preferable. The majority of animals I cull for the predators are springbok. I shoot with a .270 Winchester and have long since given up taking head shots past 200 meters (at a stretch). I have only worked with one person in my entire career that could consistently hit a kudu or Eland brain at 250 meters. Past that distance he would opt for heart lung, which I saw him do consistently to 600 meters. He had been culling for more than a decade at that stage and knew his rifle and scope set up intimately.

    It takes years and years of experience to reach that level of consistency. The irony was that by that stage he had shot so many animals that he lost all the joy in hunting and it was another day at work for him.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Head shots at 300m - which scope?

    Just realised my mistake: a small gong is not an antilope. The ability to hit a target repeatedly - even under simulated hunting conditions - does not equate to the ability to hit an animal. At 300m it is and stays a gamble when it comes to animals.

    Sometimes my pennies drop slowly.

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