That's a hefty range and a hefty animal. All of those cartridges would definitely be adequate for the successful, but at that range, I would have to suggest sticking with at least 30 caliber and go for a magnum. As a rule I keep my distance from the short mags and certainly the supershort mags, in my book, they are simply a redundancy plus its harder to find the ammo and it's usually alot higher. I prefer the cartridges that they've made for ages and still use excessively today. That being said I'd go for the 300 Win Mag. A good Winchester Model 70 would cost around $500 and a Leopold VX1 would cost around $200; you now have $100 to put towards a few boxes of ammo. You'll definitely want to spend some time on the bench. (BTW I've heard plenty of negative experiences with the new Remingtons lately, so I'd be careful of them.)

The best of Luck.

matt, the above wouldn't get you even close. This thread and topic is pure eye in the sky BS. The long range hunting craze is nothing more than about people who want to use marksmanship as a substitute for hunting skill and then make money in the process. You can rest assured that the shots are all set up, that there are lots of misses and ranging shots and that they're using the very best of equipment and not off the shelf weapons and scopes.
If you want to learn how to be a superb field shooter I'd suggest first getting into High Power Comps or at least practice it with some of their shooters. You'll learn the basics of shooting, like breathing, position, wind, weather, trigger control. All this on a flat surface and KNOWN distance. You haven't even gotten in declination/inclination or UNKNOWN and often extreme distance judgement or the ballistics involved. Then you might want to move into F class where you can see just how good you are on PAPER without gut shooting some poor animal you just happened to get lucky with. A few boxes of ammunition and a department store rig will get you laughed at. You're looking at several years and thousands of dollars to get the place you want to be and that is if you have the ability and you're still young enough to do it.
Remember you have to honor the animal and that's by providing a quick and merciful exit. Anything less is simple BS.

Something else I have never seen discussed on those long range shooting/hunting shows is the importance of a calm stationary animal. one step and you go from a good fatal shot to a gut shot and flight times of close to a second for the bullet a lot can happen.

A trip to NTRP could certianly be an eyeopener for many folks

yes...
I shot to 1K frequently with a 308, target alignment, DOPE, etc.. is not that hard from a stationary bench at a fixed known distance.. but the wind fluctuations can be a bitch

I like to hunt with a 280 Ackley because it's flatter and much faster and even though I can shoot 2" groups at 500 with it I consider that a LONG way for a clean, 100% of the time perfect shot/kill.

It doesn't take much for an animal to step forward between the time you start the shot and when the bullet arrives. Most people will never practice enough to be 100% effective due to time and money, even if they have the drive to be perfect.

300wm, 30-378, 338RUM, 7STW, 308 Warbird, 300wby/rum

With the STW 160gr partitions starting at 3200fps at 500 yards it takes about a half second for the bullet to reach the target. Like Ccoker said it takes prctice and 500 is a long ways on game, paper and steel gongs are one thing critters are something else.

Plus like ccoker said, wind can be beyatch. Drift at a wind speed of 10 mph for a low BC 300 Win Mag is well over 36 inches at 800 yards and that's with a match bullet. It will be more with a hunting bullet.

if you shoot long, you hunt with the match bullets.

Hitting the target and killing the target are two very different things and terminal performance of a match bullet on an animal like an elk is NOT going to be optimal. A monometal like a Barnes is probably the best compromise.

I agree with comments before this. Get real and get closer. Now with that said, best ballistics for hunting bullets grain for grain in weight and at normal hunting distances is going to belong to the 7mm caliber. Best "low cost" rifle for hunting accuracy IMO is the Savage design. Why, other manufacturers have good triggers and bedded stocks however they do not have the adjustable head space design of the barrel mounting that savage uses. If you are looking for accuracy at long distances you will be hand loading to find out what the rifle likes to eat and being able to adjust the headspace for a particular load can tighten up your groups.

AMAX and VLD, more energy to deliver with the higher BC.

Im a huge fan of tsx's infact the previous owner (Alaskacub) of my 257 took a caribou at over 450 yards with one. But I think that's just about its limit.

The vld and amax on top of there high bc lack less energy to open..making them ideal for 500+ shots

quartierleblanc, I definately agree with you regarding long range hunting, I've always resolved to keeping my longest shot w/i 200 yards. This is also my first deer season that I'll be gun hunting in 8 years; previously I've been a 100% bow hunter so I know the importance of getting close and relying on hunting skill more than marksmanship; so, believe me, I'm by no means a novice. My earlier statement was suggesting the best rig to do what he wanted to do with the budget he had and that's it. He mentioned 800m and $800 budget; he didn't ask us whether or not we would recommend such a venture.

He was talking about an elk. The A max won't even begin to cut the mustard. Hornady even says it's not for hunting. Elk are large tough animals. The bullet need to be a tough and bonded like a Swift or Trophy Bonded or a monometal like a Barnes for the very deep penetration you'll need. If you want to shoot for bragging rights then you should do it on paper first and not practice on animal. It's a low form of human being that will do that.

the only speed they'll be traveling is "slow" at that range, doesn't require a bullet capable of holding together at 3500fps at impact. But you want high BC, this is why best of the west takes this route and is highly suggested by gunwerks.

Elk is a big tough animal. An A max is a rapid expansion bullet. It's not about BC at impact it's about Sectional Density and will the bullet take the impact forces. Bullets for large animals need deep penetration and that why the good ones are bonded or monometal. There are other forces at work but SD is huge factor on what it does when it hits.

Your absolutely correct....but bullets perform differently at certain speeds.
If you look at mfg recommendations they give min and max speeds for optimum performance... Plug and play with some ballistic charts and find out different bullets speeds at 500-800 yards out of a given caliber

You're also correct, HOWEVER, you've got to match the bullet to the game so plug and play doesn't count. If you're going to crop hill country whitetail does and see how far you can do it, a match bullet will probably work. If you want to get 24 inches of penetration and take on a rib or shoulder bone of an 800 pound animal you have a whole new set of problems. You've got to remember that the longer the bullet is in the air, the weaker it will become structurally. As a general rule on impact the BC is going to work against penetration just because of ogive shape and center of gravity. It all becomes an engineering compromise. Do I want terminal performance or ballistic performance.

now this ia getting fun!
agree on matching the bullet to both the game and intended ranges
I llike Barnes if it might be close in to hold together
like TSSX in my 68 for hog hunting
Barnez says min velocity to ensure expansion on soft tissue is 1600 FPD which means 400 yards is max for reliable expanasion

I like Accubonds or SGKs for deer out of my bolt actions for a good combination of BC, reliable expanansion and pentration

I run Accubonds more these days..

i would want to run hunting VLDs for long range (over 500 yards)

What you are looking for is a caliber that features the heaviest bullet you can project at the highest velocity. You will want the heavy weight bullet iin order to make the bullet travel more reliably over the 800 meter distance shot for shot and for developing terminal energy once it strikes the target.

Why heavy? Irregardless of caliber the heavier the bullet, the higher the BC. BC is your friend for bucking side winds and for decreasing drag as the bullet is on it's intended path.

With that said not just any bullet will do as has been pointed out in previous posts. For reliable expansion and weight retention, you will want a bullet designed for hunting not for punching holes in paper.

Now lets get serious. Obtaining a new rig capable of reliably dropping a large game animal at 800 meters with a total rig budget of $800 is analogous to winning a top fuel drag race with a stock Mustang GT. The key word here is "reliably".

If I were to want to purchase an over the counter rig to attempt such a feat, I might be looking at a Savage 110 BA in .338 Lapua and $800 won't touch that rifle.

I would suggest the Savage 110 BA .338 and then work up a handload using the Barnes 33850 TSX bullet. That little gem is a true hunting bullet and weighs in at 285 gr, has a sectional density of .356, and a BC of .585. While not the great BC of a match round it should be adequate enough to get the job done and you would not worry about the bullet's performance on the other end. I do not have a ballistics program handy but that round should be traveling north of 1,800 fps at that range and that should be enough to reliably penetrate and expand on an elk size target.

My earlier suggestion still stands. At the extreme ranges you are speaking of you must also consider spin drift, the effect of relative humidity, your breathing, and yes even your heartbeat. The distance is too far, get closer and your $800 budget can then become adequate for getting the meat on the table.

7 mm rem mag

IF YOU WOUND AN ANIMAL, YOUR HUNT IS OVER, same as if you'd made a clean kill.

Most outfitters and guides these days are requiring that their hunters live by this rule. State and provential game depts are starting to enforce this as well with some high-demand permitted animals. Wanton Waste of Game laws are recognizing the intrinsic value of game animals too.

99% of us have neither the equipment nor the expertise to be attempting such long range circus shots. And that's not even factoring in wind direction and movement of your target. If we hunters were required to to pay for a wounded animal, same as a dead one, it would stop all this Best of the West nonsense.

I have been big game hunting for nearly a half-century now, and I can tell you that is almost always easy to stalk to within 300 yards of your quarry. If you MUST try 1000-yd shots, please shoot at paper and leave the circus shots to the lazy guys on the Outdoor Channel who choose not to stalk closer.

First, that's too far to intentionally shoot anything but a varmit or a man...I shot that and more when younger, so now I can
have an old man's opinion...Second, you've got your $ limit too low...but a 30-378 Weatherby or Sako with really good glass and
165gr TTSX bullets will do it nicely...It'll only costs you about
$4 or more per round..and you'll have about a 1500 round limit on
the bore before rebbl. the rifle..I've shot culls quite a ways but not that far..to hard to hit the head or neck...and I try for
clean one shot kills...Rethink your plan, and see what kind of real bucks *dollars* you are going to have to invest..DD