What would be a good caliber to compliment what few guns I already have? I've got a .223, a 30-30 and a .308. I'm thinking something like a 25-06 or a 6.5x55. I was thinking .270 also but seems to close to the .308. Which of the 2 I mentioned would be better for Antelope? Any suggestions and your reasons for choosing it would be appreciated.

I like guns a little more that specific cartridges so get the gun you like too.

Of the ones you mentioned they are all good. Since your in Utah I would get a long range cartridge not that the 308 is not good. My pick would be the 270. A 30-06 is always good (best) you know.

25-06 and don't look back!!! You will have a rifle that can bridge the gap between varmints to deer(big deer too!!) that is pleasant to shoot and will do anything you can find for it do in your geography!! With the 75VMAX, 85BT's or 87VMAXS, it is a varmint's nightmare!! With the 100's form Nosler, Sierra or whomever, it will perform SPENDIDLY on the antelopes and deer! Want a little more "UMPH"....go to the 115 NOSLERS or (my favorite deer killing bullet!!) the 117 SIERRA SBT and the 120 HORNADY!! Covers the gamut!!! Little to big and fun to shoot!! GHD (pastor at the church of the 25-06)

I've been thinking a guy should have a caliber every millimeter.....you now have a 5 1/2 (.223) and a 7 1/2 (.308) so you need a 6 1/2 and an 8 1/2

this means a 6.5 X 55.....but since it's primarily a handloaders cartridge I'd then recommend the 6.5-06.

Oh....yea...the 8 1/2 is the 338-06 and the 9 1/2 is the .375 H&H.
See how easy that is?

Vapodog,

Whats the difference between the 338-06 and the 338 Win Magnum?

The 338 Win. Mag. is a necked up 300 Win. Mag. while the 338-06 is a necked up 30-06 case. The 338 Win. Mag. would have considerably more power and range than the 338-06 but at the cost of a lot more recoil as well. They both have much more power than would be necessary to take an antelope.

I think you really need a 338 Win. Mag. to start filling out the upper end of your caliber holdings...not because you need it but just because.

If you want to consider "need," the 223 and 308 you already have would do fine for long range antelope hunting. They both have excellent inherent accuracy and ammo is relatively cheap and available. Since you want something different, of the two caliber choices you mentioned, I would go with the 25-06. It also has excellent inherrent accuracy and recoil is relatively mild.

(Reasonably pleasant to shoot, won't beat you up on the bench . Reaches out for antelope and varmints. Adequate for mule deer. Commercially available ammo. Cost to reload is reasonable.)= 25-06. [The 6.5X55 is a close second in all these catagories]. roger

quote:

Originally posted by teesh:
Vapodog,

Whats the difference between the 338-06 and the 338 Win Magnum?

Grumulkin hit it pretty well except I disagree a bit on this statement:

quote:

The 338 Win. Mag. would have considerably more power and range than the 338-06

More maybe.....but not considerably more.

Yes.....both are way too much to hunt deer and antelope. It's ideal use is elk, moose, African plains game etc.

Another thought is to get a laser rangefinder or better scope instead of another rifle. Today the easy to use scan rangefinders along with computer generated data make calibers like the 308 you already have very effective at what I consider long range for big game.

So tell us if you have a laser RF already and what scopes and rifles you have now.

I have a Leica 1200 RF Scan that works well and I use it when the oportunity may happen over 250 yds. I don't carry it in Vermont however as the ranges are short there were I hunt but I might if I used a .22 LR, bow or handgun more there.

The free program Pointblank is at www.huntingnut.com and JBM's are at http://www.eskimo.com/~jbm/calculations/calculations.html

Now that I thought that up I still agree with the above. For instance if I had a nice 308 and was going Antelope hunting in Utah with it I would buy a laser RF and carry one of those programs on a piece of paper in my pocket over getting any other new caliber.

Of course we all want everything.

A nice 243 Winchester, 250 Savage, 257 Roberts, or 260 Remington will fill the gap between 223 and 308 quite neatly. For the handloader there are plenty of inexpensive factory bulk components available for the 243. And, as others have mentioned, the 270 Winchester has long been a good answer to many questions.

To just go along with ome of the others thoughts, here is the list I give folks.
243
257 Roberts
257 Weatherby
25-06
6.5x55
7x57
7mm.Rem.Mag.
270
30-06
This is not in order of preference, because personnally, I do not like the 243, 270, or the 30-06. As was said by someone earlier, find a gun that fits you and your needs, both existing and future. Good Luck.

Between the 25/06 and 6.5/55 I would go 25/06, nothing wrong with the 6.5/55, but a little more limited to choices of rifle brand, style, and factory ammo offerings. If you handload there isn't enough difference between the two to debate. However; that said 25 calibers are still my choice.

www.duanesguns.com Home of the 257DGR

Looks like living in Utah and with the calibers you now have something with a little more range may be what you're looking for. Since the word on the street is that Remington is bringing back what will now be the MODEL 700™ Sendero® SF II. Think very hard about the 264 Win Mag. It's coming with the 26" barrel again, with the shorter barrels some folks had been putting on them they essentially De Magnumtized them. (Yah I know that isn’t a word but it fits what they did.) The 129 Gr. Hornady is where I’d go with it or the Swift Scirocco . The bullets have a fair BC and with 264’s MV you wind up with a very flat shooting round. In my opinion it is an outstanding antelope/deer rifle.

Sendero SF II

You speak specificaly to Antelope. The 25\06 is perfect for antelope. The 100gr Nosler Ballistic Tip is the pill. The 25\06 is my near exclusive Texas Whitetail cartridge. The 100 NBT with a good dose of IMR-4350 is just a fantastic combo for my Remington SS Sendero.

I think that both the 6.5x55 & 25/06 are very good cartridges. Between the 2 I think I would go with the 25/06.

Hello,
Take a real close look at the potential of the the 260 Rem. cartridge and you will find it will equal or exceed performance of many cartridges already listed and has an excellent record of accuracy. Shot for years as XC, long range match round and simply known as the 308/6.5, but now available in a commercial round. If into wildcats, go with the very fine 284/6.5. One might say the big brother of the 260!!

1/4 bore. Savage or Bob, take your pick.

Teesh,

There's no .30-06 in your list. An absolute must have simply because it's .30-06.

If that doesn't work for you, maybe a .260 or 7mm-08 for lighter recoiling medium game cartridges. You can't go wrong with a .338-06 or .338 WM for elk and moose either.

Given you live in Utah, and the western potentials, I would vote for the following:

25-06 Rem, fast, flat, mild great deer/antelope cartridge.

270 Win, proven, effective on Elk on down, but considered light for Elk (stick a TSX in it for elk).

270 WSM, flat hard hitting for a 270

7mm Rem Mag, or 7 Saum, or 280 Rem..let's just list them all.

Only antelope, pick the 25-06

Vapodog.......yeah, I was thinking along the same lines as you in that I have the 5.5 and 7.5 covered. Thus I was interested in the 2 calibers I listed. And I do reload. I am looking for something with a flat trajectory. And I had been thinking of getting a 338 WM next for Alaska. After reading the posts, I'm wondering about the 375HH. Thought this would be more recoil though. Maybe not.

Savage 99........I have been looking at LRF's. I've been looking at the 1200 LRF and the Nikon 1200. Guess this discussion belongs on different forum. Thanks for the idea on the Pointblank prgm. I'm going to work with it next weekend with my .308. Relatives have property to shoot at.

Jay.......the only thing I think about the Sendero is the weight. Its about 10-11 pds. Sweet rifle though.

Scott.......I'm looking for smaller caliber than the .30......plus, I already have that covered.

Sounds like the majority of you feel the 25-06 is the ticket. It has the flatter trajectory but I've read such good things about the 6.5x55. They both are light kickers and I subscribe to the "lighter recoil promotes better shooting" way of thinking.

Maybe I should get both so I don't regret one decision over the other.

Thanks for the replies.

My first choice would be a 270 win. I'm biased though, I own six of them.

Next would be the 25-06 with the 6.5 last.

Yeah, the .270 has been weighing heavy on my mind also. But that isn't much smaller than the .308 at least in caliber size.

teesh
I killed more antelope with a 308 than all the other calibers I have used.
To get a great deal flatter trajectory than a 308 you will have to go to say a 257 WBY Mag or a 300 Mag of some type.
If I hunted elk I would go with the 300 Mag.150gr for speed goats, 180 or 200 gr for elk.

quote:

Originally posted by teesh:
Jay.......the only thing I think about the Sendero is the weight. Its about 10-11 pds. Sweet rifle though.

Well I've heard that before. Then I ask myself if a guy can't carry 2 extra pounds how is he ever going to pack out an animal? But then there are road hunters and then the weight of the rifle would even be more of a moot point.
Oh it's 8.5 pounds + scope.

Don't feel bad Jay, I pack standard wt rifles, and have never looked back, the ultra light craze was to sell more rifles, and that is great, I just like shooting a standard wt rifle better.

Having said all of that, I sure like packing a Steyr 260 Rem around as it carries light to me, and has a 23 inch barrel.

I'm trying to fill in the gap btw. a 243 and 270. It's gonna be a 25-06.

quote:

Originally posted by teesh:

Which of the 2 I mentioned would be better for Antelope? Any suggestions and your reasons for choosing it would be appreciated.

The ballistics of the 25-06 are as good as the 7mm magnum, which is what I bought when I lived in Logan. The 7 mm magnum is still my most-often-used rifle, although I am very fond of the 6mm-284. The 25-06 is not so much different from the 6mm-284, except that you can get a little bigger bullets for it.

A lot of good calibres to consider.I've owned them all at one time or another.There's different things to consider.I don't think you would go wrong with a 30-06 for a variety of reasons,not the least is the wealth of varience of bullet choices + availability almost anywhere you went.I'll probably catch some flack for this but anything the 25-06 will do,the 6.5-06 will do better.Pick any loading manual you choose + do the math.It used to be a wildcat but I understand there are factory loadings now.I can't say that with all certainty as I load all my own.I have a preferance for the new Sierra 142G.Great S.D. + due to ogive const.any 140G. data will interchange.I used to consider my 7x57 Ackley Imp. the ultimate in mid bore performance + still am quite fond of it.This is really not the correct forum for this following statement or not actually dealing with the subject at hand but as to the age old discussion of only one calibre with the most versatility I would unashamedly say the 375 H+H.Once again I would say to check your manuals + do the math.There's some good 220 + 230 G.bullets out there that will give you excellant flat trajectory out to 270 ranges (sorry Mr. Oconnor),with some serious mass when it arrives.And of course you can always load it up.I did'nt mean to veer too far off the original subject but I do think this is related.Just MHO of course.

I've got a .22-250, a .25-06, and a 7mm Mag. I'm in the process of building a 6mm Rem. Since all I hunt (and plan to hunt) is S. Tx whitetails, feral hogs, and coyotes, I think I'm adequately armed for all. However, since some wise sage once said, "You can never have too many guns" I think my next one will be a .30 cal, and most likely a .30-06.

This past week a friend gave me a .577 Nitro Express round -- and the thought never crossed my mind about one of those, unless it was a steal or a gift of course.