My 270 Winchester: Remington action, Hart barrel, Laminated stock, Leupold 3.5 X 10 and 150 Nosler Partitions or 150 Swift A-Frame.

Good Hunting, "Z"

This is a very tough choice. I would go with a Remington 725 in 30/06. Load it with 200 grain Nosler Partitions to 2650 fps. Topped with a Leupold 3x9. This rifle also has a good set of back up iron sigths. It would be, IMHO, an excellent all-around rifle, good to 300 yards, about as far as I care to shoot.

BigBullet

Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 6.5X55.

OK, if I have to stay between 243 and 264, 6.5X284. Otherwise I would stick with the 270.

Good Hunting, "Z"

The 6.5/06 looks like it has a lot of potential.

Orion 1:

Excellent choice!!! I'll second that one!

Rebarreled a 30/06 featherweight with the factory laminated stock. Put a 26 inch barrel on mine. May have been defeating the concept of the featherweight, but I also wanted some long range potential and thought the 26 inch barrel would give me more ooomph at the muzzle. Still wanted something that I could carry all day long and walk.

Of all the rifles in the safe, the keeper is the 9.3x64, mauser action, Leupold 3-9. 250-320gr bullets. Bob

I would pick a 7mm Rem Mag, or a 30-06.

I might be putting this rifle together as we speak. I bought a 6.5-284 Norma barreled action off a member here. It's a 24" shaw barrel in the standard rem 700 long action with rem barrel contour. I also purchased an HS Precision stock from a fellow member that I will put this BA into.
Haven't settled on which glass I will mount on it but right now i am very pleased with the sum of the parts.

Seafire,

You're a wise man indeed. I have a Remington Classic in 6.5x55 and its a winner, even for moose with the 160 SPSP. We're finally catching on to this caliber on our side of the Atlantic.
After all, the caliber is 107 years old. I think it has something to do with our aversion to anything metric. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

My Choice is

6,5x68 in a Sauer 202 with a S&B 3-12x50

Thompson Center Encore

Caliber? Maybe 308. You can load it to shoot anything from Varmints with the 110 Sierra Varminter bullets up to large game loaded with 220gr Sierra Gamemasters

The bullet range for a 6.5x55 is 85gr. to 160gr. I can tell you as of last year the 160gr. does a terrific job on moose. The Scandanavians have been using it for years, and it seems they are correct. It does a hell of a job, no exit but tears up everything inside. The ballistic co-efficient of that caliber's bullets are sensational. The 120 and 140grs. are good also. Now I'm working with the 85gr. which is a bit much for woodchuck, but I don't have anything else to use them on. I would imagine the 85 and 160's are good in the .260Rem. also, but I never hear them mentioned. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Pre 64 Model 70 in 257 Roberts. 120 grain Hornady HP over 50 grains of RL22....It's a little overscoped with a Leupold 3.5-10; could get by nicely with a straight 6X Leupold on it....

6.5x55

Savage Tactical in 25-06

I'd like to see a 6.5x240 Weatherby in the Ultra-Lite with 2.5-8x Leopold dot. If Weatherby would standardize this cartridge it would give us 6.5/06 ballistics in a factory cartridge and there would be no danger of mixing ammo and headstamps.

My 6,5x57R drilling, loaded with 156 grs Norma steel jacket RN and same weight Proj/94 FMJRN.

Fritz

Johan,

Seems to me you're getting infected by Blaserism .

Why on earth do you want to go sticking a 6.5-284 in a Mauser action? You want to pay for the feeding work? You want one less round in the mag?

More performance than 6.5x55 in a mauser action = 6.5x65RWS aka 6.5-06.

Yes I know it's a Norma factory round, factory ammunition, brass etc blah blah. 20 RWS cases will last your hunting career!

PS Trevor Proctor has a 6.5x65rws reamer and specialises in Mauser sporters.

Hello to everyone! Great topic to get in on.

I would personally keep my SHR970 in 25-06 as my one rifle! Absolutely love the rifle. It has everything; nice balance, glass trigger, good weight, and very accurate!. I have yet to get into handloading, so I shoot the Hornady 117gr Light Magnums for deer(just small caribou )! I use the 85gr Win Ballistic Silvertips for anything smaller like yotes, crows or dirthogs.

There are 2 other rifles I would change out for my SIG(If I had too!), in the same caliber, 25-06.
First would be the Savage Tactical, with the new Savage trigger!
Second would be the Sauer 202 Supreme with the wood stock! Just love the walnut on these rifles!

For the scope I would use the Leupold 3.5-10x40. Thats my next Christmas present for myself!

For the game mentioned my one rifle now in my battery that I would keep would be my .257 Wby. It shoots a 115 or 120 grain Nosler Partition exceptionally well with both averaging 3450 to 3500 fps. I have a 6 X 24 Burris Signature scope on it. A real sweet shooter. Good shooting.

One rifle??
It has to be my 260 Remington:BRNO 601 action(1976)with 25" Border SS 1:8" twist, pop up-peepsight, Zeiss/Jena 4X32 in original QD-mounts, and a Kahles 3-12X56 CB in Warne rings.This rifle has a very nice piece of turkish Walnut formed into a classic form.
My favorite bullets are:

155g Norma Oryx/2500fps
129g Hornady Spire point/2750fps
100g PBP-HP/ 3100fps

Got to shoot 20 rns of the 6.5WSM at the local range yesterday, and this is a surperb fit for these requirements. Has a 1 in 8.5 inch twist rate to handle the 160s at 2950 fps and pushes 95 gr hornady BTs over 3700.

30-06, Brno ZG-47, 2.5x8 Leupold, Talley QD mounts

Cal Sibley,

You don't hear about shooting 160g bullets in the 260 Rem? I can think of a couple of reasons why:

- The standard twist rate for the 260 Rem is 1:9" which will not stabilize 160g bullets

- Almost all 260s are chambered in a short action so the bullet would need to be seated deeply.

My personal opinion is there is no need for the 160g bullets in the 260.......what will they do that a premium 140g bullet will not.......plus you avoid seating deeply for the 2.8" magazine which may get you away from the lands. But that's just my opinion and some disagree.

I wish someone would offer the 260 with an 85g varmint bullet as a factory load. Sounds like fun.

HogWild

Hog Wild:

While Remington offers their 260 in a 1 in 9 twist, Ruger was smart enough to make theirs with a one in 8 twist. This will stablize a 160 grain round nose.

Rugers do have a much more generous throat than the Remingtons do, but I had both of mine reamed out to be able to take magazine length Hornady 160 grain round noses.

Makes a good brush rifle, on anything big. The 160s don't produce as high of ballistic numbers as a 140 does. However anyone who has ever taken something with the 160s will tell you that they will penetrate a lot more than the 140s. A 160 being a round nose and about as long as a pencil, does a job that ballistic tables can't express. Hand loading I get a consistent 2600 fps with 160 grain bullets.

As far as Factory 85 grain loads, start handloading guy. If you are into velocity, I get 3350 with 100 grain bullets in my 22 inch barreled 260s and 3450 in the 26 inch Rem VLS.
In the VLS, the 85 grainers exceed 3500 fps. However based on bullet weight, the 100 grainers fly farther and flatter.

The 260 is a great caliber. It is like an offspring of the 270 and 243. It will do most things a 270 will do, and about anything a 243 can do.

Limited to .243-264 mag for what reason? That must be a hypothetical question---ever wonder what it would be like if there were NO hypothetical questions? If I picked a 25-06,could I rebarrel/rebore to 30 cal? That would be one heck of a wildcat that I think would stand the test of time. If so,that would be my pick. If not,I'd go with a .257 Roberts. I'd go with a Win mod 70 and top it off with the poor mans scope--Leupold. Don't believe that? Go to EBAY and see what older Leupolds bring. Then see what scopes that cost less don't bring. Factor in the costs of having some of the ones that cost less repaired(if even possible) vs having a Leupold repaired. What will the less costly scope bring if you can't get it fixed?

25-06!

Late arrival here--already have this question covered, it's a Rem 788 in 243 with a Weaver 2x-10x. It doesn't do great work with bullets under 85 grains, but it spreads varmints out nicely with Sierra 85 grain HP's, and shoots well under an inch at 100 yards with these bullets or just about any of the 100 grainers.

The rifle also shoots cast boolits VERY well, as some RCBS castings donated by Carpetman proved nicely. THANKS AGAIN, SENOR.

My wife will use the 243 for "distance" deer hunting and a 250 Savage (Savage 99/iron sights) for brush work. Mostly, these smaller calibers are rat guns though.

Deputy Al the 250 savage is a great gun for a woman. My SO's daughter has one for hunting and it is a perfect match.

[ 09-12-2003, 08:46: Message edited by: potdrosser ]

How can you best the M14?

I think I found my rifle of choice the other day. It was Kimber Classic in 7-08. Nice and light.

Jay

Hmmm...I love those "If you had to choose X guns"
threads

And this one is a tough one.
"...from the 243 to the 264WM,and you could only
choose one rifle/caliber/scope combo what would it be?"
Thinkin`
Thinkin`
EUREKA!
If all rifles allowed:
FN FAL 50-64 with three interchangeable uppers
.260 Rem,.308 Win,.338-08
AR 10 -as above
If bolt action only:
Mauser 98 rechambered for 6,5-06 or .264 Hawk
I`d do wonders with them.I love the .264 caliber
(Hmm..guess my European roots are showin` )

SIX point FIVE milimeter. YYYEEEAAHH!!!

OOPS!! Forgot the scope!
Please try to find a way to excuse me,but I LIKE
high magnifications.
I`d go with Leupold Vari X III 4,5-14x40
Schmidt & Bender 3-12x42, or
Pentax(forgot the model,sorry)6-18x42

Regards

Hey 9.3x62,

I would have to go with the 25-06. (Mostly because I have one.) From ground hogs to elk - if the bullet is put in the right place the beast will go down.

The 25-06 is a breeze to reload and the selection of bullets is large.

Great question!

Good Shooting,

Smoker*

I suppose I'd have to pick a Winchester Model 70 (pre-64 or one with iron sights, just in case) in 7X57 caliber with a McMillan stock, Weaver style steel bases, with Luepold (new) quick release rings, and a plain ole' Leupold 3X9X40mm scope. I'd want Uncle Mike's sling swivels with the heavy duty Wally World special nylon sling. Nothing fancy here, just very functional. And reliable.

I've never owned a rifle in that caliber range.

Maybe a 257 STW in a mod 70 ss syn 26" bbl

leupold 3x9 compact

Add another vote for the 6.5x55.
Andy

Have to agree with lofter on the caliber. In this range, if you balance velocity, energy, bullet weight and accuracy you can't beat the 6.5x284. Its now a factory round. It's got more velocity than the 6.5x55 and 260, much more accuracy than the belted magnums (look at its recent 1000 yd records) and has good barrel life. I would probably build on a Sako, being no fan of Remingtons, with a 23 or 24 inch Douglas. Whatever kind of stock hits your fancy and a good 3-12 scope.

I like and own a nice custom Mauser action 25-06 but I would opt for a Ruger #1 with a Lilja 3 groove SS barrel chambered to a zero freebore .257 Wby. and a Canjar or Kleppinger trigger. I have one and it's a killer.

"You can't have it all but you can try".