the 25-06 would be the way to go light recoil and bullet sellect from 75 to 120 grain. 100 gr. works great on any deer and varmit. But if you have the money and want to build a good all around gun I would think about the 22-243 or 22-6MM which is the 224 TTH. The 22-243 has proved to be the better of the two. Using a fast twist barrel 1-8 twist(Hart barrel) with a 80 gr. bullet. This has very light recoil and makes a great deer and varmit round plus it also makes a good target gun. It is excellent for long range target and the National Pr. dog shoots also. Just neck down 243 brass and you are there.

I would not use the 243 as a target round. If you are shooting with guys or gals that shoot bench rest type they will smoke that 243 with there 22brs, 6brs, 6PPCs, and 22PPCs.

I thought seriously about going with the .257 Bob. But things worked out (namely I found a great deal on a Weatherby) so I'm going to get a .257 Weatherby. From looking at the numbers, it looks like I'm going to end up with a great deer/antelope/sheep gun.

Here's a vote for 250Savage. What recoil? 100gr bullet at 2900fps will do the trick on antelope or deer, and besides that it has a "cool" ring to it- Savage! Seriously, I've used it on goats and mulies here in Wyoming, and have yet to wish I had a bigger stick. (I do have some bigger sticks in the cabinet, don't get me wrong)

If you're a varmint hunter you must be interested in shooting accurately and might consider longish shots on big game as well. There's no point in being undergunned at the longer ranges for big game so I would suggest a .25-06 or .257 Wthby class round. Get it rifled tight for heavy bullets- there's no reason you can't shoot varmints with heavy bullets if it doesn't like the light ones; the converse is not true about light bullets on larger game.

Based on your parameters I'd suggest the .260 Remington. Ballistics like the 6.5x55 but with a common case head size that will work in your rifle without bolt alteration. Pretty much bracketed by your other current chamberings. Adaptable to some rather light bullets and very effective on deer with 140 gr. bullets. Premium bullets are necessary at these velocities but can be useful. It is a far better cartridge than the .243 for deer and works well for smaller game like coyotes with lighter bullets. Brass should be no problem even if the cartridge is discontinued.

Great opportunity you have here! Keep us up to date.

I have both a 6mm Ackley Improved and a 6.5 X 55 and both would fit your needs. In my 6.5 X 55 I shoot 120 Nosler BT and it is a wonderful round. Low recoil good bullet selection. I have shot a lot of deer with that round. In the 6mmAI I shoot 100 gr partitions and that is also a wonderful round. Again there is no recoil at all. The accuracy of both are very good.

Well



If you got a 260 rifle built on a short action and what to shoot a bullet heavier than 125 grains you have to start seatign the bullet down the case, stealing powder space. In Lapua loading data the 260 is behind particular on the heavy bullets. A long action is adviced for 6,5X55 or larger.



A 6,5-284 Norma will give you 300 fps extra over a 6,5X55. in 6,5X55 and 284 you got acess to top quality brass and a wide range of makers. If you like more exotic rounds there is a 6,5X57, 6,5X64, 6,5X68, 6,5-270.6,5X300 wby, 6,5-9,3X64, 264 win mag



My experince is that 1-8,5 in barrel twist will guaranteed work with 140 grain bullets. 1-9 might not always do soo, sometimes your lucky somitimes your'e not. I hate to depend on luck

Choose anything you like



/ JOHAN

I agree with the 6.5 bore diameter being perfect for what you are looking for. And I am big fan of the 260 Rem. But since you have a long action I would chamber it for the 6.5 X 55. It will work on the bolt face of your rifle. The inherent accuracy of the 6.5 X 55 is proven and it will give slightly higher velocities than the 260 will.

One thing I would definetly do is use a match grade sproter contour barrel from a reputable barrel maker (Hart, Shilen, Krieger, Lilja, Douglas)not necessarily in that order. They aren't that expensive. Prices range from 175 to 190 for a chrome moly to 265 to 290 for a stainless match grade barrel. And that is money well spent for punching small groups on paper.

May I be half the man my grandson thinks I am......RiverRat

another vote for the swede.

(SHORT ACTION)
243
260
7-08
(LONG ACTION)
6.5X55
25-06