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If you could pick one short action cartrige to cover plinking, whitetail hunting & long range varmints. I am very up in the air on the caliber, stock ,and barrel at this point. I want a rifle in the 9 lb range and have been thinking .308 win or 6.5-284 norma. Barrel wise I am looking at Shelin select match or Kreiger and the stock maybe a Rimrock, Brown or Mcmillian. I know this is my project,but I am in need of some advice. As soon as I iron out the last of the planning I can present it to a gunsmith to start on. I already have a jewell triger, Nesika short action and nesika recoil lug. I also should say my rifle will be a single shot. Thanks, ED | ||
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Although you could certainly shoot varmints with a .308 or a 6.5-284, neither is really well-suited as a varmint rifle (excessive recoil, and with the 6.5/284, too much muzzle blast). The 6mm's are about as large as most would want for varminting, and about as small as most would want for deer. Some people will tell you that the 6mm Remington needs a long action. In actuality, it does just fine with a short action, particularly with varmint-weight bullets, and the deep seating required of 100 grain "deer" bullets is not really a significant problem. A 6mm Improved will yield about the same velocities as a 6mm/284, so that's the direction I would advise. With it, you get cheaper brass, an extra round in the magazine, and no action rail work needed as compared to building a 6mm/284. | |||
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Thanks for the reply stone creek, I should have added that I am wanting a single shot. Thanks, ED | |||
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The 6mm or 243 will do, but a 250 Savage Ackley Improved with a 1:10 twist will give you game bullets as heavy as 120 grains to work with. $0.02 | |||
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Cornerstone, First ? what do you consider long range??? Next question, Since targets and varmints will consume probably 95+ percent of the shooting how heavily do you weigh the "deer" function? I would suggest that for the most part a target varmint rig makes sense, but to do the extra duty of the deer... you may sacrifice too much for 95 percent of your pleasure shooting. Even not knowing the answers to your criteria, I would strongly suggest a Rem .260, or the Ackley version of it. Second choice would be the .257 Ackley. Good luck and good shooting.  Member NRA, SCI- Life #358 28+ years now! DRSS, double owner-shooter since 1983, O/U .30-06 Browning Continental set. | |||
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Ed I would ask what percent of your shooting will be varmits, what percent deer./ Also as others have asked what do you consider long range. While I have killed a couple of deer with a 223 the smallest cartridge I would want to regulary use for deer would be a 243. My wife and I have killed quite a few with the 243 and either the 100gr Sierra or the 95 gr Nosler Partition with perfect satisfaction. My wife has killed antelope and a couple of very large bodied mule deer as well. DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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This is really a great forum....... Good advice and not alot of bickering like some others I been on. On the percentage question i would say that this rifle will kill a deer some time and even the varmit percentage would be small. Fun and paper shooting will be the main use along with being a hand me down to one of my grandkids when I am no longer shooting. This will probably be the only custom I ever build and thank you guys for giving me more angles in which explore. Thanks, ED | |||
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Go with the 243. 55 to 75 gr for varmints, 95 to 100 gr for deer. DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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I would say a 6.5 would be a great combo caliber, pick your case, mine would be a 260/260AI for barrel life. Built my 3rd 6BR, this one on a #1 Ruger, recent trip to range shot 3 into .498........at the 330 yard mark! Never intended to use it on deer per se, but shot my longest one at 400 with 105 amax, look at 6br.com site. If you build a 6BR, it will do 70gr's at 3400, 55's at 3700, 105's at 2800+. It works. You do have to pick your shots, but I have had 4 one shot kills this year on game, as it's accuracy is scary! A hot 6 will be flatter, but you pay with barrel life shortened to a half or less. 243 or 6mm, standard or improved will do a lot of long range varmints if you want a laser trajectory, if you do more paper punching, really look at the 6BR (esp. if your hunting is within 400 yds-as coyotes and down are SOL--deer too with placement. | |||
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as long as you're into a single shot the short action easily handles the long rounds like the 25-06 or 6.5-06
Either of the two I mentioned will serve you well in a single shot. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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I'd have to throw my vote behind the 6BR for the stated purpose. A gun like this will basically be a stand-hunting gun, so shot placement should be a given. Though there are no flies at all on the 308 and it's offspring, this sounds like a paper punching rifle. For punching small groups with a 9 lb rifle, there are two things that lead me to the BR case: barrel life and recoil. Even the 260 is a bit much to shoot al lot from the bench, and the 243 is too much of a barrel burner to shoot a whole lot. With a tight twist and 85 gr. TSX bullets and proper shot placement, the 6BR will do any sort of hunting. There are also many, many VLD bullets for targets and varmints. JMO, Dutch. Life's too short to hunt with an ugly dog. | |||
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In that case, you're not necessarily limited to "short action" calibers, nor is there any problem using a "fat" case like the .284 since you don't use the magazine anyway. Now that I understand what you mean by varmint hunting, and that you mostly want it for targets, then the 6.5x284 makes sense, as would a 6.5x55 or a 6.5-06. You could even open up the bolt face and go to a 6.5 WSM wildcat if you wanted -- it all depends on how much velocity you're looking for. | |||
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 Hand loaded .257 Roberts will get the job done.  nicely. rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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On the light side I'd go 22-250 ackley improved, with a fast twist barrel and a 60+ gr bullet it's an honest deer round, and will also push the lighter bullets 4000 fps. On the heavy end I'd look at a 25-284, 100's @ 3300-3400 fps make it a way out there deer rifle. You might even consider making it on the lighter side, there is something to be said for a mild recoiling lightweight gun that can still reach out a ways. __________________________________________________ The AR series of rounds, ridding the world of 7mm rem mags, one gun at a time. | |||
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Paul, I know you are sincere, but I've been there and done that and bullet construction is far too critical when approaching those really high velocities. I personally think it is the imprudent thing to do. Border line screw ups are not necessary with the abundace of choices we have today. No foul intended.  rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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One that caught my eye here a while back is a 7mm-08. Lots of bullet choices out there and easy to shoot. My next choice would be 243! ______________________ Smedley  ______________________ From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.' B.H.Obullshitter ------------------------------------ "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery" Winston Churchill ------------------------------------ "..it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.." Samuel Adams ------------------------------------ Facts are immaterial to liberals. Twisted perceptions however are invaluable. ------------------------------------ We Americans were tired of being thought of as dumb, by the rest of the world. So we went to the polls in November 2008 and removed all doubt.....let's not do it again in 2012 please. | |||
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I know traditional cup core bullets the centerfire 22's are unreliable. That said, folks that have used the barnes X and tsx are reporting excellent reliable performance. Bullet construction is critical in every caliber, it's just the smaller bores offer the possibility of going off the deepend of very lightly constructed bullets and very high velocities. No offense taken, but I believe with the right bullets, especially those available today, many calibers that were marginal in years past, are very capable today. I used to think anything under 30 caliber had no place for hunting big game, I'm re-thinking that stance. __________________________________________________ The AR series of rounds, ridding the world of 7mm rem mags, one gun at a time. | |||
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I would go for the 260 Remington.  Free men should not be subjected to permits, paperwork and taxation in order to carry any firearm. NRA Benefactor | |||
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hey guys..... keep the info coming. alot of these calibers i had given no thought to. But I will now.....  Thanks, ED | |||
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Thats easy, The 243 winchester fits that bill perfectly, the 260rem and 7mm-08 are a close second and third. | |||
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