Custom Rifle - 500 yards max - what cartridge

[Michael Eichele]

Originally Posted by Jerry D

What fps advantage would I be looking at in choosing a 13 twist for 165 grain bullets over a 12 twist for all around use?

Not much between the two but always a slight advantage. The slower twist will offer a wee bit less pressure and more velocity potential but the big difference will be when you get a 10x and use 155-190's. ALWAYS get the twist for the heaviest bullets you want to shoot. Even if you want to shoot 155's most of the time but occasionally shoot 190's. You would want the 12.

[Chas1]

+1 with others on 308. If you want a little more you could go with 30-06. Economical, available, long barrel life and so on.

[etisll40]

All good replies here. The 308 with a 12 twist is almost a no brainer. My second preference and equally as good if not more accurate is the 6.5x55 swede. It's still the number 1 deer and moose caliber in Europe. The round has stood the test of time as it is 100 years old and still popular. A, deadly array of bullets with high BC available and incredibly accurate and easier to shoot all day. You only need a 24" barrel too. A little less weight to hall around all day.

[Top Cat]

For 500 yards max, a 308 is a great choice. With a good bullet, it has enough power on just about anything to 600 at least. It's low cost, low recoil and ammo is available anywhere... For versatility with heavier bullets, faster is better. 12 twist or 11 twist , but no slower than that... but I'd happily run a 10 twist on any 30 caliber.

But I really don't see the need to dump a lot of money on a custom rifle for this intended use. Some factory rifles are semi-custom out of the box and offer a lot of value these days. Just about any factory rifle bedded into a decent stock will be up to the task.

I guess adding a stock and bedding it qualifies as a "custom"; but any performance differences between the two will be extremely small at 500 yds, or even a lot farther out there.

Weatherby Vanguard, Howa, Ruger, Remington, Winchester take your pick. The Winchester M70 Extreme Weather is a little more money up front, but it already comes with a better stock than the others do.

What can't be skimped on is good quality optics and that costs some dough...no way around that. I'd reassign the money saved and invest in good optics and reloading equipment...those are absolute essentials in my mind, and still be money ahead.

TC

[Coyboy]

Run the balistics on a 160 gr barnes 3xshock in a 338 federal at say 2900-2950 fps.

Barrel life should be indefinate

[CPGfan]

6.5x47L is my vote all day long. Very low recoil and will kill anything you want in the lower 48 out to 500 yards. Small primer, good shoulder angle for minimal trimming, and damn do they shoot!!!

[Sully2]

Originally Posted by CPGfan

6.5x47L is my vote all day long. Very low recoil and will kill anything you want in the lower 48 out to 500 yards. Small primer, good shoulder angle for minimal trimming, and damn do they shoot!!!

I agree completely. I went with the .260 Rem caliber (6.5mm-08) but any of the 6.5's because of the BC of their bullets shine head and sholders above the rest for..
1) LOW recoil
2) Tremendous BC with their 140 grain slugs
3) More down stream velocity because of bullet BC

6.5's rule...