And then there was 1.........

[tackb]

trued remmy action with a 22" border fluted barrel threaded for a moderator pillar bedded in a mcmillan hunter stock or a4/a5 stock with badger ordnance metal and a 3.5-10x40 M3 leupold or a 3.5-15x56 nxs with mildot , oh and i'd put a large bolt knob on as well and obviously a good trigger?

as for calibre , well , theres nothing wrong with a 308 for what you want and you'd get loads of ammo for reasonable money so you'd be able to practice a lot plus i think there is more info and loads available for the 308 than any other round? having said that i'm particulally in love with my 260 at the moment and think it's a great round ? no real need for magnums for what you intend to do?

we can have moderators here in the uk but i think it's tough in the states so either get a brake(not really needed with the above calibres) or just a nicely done thread protector.

 

[liltank]

Of your list, I like the 6.5x284, 280AI, and the 338 Norma. All ballistics marvels from what I can tell. Nice thing about the 338 Norma is that you can go with a 23.5" barrel and still be right on with velocities.

Tank

 

[25 Otter]

I'm not sure I understand. Is the 23.5" barrel optimum for the 338 Norma? I have always been under the assumption that longer is better,especially in the bigger hammers.

 

[liltank]

I'm not sure I understand. Is the 23.5" barrel optimum for the 338 Norma? I have always been under the assumption that longer is better,especially in the bigger hammers.

Depends on the cartridge. The 338 Norma is specifically designed for short barrels. The author of the article recommended not going any longer than 26". This would give you a couple re-barrels. It's a matter of diminishing returns. Some cartridges suffer velocity loss due to barrels being too long. Lilja has a great article on his web sight explaining this.

Tank

 

[25 Otter]

You were right. There is a bunch of good reading over on the Lilja site. Thanks for the tip. I've often (and still do on occasion), ponder the ultimate PA deer rifle. I keep coming up with a .308 built on a 700 Remington.Trued and pillar bedded. It would of course be nestled in a quality LIGHT stock. McMillan perhaps. Now for the barrel. I keep coming back to a 21" light to medium varmint contour. Fluted if you like. Leupold VXIII 2.5X 8X in Talley mounts. My point is,short stiff barrels seemed to work super in the short range BR for score game. So why not on a 300yd PA deer rig? Personally I love the way a short weight forward rifle feels in my hands. Just my 2 cents.

 

[liltank]

You were right. There is a bunch of good reading over on the Lilja site. Thanks for the tip. I've often (and still do on occasion), ponder the ultimate PA deer rifle. I keep coming up with a .308 built on a 700 Remington.Trued and pillar bedded. It would of course be nestled in a quality LIGHT stock. McMillan perhaps. Now for the barrel. I keep coming back to a 21" light to medium varmint contour. Fluted if you like. Leupold VXIII 2.5X 8X in Talley mounts. My point is,short stiff barrels seemed to work super in the short range BR for score game. So why not on a 300yd PA deer rig? Personally I love the way a short weight forward rifle feels in my hands. Just my 2 cents.

If your going that route, build a .308 with a 20" heavy barrel. Shoot 175 or 180 grain bullets. That would get you to at least 500yrds. You could also smoke some 150grn bullets and still be effective to 500yrds. Another option is going with the same setup in .260, 6.5x47, 243 (for 300yrds), 7mm-08, 338 Federal, and 257 Roberts. Any of these cartridges in an Ackley improved version would just give you that much more. I wouldn't change the 6.5x47. These are all good calibers for a short barrel set up. Hope I didn't muddy up your head even more!

Tank

 

[25 Otter]

Not at all tank. I can talk rifles day and night. It happens every year. I'm sitting on stand,the same stand I hunt every opening day. Inevitably my thoughts turn to rifles. A long shot on this stand is 70 or 80 yards. The place was timbered 10 years ago,so you can imagine what sort of cover we are dealing with. Well,there I sit,with a 26 inch barreled 300 Ultra,or maybe the 30/06,7Mag,or 300 Winchester mag. I can't count the times I designed and re-designed a little tack driver for "Woodstails". Last season it took to the last day of the season,but I finally got a crack at a legal buck. I had carried my 30/06 all season,but decided to change my luck for the last day and took the 300 Ultra. Well under 50 yards,neck shot,off a mono pod. Needless to say the buck was DRT. That's just a little silly. Oh I stand some 600yd long fields down at my in-laws several times a season. Now there I feel right at home with Old Cruncher. Or the 25/06, 270, 30/06, 7 RM, or any other conventional deer gear. This is what makes my "One for all and all with one" rifle project so tricky. Mmm,mmm,mmm,that 338 Norma sounds sweet for sure. But, that is a mighty big hammer for the PA slashings. All the chamberings mentioned here are tempting. Aw heck. This is what makes this sport so appealing. The endless options available to us for that special build. I LOVE it.

 

[liltank]

Mmm,mmm,mmm,that 338 Norma sounds sweet for sure. But, that is a mighty big hammer for the PA slashings. All the chamberings mentioned here are tempting. Aw heck. This is what makes this sport so appealing. The endless options available to us for that special build. I LOVE it.

I know what you mean. I just spent an hour on the phone with my brother trying to help him buy the perfect starter rifle for his son. We nailed in down to a Vortex Crossfire 3.5-10x44, and 7mm-08 caliber with a 154 Hornady SST. Now he has to pick a rifle. That is proving to be tricky due to his son being LH. If you want the hammer of Thor, but not feel it, maybe look up the 338 Federal. It shows promise to a point. It is essentially a 308 casing necked out to 338. You could stuff a 180 to 215 grain bullet and have a pretty hefty brush cutter and short range rifle (3 to 400 max). Though that 7mm-08 w/ the 154 SST sounds like a pretty decent set up. 20" barrel gun for sure.

Tank

 

[25 Otter]

That sounds like a dandy starter rifle. My daughter is currently hunting with a 700 mountain stainless/synthetic in 243. 95gr Noslers over 41gr of 4350. This will be her first year as a licensed hunter. Pretty excited. That 7/08 should do the trick for sure. I had a 700 mountain way back when in 7/08. It was early in the rounds commercial existence. That particular rifle didn't like anything over 130gr bullets. I had it in my mind to use no less that the 150,so I traded it. Otherwise cool cartridge.

 

[338 bruce]

Any well placed bullet will kill the same as any other, but when hunting for elk, the 338 and 375 diameter bullets will get the animals attention better (even a slow 338 federal), meaning you can tell that its been hit. When hunting for a cow elk you wont usually find them alone. After hunting all day you finally find a herd and after you take your shot and the herd starts to run, if you shoot again you might end up with more than one elk down. With the 338 and larger bullets you can tell which elk you hit the first time. That is why I went up from useing my 3006. In the real world impact velocity isnt as important as bullet diameter. If you hunt for meat a very surprising thing happens, the bigger cal bullets dont bloodshot the meat very much if at all.

 

[25 Otter]

I'm inclined to believe that. Some folks make fun of the notion,but if you can shoot one accurately,the 375 H&H is a wonderful chambering. A friend of mine bought a M70 375 H&H a couple years ago on a whim. You know,it isn't that bad. Oh it kicks a bit,but my 300 RUM with the 200gr pills "Feels" worse. I have always been convinced the Remington BDL, though a beautiful stock, is far from ideal when it comes to recoil. My M70 300 Winchester mag "feels" better than my wife's BDL 270. At least on this old body anyway.

I wouldn't count out any of the 338 rounds,wildcat or factory, for an all around rig. I have even given thought to the 325 WSM. Not too practical, but a stout little package. I know folks like to stay with the over the counter chamberings, should you forget or loose your ammo. If I'm going to spend 30 or so hours in the truck seat getting to my Elk hunting destination, I'm going to be relatively sure that the ammo is in the truck. The airlines are another matter. I have flown once with a rifle. They lost it for one day. It arrived about 2:00 in the afternoon of the first days hunt. I borrowed a Kimber from my hunting companion and off we went to the brush. Actually,it was the only time I have had a chance to use a Kimber, lol.

 

[25 Otter]

Getting her narrowed down. I've come to these 2 finalists.....the 280 A.I. and the 284 Winchester. I like the 280 A.I. a lot. Whats not to like? On the other hand,for a slightly lower velocity,I can gain a bunch of room in the magazine for long bullets. Intruding less on the 284s powder capacity. A good friend and old BR shooting buddy of mine says he can work my build into his schedule. Now,I need to settle on a brand,twist,and contour for the barrel. I'm thinking a 9" twist. I would be mainly using bullets from 120 to 160gr. As for length,I can't see going any longer than 22" on this particular rifle. I hat to loose any RPMs, but I do like a handy hunting rifle. As for the stock I'm leaning toward the H.S. Pro Series.