Mostly I have been a Bullseye Pistol/Skeet Shooter for years and have mainly collected rifles rather than shoot them. Since moving to an area that provides more opportunity for rifle use my interest in long gun shooting has increased.
During one cold morning while reading one of my reloading magazines I came across a comment that any of the '06' family can be re barreled to the 240 Weatherby, 240 Gibbs, or 240 Hawk without having to extensively modify the bolt or magazine. The Hawk as I understand is based on the 280 case but can be formed from a 30-06 case. Further reading lead to several articles that the 6mm Norma BR is another option because of it being extremely accurate and provides extended barrel life, however, it is based on the 308 case. I believe the bolt on the 30-06 would work with a 308 case since it is a shorter 30-06 case. I would assume this would require more work in making sure the bolt locks are locked in place correctly and the head space between the bolt and barrel and cartridge is correct.
Since I do not have a rifle in any caliber less than 25 it dawned on me that perhaps a good project would be to have an older Remington 700 BDL (which was originally configured in 30-06 caliber) custom built to the 240/6mm cartridge which made sense (since I already owned a 300 Win.Mag). Another option was the family of 22 calibers, however, the 6mm appears to buck the wind better than the 22 caliber familt.
The primary use of this particular configuration is varmint, coyote and some local competitions preferring to use a 25-06 for larger game (e.g., deer, etc.).
What cartridge would be appropriate to build the custom rifle? Would building a 6mm BR just be adding extensive cost for retooling the bolt and magazine, etc.? I do reload ammunition and do not mind forming brass if it is not commercially available.
During one cold morning while reading one of my reloading magazines I came across a comment that any of the '06' family can be re barreled to the 240 Weatherby, 240 Gibbs, or 240 Hawk without having to extensively modify the bolt or magazine. The Hawk as I understand is based on the 280 case but can be formed from a 30-06 case. Further reading lead to several articles that the 6mm Norma BR is another option because of it being extremely accurate and provides extended barrel life, however, it is based on the 308 case. I believe the bolt on the 30-06 would work with a 308 case since it is a shorter 30-06 case. I would assume this would require more work in making sure the bolt locks are locked in place correctly and the head space between the bolt and barrel and cartridge is correct.
Since I do not have a rifle in any caliber less than 25 it dawned on me that perhaps a good project would be to have an older Remington 700 BDL (which was originally configured in 30-06 caliber) custom built to the 240/6mm cartridge which made sense (since I already owned a 300 Win.Mag). Another option was the family of 22 calibers, however, the 6mm appears to buck the wind better than the 22 caliber familt.
The primary use of this particular configuration is varmint, coyote and some local competitions preferring to use a 25-06 for larger game (e.g., deer, etc.).
What cartridge would be appropriate to build the custom rifle? Would building a 6mm BR just be adding extensive cost for retooling the bolt and magazine, etc.? I do reload ammunition and do not mind forming brass if it is not commercially available.