Caliber suggestion

[onehandgunner]

I am not a hunter anymore, sold my 25-06 2 years ago but still have 35 Rem and 45-70. I am wanting a caliber for target shooting and rock busting at 300 + yards. I am 70+ so I don't need a caliber that will beat me to death, my 45-70 can do that. 25-06 ,7-08, 243 are what I know best. The rifle will be a Howa, Weatherby or even a Ruger American but they don't have a 25-06. Still have dies and brass for the 25. What do ya think Thanks, Jerry

 

[MudRunner2005]

.260 Remington

Lapua makes brass for it. 6.5mm caliber has tons of bullet options. Low recoil. Good velocity. Easy on brass and powder consumption. Long barrel life. And capable of shooting steel at 1,000+ yards.

7mm-08 is also a great one. It's basically the exact same cartridge as the .260 Remington, other than neck and bullet diameter.

I also noticed you said Howa... They now offer their new Mini-Action rifles in a heavy barrel chambered in 6.5 Grendel. It is not as fast the .260, but is quite impressive on ballistics. It has extremely light recoil, Hornady and Lapua both make brass for it. And factory match-grade ammo is available from Hornady for around $20-25 a box. So it's very economical to shoot, too. It's a very fun caliber to plink with. I built an AR in 6.5 Grendel last year.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

Id suggest a short action 6.5 like the 260 rem or the 6.5 Creedmoor. Nothing wrong with a 7mm -08 either great round. The 6.5 would kick less though. I personally prefer the 6.5 Creed over the 260 simply because its better in a short action than a 260. The 243 would also be a good choice with a 105 berger or the new 108 Hornady eld-m.

 

[DXHI]

Jerry if you still have brass and dies I would stick with the 25.
That's part of the equation, although not a significant one. But it's almost be like picking up right where you left off

 

[benchracer]

I believe a centerfire .224, with a 1/8 or 1/9 twist (to take full advantage of the available bullets), is the best choice for your stated purposes. As a class of cartridges, the .224's tend to be inexpensive to shoot, light recoiling, and accurate.

Of the rifles you mention, I would go with the Ruger American, primarily because the .223 comes with a 1/8 twist.

 

[WildRose]

I am not a hunter anymore, sold my 25-06 2 years ago but still have 35 Rem and 45-70. I am wanting a caliber for target shooting and rock busting at 300 + yards. I am 70+ so I don't need a caliber that will beat me to death, my 45-70 can do that. 25-06 ,7-08, 243 are what I know best. The rifle will be a Howa, Weatherby or even a Ruger American but they don't have a 25-06. Still have dies and brass for the 25. What do ya think Thanks, Jerry

6mm, .243, 6.5CM, 6.5x55, or 260 Remington will all do what you are wanting to do, have good ballistics (especially the 6.5's and negligible recoil.

Should you decide to start hunting again they are all more than capable for deer sized game at 600yds or beyond.

 

[jbmarshtx]

Of those three listed I would go with the 243. It kicks a less than the 7-08, especially if you shoot the less than 100gr bullets. I've shot both quite a bit, and the 243 has a good range of bullets that would be fine for targets, etc out to 300 yards. The longer 105/108 grains are good for longer shooting. Barrel life with the 243 will be lower though.

A 260 or Creedmoor, or as someone suggested the 6.5 Grendel, might be 'better' choices. Hornady factory 6.5 creedmoor and 6.5 grendel ammo is relatively inexpensive. I have a grendel on an AR platform, and the ballistics are really nice...some have shot it out to 1,000 yards with no issue. Recoil is really mild.

 

[Predator 22]

For targets I would skip the 25-06 because of the lack of good bullets and barrel life isn't great. I would go the 6.5 creedmoor or 260 remington route. Good bullet selection, low recoil, doesn't use much powder and light recoil. Good luck

 

[Capt RB]

243 So many great 6mm bullets to choose from. From 55-117(130 is being made by a forum member). No recoil with a brake or little without one. I built an ai awhile ago all the above with more speed and and stable brass. You also can run H1000 which has proven to increase barrel life significantly

 

[onehandgunner]

Thanks for the replies. The 260 was looking real good until I found that my rifle makers of choice do not chamber a rifle for it. Not sure I want to go the 25-06 route again. The 243 is holding a spot as well as the 7-08. The others mentioned I'm not familiar with. This will be a fun gun plinker and not shot a lot. I will do a bit more comparing before I make a choice. Thanks, Jerry

 

[HurricaneWhisperer]

I recently got finished setting my wife's 7mm-08, Weatherby Vanguard up. It's a little heavier than most of the inexpensive hunting rifles which helps with kick.

I am very happy. Shooting Hornady, 139 Grain, American Whitetail, it kicks about the same or less than my 30-30 using 160 Grain, FTX, Leverevolution. The Weatherby is a little heavier, has a recoil pad, and the thrust line of the kick is more straight back due to the stock so I think this lessens the felt recoil over the 30-30 Marlin.

I had bought some Hornady, Superperformance, 139GR, SST for the 7mm-08, but I was so pleased with the cheap American Whitetail, that I haven't shot it yet. We will try it after hunting season.

After breaking in at 30 rounds, I got groups that were less than .71" and more than .56"

I am just a regular guy type shooter, not a person who is at the range going through a lot of ammo.

For target shooting, I would say the .243 would be even lighter kicking and might be cheaper ammo. I would probably go with that for target shooting. I almost got a .243 for her, but it's a hunting rifle and I think the 7mm-08 is light enough of a kicker and a little better for more types of game.

If you do go for a Vanguard, Talley lightweight rings have a special part number for Vanguards whereas most manufactures use the same rings for Howa, Vanguard and Remington. I believe the difference is that the Vanguard back ring should be slightly higher than it would be for the Howa and Remington even though Howa makes the Vanguard. I use a Kokopelli lapping and alignment kit to align and lap the rings.

I get bruised easy because I am on blood thinning medicine, and so is my wife so I did a lot of research to select low recoiling hunting rifles. For hunting, the kick doesn't matter, but we like to be able to practice and not get bruised from shooting a box of ammo.

 

[el matador]

I recently put together a couple of .308 rifles for a friend of mine. Both were Rem 700 5Rs and both shoot under 1/2 moa with factory ammo. The 24" gun likes Federal GMM 175 grain and the 20" gun likes the 168 grain loads. I like to reload but sometimes its nice to just buy ammo and shoot! The .308 match ammo is only about $20/box. Recoil is very light from the heavy 24" barrel. Also, hitting a rock with a 168 grain bullet is more fun than with a 129 grain

 

[Dgd6mm]

I believe a centerfire .224, with a 1/8 or 1/9 twist (to take full advantage of the available bullets), is the best choice for your stated purposes. As a class of cartridges, the .224's tend to be inexpensive to shoot, light recoiling, and accurate.

Of the rifles you mention, I would go with the Ruger American, primarily because the .223 comes with a 1/8 twist.

When I read your post this is exactly what came to mind...........lightbulb. gun)

 

[WildRose]

Thanks for the replies. The 260 was looking real good until I found that my rifle makers of choice do not chamber a rifle for it. Not sure I want to go the 25-06 route again. The 243 is holding a spot as well as the 7-08. The others mentioned I'm not familiar with. This will be a fun gun plinker and not shot a lot. I will do a bit more comparing before I make a choice. Thanks, Jerry

Any gunsmith can chamber your barrel to .260, all they need is a 6.5mm blank. If they don't have the right reemers they can buy, rent, or borrow one from another gunsmith.

If you're talking about big guys such as Remington and Winchester etc that's a different situation and you would be limited to the calibers they chamber in regularly or go through the custom shop.