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Long Range Hunting & Shooting
Debate time..... caliber selection
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<blockquote data-quote="Viking264" data-source="post: 1333671" data-attributes="member: 97833"><p>For me, 6.5 cal is all that I need. I have used a 6.5x55 (loaded to 58K psi) to take out pest rats in our bird pens, up to boar and cow elk. There are so many bullet choices for 6.5-cal, it's a "do all" for everything that I am likely to encounter in the mid-atlantic and New England. I would have no issue using it for even our largest black bear (in PA and Northern NJ, they push 600+ lbs.), not as a defensive round mind you, but as a hunting round. For rats, squirrel, rabbits, fox, coyote, and raccoon, I use a 100-grain Hornady. For meat hunting, I use a Barnes 127 LRX (including elk, keeping in mind that I will be within 300 yds of POI). If I were going to go for black bear or moose, I would use a Hornady 160 RN or a Norma 156 Oryx.</p><p></p><p>For reference, I use a Mauser 98 purpose-built hunting rifle made pre-WWI, and a Tikka T3 Sporter.</p><p></p><p>My other favorite cartridge is the .284 Win, loaded as a long action cartridge. In some ways, a 6.5-284 would be an intermediate between the two, but it would really be overkill for my requirements. 6.5x55 is so inexpensive to load for and the barrel life considerable (relative to many other cartridges), that the modest cost of ownership and mild recoil allows me to fire as much as I can fit time in for, building marksmanship skills. If I only had one cartridge to hunt the rest of my days with, then it would be the Swede... with my hand loads.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Viking264, post: 1333671, member: 97833"] For me, 6.5 cal is all that I need. I have used a 6.5x55 (loaded to 58K psi) to take out pest rats in our bird pens, up to boar and cow elk. There are so many bullet choices for 6.5-cal, it's a "do all" for everything that I am likely to encounter in the mid-atlantic and New England. I would have no issue using it for even our largest black bear (in PA and Northern NJ, they push 600+ lbs.), not as a defensive round mind you, but as a hunting round. For rats, squirrel, rabbits, fox, coyote, and raccoon, I use a 100-grain Hornady. For meat hunting, I use a Barnes 127 LRX (including elk, keeping in mind that I will be within 300 yds of POI). If I were going to go for black bear or moose, I would use a Hornady 160 RN or a Norma 156 Oryx. For reference, I use a Mauser 98 purpose-built hunting rifle made pre-WWI, and a Tikka T3 Sporter. My other favorite cartridge is the .284 Win, loaded as a long action cartridge. In some ways, a 6.5-284 would be an intermediate between the two, but it would really be overkill for my requirements. 6.5x55 is so inexpensive to load for and the barrel life considerable (relative to many other cartridges), that the modest cost of ownership and mild recoil allows me to fire as much as I can fit time in for, building marksmanship skills. If I only had one cartridge to hunt the rest of my days with, then it would be the Swede... with my hand loads. [/QUOTE]
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