Better 6mm (not 243W) for hunting? Which one?

Just going by the description in the original post it would need to be the 6mm Rem. Not boutique, no fire form, I bit more oomph, same barrel wear. For the money, and for what the 6mm is as a deer, antelope, and predator/varmint gun you still can't beat the .243 Winchester. If it can't be done with the ol .243Win or 6mm Rem (competitive shooting aside) you need a different bore size. At least per the described request. It sounds like you just need a little spice in life. I like the 30 cal as long as it's not the 30-06 or .308win. I would say roll with the .240 Weatherby and enjoy every flame throwing shot. With 80 grain Ballistic tips or 100 grain partitions or 90 grain Sciroccos you will experience 6mm Nirvana.
 
25WSM,
From what I have heard RL 26 is NOT very temp stable, have you played with RL 16 at all and would it also be something for the OP to keep in mind for what ever 6mm he goes with?
Thanks
 
Lot of good points here. 243 Win is a bit of a barrel burner from the factory, but as a hunting/slow fire rifle, I've seen great life out of mine. It's one of the flattest highest speed moderate recoil factory offered cartridges available. Any more capacity would be a worse barrel burner.

I'd stick with 243 Win, unless you want to shoot the ultra high 105-115gr BC bullets, then I'd go 6mm Creed bc of the faster twist offered in factory guns.
 
6slr all the way. It's what the 243 should have been. 30 degree shoulder and long neck. No fire forming. Just once through the die and shoot. Very accurate round. Will send 105s 3100
in a 26 in barrel and good barrel life.
The next pick would be 6creed. It's just easy and they shoot great.
Shep
I wonder if anyone has necked this down to 22 cal yet. I would love to see those numbers!
 
I have just rebarreled my 6mm Remington, rem model 722, 26" barrel, 8 twist...previous barrel was 8.25 twist, shoots 75 gr hp with 46 gr H4831 less than .25 inch. New barrel same. Old barrel shot over 3000 rounds. I have shot deer, javelinas, coyotes, antelope, and one 6x elk with it. I used 100 gr sp on game animals. My Weatherby 240 is pretty much identical, just faster and harder hitting. I reload for both. Wish the Weatherby had a 26" barrel!
 
So someone ask for a ladder for 6creed with rl26. I don't shoot the 6 Creed anymore so I don't have that data. But I know you won't find more velocity with any other powder. 105s will easily do 3350 in the Creed. As far as rl16 goes I tried a bunch of it in a few cartridges and it's almost a substitute for h4350. H4350 just seemed easier to tune for me and my load stays tuned better. Some friends are using 16 with good results. The regular 243 is a barrel burner. The flame from it hits directly on the throat. If you do a 243ai and use h1000 you will see more than double the barrel life. Just read up on the 6compatition match. It's a 243i used for 1000yard and gets incredible barrel life. I have over 4500 rounds on my first 6slr barrel with one setback. The 6xc has good barrel life if you shoot it with normal loads but if you hotrod it to get to 243 speed there goes your barrel life and brass. For the op the 6slr fits your bill perfectly. No fireforming. Long barrel life. Great brass available. 1.5 grains less capacity than a 243 but still has same speed. Longer neck so you can set freebore up to shoot several different bullet weights. Like I said before it's what the 243 should have been. It's far better in my opinion. Barrel life alone makes it worth it. Go to 6mmar.com and read up on it.
Shep
 
My 243 Winchester is long gone. I want another 6mm mid-range variant mainly for hunting and pest elimination. I'm thinking about a 6XC but, I'm uncommitted at this time.

I do not want a true wildcat or barrel burner. I'm not a fan of Short Magnums or 'boutique' cartridges from manufacturers (i.e. Ruger, Nosler, etc.). I don't expect to see velocities with heavier options above 3,000FPS in a 24"~26" barrel. Something that won't excessively heat or otherwise lead to short barrel life (throat erosion / cracking) is important to me. I prefer to stick with something with factory brass if not factory loaded ammunition. I can reload so, something with limited support like a 6x47L is a possibility.

For hunting options, deer mainly but, I intend to take a Pronghorn and possibly a Mountain Goat so, I need something with "legs". Pest elimination is mainly Coyotes and 'feral' domestic dogs but, I do see feral hogs occasionally. Reasonable recoil (i.e. not excessive) with weight on the lighter side (6#~7# no scope) is important as my dominant shoulder has had surgery already and is a bit 'soft'. So with a bit more oomph than a 243 Winchester but, not a barrel burner without excessive recoil, what would you recommend? 6XC, 6 Creedmoor, 6x47L, 6mm Remington or, ...?

TIA,
Sid
6mm cm does NOT have more oomph than 243! The 243 has a little more oomph if you handload. Otherwise they are ballistically the same. If you want a step up there are other 6mm/243 options. Just dont belueve that the crreds are ballistically superior. Their positive is relatively inexpensive, match grade ammo for long range shooters, so that they dont need to craft handloaded match ammo.
 
More umph then the 243....243AI. I ran several 243's for PRS but that destroyed the barrel too fast. I need a better designed 6mm case for that. But for hunting the 243 was quite good. Running 108's at 3100 in a 26' was easy. However for hunting I'd probably do a 6x284 for the brass availability in a long action. If I wanted a SA round I'd do the 6PRC. Several people are now running 6 prc and it's on my radar for a long range wolf rifle. But we are talking about running 105-110 grainers in the 3300 plus realm for ultra flat shooting.

Yes, that's part of the problem with the proliferation of 6mm options. Most new ones are pushing higher velocities and powder capacities. Then you have all the benchrest options to throw in the mix as well.

I guess the real question is what can I kill with a 6mm at 3300FPS~3500FPS that I can't at ~3000FPS? At what cost (weight, recoil, barrel life, etc.)?

Then there is the issue of the once a lifetime Mountain Goat hunt that may benefit from something like a 6-284Win. If a 243Win will take Pronghorn, why wouldn't something a bit slower like the 6XC? I could always take my heavy 25-06 if the shot requires more distance capability. Coyotes and Deer will never notice the difference IMHO with any reasonable shot placement at realistic distances where I would hunt (East Texas and Central Oklahoma) with a lighter (poundage) rifle shooting a softer shooting cartridge. Heck, a 6mm Benchrest variant would probably do well inside 200 yards which is worst case for most of my shots.
 
My 243 Winchester is long gone. I want another 6mm mid-range variant mainly for hunting and pest elimination. I'm thinking about a 6XC but, I'm uncommitted at this time.

I do not want a true wildcat or barrel burner. I'm not a fan of Short Magnums or 'boutique' cartridges from manufacturers (i.e. Ruger, Nosler, etc.). I don't expect to see velocities with heavier options above 3,000FPS in a 24"~26" barrel. Something that won't excessively heat or otherwise lead to short barrel life (throat erosion / cracking) is important to me. I prefer to stick with something with factory brass if not factory loaded ammunition. I can reload so, something with limited support like a 6x47L is a possibility.

For hunting options, deer mainly but, I intend to take a Pronghorn and possibly a Mountain Goat so, I need something with "legs". Pest elimination is mainly Coyotes and 'feral' domestic dogs but, I do see feral hogs occasionally. Reasonable recoil (i.e. not excessive) with weight on the lighter side (6#~7# no scope) is important as my dominant shoulder has had surgery already and is a bit 'soft'. So with a bit more oomph than a 243 Winchester but, not a barrel burner without excessive recoil, what would you recommend? 6XC, 6 Creedmoor, 6x47L, 6mm Remington or, ...?

TIA,
Sid
6x47L would fit your requirements. A 6BR might be worth consideriing. A .260 Rem or .257WBY are worth a look and can be loaded to meet velocity needs.
 
Nobody said a 6mm going 3000 won't kill. Or that 3400 is needed to kill. But that 400 fps just might be the difference with wind drift of a kill or wounding. Remember this is LRH. At longer distances speed and bc are your best friend.
Shep
 
My 243 Winchester is long gone. I want another 6mm mid-range variant mainly for hunting and pest elimination. I'm thinking about a 6XC but, I'm uncommitted at this time.

I do not want a true wildcat or barrel burner. I'm not a fan of Short Magnums or 'boutique' cartridges from manufacturers (i.e. Ruger, Nosler, etc.). I don't expect to see velocities with heavier options above 3,000FPS in a 24"~26" barrel. Something that won't excessively heat or otherwise lead to short barrel life (throat erosion / cracking) is important to me. I prefer to stick with something with factory brass if not factory loaded ammunition. I can reload so, something with limited support like a 6x47L is a possibility.

For hunting options, deer mainly but, I intend to take a Pronghorn and possibly a Mountain Goat so, I need something with "legs". Pest elimination is mainly Coyotes and 'feral' domestic dogs but, I do see feral hogs occasionally. Reasonable recoil (i.e. not excessive) with weight on the lighter side (6#~7# no scope) is important as my dominant shoulder has had surgery already and is a bit 'soft'. So with a bit more oomph than a 243 Winchester but, not a barrel burner without excessive recoil, what would you recommend? 6XC, 6 Creedmoor, 6x47L, 6mm Remington or, ...?

TIA,
Sid
I use the 6mm Remington. It gives about 100-150 fps more than the 243 Win or the 6mm Creedmoor, and is extremely accurate. It also doesn't burn barrels. My Ruger in this chambering has been around since around 1978 and I've shot about 8,000 rounds through it at various critters at distances out to 400 yards. It is still a good prairie dog rifle at distances to 300-400 yards. It will hold around 3/4" at 100 yards in my standard weight barrel. Velocity with Speer 100 grain boat tails is around 3,050 fps. You really don't need/want more than that if you want barrel life of more than around 2,000 rounds, and it is more than adequate for antelope or deer out to around 300 yards. Brass is easy to find or make (it can be made from 257 Roberts just by necking down) and is available from most brass manufacturers. Its easy to reload due to the longer neck and because of the longer neck, it is easy to get good bullet alignment. Original brass for this comes from the 7x57 cartridge. I generally load anywhere from 80 grain bullets up to 105 grain bullets in my rifle, and I get minute of prairie dog out of it out to 300 yards and beyond, which is pretty good for a sporter weight barrel.
 
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It just seams to reason that all over bore cartridges at high velocities are going to have to put up with throat erosion and rifling crackling. It just is what it is. Barrels are consumable and pushing 3,100 fps versus 2,850 fps will mean significant degrading of expected barrel life by many factor, (3-4 time) If you are off the opinion that 3,200 fps from say a 108 gr projectile is going to kill faster than a 108 gr traveling at 2,800 fps. Then so be it. Get a 6 mm Creed and call it done. Your just buying barrels faster as a consumable. If you really want extended barrel life than drop down in performance to cartridge that will match the bill like a 6.5 Grendel, or 6 mm AR (a necked down Grendel). A 6.5 Grendel 24" Barrel rifle with a 107 Cavity Back MKS should give you roughly 2,820 fps at the muzzle. At sea level it gets you 1,800 fps and 750 ft lbs of energy to 600 yds. A 6mm AR (easy to load just resize a 6.5 Grendel neck) Shoots 105 gr at roughly at 2,775 from a 20" barrel. Giving you roughly the same ballistics with a little more drop. So say you want minimum 2,000 fps. Cut back to 500 yds. to call it good. That range give you 1,942 fps for the Grendel with 882 ft lbs. It will kill anything listed with a properly placed shot. Just my two cents. You just have to decipher what you really want. Ultrea High velocities and long barrel life are mutually exclusive terms.
 
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