Caliber Selection

[340ORHNTR]

I have a 257AI that was given to me but the barrel is shot out. It is a Remington 722 short action and i want to re barrel it but I don't know what caliber to chamber it in. I was thinking about a 6-284. I also want it to be light. I was thinking a 22" #3 contour. What would the pros and cons be of the 6-284 or should I go with a .25 cal selection. I don't want to go any bigger than .25 cal. Or what would be another good antelope/deer caliber that would feed from the short action magazine?

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

The 243 AI is a lot of fun to shoot and easy to load for. I can think of several. BC's are better now in 6mm than 25. If you wanted to open up the bolt face the 25 wsm would be about the most power 25 and under you could get in it. But the 6.5 makes more sense. With your action and bolt face if you wanted a long range cartridge for deer/antelope I would do the 6.5-284.

 

[340ORHNTR]

The only problem with going to a 6.5 is I would never shoot my 270. I am leaning more in the .25 or 6mm to have some diversity.

 

[gr8whyt]

Here's a link to an article about an interesting wildcat. I think it has a lot of merit in a short action.

25-308

-- gr8whyt

 

[Boss Hoss]

It may just be polluted to death----scope it and see what it looks like. Spend some time cleaning it with Iosso and see what you have.

 

[340ORHNTR]

My gunsmith scoped it and said the throat was terrible. He cleaned it real good and I took it to shoot again and my best group was about 4" at 200 yards.

I like the idea of the 6-284 but was just looking to see if anyone with more experience has better options.

 

[TORCHRIDER]

I was in a similar situation and decided to go with the .243AI. Great round and will shoot bullets from 55gr. to 115gr. Go with a fast twist 1/7 or 1/8 so you can shoot the long, High BC bullets.

 

[RockZ]

I have a 6-284 and it is absolutely awesome.
I can highly recommend it as a great long range deer/antelope cartridge.
It is amazing the ballistics you can get with light recoil and shootability.

 

[340ORHNTR]

Thats what I wanted to hear. Do you think the 1-8 twist would be sufficient to shoot the heavies?

 

[RockZ]

I have a 1-8 twist and it shoots the 107smks and 115Dtacs very well.
I worked up such a great load with the 107's that I didn't do any more work with the 115's.
I'm getting 3395 fps with the 107's and less than 10fps ES. It shoots very small groups with a flat trajectory and minimal recoil.
I think it gives the best ballistics for the money.
You can check out my threads on my 6-284 and antelope hunt.
Of course if I'm shooting elk then I bring out my 338 Lapua Improved.
But for antelope, it's a winner.

 

[Trickymissfit]

probably the only thing bad is the the throat. I do a barrel setback, and start all over (.25" is probably all you'll need, but I'd go .38"). You simply rechamber it and maybe do a recrown for a fraction of the price of a new barrel
gary