chas3stix
Well-Known Member
+1 on the 6.5's.....just bought a 6.5 Creedmoor Savage Model 10 Max-1. When I get it rung out,I'll write a full report.
Custom Rifle - 500 yards max - what cartridge
- Thread starter Jerry D
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rscott5028
Well-Known Member
Barrel life is a relative term. How many rounds have you fired in the last 12/24/36 months? And, when do you consider your barrel end of life?
Competitors tend to use hot loads, fire thousands of rounds, and measure group size to the 3rd decimal place.
308 is great. I prefer less recoil unless using a brake.
284 Win or 280 Rem will get the job done with better BC bullets and less recoil.
You can buy a box of 270 Win in any town in America. There are some pretty impressive bullets showing up if you want to handload. e.g. 165 Matrix
260 Rem and 6.5x47 Lapua will git 'er done with even less recoil.
The reality is that 500 yds for deer and sheep sized game isn't a huge challenge for most big game cartridges. The rifle setup and shooter will be a bigger factor almost every time.
Happy hunting!
Richard
Competitors tend to use hot loads, fire thousands of rounds, and measure group size to the 3rd decimal place.
308 is great. I prefer less recoil unless using a brake.
284 Win or 280 Rem will get the job done with better BC bullets and less recoil.
You can buy a box of 270 Win in any town in America. There are some pretty impressive bullets showing up if you want to handload. e.g. 165 Matrix
260 Rem and 6.5x47 Lapua will git 'er done with even less recoil.
The reality is that 500 yds for deer and sheep sized game isn't a huge challenge for most big game cartridges. The rifle setup and shooter will be a bigger factor almost every time.
Happy hunting!
Richard
teflonhunter
Well-Known Member
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- Jul 18, 2011
- Messages
- 69
My vote goes out to .308 Win. I've had one for about a year now and wish I would have gone 308 along time ago. Longest range I can shoot at around my location is 600 yds , it does great for that distance. It is a reloaders dream to load for , very affordable and practicle round to shoot.
midnightmalloy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2010
- Messages
- 842
Agreed on the 6.5x47L. I wanted to chamber this cartrige for a gun I built my dad but he insisted on the 243 win. Stubborn old man. Always gets what he wants. 130 vld @ 2850 sounds good to me.
CentreHit
Well-Known Member
6.5X47Lapua gets my vote, although I'd be looking very carefully at the 6.5 Creedmoore (Bit more boiler room).
Both excellent at that distance.
Both excellent at that distance.
Bearwalk
Active Member
I shoot 308, 280 AI and 7mm-08 all at long range. For the criteria you described, the 308 is going to fit the bill the best. I have found that the 180+ grain bullets buck the wind and perform the best down range.
For the heavier bullets in 308, you may want to consider 1:10 twist. I shoot 180g in 1:12 twist as well, and they perform fine until the weather gets cold, then the faster twist stabalizes them a bit better.
I would not prioritize barrel life one iota, but that's just me. To me, barrels are like diapers, change 'em periodically whether they need it or not.
For the heavier bullets in 308, you may want to consider 1:10 twist. I shoot 180g in 1:12 twist as well, and they perform fine until the weather gets cold, then the faster twist stabalizes them a bit better.
I would not prioritize barrel life one iota, but that's just me. To me, barrels are like diapers, change 'em periodically whether they need it or not.
zupatun
Well-Known Member
I'd say .308. I shoot that with max range where I hunt around 600 yards. I shoot primarily 165 grain pills and also have loads for 175 and 180 grain loads. Most of my shots are around 250 to 400 yards.
The nice thing about my rig is I can shoot 175 grain match bullets with surprising accuracy for factory loaded ammo. Black hills match ammo works very well in this.
If I lose ammo, or have trouble geting behind the bench to load more I drop by my local gun shop and grab some match grade ammo for practice...I can even find halfway decent factory ammo in Wally-world or Dick's. Thats' the other nice aspect with .308 it's everywhere. Mil-surplus match ammo is good too.
Matt
The nice thing about my rig is I can shoot 175 grain match bullets with surprising accuracy for factory loaded ammo. Black hills match ammo works very well in this.
If I lose ammo, or have trouble geting behind the bench to load more I drop by my local gun shop and grab some match grade ammo for practice...I can even find halfway decent factory ammo in Wally-world or Dick's. Thats' the other nice aspect with .308 it's everywhere. Mil-surplus match ammo is good too.
Matt
etisll40
Well-Known Member
Good reply. I find thesame thing with 308 and even my 7mm WSM. I am not a super long range shooter and 3-500 yards is still an exciting hunt distance.
Lots of good options out there but I would personally be looking at something in 6.5 for the purpose you mentioned. The 260, 6.5x47, and 6.5x55 would be at the top of my list. They offer everything you are looking for. Yes, the 308 is going to get more barrel life but the above mentioned are no slouches in this regard. I would put barrel life at the bottom of the priority list anyway since all the cartridges we are talking about are going to be more than sufficient and terminal performance would be at the top of my list.
Very Low recoil
Excellent ballistics
Very good SD
Very popular so lots of factory ammo if needed and lots of great bullet options
Lapua brass
Lots of great 6.5's to consider.
Good Luck!
Very Low recoil
Excellent ballistics
Very good SD
Very popular so lots of factory ammo if needed and lots of great bullet options
Lapua brass
Lots of great 6.5's to consider.
Good Luck!
etisll40
Well-Known Member
Cheers to Scot, I have a 6.5x55 and there is a ton of ammo out there and in every gun shop and it is incredibly accurate with fantastic terminal performance. That's why it has survived 100 years. In Europe it is still today the #1 deer and moose choice. Before the 6.5x284 there was the 6.5x55 swede! You can get about the same performance if your gun is a new action and you load it around max.
The other nice option about the 6.5x55 is that Howa now offers that cartridge in a number of configurations. So you can get one of the most accurate out of the box rifles in a very fine caliber. And for 500 yards or less you aren't going to need to go custom to get the kind of performance and accuracy you need to be very successful. Howa rifles are excellent! All the extra money saved can be spent on a high quality scope and you have a very sweet setup!
north of 53
Well-Known Member
6.5x55 hands down they are very accurate and with 140 gr bullet will hit harder at 500 yards than most 308s. I run a 6.5x55 improved and get over 2000 rounds at 3000fps out of my barrel before I change them out, and that barrel will still shoot 5 inch groups at 500 yards on a good day.
In a 6.5x55 stock chambered gun 3000- 4000 rounds are common with very good accuracy. The thing that the 6.5 has going for it is the very high B.C. bullets that's mostly because it was mostly a European caliber for years and they tend to look and shooting a little differently than North Americans. In North America we tend to go for light and fast bullets and give up a lot in B.C. that's great out around 300 yards but after 300 yards and even more so past 500 yards it is more a game of not how fast you start but fast you finish and that when the 6.5s rule. The 7MM can do very well also but tend to have a lot more recoil and not nearly as pleasant to shoot as the 6.5x 55 or many other 6.5s available. As a caliber 6.5s are very hard to beat and as a case the 6.5x55 has a very long track record of gettig the job done.
In a 6.5x55 stock chambered gun 3000- 4000 rounds are common with very good accuracy. The thing that the 6.5 has going for it is the very high B.C. bullets that's mostly because it was mostly a European caliber for years and they tend to look and shooting a little differently than North Americans. In North America we tend to go for light and fast bullets and give up a lot in B.C. that's great out around 300 yards but after 300 yards and even more so past 500 yards it is more a game of not how fast you start but fast you finish and that when the 6.5s rule. The 7MM can do very well also but tend to have a lot more recoil and not nearly as pleasant to shoot as the 6.5x 55 or many other 6.5s available. As a caliber 6.5s are very hard to beat and as a case the 6.5x55 has a very long track record of gettig the job done.
