"difficult" calibers

[Swamplord]

Being that your bolt has a magnum face, your simplest and most likely the best option is to rebarrel to the 300 WSM, a much better choice for big game like elk over anything in 6.5mm, don't get caught up in the 6.5 craze as most of it is comical hysteria, the 300 WSM is easy to load, reloading data, components and factory ammunition is readily available

the 300 WSM has a great history in big game hunting in it's factory form and long throated version in long range competition, once you get familiar with reloading you can have a gunsmith run a throating reamer in and you will gain additional powder capacity and capability to use heavier, higher bc bullets like the proven Berger 215 and 230 gr Hybrids

 

[therifleman556]

I'm wondering how many of you have actually read thru this thread when you're suggesting things like 6.5-284, 6.5-06, 6.5x55...

Magnum bolt face Tikka guys. C'mon, catch up...

 

[thomasbangs]

I should have clarified. 500 - 600 is minimal yardage I'd like to kill elk size game. Though I have many, budget wont allow for best rifle for this, that, here and there. I'm attempting to compromise. Ultimate goal is have the perfect hunting rifle that's most efficient at 1000 yard targets (my end goal) keeping it at comfortable weight out west.
I have a Tikka magnum action; what would you rebarrel to?

 

[25WSM]

That's why I said 300wsm. If he had a standard bolt face I would suggest the 280ai. The wsm line are truly great rounds. The 300 is just so easy to tune. Tons of bullet choices. Easy choice. Shep

 

[25WSM]

With a 210 hunting box berger the dam has 1230 ft pounds at 950 yds. And is super sonic out to 1500 yards. Shep

 

[therifleman556]

That's why I said 300wsm. If he had a standard bolt face I would suggest the 280ai. The wsm line are truly great rounds. The 300 is just so easy to tune. Tons of bullet choices. Easy choice. Shep

That wasn't directed at you. I agree some flavor of WSM is perfect for what the op is trying to do. I wonder how many people realize that the Tikka isn't a very long action. The standard 300 WM is already pushing it, and the 7mm Practical in this case, isn't.

 

[25WSM]

I know you were talking about all the suggestions that don't have a mag bolt face. He stated he wants to build off a tikka mag bolt.Shep

 

[muindawg]

for the casual re-loader some cartridges are good to shy away from. the .300 Weatherby mag. with the double radius you can push the neck down when sizing and cause a buldge right at the top that will make the cartridge hard to chamber. always test after you reload before going into the field. my Weatherby shoots great but you have to be on your game when reloading. some cartridges with sharp shoulder angles might also give you some fits. if you get a little happy with the lube you will also set back and dent the cartridge. i have over 30 (very conservative) rifles in different calibers that will work for elk. i also live in the elk capitol of the world here in Colorado. the saying is by the locals if it doesn't start with a three its to small. i know a lot of focus has been on the 7mm and especially the 6.5mm and even a 257. cal but at long range, want as much help as possible. some tell there tales and have done it but you need a bigger caliber. remember even though you have muzzle energy and impact energy you actually need kinetic energy to get that penetration for a clean kill. if you are shooting that far out you aren't hunting you are just shooting. as far as easy to reload for the .300 win mag. the .280 rem, the .30-06, 35 whelen especially the 300 h & h. the .270 win. all of which i have reloaded several thousand rounds with not one problem. my .300 H & H shoots 3/8" at 100 with 180 grain sierra bullets with a standard deviation in f.p.s of less than 10f.p.s. out of a rem 721 1956 rifle. oh and will hold that at 750 yards. with your Tika action a .300 win mag would probably be a good choice. easy to reload, lot of bullet choices, brass is easy to get. great for elk at longer ranges and easy to set up for reloading. a lot of factory loads for it.

 

[thomasbangs]

You kind of lost me when you said 500-600 yd. as minimal range for elk. In my opinion that would be maximum range for most of the cartridges suggested to be sufficiently effective on elk 100 percent of the time. For 1000 yd. effectiveness on elk which I don't reccomend it would take lots of time, money, and shooting to become proficient enough to guarantee success and also possibly a larger caliber if elk is the intended target. This is just my opinion for what it's worth.

 

[STREGA]

I'm wondering how many of you have actually read thru this thread when you're suggesting things like 6.5-284, 6.5-06, 6.5x55...

Magnum bolt face Tikka guys. C'mon, catch up...

You act like that is the end all. It's not too hard or expensive to change a bolts face.

I also own a 7mm Rem Mag, a .300 Win Mag and a .270 WSM, but I would most likely grab a 6.5x55 for most of my hunting. They all work, but how much gun is needed? If the OP is just an OK shot, maybe he will need one of the bigger magnums.

 

[TXAoudadKlr]

I'd think some of the bigger magnums more to the extreme end of the spectrum for caliber may have some issues just due to the higher intensity nature of them. However, a well built rifle should ease that.

 

[Truc]

I'm having a 6.5 Remington Mag built on a Tikka right now, not new but definitely a round worth the trouble. If you like to tinker by making brass any 7mm mag or similar case or better yet a 350 Rem Mag.
It holds a bit more powder than the 6.5/284 and feeds extremely smooth out if my 300 Win Mag set up.

 

[Truc]

I have been shooting and reloading competitively for over 20 years, from benchrest to 200 yds all the way out to 1000 yds. I have also been building rifles in that same time and they are all over the US. The number one thing to do to start is find you a Gunsmith/ Rifle builder that is very good and can put together a good combination of Barrel to Rifle and produce accuracy from the start. A Gunsmith that doesn't do the things required to be able to do this will only leave youvright where you started. The next thing is to educate yourself on ballistics and what makes some rounds more inherently accurate. When loading, keep in mind that speed isn't always better. I would rather tune a round down a few hundred feet per second if it meant making the bullet more accurate. A lot of people don't even consider sectional densities and Ballistic coefficients when choosing a bullet either. Very important. Consistency in the loaded rounds is also a biggie. Make sure everything is the same from round to round all the way down to case weight, bullet weight, charge weight. Make sure your bullets are seated to the same depth and are concentric. Not doing the little things will leave you frustrated. Education is the utmost important thing. If you don't know why your rounds are acting the way they are, you will never know what to do to correct it. I have found that bullets with the worst ballistic coefficient are the hardest to load and make consistent. You talk about the 6.5 PRC, well IMO the 6.5 has the best bullet ballistic Coefficient of any bullet, and I had a friend that was able to make dong hits with it in expiraments out to a mile and a half. That being said, I have also seen a .338 Lapua Ackley outperform one in 1000 yds. Pick your round, find a great Gunsmith, educate your self on loading for precision reloading and shooting, get quality components and powders. Even Primers can play a role. Lapua brass in my book are the best because the sort weighs, their all the same length, the internal and external flash holes are deburred. Just a very good brass. A little more expensive but you get what you pay for. When shooting ultra long range, a good ballistic calculator is a must. As is a good range finder. Remember your current weather conditions because they to play a part. I hope I didn't go too much into this subject, but I wanted you to see why it can be a little harder from one caliber to the next. Take care. I hope I gave you some info you didn't know.

Any relation to Jack?

 

[STREGA]

A) What makes it difficult to load? / B) Examples of difficult vs easy within these parameters? To be as basic as possible without getting too technical, the longer and narrower the bottle and the less aggressive shoulder angle is the easier the cartridge is to load and the shorter and fatter the bottle with a more aggressive shoulder angle the more challenging loading can be. In other words the older chamberings will be easier while the newer ones will present more difficulty.

C) Two threads in one : I'm looking for elk killing kinetic energy at 500ish (more is better) You should really lower that range to more like 300 because this unicorn just isn't there if you are looking for a low recoil elk gun
inherently accurate all can be very accurate
reasonable cost to shoot LOL . A trip to Walmart and you will see a plethora of 30/06, .308, and 270. My 2 cents is to not get caught up in what is expensive to shoot or load because in all reality this is a hunting rifle right? Cost should not play near as big a factor in a gun that you may only be putting a box or two through a year.
easy to load See A/B above
fair bench gun (easy to kill any given weekend without killing my shoulder) at a lower weight. Your Tikka is just fine
I'm not against using my long action for a short. Unicorn, right? Not really. If you close a little more distance between you and your quarry you could kill an elk with something as small as a little Grendel, but you would be a tad more ethical with a 6.5x55. The difference between a swede and a 300win mag is really only about 100 yards. The rest is all hunter.