First Build - Looking for thoughts...

FIGJAM

FIGJAM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2013
Messages
1,560
Location
Southeast, Idaho
I have a rem700 Sendero SF II in 2506 that I have loved, but want to rebarrel to a long range friendly cartridge. the gun has some serious sentimental value, so I will never sell it, but just want to give her a face lift with a carbon fiber barrel, new trigger, stock etc.

I handload - at least I have all the stuff, but a new promotion and kids haven't given me much time. So some nice factory ammo is important, at least for the next few years or until I can work up a load. I am thinking about either a 280 AI or 6.5 prc.

Anything else I should consider? If I go with a PRC my current bolt face won't work, anything else I am going to replace to get it to work?

I had a man crush on the 6.5x284, but not sure what factory loads are out there.

Purpose will be range work out to 1200, deer, elk, black bears etc. out to whatever distance I feel comfortable. Right now thats about 800-900 yards. I don't believe you have to have a big magnum cartridge to kill elk, my go to rifle to slay those suckers has been a 270wsm with 145gr eldx and it has been a hammer on them...so the 143gr eldx or the 147gr eldm in the 6.5 will be fine.
 
If you hadn't said factory ammo, a 6.5 Sherman would work great on that action. Fast twist to shoot the new Berger. Could get a gunsmith to open your bolt face to go 6.5 PRC.
 
FIGJAM said:
I have a rem700 Sendero SF II in 2506 that I have loved, but want to rebarrel to a long range friendly cartridge. the gun has some serious sentimental value, so I will never sell it, but just want to give her a face lift with a carbon fiber barrel, new trigger, stock etc.

I handload - at least I have all the stuff, but a new promotion and kids haven't given me much time. So some nice factory ammo is important, at least for the next few years or until I can work up a load. I am thinking about either a 280 AI or 6.5 prc.

Anything else I should consider? If I go with a PRC my current bolt face won't work, anything else I am going to replace to get it to work?

I had a man crush on the 6.5x284, but not sure what factory loads are out there.

Purpose will be range work out to 1200, deer, elk, black bears etc. out to whatever distance I feel comfortable. Right now thats about 800-900 yards. I don't believe you have to have a big magnum cartridge to kill elk, my go to rifle to slay those suckers has been a 270wsm with 145gr eldx and it has been a hammer on them...so the 143gr eldx or the 147gr eldm in the 6.5 will be fine.
Click to expand...
Given you need factory ammo, I'm going to say 280AI. Hornady us making ammo for that now. The 6.5 prc would be cool but a pain in the butt with the different bolt face. 280AI gets my vote.
 
jmcmath said:
If you're already having it barreled it's just not a pain to open the bolt face as well.

7RM? More factory support than either the slight cost to open up your bolt face is buying tons of different possible factory loads
Click to expand...
I just realized his requirements for range on killing critters. With the 800-900 yard range then I agree with you open it up and do a 7mm Rem mag.
 
If you dont want to change bolt face i would go 280ai. Its a great cartridge to be sure and i love mine.
If you want to change your bolt face diameter i would recommend getting a pt&g one piece bolt vs opening up factory bolt. It covers several upgrades in one package like bolt knob, bolt fluting(if you like that), mini m16 extractor and bolt face change for about $300. Its a no brainer in my opinion.
 
A 25-06 will get you out to 1,200 yards at the range, will do fine on deer & bear at medium ranges, and is fine on elk at closer ranges.

Since you are looking at a new barrel, new stock, new trigger, and potentially working the action over, maybe keep the 25-06 as-is and just do a new build? I've been down that same road to re-work a sentimental rifle. It's just hard to justify the costs of reworking an action we have so many affordable action choices.

Just something to think about.
 
I realize the sentimental value and don't know the extent, perhaps it was a family gift-heirloom.

That rifle has a lot of value and you'd be money ahead to sell and build off of new.

Given what you want to use it for, I'd suggest a 280ai if you modify yours. It has limited offerings in factory ammo but you can get by with it.

In reality, the range you're looking for will require hand loading to be any good at it. Right now hornady is producing stupid accurate stuff in the creed and 65 prc but it shows it's flaws at long range. The 65x284 is another great choice which won't require a major modification but is limited and costly in factory ammo.

I'd build new in 7rm or a 30 something magnum.
 
I recently went through the same process with an old hunting rifle that has lots of sentimental value. It was originally a .270 and I also wanted a better cartridge for long range, and the old barrel just wasn't shooting like it use to. I went with .284 Winchester, but I handload exclusively. My next two choices were the 6.5x284 and .280 Ackley.

If I didn't reload, I would choose the .280 Ackley. It fits and works with the action you already have, with no modifications needed. It has excellent ballistics and you can get quality off the shelf ammo from Nosler and Hornady. When you do start reloading, there's a lot of load data for it and off the shelf brass from Nosler and Hornady. ADG is also planning on making brass for it, so that's another excellent option. It's the best choice for a standard long action without having to reload or do anything special. I would go with a 8 or 8.5 twist so you can shoot any bullet from 160-184gr.
 
I buy and sell a lot of guns too - this isn't a gun that was a grandparents or anything. I bought it used when I was younger - had to save pennies for it during a time in my life when money was tight. It has been good to me and killed a lot of game. It just sits in the safe now doing nothing.
 
If I go with a cartridge that requires a magnum bolt face, would I need to do anything to the feed ramp or any other modifications?
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

montana_native
Thoughts on this "build"
Replies
5
Views
2K
johnnyk
johnnyk
B
Thoughts on my build?
Replies
5
Views
2K
BlackSS
B
S
First Build
Replies
13
Views
2K
Forcedoutage
Forcedoutage
Murdock55
First build
Replies
4
Views
1K
Murdock55
Murdock55
T
First build
Replies
7
Views
2K
liltank
liltank

Recent Posts

Top