picking a new caliber

First things first, i've been shooting all my life pretty much, but new to the "oddball" calibers.


i'm working on deciding a new gun too since my brother-in-law is a gunsmith i decided it's time to order something.

i currently have a 7mag & .243


have you looked at the .280 AI, it will give you more bullet selection than the .270 and a bit less recoil than the 7mag while still keeping very close to same ballistics (thats the reason I'm looking at the switch) I will say i'm unfamiliar with the Allen so not sure how they compare to the 280 ackley/7mm rem mag

right now i'm looking at a .280AI, then having him take my 7mag and turn it into ?????

 

7MM Allen mag or .338 Allen xpress. 7AM good for antelope up thru elk and .338ax good for deer and elk. my .02 they are sweet rifles.

 

there is a 7mm Allen Mag in the classifieds in this forum for sale or was for sale they don't last long.

 

Everything you say about the 280AI is true, and it is a nice caliber, but the 7mm AM is in a completely different world velocity wise.

 

You already have the 338 LA,and you could shoot it out then improve it.300 win is great also.So why not get a 7mm for more of a deer rifle like you say,lots of good bullets to go with.

 

PM sent. You should know that there are two variants of the Allen Magnum in the 277 caliber. If memory serves me correctly, the 270 AM was initially based on an improved 300 Dakota rifle case. The 277 AM was (and still is) based on an improved 338 Lapua case. Sometime back, the parent case for the 270 AM was switched over to the 300 RUM case. I can't speak for the 270 AM crowd, but my 277 AM is a fast, sweet shooting rifle. Anymore, I won't build a caliber that isn't supported by Lapua brass. It is that good.

 

You definitely picks some top end stuff! I really liked every AM I've gotten behind but there is some lack of fodder for the smaller cals. The 270 is one of the favorite cals but as it stands there are almost no interesting bullets that will survive the launch of the 270 AM, hopefully soon we'll see a couple but a 150 ballistic tip just doesn't hold much for me, a .700 BC 170 bullet however is cool but not a reality yet.
The 7mm seems to suffer the same as the 270, light bullets fast just don't hold much interest but there may be some bullets coming just nothing shown yet.
The 338 starts getting me excited, there are some bullets that will take the launch and have ballistic qualities that are most interesting, bullet selection real makes it stand out IMO!
The 375 is, well a 375, how awesome is it to watch basket ball size rock vaporize through the scope!! Shooting it is like eating potato chips, you can't shoot just one, it's crack for horse power junkies!!! But it has limited bullet options without going to specialized lathe turned $$ bullets.
Purely my personal take, I don't own one I just shoot everyone I can get my grubby hands on but I will have a 375 AM gun)

 

The only thing I don't like about the smaller calibers is going to be the barrel life. The 7mm Rum has gotten a reputation for only having a barrel life of around 400 rounds. Just too short for my taste. Since you already have a 338, I would have to say go with a 375. If I get the chance for another build, that is what I will probably go to unless Africa looks in my future, but at this point I am lucky to buy fuel to hunt close to home.