Rounding out the Rifle Spread

[Ludicrous]

Thought it would be interesting to hear what two rifle calibers would round out my spread. I already have a good idea but wanted to hear what you all say. Here is what I have in bolt rifle calibers now:

22 Long Rifle
223 Remington
308 Winchester
338 Lapua

Looking for one rife larger than the 338 for large game hunting only and one between the 22lr and 223 (or slightly larger cal-mild recoil) varmint/target combo.

 

[HARPERC]

260 Remington, 416 Rigby.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

7mmstw(or 270 win if you want to stay standard), 375h@h--- both available anywhere and the newer 350 grain pills in 375 really do kill the 416 cal advantage- you have to step to 45 cal for any real difference

 

[HARPERC]

7mmstw(or 270 win if you want to stay standard), 375h@h--- both available anywhere and the newer 350 grain pills in 375 really do kill the 416 cal advantage- you have to step to 45 cal for any real difference

Actually both those came to mind. Both good choices. Agree with the 375 mostly, love mine. I went the step further as he has a 338-the better bullets available close the gap on 375's a bit as well. I do recognize the legalities of using 338 is not as universal as 375 up. With the 385 Rhino bullets the gap does narrow with the 416, but doesn't close. The big 458 are definitely more when it counts. I could live with both of these choices, just quibbling to keep the conversation going.

 

[Ludicrous]

I've been thinking 416 Ruger and a 22-250. Possibly a 25-06.

7STW,260 and 270 kinda overlaps the 308's versatility. What caliber would fill the combo coyote/target bill the best? Pretty set on the 416 Ruger.

 

[submoa]

22-250 or 220 swift

or something in the 6.5s like 6.5 creedmoor or a 260

 

[angus-5024]

it depeneds on if you want a long range coyote/target rifle. .223 cal pills dont buck the wind all that great and the .22-.250 and Swift cases cook barrels way to quick. I would opt for a 6mm of some sort. Plain Jane .243 win or 6 BR to any of the other wildcats.

for the big one go .416 something.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

243 Win, 375 H&H...

 

[HARPERC]

it depeneds on if you want a long range coyote/target rifle. .223 cal pills dont buck the wind all that great and the .22-.250 and Swift cases cook barrels way to quick. I would opt for a 6mm of some sort. Plain Jane .243 win or 6 BR to any of the other wildcats.

for the big one go .416 something.

What he said! 6mm Remington has been good to me-not to many bad 416's, the Ruger your talking about should do as well as most.

 

[Ludicrous]

I actually like the idea of a 6mm BR Norma. Lapua makes the brass for that too. What do you all think of that caliber? I have zero experience with it. What is the best hunting bullet for it? And the best target bullet? Realistic max effective range? What twist rate should I look for?

 

[Greyfox]

6BR and 375H&H. With. 1:8 twist the 6BR can handle 85-107 gr. I like the ballistics of the heavier bullets in Berger VLD, although all shoot very well. Extremely accurate and effective on varmints well past 600 yards. For North American large game the 375 is hard to beat. I also think the 338 can handle anything in North America quite well with better long range ballistics than the 375. I used a 375 H&H with great success for everything on two African trips except for close quarter buffalo and lion. A .458 caliber is better for this if Africa dangerous game or big bears at close range is something you plan to do. The .458 is an effective close range stopper. The 375, and the 416 are a compromise between longer range capability and stopping power, the 375 being better for longer shots. iMHO.