The best of both worlds??????

[joshafender]

I am fairly new to long range shooting and would like any ones advice on the best caliber rifle for mid size game(200lb whitetail), and 600-1000 yard target rifle. I am sure this has been debated for as long as most can remember but I would like some fresh ideas. I have had my mind on .270 Winchester and I know that sounds crazy to some but it seems like Nosler and Berger have created some .277 bullets with a really good BC. My Remington 700 LA is getting sent off for a makeover in about a month. Whidden Gunworks will be doing the build. I need to tell him what to chamber the rifle. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tbrice23]

27 Noslergun)
If your long action has a magnum bolt face. If not, have them open the bolt face to magnum.

 

[toddc]

I am a weirdo also.
I built Fords to go fast when everything fast was a Chevy.
I build Savages instead of Remmy's.
One thing I WILL NOT DO is build a rifle for ONE bullet or even two.
There are 84799893 great 6.5 bullets if the first three you pick don't wanna work.
There are 87709544 great 7mm bullets if the first three you pick don't wanna work.

I was real close to building a 277 of some sort and then a 7mm SAUM barrel came up cheap and stopped me.

I am glad it did.

I have been banging at crap at LR for 30+ yrs and I don't want to deal with some of the issues that can crop up with a OFF caliber like the 25 or 27.

For someone just getting into LRH I would STRONGLY council you to pick something in a more researched and developed caliber. When I have some strange issue crop up it can take a long time and a lot of $$$ to figure out on a REGULAR BORE. Throw in an OFF size AND just starting out and you have a recipe for BALDNESS.

Learn on a good 6.5, 7mm or 30 and wait a bit for the WEIRDO rigs or the 338 and up stuff.

Just MHO but this stuff is hard enough without adding any additional hurdles to it. If you have an issue with a 300 WM, 7mm RM or 260 there are 99000 members on here to help you.

Build a 27 Nosler and.......CRICKETS. Then Berger has some shortage and no bullets.....and your gun doesn't like Noslers or Hornady's......issues. Issues aren't cool in LRH.

 

[WildRose]

If you're going to do a lot of shooting and want to do it economically for your application one of the 6.5's is ideal. 6.5CM, .260 Rem, 6.5x55 will all meet your needs and do so quite economically.

If you don't plan to do lots of shooting and economy isn't as big a concern 7mm Rem, 27 Nosler, 300wm are all good choices.

Have you done much/any shooting with centerfires? Is recoil an issue at all for you?

 

[MudRunner2005]

I am fairly new to long range shooting and would like any ones advice on the best caliber rifle for mid size game(200lb whitetail), and 600-1000 yard target rifle. I am sure this has been debated for as long as most can remember but I would like some fresh ideas. I have had my mind on .270 Winchester and I know that sounds crazy to some but it seems like Nosler and Berger have created some .277 bullets with a really good BC. My Remington 700 LA is getting sent off for a makeover in about a month. Whidden Gunworks will be doing the build. I need to tell him what to chamber the rifle. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

.280 Ackley Improved (Nosler/SAAMI spec chamber). With a 26" 1:8 twist barrel.

You can't go wrong with this combo.

 

[joshafender]

If you're going to do a lot of shooting and want to do it economically for your application one of the 6.5's is ideal. 6.5CM, .260 Rem, 6.5x55 will all meet your needs and do so quite economically.

If you don't plan to do lots of shooting and economy isn't as big a concern 7mm Rem, 27 Nosler, 300wm are all good choices.

Have you done much/any shooting with centerfires? Is recoil an issue at all for you?

I have been shooting center fire rifles all of my life.(7mm RM,.270,.243) We plink out to 400 yards for fun all the time but now im looking to reach a little further.

 

[toddc]

I have been shooting center fire rifles all of my life.(7mm RM,.270,.243) We plink out to 400 yards for fun all the time but now im looking to reach a little further.

Even with your experience level I would shy from a rare combo like a LR 270.
A bunch of guys on here played with the 277 and Lapua case and while it has tons of promise, getting it to its true potential was a nightmare. A 7RM would be a lot SAFER alternative for your 1st LR rig. Just not enough research AND you are shooting a long bearing surface, small bore and that produces ISSUES. May work great and I will build one sooner or later but I have a lot of LR trigger time, LR loading experience and general LR knowledge and the 257 and 277 bore scare me. Too many issues can crop up at LR with a 30-06 or 6.5 Swede and they have been shot at LR for over 100 yrs.
Best not to make LR any harder than it needs to be.
You already have played with the 7mm RM some, build one of those, save on dies, get a ton of bullets to try and K.I.S.S.
K.I.S.S. is the number 1 most forgotten LR advice there is. Everyone (including me) wants to be different and try something NEW....but that can lead to a lot of trouble at LR.
Whatever you do, best of luck and welcome to the ADDICTION.

 

[WildRose]

I have been shooting center fire rifles all of my life.(7mm RM,.270,.243) We plink out to 400 yards for fun all the time but now im looking to reach a little further.

Then I'd go with the 7mm RM or one of the 6.5's unless you want to step it up to the .300wm.

In all three you have a wide array of high BC hunting and target bullets and both loaded ammo and components are plentiful, easy to come by, and at a reasonable cost.

The .270 has just never really caught on for long range and as a result the available bullet choices are pretty limited.

Pick one of them, go with at least a 26-28" barrel to take advantage of slow burning powders and have it done up with a twist rate adequate for heavy for caliber bullets and you'll be off to the races.

Personally for your applications my favorite is the 7mm STW (which I load for) and the .260 Remington. I have 3 .260's and love them. They are ridiculously accurate, factory ammo and components are readily available at very reasonable prices and even pushing 140's the recoil is negligible. I recently picked up one in a Rem 700 5R Gen 2 that is an absolute pleasure to shoot and accurate enough even with factory ammo to shoot rabbits and prairie dogs well beyond 600yds.

 

[FEENIX]

I am fairly new to long range shooting and would like any ones advice on the best caliber rifle for mid size game(200lb whitetail), and 600-1000 yard target rifle. I am sure this has been debated for as long as most can remember but I would like some fresh ideas. I have had my mind on .270 Winchester and I know that sounds crazy to some but it seems like Nosler and Berger have created some .277 bullets with a really good BC. My Remington 700 LA is getting sent off for a makeover in about a month. Whidden Gunworks will be doing the build. I need to tell him what to chamber the rifle. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with your .270 Win choice and I'm pretty sure John will build your rig as it should be. http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f22/my-budget-270-ai-97745/ is propelling the 175 Matrix VLD at 2993 FPS (my current accuracy load). When the 175/165 are depleted, I'll be switching to Berger 170s. My son shot it for the first a week before Thanksgiving and hit a 936 yards target on his first try.

Whichever .277 cal chambering you decide on, make sure you have 1:8" twist (or faster as recommended by other bullet manufacturers) on your barrel to take advantage of the high BC heavies.

Good luck!