Check my thought pattern what did I miss?

[warhawk77]

This is my 2nd thread so still new here but need to check my thinking on caliber choice. With all the info available online and info on calibers I feel a little over loaded with stuff so looking to see what I have missed in my thought process.

Here is what I want (or think I want)
Hunting rifle, I haven't been hunting in years but it is something I'm wanting to get back to doing.
Target range rifle, I want to learn to shoot longer distances and maybe shoot matches if the local range has those. They have up to 1,000 yards target range
Practice my reloading skills, I own all the tools to reload but with the cost of lots of ammo I don't have anything that really needs to be reloaded. So if I pick up some dies I can reload for this rifle and practice my skills.

My first choice is the 308, the round has been around for ever and will do everything I want. There is tons of data on reloads, and ballistics for the 308, lots of rifles, and lots of ammo to choose from. I can use it to hunt some pretty good size game and 1,000 yards is within its ability no problem. The only thing that makes we 2nd guess the round is the recoil. While not recoil sensitive shooting 60-80 rounds at the target range makes me wonder if it is a good choice. Never shot a 308 so kinda hard to know what to expect, i have shot a lot of 7.62x54r in a day no issues and some 30-06 but normally 5-10 rounds a day.

After reading on the 6.5 creedmoor it sounds like it will do everything the 308 will do but just a little bit better with less recoil. But my worry here is the barrel life with be much shorter. This means more cost every few years replacing the barrel and often needing a gun smith to do that. So this makes me lean back toward the 308. Maybe in a few years as my 2nd rifle I could go with the 6.5 but for my first build maybe the 308 is the best choice.

I would like to pick up a rifle this fall and start practicing. I won't be hunting this season and my AR will get me shooting 500-600 yards but this spring I would like to start pushing that out farther so getting a rifle this fall or winter would be good.

 

[PBWalsh]

A .308 is fine, not too much recoil if you set you’re rifle up properly and get your fundamentals good. A 6.5 is a bit better ballistically BUT for your given usage you shouldn’t see a huge difference (maybe past 900y).

Whats you’re budget? Lower end of things for a crossover would be a Tikka T3X CTR in a KRG Bravo chassis (or without). Higher end? Call up any custom builder mentioned on SH and talk to them. Use a good custom action (or build off a Tikka/FN/Howa) and you’ll get what you’re wanting.

Have fun and be realistic about what you’re looking for, budget, and goals.

 

[TripleBull]

It sounds like you're going to purchase a rifle, not pick a caliber from rifles you already own. There are plenty of good aspects of the 308, like inexpensive factory ammo, plenty of existing data to help you get started reloading, mucho ballistic data, etc. Of the two choices you appear to be considering, I'd go with 6.5CM because of superior ballistics, decent factory ammo prices and tons of reloading data. I would not say barrel life is "much shorter" to the point that it would factor hugely into the total cost equation. Good luck.

 

[Fig]

Unless you are leaping in with both feet and plan on traveling the country shooting thousands of cartridges per year at matches; I would not blink about barrel life from a 6.5 cartridge. 99% of people won't burn a barrel out...ever. I shoot as much as I can in both practice and matches, and I don't burn a barrel out every year (I wish I did), and I am only shooting a single rifle.
Realistically, how long do you think it will take you to shoot 3,000 cartridges? It's probably ALOT longer than you figure. That's fifteen 2 day matches. or a month of single day matches.
I think it's hard to shoot more than 100 rounds in practice, because I want my barrel to cool sufficiently between 10 shot strings, so I'm shooting a lot of other guns ( a lot of .22) in-between.
If you are just hunting the .308 is perfect. If you are going to have to spot your misses in a match I'd go with lighter recoil.

 

[warhawk77]

A .308 is fine, not too much recoil if you set you’re rifle up properly and get your fundamentals good. A 6.5 is a bit better ballistically BUT for your given usage you shouldn’t see a huge difference (maybe past 900y).

Thanks for that info.

It sounds like you're going to purchase a rifle, not pick a caliber from rifles you already own. There are plenty of good aspects of the 308, like inexpensive factory ammo, plenty of existing data to help you get started reloading, mucho ballistic data, etc. Of the two choices you appear to be considering, I'd go with 6.5CM because of superior ballistics, decent factory ammo prices and tons of reloading data. I would not say barrel life is "much shorter" to the point that it would factor hugely into the total cost equation. Good luck.

I am looking at rifles but most of them come in different calibers so I was thinking picking the caliber would help narrow down the rifle choices. From what I read 6.5 would have a barrel life 2,000-3,000 round and from what I saw that is about 1/3rd of the 308 barrel life. Could be wrong just what I found.

Unless you are leaping in with both feet and plan on traveling the country shooting thousands of cartridges per year at matches; I would not blink about barrel life from a 6.5 cartridge. 99% of people won't burn a barrel out...ever. I shoot as much as I can in both practice and matches, and I don't burn a barrel out every year (I wish I did), and I am only shooting a single rifle.
Realistically, how long do you think it will take you to shoot 3,000 cartridges? It's probably ALOT longer than you figure. That's fifteen 2 day matches. or a month of single day matches.
I think it's hard to shoot more than 100 rounds in practice, because I want my barrel to cool sufficiently between 10 shot strings, so I'm shooting a lot of other guns ( a lot of .22) in-between.
If you are just hunting the .308 is perfect. If you are going to have to spot your misses in a match I'd go with lighter recoil.

Very good points. Also after I have shot 3,000 round might be ready to upgrade the rifle anyway as this will be my starting rifle.

Didn't think about having to spot my own misses that might be something I will have to do for sure.


Thanks everyone

 

[PBWalsh]

You know, depending on how much of a crossover you wanted, a hot 6mm uberlazer will take down decent sized game as well as being super efficient for competitions.

Anything much larger than deer and a 6.5/7mm/.30 looks better.

Sounds like you’ve got your head in the right place though, just nail a hard budget down and shop around. Lotta excellent rifles in the PX as well.

 

[trob_205]

You’re right in 1/3 less barrel life. If you really think you’re going to shoot 1000+ rounds a year and you’re trying to keep cost to a minimum then I’d say 308. If realistically it’s going to be 500ish rounds a year then go 6.5 and don’t look back. If you’re going to handload you can stuff them a little on the weak side to draw out barrel life a little longer and still get superior performance than a 308.

Also maybe look into getting a system that allows for prefits. You can get pretty good prefit barrels at a pretty decent price. And with a wrench, vise, and a set of go,no-go gauges you can swap barrels in 10-20 minutes and be ready to rock. And not have $700+ into a smith turning one plus the lead times.

I’d pick 6.5 CM given your situation but it’s all up to you in the end!

 

[warhawk77]

Good points. I would really like to a guy that is shooting 1,000+ rounds a year but I think you are right 500 will be closer to what I will get out of it.

One concern I had was if the 6.5 would fade away making ammo hard to get but if I get a set of dies and I saw where I can reform 308 brass in theory I could make ammo for years even if the round was dropped from the main stream.

 

[b6graham]

Good points. I would really like to a guy that is shooting 1,000+ rounds a year but I think you are right 500 will be closer to what I will get out of it.

One concern I had was if the 6.5 would fade away making ammo hard to get but if I get a set of dies and I saw where I can reform 308 brass in theory I could make ammo for years even if the round was dropped from the main stream.

6.5 creed isn't gonna go anywhere

 

[trob_205]

6.5 creed isn't gonna go anywhere

+1

if it wasnt for Mil/LE I think 308 would fade before 6.5CM.

6.5CM/260 is not a fad. It’s here to stay.

 

[flyer]

I think the .260 is going to remain pretty uncommon, it never quite caught on like 6.5 Creedmoor.

.308 will be around forever, like .30-06 but it will be considered old fashioned pretty soon.

.223 will be around forever too but won't be seen as old fashioned until something comes along that makes a lot more sense in an AR (so far nothing is really challenging it).

 

[b6graham]

I think the .260 is going to remain pretty uncommon, it never quite caught on like 6.5 Creedmoor.

.308 will be around forever, like .30-06 but it will be considered old fashioned pretty soon.

.223 will be around forever too but won't be seen as old fashioned until something comes along that makes a lot more sense in an AR (so far nothing is really challenging it).

Theres a lot of truth here. Its gonna take a lot to dethrone the 223

By the sounds of what you expect to shoot a year a 6.5 barrel is gonna last you quite a while. Though I would say even 1 barrel a year isnt too bad especially now that we have so many options for cheap but good prefits

 

[Mblackmon4]

I’m sure you’ve already come across this but a 260 is just a 308 necked down but it does offer all the benifits of 6.5. If you’re going to reload any of the 6.5 calibers or 308 is great, if you’re not going to reload then 6.5 creed or 308 is the way to go, 308 will have the most options from surplus military ammo to match factory. As far as actual rifles I’d suggest i like the tikka CTR since it comes with a threaded barrel and detachable mags from the factory. Tikka has a sub MoA on their rifles and mine was 3/4. The downside of tikka is the stock is probably the first thing that needs upgrading, that being said I also think it’s really the only part of the rifle that “needs” upgrading. Another good option that several of my friends own and love is the Bergara rifles, they described it as a “rem 700 done right” it’s a rem 700 Clone from my understanding but don’t have all the rem 700 qc issues.