Caliber Help in a Pickle...

[Sniper260]

I have a Sako model 85 Varminter in 243 Win. I love the rifle, it has the most beautiful stock on it out of any rifles I have... I sent it back to beretta because I could not get it to shoot as good as I wanted it too... They say it shoots within their specs and is good to go...

However for me, is not good enough nor throws a consistent pattern. I have this exact same rifle in 22-250 that shoots AMAZING.... So long story short, I'm debating on re-barreling this rifle and truing up the action. I do like this Sako action and stock enough to keep, I think it could shoot very superb with a custom barrel on it... Just as many do using a rem 700 trued action...


So heres my thoughts:

.243 and .243AI are barrel burners, they wont last me as long as I'd like, though they are good calibers...

I'm currently building a full custom .260 Rem so I can't re-barrel into something too close to that caliber....

From what I can find the 6 Dasher, 7mm-08, or 284 Win are my good options to look into... BUT, riddle me this - How much of a barrel burner is a 6 dasher or .284 Win?? I know 7-08 will last a while...

Any wildcats I can't think of that fit this .470 bolt face short action that are suberb to have in inventory?

Any opinions?

 

[Sniper260]

I would think 6BR, but I have a 6.5 Grendel already... They seem so close to each other except I'm getting better BC from the Grendel....

 

[long range newbie]

the 6brx and 6 dasher basically have no difference except the shoulder and you should get around 2500-3k barrel life more if you fire slow and don't let it warm up

 

[Sniper260]

Interesting

 

[Mike_in_FL]

I am curious about your rifle and just looked up that model. You say it has a beautiful stock, to me that means walnut. Is this the case? Is the barrel free floated or does Sako use a pressure point in the channel like Remington? Is the action bedded or not? I think I would try some cheap fixes before immediately rebarreling. I never owned a walnut stocked BDL that shot worth a damn with the pressure point in place and the action not bedded. Maybe some of them shoot but none of the ones I owned would out of the box. Sometimes it's quite amazing what a rifle will do with just some pieces of business card stuck under the recoil lug.

 

[Temp9]

the 6brx and 6 dasher basically have no difference except the shoulder and you should get around 2500-3k barrel life more if you fire slow and don't let it warm up

That's it? That sounds pretty low to me. Aren't a lot of guys getting closer to 4k+ on a 6XC? The BRX and Dasher should have even better barrel life than this, I though.

Anyways, what are you planning to do with the rifle? Hunting? Target? What distances are you planning to push for? We need more info. I've personally been looking at the 7mm Creedmoor for a while. Pretty similar to a 7-08, but funner to say.

 

[long range newbie]

6xc gets like 2-2.5 maybe 3k if shot with slow burning powder and not let it get very warm

 

[slm9s]

It would help if you tell us the proposed purpose of the rifle.

You say the 243 is too much of a barrel burner, but thats the cartridge this rifle is chambered in that YOU BOUGHT??? 243AI will have a longer barrel life.

You say you have a 22-250 and a 260. Well, how about something like a 20br, or a fast 17 or some sort?

 

[TRTAC]

I agree with mike. Try the easy things first. Have you ever thought about fire lapping the barrel? How well do you clean the barrel? How often? Have you tried any different things in your reloading? Bullets, brass, powder, primers, neck turn..... What are your running for a scope? Most scopes are sub par and will not produce the kind of groups the "gun" should.