Mid Weight 1k+ Rifle

[Hawk45]

Looking to build a mid weight (10 lbs) rifle in a light weight SA cartridge to get to max 1200-1500 for hitting rocks/steel/paper but will probably do some varmint hunting also. .243 has my attention the most with one of the 6.5 variants not far behind. My wife will be using this most of the time so I want it to be something comfortable for her to use with low recoil. Does the .243 give up anything to the 6.5s? I'll probably buy factory and rebarrel once I know the limits and get a feel for exactly what she wants (bbl weight, length, twist, taper). Setup will be a M40A-1 HTG style stock. Not looking for a heavy/awkward bench rifle.

 

[CrazyDonkey]

Re: Mid Weight 1k+ Rifle

Tikka T3 .308, rebarrel and chamber for .260, add stock. No action work needed.

 

[excess]

Re: Mid Weight 1k+ Rifle

I think you are thinking in the right direction with 243 or one of the 6.5s. I think the 243 will give up barrel life to the 6.5s, but probably not much else.

 

[BradfromND]

Re: Mid Weight 1k+ Rifle

.260 is your best bet. You said you want to run a factory gun first and then rebarrel it. I don't know of any factory .243 barrels with a fast enough twist to run the heavy stuff needed to shoot close to your intended distances. The .260s usually will. Recoil is about the same and ballistics are much better.