What calibre to go for on a .308 case.

[pwinnall]

On 2/28/2019 at 8:24 PM, ds1 said:

To the OP, what do you mean by using a 308 case please? I understand it literally ( but then only a 308 win case is a 308 win case even 7.62x51 is not quite the same so anything necked up /down shoulder bumped etc is different). However “parent” 308 case is a lot more inclusive eg the parent case for 6mmbr is 308win. If you just want it to fit the bolt head and mag then stuff like 6.5x55 with a .480” case head diameter will also work. Please don’t take this as being pedantic I’m not getting my knickers in a twist about it but it seems  oddly to me to be causing others some angst.

I guess having said that 6mmbr would be my choice I want to flesh it out. Firstly now I only shoot services calibres (223, 308, 338) so take it for what it’s worth. Having said that I have shot a lot of other kit. I have also won 1km comps with 6.5x55 in a blaser  lrs2 and other comps with 260 rem RPA Quadlite. That matters not one bit except that with either of those 2 calibres/ rifles I know that I could not consistently shoot 10 shot 5 cm groups at 300m with 10 minute and 3 minute time limits and that is now the standard to achieve for 300m belly benchrest here - plus it has to be very well centered. I have seen a Sako TRG do it in 308win but it is done a lot more often with 6br and custom rifles. In fact I would say you have to be consistently achieving that to be in the game.

How you choose to go about it depends on what personal goals you wish to achieve I guess.  

Hello ds1,

I bought the SSG 3000 for a good price and then doing research found you can do a relatively easy barrel swap. Bonus! 

So,  my idea was to get the 24” .308 barrel cut down to 18” and fit a mod for stalking.

Then get a more accurate target round based on the .308 bolt face 

But I don’t do much target work, so factory ammo would be good. 

I don’t shoot long range either (above 600 ) 

Thanks everyone for their views 😉 

[Shuggy]

I went through a similar thought process as I mulled over a spare barrel for my AX308. For the different types suggested, here are the different types of each ammo in stock at my local gunshop:

- 6.5x47.  None

- 6.5 Creedmoor. 13

- 6-6.5x47.  None (not factory!)

- 6XC.  1

- 260 Rem.  None

- 6mm BR.  None

- 7mm/284.  None (not factory!)

- 224 Valkyrie.  None (not a 308 bolt!)

- 22 Middlestead.  None (not factory!)

- 0.243 fast twist.  31. Lots of deer and varminint loads, but no target.

- 6mm Creedmoor.  None

- 6.5x55. 9 (not a 308 bolt)

 

When, you look at it this way, the answer is obvious: 6.5 Creedmoor. 6.5x55 is also a good option, but I think that you need a new bolt head and magazine and this wouldn’t work in my AX308. If you get into handloading for your target loads, then 243 fast twist is also an interesting choice, with plenty of cheap deer and varmint loads also on tap.

[Ronin]

The Ssg3000 is a long action and magazines are one length they will accept the 6.5/55 easily 

 

you do not need a new bolt head for 6.5/55 - it will run on a .473” bolt face without any issue 

[Shuggy]

Grand. So 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5x55 for the OP.

[pwinnall]

23 hours ago, Shuggy said:

Grand. So 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5x55 for the OP.

Hello

I'm surprised there are no 6br but I suppose you reload for target work.

Looks like a 6.5 creedmoor then :-)

[Deserttech Europe]

HPS make factory 105gr berger .242 ammo

[MJR]

7 hours ago, Deserttech Europe said:

HPS make factory 105gr berger .242 ammo

Do you have any? Could you measure the oal for me if you have please.

[Tralle]

10 hours ago, pwinnall said:

Hello

I'm surprised there are no 6br but I suppose you reload for target work.

Looks like a 6.5 creedmoor then 🙂

Norma and Lapua makes ammo for the 6mmbr.

http://www.6mmbr.com/factoryammo.htm

You will likely need to modify the magazine, but it is possible.

 

 

[gunner]

260 rem or 7-08 i initially thought 

[Deserttech Europe]

@MJR  will do but wont be able to until I get back from IWA, is that OK?

 

[MJR]

Perfect, no rush. 

[Ronin]

You want a barrel extension Mike 

 

Scroll to bottom

https://gunsmith.dk/web-shop.html

[ds1]

Maybe worth gathering a bit of data - seeing what people are achieving real world with the calibers mentioned and if there is any benefit over 308.

I will start the ball rolling with 6.5x47, not me but a mate did this recently- a bit better than usual but he is consistently good- this is from a TRG 22, rebarelled in 6.5x47 at 500m ( group around 2.25” old money). Homeloads so not apples to  but apples but you get the idea.

 

[Re-Pete]

Another one for 6.5x47......................girlfriends second go at 1000yds with mine....................makes yer sick !!

It's a Tikka M595 with a 30" Lothar 8 twist barrel shooting 136 grain Scenar L's..................home made bipod and buttbag.

Pete

[Catch-22]

2 hours ago, Re-Pete said:

Another one for 6.5x47......................girlfriends second go at 1000yds with mine....................makes yer sick !!

It's a Tikka M595 with a 30" Lothar 8 twist barrel shooting 136 grain Scenar L's..................home made bipod and buttbag.

Pete

Very tidy that...well done her for 2nd time outing. The little '47 is just so pleasant to shoot.

[Laurie]

On 04 March 2019 at 10:46 AM, Deserttech Europe said:

HPS make factory 105gr berger .242 ammo

........... as a special order line only. Having shot a variety of the commonly available off the shelf deer rounds some years back in an ex-police Parker-Hale M87, results were so-so at 300 and poor at 500/600 yards. The only half decent performer was some very cheap and elderly SAKO 90gn FMJs in the old 1970s orange and white cartons that York Guns had acquired from somewhere - probably ex-police -  and when they were gone, they were gone. (Not just me who has found this. Many years back a northern police force re-equipped with AI rifles at great cost, but unfortunately specified 243 as that had been what they and most other police firearms teams had used with the previous generation of rifles. They were very disappointed indeed with the results and the error of their ways became apparent with a side by side test against a decent but not custom 308 Win rifle on Diggle Ranges. The upshot was that the entire inventory was rebarreled to 308.)

260 Rem and 7mm-08 aren't the obvious solutions they might seem. Loadings available have relatively light expanding bullets as they're mostly seen as light deer cartridges, availability in the UK is dire, and prices for 20-round boxes are frightening if you do find a stockist. Neither has factory match ammo available here and the 260 is very poorly supported nowadays by the ammunition factories, not even Remington doing much at all with it. Unfortunately we don't have the range of specialist suppliers and boutique loaders that the US has such as Prime Ammo and Hunting Shack both of whom do excellent 260 Rem loads at attractive prices including 130 or 142gn match loads. HPS (which makes good stuff) is our only such supplier and will certainly do match rounds for the 260, don't know about 7-08, but to special order.

As already noted, 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5X55 are the obvious sub 30 cal choices where a simple barrel swap is on offer for the SSG3000. Both have good factory ammo available including match bullet loads. Only Lapua manufactures 6.5X47mm and I'm pretty sure prices will be punishing. (HPS availability again too.)

However for a limited amount of range use and not beyond 600 yards, whatever's wrong with the existing cartridge - ie 308 Win? It's perfectly adequate for this purpose, is pleasnat to shoot, and there is a lot of good quality and reasonably priced suitable ammunition around including of course the GGG stuff from the NRA Armoury at Bisley.

[pwinnall]

On 3/6/2019 at 8:44 PM, Ronin said:

You want a barrel extension Mike 

 

Scroll to bottom

https://gunsmith.dk/web-shop.html

Thank you!   How did you find that site? 

 

[pwinnall]

11 hours ago, Laurie said:

........... as a special order line only. Having shot a variety of the commonly available off the shelf deer rounds some years back in an ex-police Parker-Hale M87, results were so-so at 300 and poor at 500/600 yards. The only half decent performer was some very cheap and elderly SAKO 90gn FMJs in the old 1970s orange and white cartons that York Guns had acquired from somewhere - probably ex-police -  and when they were gone, they were gone. (Not just me who has found this. Many years back a northern police force re-equipped with AI rifles at great cost, but unfortunately specified 243 as that had been what they and most other police firearms teams had used with the previous generation of rifles. They were very disappointed indeed with the results and the error of their ways became apparent with a side by side test against a decent but not custom 308 Win rifle on Diggle Ranges. The upshot was that the entire inventory was rebarreled to 308.)

260 Rem and 7mm-08 aren't the obvious solutions they might seem. Loadings available have relatively light expanding bullets as they're mostly seen as light deer cartridges, availability in the UK is dire, and prices for 20-round boxes are frightening if you do find a stockist. Neither has factory match ammo available here and the 260 is very poorly supported nowadays by the ammunition factories, not even Remington doing much at all with it. Unfortunately we don't have the range of specialist suppliers and boutique loaders that the US has such as Prime Ammo and Hunting Shack both of whom do excellent 260 Rem loads at attractive prices including 130 or 142gn match loads. HPS (which makes good stuff) is our only such supplier and will certainly do match rounds for the 260, don't know about 7-08, but to special order.

As already noted, 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5X55 are the obvious sub 30 cal choices where a simple barrel swap is on offer for the SSG3000. Both have good factory ammo available including match bullet loads. Only Lapua manufactures 6.5X47mm and I'm pretty sure prices will be punishing. (HPS availability again too.)

However for a limited amount of range use and not beyond 600 yards, whatever's wrong with the existing cartridge - ie 308 Win? It's perfectly adequate for this purpose, is pleasnat to shoot, and there is a lot of good quality and reasonably priced suitable ammunition around including of course the GGG stuff from the NRA Armoury at Bisley.

Hello Laurie 

Thank you for your thoughts.

To be honest, there is nothing wrong with the .308.

Its just that I have the barrel switch option and would like to make use of it.

 

[Andy RV]

Stick with one barrel and spend the money on ammo and stalking. 

[Shuggy]

On 3/8/2019 at 1:17 PM, Laurie said:

However for a limited amount of range use and not beyond 600 yards, whatever's wrong with the existing cartridge - ie 308 Win? It's perfectly adequate for this purpose, is pleasnat to shoot, and there is a lot of good quality and reasonably priced suitable ammunition around including of course the GGG stuff from the NRA Armoury at Bisley.

Which is precisely why I haven’t got round to getting a 6.5 Creedmoor barrel yet. The GGG 308 is silly accurate from the AX308 and the HPS is almost as good. I very rarely shoot beyond 600 yards and even then, I quite enjoy the challenge of 308 from a 20” barrel at long range (somewhat easier on balmy summer days!).