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Best target calibre


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The easiest due to the factory ammunition requirement in my opinion would be .308, however, a better calibre again in my opinion would be 6.5Creedmoor. I am sure that others will have a different opinion.

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Mark,

The 'factory ammo' bit is probably your main factor? As per above, probably 6.5 Creed(s)moor. Shot a friends Tikka Tac using Hornady factory ammo a little while back and was really surprised at its consistency.

If you reloaded, even using basic tools, then a 6BR would be my choice out to 600 (and probably a bit further). Think Savage do a target type rifle in 6BR.

T

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6br Savage, reloading is a doddle in my own opinion. 90 gn up to 600 yards or 105 gn up to 10000 yards.

If your a member of a club, try to use a rifle before you buy. 

Thanks nick 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Mark II said:

If you had to start from scratch which calibre would you use for target shooting out to 600.

To include ease of reloading and availablity of reasonable factory ammo.

 

.223 or .308 all day long.  Endless combinations of reloading components, cheap and plentiful factory ammo.  If you can afford it,  6.5 Creedmore is  clearly more accurate but at 600 yds it's easy enough to expect 1moa or better from .308 and .223

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55 minutes ago, Popsbengo said:

.223 or .308 all day long.  Endless combinations of reloading components, cheap and plentiful factory ammo.  If you can afford it,  6.5 Creedmore is  clearly more accurate but at 600 yds it's easy enough to expect 1moa or better from .308 and .223

I was thinking .223 could be in the running and I guess barrel life should be fairly good.

So another question if I were to use factory ammo only could a barrel tuner improve grouping, thinking of tuning the rifle to the ammo instead of the ammo to the rifle

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1 hour ago, Nick 53 said:

6br Savage, reloading is a doddle in my own opinion. 90 gn up to 600 yards or 105 gn up to 10000 yards.

If your a member of a club, try to use a rifle before you buy. 

Thanks nick 

 

 

What would barrel life be like for the 6br

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To the OP,  it depends on what you want from both the round and the rifle - different sorts of target shooting has different criteria. FTR and your choice is limited to 223 or 308.  PRS - the games changed to 6mm ( 6ARC, 6 Creed, 6 br, 6 Dasher). Do you need a mag feeder or not? Preferred barrel length ?

For me it would be a Kelbly NYX 24” barrel made to mag feed in 6br,  it’s about the easiest round to get a combination of excellent accuracy, low recoil , good bc and a supply of quality components and factory ammunition. Not cheapest but about the most accurate round on the planet out to 600m.

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I was told 2000 + but it depends on how you run in the barrel. My powder charge is Not a Hot charge. 

I'm fortunate I have a 7mm as well as 6br so I'm not hammerering the barrels. 

If I was you look up gun pimp he's a very Knowledgeable person and shoots 6br like myself. 

Thanks nick 

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44 minutes ago, Mark II said:

I was thinking .223 could be in the running and I guess barrel life should be fairly good.

So another question if I were to use factory ammo only could a barrel tuner improve grouping, thinking of tuning the rifle to the ammo instead of the ammo to the rifle

Huge choice of firearms new and second hand for .223 and .308.  Decent barrel life from a quality manufacturer.  It's very much deciding what accuracy you want to achieve,  what quality components you will buy (including the rifle AND scope).

Re barrel tuners,  never used one but I can't see why it wouldn't work.  Factory ammo isn't just about tuning the harmonics,  there's also variability in quality of manufacture - ordinary factory ammo in .223 or .308 is, well, ordinary..    That's one major reason why we reload.

It would be easier to advise if we know what you want to shoot, what disciplines and how limited your budget is.

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5 hours ago, terryh said:

Mark,

The 'factory ammo' bit is probably your main factor? As per above, probably 6.5 Creed(s)moor. Shot a friends Tikka Tac using Hornady factory ammo a little while back and was really surprised at its consistency.

If you reloaded, even using basic tools, then a 6BR would be my choice out to 600 (and probably a bit further). Think Savage do a target type rifle in 6BR.

T

Savage do indeed manufacture a target 6BR, I have just bought one secondhanded one, it's their Benchrest rifle (less than 200 rounds). It is exceptionally accurate and my son and I are still developing the load using Viht 150 and Berger105gr VLDs. 

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I have a.308 that I am doing load development for at the moment but this is for a chap I know that is looking to join our club was asking so rather than just give him my opinion I thought opening it up to people that know more than me would be wise .

His budget is around 2k including scope and range is 100 yards at our club to start with then up to 500-600 later on.

This will be his first full bore rifle.

He might reload in the future if he gets hooked which I bet he will but it will be factory ammo to start with.

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Mark, with the extra info I Would recommend the Tikka Tac A1 with 24” barrel. Have a look for a decent scope s/h or Optics Warehouse - reduced / used section. Delta, Athlon something like that around a 5-25 mag range and decent rings. Harris bipod or Caldwell knock- off if money is tight. Caliber .308 but how many rounds will he be shooting per year? If it’s 100s rather than 1000s I would still go for something like 6.5x47 or 6.5 Creed. More expensive initially but once you have the cases the incentive is there to reload.

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24 minutes ago, Mark II said:

I have a.308 that I am doing load development for at the moment but this is for a chap I know that is looking to join our club was asking so rather than just give him my opinion I thought opening it up to people that know more than me would be wise .

His budget is around 2k including scope and range is 100 yards at our club to start with then up to 500-600 later on.

This will be his first full bore rifle.

He might reload in the future if he gets hooked which I bet he will but it will be factory ammo to start with.

Definitely a .223 or .308 in my opinion,  the smaller calibre if he's likely to be gun-shy.   You can always move on a .223/.308 when the time comes.   The abundance of factory ammo should swing it.

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A lot of custom second hand rifles are available at approx 1500-1650 range that are well worth that, costing much much more to buy new 

a sightron 8-32 would take up the remainder giving a world class setup and practise while you kill that barrel. Once the barrel is shot out, rebarrel in exactly what they want and not loose any money 

 

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I would agree with a Sightron 8-32x56, whilst new around £1000, secondhand should be around £500/£600. Also, more than capable of shooting out to 1000yards.

I am not convinced about a .223 for 600yards with factory ammunition (agree that ammunition would be plentiful and the least expensive option). I would still go .308 for the choice of factory ammunition (more expensive than .223), but 6.5 Creedmoor would be better, however, less choice and more expensive factory ammunition (could buy Hornady and save the cases to reload at a later time).

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A .223 will be a good rifle out to 600 yds - but you'd better be pretty good a reading the wind! You'll need a fast twist (1:8 at least) to push the heavier, more efficient bullets 75 grn+.Beyond 600 yds, well, take your chances.

.308 would be better, with a long 1:12 / 1:10 barrel that'll get you out to 1200 yds - with a decent 'Match' type barrel. (I believe .30 cal bullets go transonic at around about the 1,000 yds mark? Unless they're pushed pretty hard.) 

The 6.5 Creedmoor is better again in my opinion. Flatter shooting than a .308, stays supersonic further than a .308, less recoil than a .308, less affected by wind etc etc. In my experience, when hand loading with good, low drag bullets (in my case, Nosler 140 grain RDF's @ 2800 fps) I was surprised at how accurate a round this is.

These are purely my own opinions, based on experience in having rifles in all 3 calibers, and they all have their place. You decide.

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19 hours ago, furrybean said:

A lot of custom second hand rifles are available at approx 1500-1650 range that are well worth that, costing much much more to buy new 

a sightron 8-32 would take up the remainder giving a world class setup and practise while you kill that barrel. Once the barrel is shot out, rebarrel in exactly what they want and not loose any money 

 

That is a very good way of looking at it as a rebarrel would be a lot cheaper than a new rifle especially if it fit you well.

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