Calibres That Interest You The Most

dev110

I think this could be an interesting thread.

I'm just wondering what is the calibre that you want the most?
The calibre must fit into the Irish laws eg no more than .30 cal so all the talk of .338's is gone out the window

Would you choose a calibre that you mostly have to load for?
(Lets imagine that reloading was in place for this thread)

For me I would love a 6.5x47. There is just something about it that I really like.

Lately I have been looking up about the 6XC. Lots of energy and good out to long ranges. There is a few ways you can form the brass. You can use a 22.250 case and change the shoulder angle with a .308 FL sizing die and then opening out the neck to allow the 6mm heads. I believe only Norma make brass for this calibre so its a toss up between buying it straight or doing a little extra work to get .22-250 brass fire formed.

I have also been looking at the .260. It is a .308 case necked down to 6.5.
This also looks to be a really good calibre. Also because .308 is very popular brass would be cheap.

Let's hear what ye dream of getting.



From L-R: 6mm BR, 6x47 Swiss Match, 6.5x47 Lapua, 6XC, and .260 Rem

Glensman

6.5x47 does it for me!
Unfortunately I can't license one in the 6 counties

tac foley

Glensman wrote: »

6.5x47 does it for me!
Unfortunately I can't license one in the 6 counties

Why's that?

Nothing special about the 6.5x47 - there are half a dozen of more in our club.

tac

Glensman

tac foley wrote: »

Why's that?

Nothing special about the 6.5x47 - there are half a dozen of more in our club.

tac

It's over 22-250.
Nothing over 22-250 can be licensed for use on foxes.

(Ridiculous I know) BASC, SACS and the CA seem to have no interest in lobbying to correct this.

If it does ever get sorted I would probably sell the .270 and the .223 and get a 6.5x47 to do both.

It wasn't me!

Not sure why you'd exclude anything over .30 cal. While restricted, they certainly can be licensed!

For me, I'd love a neat little 7x57. It would require handloading, but it'd be a nice low-recoil, low noise cartridge, chucking a 160gr bullet about 2700 fps. I have a craving for a nice little full-stocked European style stutzen. 21.5" barrel, open sights and a neat little scope.

Next up, some sort of .300 mag, either Winchester or Weatherby. Winchester is more practical, but the Weatherby is a pretty classy round, all on its own. 180gr bullets at 3250 fps and 200gr at 3000+ have an awful lot of authority! A friend of mine has one of these on the way at the moment so I'm really looking forward to having a proper look at it. The .300 win will do everything exactly the same, but hey, this isn't supposed to be practical!

Next up, and into the restricted section, is a 9.3x62. A really interesting and practical cartridge, which does just about everything the .375 H&H will do, with less recoil and noise, in a lighter rifle, with an extra cartridge in the magazine. Again, a handloading proposition for the most part, but like everything else, there's quality ammo available, it's just expensive. Handloading, you'll get a 286gr bullet to about 2450 fps from a typical rifle barrel pretty easily, and that's usefully flat-shooting for a plains game rifle as well as offering what you need for buffalo and larger antelope. It's even legal for dangerous game in several countries, testament to its effective use for everything for well over a century now.

I think to round out the list would definitely require a double gun. I think a .450 NE would do nicely here. Big, slow thumper. Of course, if I could afford the rifle and fodder for it, there'd be no problem affording to hunt appropriate animals for it either! 480gr bullet at 2150 fps. I reckon I'd have to whack a fox with it at some point, just to see what'd happen.

It might become apparent that I like older cartridges. Of those four, three have over a century of history behind them, two are 19th century designs and even the .300 Weatherby is basically an archaic dinosaur, the first really modern .30 magnum. Well, I reckon that'd be me set up for everything I could ever even daydream about doing, with a big bag of class too.

deerhunter1

dev110 wrote: »

I think this could be an interesting thread.

I'm just wondering what is the calibre that you want the most?
The calibre must fit into the Irish laws eg no more than .30 cal so all the talk of .338's is gone out the window

Would you choose a calibre that you mostly have to load for?
(Lets imagine that reloading was in place for this thread)

For me I would love a 6.5x47. There is just something about it that I really like.

Lately I have been looking up about the 6XC. Lots of energy and good out to long ranges. There is a few ways you can form the brass. You can use a 22.250 case and change the shoulder angle with a .308 FL sizing die and then opening out the neck to allow the 6mm heads. I believe only Norma make brass for this calibre so its a toss up between buying it straight or doing a little extra work to get .22-250 brass fire formed.

I have also been looking at the .260. It is a .308 case necked down to 6.5.
This also looks to be a really good calibre. Also because .308 is very popular brass would be cheap.

Let's hear what ye dream of getting.



From L-R: 6mm BR, 6x47 Swiss Match, 6.5x47 Lapua, 6XC, and .260 Rem

.308 30-06:)

4200fps

Glensman wrote: »

It's over 22-250.
Nothing over 22-250 can be licensed for use on foxes.

Theres a good few guys whom are licenced to 243's who never had a deer licence and they are used on foxs but the majority of supers won't allow any greater than calibers 22-250 or 220 swift for foxs.

It wasn't me!

4200fps wrote: »

Theres a good few guys whom are licenced to 243's who never had a deer licence and they are used on foxs but the majority of supers won't allow any greater than calibers 22-250 or 220 swift for foxs.

He's in Northern Ireland. Rules are different.

Jonty

20 cal tactical

rowa

7x57 mauser (.275 rigby) , a brilliant round and very popular the world over, showed up the yanks in the spanish-american war and was used by karamojo bell to knock anything and everything in africa, including 1011 elephants.

.300 holland and holland magnum, another lovely round , if reloading was permitted in this jerk water berg it could be loaded light for deer or heavier loads for wild boar and the like.

dev110

Jonty wrote: »

20 cal tactical

What drew you to the 20 tac?

tac foley

It wasn't me! wrote: »

For me, I'd love a neat little 7x57. It would require handloading, but it'd be a nice low-recoil, low noise cartridge, chucking a 160gr bullet about 2700 fps. I have a craving for a nice little full-stocked European style stutzen. 21.5" barrel, open sights and a neat little scope.

Another question, then I'll get back in my box. Why do you need to handload for 7x57?

I've just found that -

Norma
Hornady
RWS
Prvi Partizan
Sellier & Bellot
and Federal...

and maybe a few others, I can't be arsed to look, ALL make a variety of hunting loads for this rightly popular cartridge.

tac

Jonty

dev110 wrote: »

What drew you to the 20 tac?

I just read an article in the shooting times, and found it interesting. I have no practical experience with one

hedzball

a 25-06 and ability to reload would suit me for everything.








'hdz

tac foley

hedzball wrote: »

a 25-06 and ability to reload would suit me for everything.'hdz

The ability to reload takes the average person about an hour to gain, what you don't yet have is the facility.

tac

Jonty

http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/guns/ammo/340116/20_Tactical_calibre_review.html


20 tactical review

rowa

How bout the .950 jdj ? I dunno if its deer legal though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xohy9gWz7kk

silverfox1

6.5x284 would be a cool one to try if we could handload.

cavan shooter

22 hornet for me. Really love that cartridge

dev110

6.5 x 284 would be a serious round but the short barrel life would put me off.
They usually have a barrel burnt out in 1500 rounds. That is for competition shooting using hot loads so for hunting you might get 2000 out of it.

It wasn't me!

tac foley wrote: »

Another question, then I'll get back in my box. Why do you need to handload for 7x57?

I've just found that -

Norma
Hornady
RWS
Prvi Partizan
Sellier & Bellot
and Federal...

and maybe a few others, I can't be arsed to look, ALL make a variety of hunting loads for this rightly popular cartridge.

tac

Because it's sadly unpopular here. I've seen it a couple of times, but I don't want to spend my life chasing ammo for what'd probably be my main rifle here. If I could guarantee a decent supply of the 156gr Oryx load from Norma whenever I wanted it, I'd happily have one, handloading or no.

tac foley

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Because it's sadly unpopular here. I've seen it a couple of times, but I don't want to spend my life chasing ammo for what'd probably be my main rifle here. If I could guarantee a decent supply of the 156gr Oryx load from Norma whenever I wanted it, I'd happily have one, handloading or no.

Thank you for the explainment.:)

tac

It wasn't me!

tac foley wrote: »

Thank you for the explainment.:)

tac

No problem. It appears to be a wonderfully balanced cartridge, and I'd love to have one, but if I couldn't feed it, I'd go nuts. If I could find ammo and it weren't insanely expensive, I'd have one in the morning.

tac foley

It wasn't me! wrote: »

No problem. It appears to be a wonderfully balanced cartridge, and I'd love to have one, but if I couldn't feed it, I'd go nuts. If I could find ammo and it weren't insanely expensive, I'd have one in the morning.

I have two 7x57 Mausers, but they are nothing that would interest anybody here, being quite old.

They are a delight, just like my Swedish Mauser - another old gun - to shoot.

tac

stick shooter

the one caliber that would really interest me is the .257 weatherby magnum . i would reckon it is about as good as it gets in a 25 cal hunting round . factory ammo pushes the 115 gr nosler ballistic tip at 3400 fps . making it a pretty flat .

It wasn't me!

tac foley wrote: »

I have two 7x57 Mausers, but they are nothing that would interest anybody here, being quite old.

They are a delight, just like my Swedish Mauser - another old gun - to shoot.

tac

Wanna bet? I'd love to hear more.

badshot

.257 weatherby magnum &
6.5x47

customrifle

Have been lucky to have owned or tried many from 223,243,22-250,6xc,308. But still can't get over how accurate an old round like the 6.5x55 is in a good factory rifle. Had a tikka super varmint in this calibre and regret getting rid of it. I would like to try the 204 to see how good it is out to 500 compared to the 250

greengrasscork

I'm hunting with a krico 5.6x57 old gun and expensive round but a great rifle
never let me or my father down through the last 20 years

rowa

customrifle wrote: »

Have been lucky to have owned or tried many from 223,243,22-250,6xc,308. But still can't get over how accurate an old round like the 6.5x55 is in a good factory rifle. Had a tikka super varmint in this calibre and regret getting rid of it. I would like to try the 204 to see how good it is out to 500 compared to the 250

Some of the older rounds are among the best to be honest , 6.5x65 swedish, the legendary .30-06 springfield, the 7x57 mauser, the old .30-30 , .45-70, the .303 british, most of the heavy game rounds used in africa are old british rounds designed in victorian times.
A lot of the super duper new rounds are put into production by marketing departments in an effort to sell new rifles, just look at the wssm and wsm rounds announced by winchester a few years back. dead in the water now.

silverfox1

dev110 wrote: »

6.5 x 284 would be a serious round but the short barrel life would put me off.
They usually have a barrel burnt out in 1500 rounds. That is for competition shooting using hot loads so for hunting you might get 2000 out of it.

True dev but the average hunter would be a long time getting through 2000 rounds. Myself included. Then you'd have an excuse to get to your gunsmith for a bit of custom work.

dev110

Ye your right. Sure if you managed to go through 200 rounds a year the barrel will last you 10 years.
I'm so used to thinking in the target sense that I forget how little you would use just for hunting.

tac foley

A few target only shooters in our club buy and replace their 6.5-284 barrels every season. They spend more on one gun in one year than I've spent on buying half a dozen of my ould sticks, ALL of which still have thier original barrels.

My Krico 650SS in .308Win has now had around 13,000 down the barrel and STILL shoots a raggedy five-shot hole when zeroing.

Sorry to drift....Back to the topic.

As Rowa notes, the 6.5, in particular, was for many years THE European 300m match calibre, and now has made the basis of some truly stonkingly accurate cartridges.

tac

newby.204

7mm-08 for target work,.30-06 for hunting would love to reload both!!

It wasn't me!

tac foley wrote: »

A few target only shooters in our club buy and replace their 6.5-284 barrels every season. They spend more on one gun in one year than I've spent on buying half a dozen of my ould sticks, ALL of which still have thier original barrels.

My Krico 650SS in .308Win has now had around 13,000 down the barrel and STILL shoots a raggedy five-shot hole when zeroing.

Sorry to drift....Back to the topic.

As Rowa notes, the 6.5, in particular, was for many years THE European 300m match calibre, and now has made the basis of some truly stonkingly accurate cartridges.

tac

It's funny that that 55mm Swedish case never spawned more derivative cartridges. If you look at the original 7x57, you got the 8x57, the 9x57, 9.3x57, 6.5x57 and the .257 Roberts out of it. I'm not aware of any offspring of the 6.5x55. I suppose it did exactly what it was supposed to do from day one and nobody ever needed it to do anything else with what else was on the scene.

customrifle

rowa wrote: »

Some of the older rounds are among the best to be honest , 6.5x65 swedish, the legendary .30-06 springfield, the 7x57 mauser, the old .30-30 , .45-70, the .303 british, most of the heavy game rounds used in africa are old british rounds designed in victorian times.
A lot of the super duper new rounds are put into production by marketing departments in an effort to sell new rifles, just look at the wssm and wsm rounds announced by winchester a few years back. dead in the water now.

Some of the old calibers really are hard bet. I have an as new remy cdl in 30-06 sitting in Fergal Whites that I was goin to pull apart and build something on the action, but I'm after gettin some permission so I'm looking forward to using it for some deer. I had thought ammo would be quite expensive for it but it's no more so than any good hunting round for the more popular calibers

stick shooter

customrifle wrote: »

Some of the old calibers really are hard bet. I have an as new remy cdl in 30-06 sitting in Fergal Whites that I was goin to pull apart and build something on the action, but I'm after gettin some permission so I'm looking forward to using it for some deer. I had thought ammo would be quite expensive for it but it's no more so than any good hunting round for the more popular calibers

the 30-06 is a great calibre for stalking .this only being a hypathetically thread and what ifs ammo prices and availability don't come into it .

sfakiaman

Enfield no 4 in 22-303 just for the nostalgia, it would remind be of the days I had brown hair.

Jonty

newby.204 wrote: »

7mm-08 for target work,.30-06 for hunting would love to reload both!!

Pretty standard stuff though. Anything exotic take your fancy?

Blaser6.5

The 6.5x55 is the best all round for deer foxes and target shooting in my opinion

Vegeta

6xc, 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 remington and 6.5 x 47. I'd definitely have one of those if reloading was allowed.

dev110

It just goes to show if reloading comes in the custom scene would probably explode.

I know I would probably run a switch barrel system on the new rifle I'm building.
.308 & 6.5x47/6XC combo would be nice

newby.204

Jonty wrote: »

Pretty standard stuff though. Anything exotic take your fancy?

well there was a limit put on he calibers by the OP, but seein as you asked, .338 lapua, .223 AI, .243AI

customrifle

dev110 wrote: »

It just goes to show if reloading comes in the custom scene would probably explode.

I know I would probably run a switch barrel system on the new rifle I'm building.
.308 & 6.5x47/6XC combo would be nice

That's what Fig is doin for me at mo. Turning my 6xc into a switch barrel 308. Just waiting for a 32" 1/12 308 barrel to come in. The 6xc really is a fantastic round, lack of time means I've not shot it much. The rifle was built nearly 2 years ago now and I don't think I've put 250 rounds through it, but everytime I lay down behind it its a joy to shot. No recoil + crazy accuracy = happy days!! I was however thinking of rechambering the barrel into 6br as I have 600yard zeroing close to home and the accuracy between the 2 calibers at 600 would be minimal. Plus I would get up to 2k more barrel life from the br.
I will further down the road, if funds and time allow, build a lightweight varmint rig in 6.5x55 or see if I can pick up a clean used tikka varmint again. It just is a fantastic round with a great barrel life.

rowa

Anyone shooting the .22/6mm ppc ? I was looking at a single shot bolt action sako in .22 ppc years ago , it was a cracker but getting ammo put me off.

dev110

customrifle wrote: »

That's what Fig is doin for me at mo. Turning my 6xc into a switch barrel 308. Just waiting for a 32" 1/12 308 barrel to come in. The 6xc really is a fantastic round, lack of time means I've not shot it much. The rifle was built nearly 2 years ago now and I don't think I've put 250 rounds through it, but everytime I lay down behind it its a joy to shot. No recoil + crazy accuracy = happy days!! I was however thinking of rechambering the barrel into 6br as I have 600yard zeroing close to home and the accuracy between the 2 calibers at 600 would be minimal. Plus I would get up to 2k more barrel life from the br.
I will further down the road, if funds and time allow, build a lightweight varmint rig in 6.5x55 or see if I can pick up a clean used tikka varmint again. It just is a fantastic round with a great barrel life.

What distance have you shot the 6XC out to?
I am can't decide between a 6XC or a 6.5x47. I just want something different.

6br is definitely the one to beat out to 600 yards. They are amazingly accurate and suppose to be very easy to load for also.

rowa wrote: »

Anyone shooting the .22/6mm ppc ? I was looking at a single shot bolt action sako in .22 ppc years ago , it was a cracker but getting ammo put me off.

I don't know if the 22/6 PPC would take off here tbh.
They don't really offer anything over the .223 and .243. Also with the .223 and .243 being very popular you will have cheaper brass and more manufacturers to choose from.

Tikkat3

6mmPPC or 6mmXC would be the most exotic calibers I would aspire to

Kramer

dev110 wrote: »

6 PPC......... don't really offer anything over the .223 and .243.

Accuracy .

dev110

Kramer wrote: »

Accuracy .

Don't forget this is in the hunting section so if they can shoot under a moa at each distance I would be very happy. Plenty of .223/.243's can shoot under an inch at 100 yards, under 2 inches at 200 yards and so on.

zeissman

If we could reload I would like a .284 winchester for stalking and a bit of target shooting. Barrel life would be better than the 6.5 version and there is a
great range of 7mm bullets.
Id also like a .20vartarg for foxes and other vermin.
They can shoot a 32 grain bullet at 3700 to 3800 fps with great accuracy with about 18 grains of powder.

Hunterjohnb

If reloading were allowed my choice would be a 280Rem.06 case topped off with a 7mm bullet.