Best all around precision rifle...... for me?

.330Dakota said:
You guys want to explain to me how a bullet with a lower SD and BC 308 out performs a bullet with higher SD/BC 6.5 on target or on game when they are both send down range at the same velocity.
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The best SD for a 6.5 that I am aware of is .329 for the 160/.264 Sierra. The best SD for a .308 is .361 for the 240/308 Woodleigh. Under normal hunting conditions out to 300 yards BC isn't irrelivant, but it nearly is; but in any case, target shooting or hunting the advantage goes to the heavier bullet with the same profile everytime. It could also be argued that SD is almost irrelivant when comparing expanding bullets, but given a specific impact velocity, the heavier bullet tends to penetrate equally to the lighter faster bullet and produce a larger wound volume due to its larger frontal area.
 
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Jayph said:
These arguments always make me laugh both calibers will make quick work of a moose when the bullet flies through the lung or heart.

Comes down to personal preference really. Grab a .308 or a 6.5x55 and go hunting I bet the moose won't know the difference.
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Agreed, but the premise stated in his first posting was that the 6.5 would "out perform" the 308. :D

.330Dakota said:
6.5's will out perform the 308 on targets and on game, including moose.
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Ted
 
From personal experience I have found that my .243 is not really adequate for deer sized game much past 500 yards. I would go with the .308. Plenty of killing power at longer ranges and ammunition is readily available and fairly inexpensive.
 
While I agree we are splitting hairs here. How fast is your 240 leaving the barrel 2200 2250?
I think what you are gaining in weight to gain the SD you are penalized in velocity and down range energy compared to the lighter faster bullet. Frontal area wise the difference is .308-.264=.044

I agree same profile heavier the better but because your .308 bullet has a bigger diameter the .264 bullet has a longer profile at the same weight = better SD.

Remember this started because OP wants a rifle to do both(target and hunt) 6.5 and 308 = on game there I said it.:D 6.5 better at target than 308.:p
 
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I wonder how long a mulie would wait while you dialed up your 308 for 500 yd. That said, very few deer are shot over 250. The recoil of a 308 in a light rifle is noticeable with the 200 gr. bullets, where the 260 with the 123 or 140 is pretty mild. I don't usually get into these 'discussions' however, both of my boys shoot 6.5's. A 6.5x55 and a 6.5-284. These have taken many deer and a few moose. The 6.5-284 has done in 2 bull elk, very nicely. I'm votin' 6.5 Mark
 
.330Dakota said:
While I agree we are splitting hairs here. How fast is your 240 leaving the barrel 2200 2250?
I think what you are gaining in weight to gain the SD you are penalized in velocity and down range energy compared to the lighter faster bullet. Frontal area wise the difference is .308-.264=.044

I agree same profile heavier the better but because your .308 bullet has a bigger diameter the .264 bullet has a longer profile at the same weight = better SD.

Remember this started because OP wants a rifle to do both(target and hunt) 6.5 and 308 = on game there I said it.:D 6.5 better at target than 308.:p
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I know the measured bullet size is minimal, but the actual field damage is significantly more in the case of the 308.

Not saying the 6.5 wont work just that the 308 is a much better option on such a large animal.
Unlike deer, moose are not overly impressed by high velocity bullets.
 
In theory, 6.5x55mm , .260 rem or the .308 would perform just fine for big game in Canada with a good a good bullet, and all the major bullet companies make their premium hunting projectiles in all those calibers.

Honestly... best way to decide I think is just go down to your local shop and see what they have in stock usually in terms of components and ammo, whatever they have a good supply of so that you don't run out, that's what you get.
 
If yer gunna want to hunt game with it that illiminates the .22 cals. I would think the 308 would be a good choice. There is a wide selection of rifles chambered in it as well, and lots of bullets to choose.
 
.330Dakota said:
While I agree we are splitting hairs here. How fast is your 240 leaving the barrel 2200 2250?
I think what you are gaining in weight to gain the SD you are penalized in velocity and down range energy compared to the lighter faster bullet. Frontal area wise the difference is .308-.264=.044

I agree same profile heavier the better but because your .308 bullet has a bigger diameter the .264 bullet has a longer profile at the same weight = better SD.

Remember this started because OP wants a rifle to do both(target and hunt) 6.5 and 308 = on game there I said it.:D 6.5 better at target than 308.:p
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Down range performance when comparing a 6.5 155 gr MK and a .308 240 gr MK, both with a muzzle velocity of 2300, as close as 500 yards the 240 gr MK already has a 1 MOA advantage. The only disadvantage of the heavier bullet is greater felt recoil.

The frontal area of expanded bullets are quite different from the frontal area of non-expanding bullets. A 240 gr Woodleigh I recovered expanded to .75" That is a frontal area of .442 square inches. We could expect the same syle of bullet in a 6.5 to expand to .64" which is a frontal area of .324 square inches. If the comparison was between a .308 and a .260 Remington, the velocity would be similar, but the momentum of the heavier bullet would result in deeper penetration beause the velocity would not shed as quickly. But what does this mean with respect to terminal ballistics?

I conducted bullet testing in a fluid bearing medium, with two bullets which turned out to have a similar difference in expanded diameter. In this case both bullets differed in weight by 110 grs, were the same caliber, and were fired from the same rifle. The wound volume was approximately 3X larger for the heavier bullet despite the fact that the lighter bullet impacted the target about 500 fps faster and penetrated to an equal depth. In this case it was a 270 gr X and a 380 gr Rhino fired from my .375 Ultra. But the comparison with the 240/.308 and the 160/6.5 I believe is valid and I would expect the performance of the two bullets to be within scale. Because there is less difference in velocity between the 6.5 and the .308 than there was between the two .375 loads, the lighter 6.5 bullet would not penetrate to the same depth. What we can take from this is that when loaded with bullets of the same style and similar SD, the heavier bullet will create a measurably larger wound volume.

None of this means that the 6.5 is a poor choice for big game, on the contrary, when loaded to high velocity with medium weight bullets or to moderate velocity with heavy bullets, the 6.5 is a proven performer. But no cartridge can be expected to out perform a larger caliber cartridge firing significantly heavier bullets at the same velocity.
 
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HEY, sorry for not getting back to this sooner (busy weekend). ive read all the posts and looked on a couple of the sites online sponsors and it looks like i can pickup a remington 700 with a heavy barrel for around what im looking to spend. im gonna do a bit more looking around at the 6.5 but it seems like theres alot more choice in .308 around where i live when it comes to stores stocking factory loaded ammo. i have time to sort a few more things out like optics , aslong as the guns put together for fall im happy. thanks for the ton of info i apreciate all the posts alot.
 
In my opinion, stick to long range target shooting, when hunting - get as close as possible

I would suggest a 243, good for long range shooting on paper and plenty of punch on deer out to 250 yards or so. I wouldnt stretch it much past that unless you're driving tacks from field positions which few people can do, myself included
 
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