Which Caliber would you chose??

slick39

slick39

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So here is my situation as of lately...

I have been slowly upgrading my .243 Stevens 200, right now it is sporting a Zeiss 4.5-14 optic with a Boyd's Walnut stock (was hoping to eventually upgrade to a McMillan) and a rifle basix trigger. I have put a fair bit of money into it as well as load development. All that was left to buy was another stock and upgrade the barrel.

However recently I have come into some cash, roughly $1000. I was hoping to buy the barrel and McMillan stock with this but it turns out that McMillan does not offer stocks for the Stevens 200, I realize I could get a Choate Custom Tactical that looks the same but for the price of that I want the McMillan...

I also double this rifle as my coyote (and maybe eventually deer rifle). But since I cannot get a McMillan stock I am left questioning myself, if I should sell the Stevens 200 and take the funds and start over again with a Remington 700 of some sort.

So my question to you is, which way would you go? Continue on with the Stevens and try and find a way for the McMillan stock to work? Or would you switch to the Remington?

A second part to this question is, (I have always wanted a .308 but seeing as I live in Southern ON, this does not make much sense since I would not be able to hunt with it) would you stick with the .243 or would you go with something like 6.5mm?

Any suggestions and critisms would be greatly appreciated because I seem to be stuck at this fork in the road and cannot decided on what to do!!


BTW, Forgot to mention this, atm my range is only 200 yards but I do hope to find somewhere to shoot 1000yards in the future!


Thanks,
Josh
 
I have just switch to 223 for my long range rifle. Not sure how that will turn out. 6.5mm appears to always be a good choice.

As for longer range shooting, check out the ORA. 1000 yard shoots are pretty common at Borden. They have access to other ranges (Winona, Kingston) in southern Ontario but I don't think they are that long.
 
.260 Rem might be the way to go. Decent performer in percision matches, and will tackle coyotes easy enough. Up here in Timmins, I'm told the way to knock down a deer with a .260 is with a 140gr bullet.

Food for thought.
 
I just received my stock from McMillan. It is a tooley mbr inleted for a savage short action. Should not be a problem for them. Also would recommend a Robertson.

As for calibers, I just built a 6br. Fun to shoot. 6xc looks interesting. I also like the 260, or 260 AI. The 6 super long range also looks like a lot of fun. I started out with the .243 also, went with the 6br. A bit cheaper to shoot, not much tho. lots of info around for it and that makes it very easy to make shoot.
 
agrubin and I just returned (end of Aug) from the DCRA's NSCC matches. While there, we witnessed the rise of the 6.5mm and 7mm popularity among the civilian shooters. Very interesting evolution taking place. I'm certain at one time many of us were .308 shooters. I know I was for over 20 years. :D

Kombayotch can chime in here anytime because he is the genius of making the .308 kick butts at these PR matches. Me, I'm too impatient and I like the .260 Rem for getting that 108 gr Lapua Scenar bullet down the target very quickly! :D

There are many great choices here on the PR Forum and equally many great barrel dealers and of course other PR related swag! :)

Let us know how and what you choose! Most of all, come out and stretch that caliber and it's boolits! :evil:

Cheers,
Barney
 
I would choose the 260, since i started to shoot my Icon 6.5 Creedmoor, i discover real accurate LR shooting, this 6.5 stuff is fantastic... JP.
 
If I were to go the .260 route, if i eventually decided I wanted a DM system would the .260 round be able to fit into a mag?

Also Kawiguy, what you are saying is that I could get a McMillan for my Stevens 200? The guys at ATRS suggested against it, they said none are available but they could take a savage stock and modify it but this would cost a lot?

If you guys could explain the stock situation for me that would be great haha.

Thanks again guys!
 
slick39 said:
If I were to go the .260 route, if i eventually decided I wanted a DM system would the .260 round be able to fit into a mag?

Also Kawiguy, what you are saying is that I could get a McMillan for my Stevens 200? The guys at ATRS suggested against it, they said none are available but they could take a savage stock and modify it but this would cost a lot?

If you guys could explain the stock situation for me that would be great haha.

Thanks again guys!
Click to expand...

A 260 rem cartridge is based on the 308win parent case, so it will mag feed from mags designed for 308win. There are lots of stock options for a savage short action, I have a choate ultimate sniper on one rifle, Yodave here on CGN was nice enough to build me a laminate stock for a very modest fee for another savage short action project. Choate also makes a custom tactical stock that is nice and has all kinds of adjustment, add a DM system and you are set.

There are several great dealers on the forum that are amazing to deal with, I have personally only good things to say for Jerry from Mystic Precision as I have had many dealings with him and he always has time to answer every question you might have.

Try not to think of it in terms of setting up for one cartridge, think of an evolution of your abilities and desires. A 223rem will reach 1000yds, just as a 338 Lapua mag will shoot 200yrds, the question is which can you shoot enough of to enjoy and build on the fundamental skills to become a better shooter. Evolve as you go, you will end up trying something new just for the challenge.

My $0.02 anyway.
 
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That is some sound advice, I think for now I may just keep it in .243 as I already reload for it and am familiar with the cartridge, it will do for just about any game animal in this area as well. Then look into the .260 later on.

I have spoken to Jerry as well and he suggested the Choate stock but for the price I think I may as well buy from somewhere closer like Robertson Composites Tac stock, which comes in camo (a bonus). I am not sure what exactly I would have to do later on if I decide to go DM, could I just get a gunsmith to cut out the bottom and install bottom metal?

As far as barrels go, I don't know which is better than the next but I do know I would like to buy one closer to home so that way I can get them to install my barrel because I do not have the tools or experience to do it on my own.

Also if anyone could recommend a base for my optic and where to get it from? At the moment I just have cheap bases and mount...

Josh
 
Sounds like you want a tactical style stock that would be good for hunting and general long range plinking. A McMillan a3 would be a good choice and is available for a savage action. Robertson makes a similar product, and is just as good or better. Plus they are a Canadian company. You can send them the barrelled action and have them inlet it and bed it if you want. I was going to go with Robertson, but I just could not wait that long. I got lucky with McMillan and it was done in about three months.
 
well you are better to go with a high quality mounting system just try to stay low to the barrel so you have less of a variable to shoot through. I had a 257 Roberts but I loved it so much I shot it out.Ziess makes great mounts but I am not sure of the availability. But having cheap mounts with that scope is almost a waste. But we do what we can afford.
 
Thanks Hungry!

I see 260 sized 6.5mm cartridges as compromise calibers; they're appeal is that they give decent ballistics and fairly good barrel life. But, if you want the best ballistics AND the ability to feed from a 10 round mag (preferred for tactical matches), 6mm is the way to go. You pay a little in barrel life though. A regular 243 Win. or 6 SLR can launch a 115 DTAC at 3150+ fps, a 6mm AI or 6mm Crusader can launch it at over 3300 fps. It's tough for even a 6.5-284 to compete with that. I wanted to bring my Crusader to NSCC, but was having feeding issues when cycling it fast (need to for 200m and falling plates). I've since re-cut the feed ramp, so maybe next year...

I would go the Robertson Stock. I have a McMillan A5 and a Manners T4 already. After handling the Robertson equivalent when I visited his shop after NSCC, it would be my choice for a future build. Better cheek rest options and a better designed grip that also has a texture that is more resistant to slipping. He will also inlet it to position the trigger perfectly for your hand.
 
Mack45 said:
well you are better to go with a high quality mounting system just try to stay low to the barrel so you have less of a variable to shoot through. I had a 257 Roberts but I loved it so much I shot it out.Ziess makes great mounts but I am not sure of the availability. But having cheap mounts with that scope is almost a waste. But we do what we can afford.
Click to expand...

That is true, well I actually have decent mounts (leupolds) it's just the bases that I need to upgrade really.
 
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