Winter build... at a loss :(

If you want tacticool then I'm guessing short action and capable of fitting into a standard mag? .308 bolt face perhaps?
I have a 6xc that shoots pretty good however when I do it again I'll be looking at a 6CM, 6SLR or perhaps a .260. All would make wicked tactical steel smashers. All easy to load for as well.
 
There are a few of us locally who are doing 260 Rem builds over the winter. I've seen more and more of them at tactical shoots the last couple of years. They're not screamers like 6.5x284 AI. They seem to treat barrels and brass well, buck the wind like a 6.5 and negate the requirement for a brake. I'm dropping a Shilen barrel 26" standard varmint into my 10BA. I've always been a fan of the 6.5 and can't wait to see how it shakes out.
 
For an honest decade now, I've been researching and planning (and saving for) my first build. I just had my straight .284 completed. Unfortunately, I have no personal range data yet but after considering many, many options, I settled on this. Other ones I had considered are .243 improved of some sort (life long .243 advocate), 6 Dasher, 6XC, .260 improved of some sort and 6.5 X 47. Contributing factors for my decision was based on many things - reamer availability/expense, component and equipment costs, barrel life, cartridge "horsepower", etc.

Any of these 6 and 6-1/2mm cartridges may present an element of challenge to you for those 'way out there' shots that could be so-called 'boring' with more powerful choices. Personally, my 1000 yd target is pretty stinkin' lonely way out there....

Just my thoughts. In the end, you alone have to be satisfied with it. I think you'd probably like something just a bit different than what's in the rest of your cabinet and sometimes that's something that can almost drive you nuts trying to figure out.

Rooster
 
At the risk of sounding like I'm beating the snot out of the .243 thing (I promise this is the last time), have a look at this article - http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/gunweek0102/

I wasn't aware of this until just recently but to me, at least, it sounds very interesting. When I shoot my stock .243 out, I think I may go this way. That is, of course, until some other shiny thing comes along, I'm sure... When it comes to cartridge choices, I feel like I have the attention span of a squirrel.

Rooster
 
I have to be one of the world's biggest 6mm fans, but the 243 is not one of the cartridges I drool over. Hard on barrels and ther same job can be done more accureately and with less powder in many different cartridges. With heavy bullets it is a great hunting round and with light bullets it is a capable varminter, but I'm with Jerry, a 6XC or 6BR blow the 243 out of the water for inherent accuracy, barrel life and ease of load development.

358Rooster said:
At the risk of sounding like I'm beating the snot out of the .243 thing (I promise this is the last time), have a look at this article - http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/gunweek0102/

I wasn't aware of this until just recently but to me, at least, it sounds very interesting. When I shoot my stock .243 out, I think I may go this way. That is, of course, until some other shiny thing comes along, I'm sure... When it comes to cartridge choices, I feel like I have the attention span of a squirrel.

Rooster
Click to expand...
 
Barrel life, I don't dispute. What sort of round count would one see with an XC or BR? Would they do well with the 105's, 107's, 115's, etc. that the OP would likely use for stretching things out like he wants? Having no experience with these cartridges whatsoever, do they honestly "blow the .243 out of the water" with regard to everything else you mentioned, minus the barrel life? Good god, no wonder it took me a decade to pick a caliber!
 
358Rooster said:
Barrel life, I don't dispute. What sort of round count would one see with an XC or BR? Would they do well with the 105's, 107's, 115's, etc. that the OP would likely use for stretching things out like he wants? Having no experience with these cartridges whatsoever, do they honestly "blow the .243 out of the water" with regard to everything else you mentioned, minus the barrel life? Good god, no wonder it took me a decade to pick a caliber!
Click to expand...

243 Win has 2 big problems:
  • too large case capacity for a 6mm bullet (even a 115gr VLD)
  • case is too long to allow for throat wear (51mm vs 47mm ideal length for a magazine fed short action) -

You can get better accuracy and improved accurate barrel life with 6 XC Norma, 6x47 Lapua (my choice) or 6.5x47 Lapua.
After much consideration, I've had my 243 Win re-barreled to 6x47 Lapua but now think that 6.5x47 Lapua might have been a better choice... (my next rifle is a 6.5x47 Lapua). Remember that we're talking about incremental differences here (20% greater barrel life, 15% smaller groups, etc) and not of a quantum leap in performance (moving from 223 Rem to 7 WSM).

Alex
 
358Rooster said:
...
I wasn't aware of this until just recently but to me, at least, it sounds very interesting. When I shoot my stock .243 out, I think I may go this way. That is, of course, until some other shiny thing comes along, I'm sure... When it comes to cartridge choices, I feel like I have the attention span of a squirrel.

Rooster
Click to expand...

Many look at this choice the wrong way. The key is bullet NOT cartridge. Pick the bullet you want to use (assuming this is a quality bullet appropriate to the task) and the operating speeds you want, THEN choose the case that will let you achieve this given the rifle specs.

I have launched the 22cal 80gr amax to a mile. I have no issues hitting 1500yds with the 22cal 90gr bullets (going further is such a pain with scope elevation). how far do you want to go?

the 6mm will get to a mile easily from a 6BR. Anything just reduces flight time and get big enough, lowers accuracy.

The race to big bore is driven mostly by the need to put a hurt on something way out there. If you are just plinking or shooting for S&G's, there are so many small options that work very well.

Start with the shooting goal and work backwards. Most everything "new" is a rehash of stuff from the 60's and 70's. Some really novel ideas have roots in the 30's.

There really isn't much new in chambering BUT bullet tech is moving ahead leaps and bounds.

Jerry
 
Mystic Precision said:
Many look at this choice the wrong way. The key is bullet NOT cartridge. Pick the bullet you want to use (assuming this is a quality bullet appropriate to the task) and the operating speeds you want, THEN choose the case that will let you achieve this given the rifle specs.

I have launched the 22cal 80gr amax to a mile. I have no issues hitting 1500yds with the 22cal 90gr bullets (going further is such a pain with scope elevation). how far do you want to go?

the 6mm will get to a mile easily from a 6BR. Anything just reduces flight time and get big enough, lowers accuracy.

The race to big bore is driven mostly by the need to put a hurt on something way out there. If you are just plinking or shooting for S&G's, there are so many small options that work very well.

Start with the shooting goal and work backwards. Most everything "new" is a rehash of stuff from the 60's and 70's. Some really novel ideas have roots in the 30's.

There really isn't much new in chambering BUT bullet tech is moving ahead leaps and bounds.

Jerry
Click to expand...

This was the largest part of the decision process that took me to the .284. Old, almost forgotten cartridge that is recently being revived with the development of new bullets and at least one new suitable powder (RL-17). The .284 and the new high BC bullets is capable of enough speed to at least partially compensate for my shooting skills. I would like nothing more than to be able to shoot a small cartridge at stuff in the next township but I can't. So, like some others, I went with a round that is more powerful (but not crazy). And from reports that I have read, barrel life is 2 - 3000 rds as long as you take care of it. And that should hopefully get me to a point where my skills are such that I can take on the bigger challenges of shooting way out there with smaller cartridges.

BTW guys, thanks for posting up all your information and knowledge - I find a lot of what you guys are able to do simply amazing and I've learned much just from lurking around CGN.

Rooster
 
If the goal is long bore life, stop using Re17. I believe this is a double base powder and that means fast wear. consider H4831SC and run at moderate pressures. Many f class shooters are using the 284 and variants to 1000yds with success but push them hard to get all the speed possible. This leads to shorter bore life.

For LR plinking, another 75fps isn't going to change a thing BUT may increase life as much as 50%

I would look at around 2700fps in a 28" barrel when using a 284/180gr comb for best bore life AND still be in a desired node. If you want to go faster and maintain bore life, going to a larger case can accomplish both ( to a point).

There is a movement to the 280Rem (and likely improved variants) and the RSAUM. So much easier to hit 2800+fps without silly pressures. Tuning is easier, and more stable. Bore life can also be similar to a 284 run WOT. However, if these larger cases are pushed to 2900/3000fps, bore life will be substantially shorter then the smaller case.

No free lunch

Jerry
 
Thanks Jerry. Appreciate the info. I actually had picked up a pound of RL-17 but have not used it yet. Two days after I picked up my rifle from the 'smith, I tore my knee up and was only able to get two rounds through it before surgery with some old 162 BTHP's that I loaded up with 4831sc. Maybe I'll leave the RL-17 in the box for now.

I wonder how RL-17 would do in the .243 then? Oops, here we go! Hey - I am just kidding.:stirthepot2:
 
7 RSAUM is ridiculously bad on barrels (~700-1000 accurate rounds) 284 and 280 are both very similar in performance and will give double the barrel life of a 7 SAUM. With a good bullet like the 190 matrix or the 180 Berger Hybrid, velocity just doesn't matter. Tune a load for accuracy... you learn far more from a hyper-accurate cartridge thean a hyper-fast one.
 
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