Time to rebarrel - What caliber?

[YoteSmoker]

Well, I have finally come to grips with the fact my 243 improved doesn't shoot as good as it use to. I considered setting the barrel back but given the fact the twist rate is 1:14, it is limited primarily to varmint use and has the reputation of being a barrel burner which is why i'm here today. The gun has a long action .473 bolt face, so caliber can be short or long action with 06 or 08 parent case with not alterations needed. Will probably go with a Shillen or Douglas barrel.

I NEED something to close the gap between .223 and .270. The top 3 choices that come to mind are: 257, 260, or 25-06 which could cover both varmint and deer (would use same load on the higer end of bullet weight).

So, which should I choose and why?

 

[Guy Miner]

Well, I'm mighty fond of the .25-06 as a combination rockchuck, coyote and mule deer rifle... But I have to admit that it's not much different from your existing .270 Win, just a little bit more necked down is all... They're very close to the same, with the .270 of course handling somewhat heavier bullets.

If you want a real honest-to-gosh tackdriver with excellent barrel life, think about building a 6mmBR! You can get the chamber cut so you don't have to turn the necks on your Lapua cases, and get both excellent barrel life and accuracy, with plenty of velocity for varminting. The bolt face of your existing rifle is perfect.

Regards, Guy

 

[YoteSmoker]

Funny you should mention the 6BR GUY M. I just sold one this week, granted it was a heavy 14 lb bench rest beast. A sporter 6br could be interesting. I'm also having thoughts like do I really want a caliber so close to the ones I already have. Hard to justify spending more money except that i have an action and stock. I'm thinking the smartest thing to do might be to trade it towards a 300 RUM or something like that since i have a pretty good spectrum in between 204 and 30-06.

 

[JD338]

I agree with Guy, not much difference between 25-06 and 270 Win.
The 6mmBR or 257 Roberts would be two to consider. If you went with the 257 Bob, you could always rechamber to 257 AI or 25-06 down the road.
On the other side of the spectrum, you could go with a 280 AI, 338-06, or 35 Whelen.

As for barrels, you may want to consider Hart too.
http://www.hartbarrels.com/

I have a #5 flutted 24" Hart chambered in 280AI on a blueprinted 700 action and she is one sweet shooter! 160 gr AB shoot in the .2's and the 140 gr AB's shoot in the .3's.

JD338

 

[Powerstroke]

* Confused I guess *
Are you looking at using the same action and wanting a different caliber?
Is the 25-06 not a long action? With your .243AI being a short action?

.260 All the way however............one round that is fairly easy to get to shoot no mater the load.

 

[YoteSmoker]

P.Stroke- Short action calibers can be chambered in long actions.

 

[Asa Yam]

Is the rifle going to be a repeater or a single shot? Since your current chambering is a .243 AI, I'm assuming you're using the rifle as a single shot. However, if it's a repeater you're after, it may be less troublesome to stay with a cartridge similar to the original one for the action. For example, if the rifle was originaly a 30-06/.270/.280/25-06, stay with a round based on these cases (with no modifications to body taper).

Strictly from a target shooter's perspective, stay away from .25 caliber rounds. There is a better selection (and availability) of quality projectiles in .243 (6mm) and .260 (6.5mm).

While there isn't a significant amount of difference in recoil between a large capacity 6.5mm (i.e., .260, 6.5x55, 6.5-06, or 6.5-.284), the ballistics and variety of bullets is far better than that available to the .270. Load a 6.5x55 or larger case with a 160 grain bullet, and you can take on anything up to and including moose.

For any of the 6/6.5mm cartridges, I'd use a barrel with a twist rate of 1 in 8". Going to a faster twist usually doesn't hurt you when using all but the lightest bullets. It does give you the option of using the heaviest projectiles available - which is important if long range performance or deep penetration is required.

 

[Powerstroke]

YoteSmoker,
I figured you could do a short action caliber in a long action rifle, but can it go the other way? Obviously would have to be a single shot at that point ??

 

[Asa Yam]

...but can it go the other way? Obviously would have to be a single shot at that point ??

Calibers including 7mm magnum were available in short action Remington 40x's. Worked fine, unless you needed to extract a loaded round - in which case, pushing the bolt release was required, since the round was otherwise too long to come out through the loading port.

 

[YoteSmoker]

PowerStroke: You can run any short action caliber in a long action but it does not work the other way. Now if you try to use a wsm or saum caliber, you will have to open the bolt face to fit the fat cartridge and open the feed rails, and probably have to change the extractor especially if it is conntrolled feed. If it is a standard long action, it makes sense to keep it a long action and or a short action with 308 or 06 parent case. However, 7x57, 8mm, 257, and similiar will also work with no extra work needed. A great advantage to chambering a short action cartridge is you can for sure seat any bullets out long enough to hit the lands which is necessary for most if not all vld, a-max, etc... style bullets.

Back to the rebarreling issue. I looked long and hard at the costs of barreling, finish reaming, installation, crowning, truing, headspacing, etc...
It just so happens that there was a gun show today in denver. I took along some trading material and found a brand new Sendero with stainless fluted barrel chambered in 300 SAUM. The guy wanted $700. (These sell locally for right at $1K since the SHOT show) Well, I sold a 204 encore barrel in the meantime for 175 (used it for 2 yrs Long story short I bought the sendero for $525 out of my pocket, tax free!
I gave my 243 improved to my buddy who was at the show to take to a gun shop this week and get as close to $425 as he can with dies, brass, and about 150 loaded up ammo. So, I guess I by-passed the middle calibers between 223-270 and went high to the other side of my 06.

Now I'm going to sign off here and get to patching all that heavy grey grease out of this thing! I'm a happy dude!!!

 

[Asa Yam]

You can run any short action caliber in a long action but it does not work the other way.

It works, but the rifle's a single shot. See my previous post re: 7mm Rem Mag in a short action 40x. For proof, look at http://www.accuratereloading.com/rc8.html , about halfway down the page:

A Remington 40X, which started life as a 7mm BR. We re-chambered it for the 7mm Remington magnum.

 

[YoteSmoker]

Well I learned something new. However, isn't it a little cramped getting the case out even as a single shot on the bench?

 

[Asa Yam]

No. A fired 7mm Magnum case is 2.5" long, so just cycle the bolt to the stop. (A loaded .308 round is 2.800" or so.)

Removing a loaded round on such a rifle requires pulling the bolt out of the receiver. This allows enough rearward movement for the tip of the round to clear the front edge of the loading/ejection port.

 

[FOTIS]

25-06

 

[Savage99]

Recut the crown first after going thru the usual things on accuracy improvement.

See my post in Nosler Reloading on how to do it yourself.

 

[elkslayer308]

The 25-06 currently is the only centerfire rifle I own that is under 30 caliber. It has always done everything I have needed for the small stuff and way out there too. Load it with an 85gr BT or an 87gr SP and you will have a highly accurate, flat shooting load. Trajectory is like a 22-250 with a 55gr. Then for deer or elk use the 100-120 grain bullets. Good gun, would be first choice.