Ok, reading through this post, it seems that the ideal case is lightly tapered and missing a large bottleneck. My thoughts: Wouldn't a 6.8 SPC fill that niche fairly well? Harder to find ammo, but it is out there in deer loadings. Obviously reloading would be better for it, since it is a common bullet diameter. Just a thought....
Cartridge Candidates for 16-18 inch bolt guns
- Thread starter new_camper
- Start date
Gunplummer
New member
Have been using a 18" 7x57 off and on for deer hunting over the years. Have used both 140 and 170 Gr bullets with good results, but now stick with 140 Gr for better accuracy at longer ranges. The muzzle blast is a little heavy. If I go to a Public range with it the guys on either side of me always ask what the heck I am shooting because it is so loud. I was a fan of the .308 after the military but it wore off. Over the years some of the better European calibers have finally been accepted in the USA. Once you go there it is a whole new world of shooting. Whatever you want, it is your gun.
savage340b
Inactive
308 win, hands down
Boomer58cal
New member
There are at least 30 or 40 rifle cartridges that are more common than 6.5 Grendel.
Most places that sell ammo don't sell 6.5 Grendel. Anywhere you go will sell 308.
The other day I was at my local BI-Mart and they had over 40,000 rounds of .223 in 1000rd boxes. You will never see that amount in Grendel...ever
At Cabela's last week they had 500 rd. 50 cal cans of 308 and 30-06. About 10 boxes of each. You'll never see that with 6.5 Grendel.
6.5 Grendel = Oddball.
Boomer
I once thought it would be cool to have a Mini Mauser CZ rebuilt in 7 TCU with a 16" barrel. They come in .223 so the bolt face would be perfect. Might have to lengthen the magazine box a little. With 140 grain bullets could probably get 2,200-2,400 FPS from the 16" barrel. I bought a Mini Mauser for this project but it was so accurate I couldn't bring myself to mess with it.
Geo_Erudite
New member
Boomer, wouldn't life be banal if we made our choices based on what WalMart or Cabela's stocked? 
Magnum Wheel Man
New member
I had a thread out there a while back...
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=531560&highlight=efficient+rifle
a lot of good suggestions there... I ended up choosing the 6.8 SPC-2 ( longer throat than the standard SPC ) my custom bolt should be here in a week or so... my barrel was backordered from Brownells, & if the bolt gets here 1st, I'll cancel that & order one from Midway, as they are normally in stock at both sellers
if you're not after something totally custom & are firm with 400 yard target shooting, the suggestion of 6.5 Swed, or 7 Mauser ( 7 X 57 ) are both good choices... I love my 7 X 57 ( like a 7-08 with lower pressures, & thus not as abusive out of a shorter barrel, & factory ammo is still available... just bought a box off Midway last week )
as a Contender collector, the TCU cartridges would make nice efficient cartridges in a bolt action rifle, 6mm, 6.5mm, & 7mm TCU... they use the 223 case & should feed nicely in a bolt action rifle... one I don't think has been mentioned yet, was 7-30 Waters... when used in factory form, has a flat point bullet for use in lever guns, & the FTX flex tip, which is more aerodynamic than the flat points, but when loaded in a box magazine fed bolt action rifle, can be used with pointed bullets ( which is what I use in my Contender chambered in 7-30... BTW, took it P-Dogging last time I went, & was hitting P-Doggies at close to 400 yards, with a 14" pistol
)
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=531560&highlight=efficient+rifle
a lot of good suggestions there... I ended up choosing the 6.8 SPC-2 ( longer throat than the standard SPC ) my custom bolt should be here in a week or so... my barrel was backordered from Brownells, & if the bolt gets here 1st, I'll cancel that & order one from Midway, as they are normally in stock at both sellers
if you're not after something totally custom & are firm with 400 yard target shooting, the suggestion of 6.5 Swed, or 7 Mauser ( 7 X 57 ) are both good choices... I love my 7 X 57 ( like a 7-08 with lower pressures, & thus not as abusive out of a shorter barrel, & factory ammo is still available... just bought a box off Midway last week )
as a Contender collector, the TCU cartridges would make nice efficient cartridges in a bolt action rifle, 6mm, 6.5mm, & 7mm TCU... they use the 223 case & should feed nicely in a bolt action rifle... one I don't think has been mentioned yet, was 7-30 Waters... when used in factory form, has a flat point bullet for use in lever guns, & the FTX flex tip, which is more aerodynamic than the flat points, but when loaded in a box magazine fed bolt action rifle, can be used with pointed bullets ( which is what I use in my Contender chambered in 7-30... BTW, took it P-Dogging last time I went, & was hitting P-Doggies at close to 400 yards, with a 14" pistol
)Boomer58cal
New member
I just hate to see someone build a $2000 custom uber rifle chambered in some uber wiz bang cartridge that's virtually unobtainable. They end up spending more time trying to find their Wiz bang special ammo or custom making it from scratch than they do actually shooting their new special wiz bang rifle.
They could just get a. 223, 7.62x39, .308, 30-06, 7mm mag or 300 wm and find their ammo/components at any random gun shop.
Looking at the times we're living in that's probably a decent philosophy. Maybe it's just me, to each his own.
The most uncommon cartridge I have is probably 6.5x50 Jap. The only reason I have that cartridge is because the rifle came form my grandfather, which he got off a Japanese soldier that tried to climb on his dozer ( CB's 1st battalion! ) well building a runway on some small Pacific Island ( Cactus Island I think? )during World War 2.
Boomer
They could just get a. 223, 7.62x39, .308, 30-06, 7mm mag or 300 wm and find their ammo/components at any random gun shop.
Looking at the times we're living in that's probably a decent philosophy. Maybe it's just me, to each his own.
The most uncommon cartridge I have is probably 6.5x50 Jap. The only reason I have that cartridge is because the rifle came form my grandfather, which he got off a Japanese soldier that tried to climb on his dozer ( CB's 1st battalion! ) well building a runway on some small Pacific Island ( Cactus Island I think? )during World War 2.
Boomer
Boomer58cal
New member
I have always thought that the 7.62x39 is just the Russian equivalent of the 30-30. Its counterpart from across the sea if you will.
7.62x39 is also very comparable to 30 Remington, a cartridge I wish our military would have adopted a "NATO" version of instead of the 5.56x45 NATO.
My friends Remy 788 30-30 loaded with 150g BTSP's performs right between the 7.62x39 and the .308. It's an excellent low budget deer rifle and a phenomenally accurate combination.
Boomer
7.62x39 is also very comparable to 30 Remington, a cartridge I wish our military would have adopted a "NATO" version of instead of the 5.56x45 NATO.
My friends Remy 788 30-30 loaded with 150g BTSP's performs right between the 7.62x39 and the .308. It's an excellent low budget deer rifle and a phenomenally accurate combination.
Boomer
Chestnut Forge
New member
I'm running a Ruger M77 compact in .260Rem. 40gr N160 pushing a 129 SST. Any shot in the chest of a whitetail stops them cold. Two years ago I hit one at a little over 350 yards and he went about ten feet before he dropped. I love the trajectory of this load, its like a laser beam out to about 400 yards.
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