Short-Barreled 6mm Dilemma?

I have a safe literally full of rifles of different calibers. They range from a pump 22 up in size to an old 303 British. All of them have put meat on the table in some form or fashion. My pop purchased quite a few of the surplus rifles back in the early 60's and took the best of what he got and sold the rest. He sporterized a couple of 03A3's and one of them became his hunting rifle. Like you I would never change a thing with it, but I have cleaned out the years of gunk form the old barrel and worked up a nice mild hunting load using a 165gr bullet and some H-4895 which will do an inch or under at 100yds on most days.

As for your 280 decision, well to be honest, my most used rifle is a Ruger Compact chambered in .308 which sports a 16.5" barrel, and with a full magazine, ready to hunt weighs in at 6.5#. It sports a Burris 1.5x6 scope and has accounted for several 400+yd one shot stops on feral hogs. The barrel is pencil thin and while after the third shot it does heat up pretty good it will still hold minute of hog out past 200yds easily.

Like has been mentioned put on your thinking cap and REALLY think about having to make 2, 3 or 4 shots on the same animal if you put your first one where it needs to go. Granted I have shot at hogs that many times, but they were hauling butt out through a pasture full of tall grass and bushes while I was doing so, but when I connected they hit the dirt.

I have several Sendero's and while they are WONDERFUL rifles they are heavy and not something I choose to tote around on a regular basis. I take them for a walk around my farm once in a while only due to the chance I MIGHT catch the hogs out in the open pasture and need the added reach they provide. I have one in 7mm Rem mag and another in 7mm STW, but I also have an old Ruger 77 chambered in 280 which sports a 24" bull barrel straight from the factory. I have no issues with any of them knocking critters on their rear, and the 280 does it cheaper and just as good as the bigger ones do. I also have a couple of 243's and 25-06's, one of which was built with a 28" Broughton barrel on it in the Ackley Improved version. I have my Mod 70 243 that I got in 1969 for Christmas. It will still put 5 shots under a nickel at 100 pretty easily and sometimes put that many under a quarter at 200. I wouldn't change a thing on it either as it was the first hunting rifle my pop gave me.

All this said though, that little Ruger Compact goes with me 95% of the time. Why because it just works.

Take the 280, pick out a good 140'ish grain bullets for it and work you up an accurate load. Then take it out and work some critters over. Take your time and choose a powder like one of the 4350's or one in the Reloader line like 19 or 22. I have had great accuracy from them all in my 280. I really just don't shoot it a lot mainly due to the factory telling me they didn't make many in that configuration. The one your looking at should work out great for the hunting you have in mind. Just remember it is the first shot that counts and if it is where it should be the next shot should be from the camera.
 
LipstixWrath, why don't you simply hunt with the rifle and draw your own conclusions? By the sounds of it, you have yet to fire this rifle but have deemed it unsuitable for hunting and have hopped the fence to another obscure caliber.
You sure you're not MO? (sorry-inside joke).

The short barrel is just fine.
I now do all my hunting with an 18" bbl 6.5 Swede, 140gr loaded to a leisurely 2500fps. Accounted for many 1 shot elk.

Tomorrow will try to connect with a wolf pack. Same rifle.
 
You should rebarrel it ...... AFTER you wear the current one out.

By then you'll know for sure if you want another couple inches or a twist capable of stabilizing hyper-efficient bullets, or both ......

If you actually shoot the thing much, it won't take too many years ..... ;)
 
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You need to decide what this gun is to you. Is it a first hunting rifle to sit in the safe, be loved and shot occasionally or is it a rifle to be used hard? Frankly, I would sit it...it would mean something to have it as I learned to hunt with it. Also, try some different ammo and see what it will really do. My guess is you can find a way to make hits with this gun at all reasonable ranges.

For varmints or other 6mm fun, I would look at a 6 x 47, 6.5 Creedmor, 243 win, 260 rem with a 24 or 26" tube, possibly built by the precision rifle builder or a Savage 12.

For deer, likely you will need a bit more and elk a bit more than that. 30'06 can do it all and so can the 280 Rem....maybe the ackley version, if you reload!

Leave the 338's and 300's for people from New Jersey that can't get close!
 
was a Rem XP-100 with the skinniest barrel ever.With a 4x scope and my poor shooting,I fired a 10 shot string to decide if it was good enough.It cut a skinny "Y" shaped group at 200 yds,about 5/8 wide and 1 1/4 tall.And it had a bunch of holes drilled in the bbl to attach a silly plastic vent rib.

Actually, the XP-100 and the 600 series rifles don't have holes drilled "in the barrel" for attaching the nylon vent rib. The barrels have steel posts welded on them, and the screw holes for the vent rib are in the posts. The posts are covered by the rib when its mounted.

A skinny barrel is NOT a detriment to accuracy, simply because it is a skinny barrel. Yes, they heat up quickly. Yes they are "whippy". Yes, they often walk their shots as they heat up. Yes, they ...(insert favorite gripe here).

If you want to carry an extra 2-5lbs of steel so your barrels doesn't do these things AS MUCH, go right ahead!

Its about knowing the limitations and best operating practices of the tools you are using. Don't buy a Corvette, and then whine to me that it won't carry a cord of firewood.

You were thinking of rebarreling the 6mm, (glad you are going to leave it as an heirloom), so why not consider rebarreling the .280 (if you get it) if it cannot be made to shoot well enough to suit you?
 
44AMP,I got involved with that project because the owner claimed it would not hit a mattress at 100 yds.He was also left handed and wanted a thumbhole stock.

Right off the bat,I figured out it had been rechambered to .223 and the twist for .221 was what,1 in 14?.The white box military 55 gr fmj's he was shooting did go through the target sideways.I tried 52 gr MK's ad they shot.

I pillared and glassed it in a maple left hand thumbhole I found somewhere.

I know I took the rib off.I could be wrong about the threaded lugs you mention,its been long enough ago it was easy to find the LH stock!!

Anyway,it shot! And the owner was happy.
 
The rifle has served you well, don't mess with success. Life is a long series of give and take. The thing is we always seem to value what we have less than what we want. Often we find out that what we had was better than what we got.
 
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