Which mid-caliber, which rifle?

I

Idfred

Inactive
My center fire rifles are with .223 or 30-06. Time to add a mid-caliber to the stable for hunting deer (both types), and hopefully pronghorn, and sheep/goats in the future. I live in Idaho.

Thoughts include .257 Roberts in a Kimber Montana; .260 REM or 6.5 Creedmore in Savage Lightweight hunter; a new Model 70 in .257 Roberts, or even a CZ 550 in 6.5 Swede.

Concerns: 1. Weight of rifle, lower would be better and the Kimber is slightly over 5lbs, the Savage 5.5 lbs, the Model 70 about 7 lbs, and the CZ 7.6 lbs. 2. General accuracy of the rifle with factory ammo. I am satisfied with MOA or close to it. I don't need a tack driver but have heard that Kimbers are not consistent. 3. Availability of ammo. I see that the best choice based on its use Globally would be the 6.5 Swede. The 6.5 Creedmore is only loaded by Hornady. They are really pushing this round as they offer lots of variants and have temporarily suspended production of the .257 Roberts. The .260 is supplied by Remington and Federal, primarily. The .257 Roberts is quite limited now, outside of Remington, I can only find high priced Nosler custom stuff.

I am looking to spend between $800 to $1200 for just the rifle.

Thanks,
 
I chose 260 remington/Savage 10 and am happy. However, if you don't reload, I believe that you will find a greater selection of 7mm-08 commercial cartridges.
 
I don't own a 6.5 Swede, but everything I see about it tells me it is a great caliber.

270 Win or 260 would have an advantage as far as availability and such, but I don't think any of the other calibers you mention do.
 
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My #1 choice would be a 6.5X55 Swede followed closely by a 260 Rem. Nothing wrong with a 257 Roberts either.
 
I made the same choice several years ago and bought a remington model 7 in 7-08. I don't know the weight but its reasonably light. It has the 18.5" barrel and walnut stock with open sights. I just got 200 Sierra 120gr bullets and plan to load them to about 2700fps. Thats fast enough for an easy 300 yard shot and should be a light recoiling load and not blow up these light constucted bullets.

I pretty much just hunt whitetails and all of my kills but one have been 100 yards or less. My long shot was around 250 yards. So at least for my hunting style this is plenty.
 
I see by your list that you favor a short action cartridge. Certainly there is a weight savings by going to a short action and there are plenty of midrange calibers out there. The 7mm-08 would be great, the .260 and .280 as well as the venerable .257 Roberts. Pick the platform you are most comfortable with and any of those cartridges should do what you ask of 'em.
 
I don't think you need a mid caliber considering what you have. I am kinda like you and never felt I had a hole in my collection. I have a 223 and 270. I can reach out and destroy a coyote at 300 yards with my 223 so I am not sure what you want a mid caliber for??? Your 30-06 is perfect for everything else. The 243 is the only caliber that would be a mid caliber and would be a great do it all gun especially for a young kids first deer rifle but that's not your goal.
 
The 25-06 is interesting. But reading several reloading manuals shows that the 25-06 can barely do with a 24" barrel and a 120gr bullet what a 270 easily does with a 130gr bullet and the handier 22" barrel. I would pick a 270 any day over a 25-06.
 
Idfred said:
My center fire rifles are with .223 or 30-06. Time to add a mid-caliber to the stable for hunting deer (both types), and hopefully pronghorn, and sheep/goats in the future. I live in Idaho.

Thoughts include .257 Roberts in a Kimber Montana; .260 REM or 6.5 Creedmore in Savage Lightweight hunter; a new Model 70 in .257 Roberts, or even a CZ 550 in 6.5 Swede.

Concerns: 1. Weight of rifle, lower would be better and the Kimber is slightly over 5lbs, the Savage 5.5 lbs, the Model 70 about 7 lbs, and the CZ 7.6 lbs. 2. General accuracy of the rifle with factory ammo. I am satisfied with MOA or close to it. I don't need a tack driver but have heard that Kimbers are not consistent. 3. Availability of ammo. I see that the best choice based on its use Globally would be the 6.5 Swede. The 6.5 Creedmore is only loaded by Hornady. They are really pushing this round as they offer lots of variants and have temporarily suspended production of the .257 Roberts. The .260 is supplied by Remington and Federal, primarily. The .257 Roberts is quite limited now, outside of Remington, I can only find high priced Nosler custom stuff.

I am looking to spend between $800 to $1200 for just the rifle.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

I've yet to see one of these Kimbers that is not consistent. I own four of their rifles and all of them are MOA rifles all day long.

I have a couple of Montana's and they both shoot great, one in a .243 and the other a 7mm-08. I've let a friend if mine shoot these guns and he can barely hold minute of man. I'm become convinced that the accuracy reports people talk about may be due more in part to the light weight of the gun and the slim barrel profile. These aren't bench guns by any stretch, and the barrels do get hot very quick.

Once you get into other brands that are near the weight of the Montana's there really isn't any price difference, the Kimber may be a couple hundred more but in my opinion its money well spent.
 
Your .223 is your mid caliber. As others have said the 06 will handle anything a .223 won't.

Maybe a 30-30?

Maybe spend that money on ammo and a class?

Play with the idea of a carbine, or precision bolt gun?

So many options!
 
I like all of your choices but favor the Kimber or Winchester in 257 Roberts. I know it is state above but another cartridge you may want to add to the mix is the 243 Winchester.
 
I would consider .223 'mid caliber' but if you want something in the middle of .223 and .30-06 i'd suggest a 6.5mm cartridge like others have suggested above. The 6.5mm have fairly high sectional densities and ballistic coefficients, making them very efficient, so your 6.5 could potentially reach out to 1000 yards, and do it better than the .30-06

The .270 win is great too but I wouldn't call it 'mid caliber' to the .30-06
It essentially is the .30-06 with a flatter trajectory. 150's in a .277 are roughly the same as 185's in .308 caliber if you're comparing SD and BC's. The lighter bullet will obviously leave at a faster velocity than the 185 grain, though making it faster and flatter. The .30-06 will push a 150 grain marginally faster than the .270 but the smaller diameter bullet has the advantage of higher sectional density and better ballistic coefficient (if you're comparing similar shaped bullets- lets just say spitzer boat tails, since they generally are the most aerodynamic)
Both cartridges are capable of taking the same game, with proper loads. The .270 may have an advantage on 'varmints' and 'small game' due to the availability of lighter bullets, and the flatter trajectory.
 
If you aren't going to reload, why not a 25-06? Ammo availability should be high, even at all the out of the way places. If you reload, then there are all of the 6.5's to consider, as others have suggested. But do consider that the 25-06 will push a 120 gr bullet over 3000 fps, whereas the 257 won't, and the 260/Creed/Swede won't easily do it. And I'm a 260 owner and fan, but if I'd had a 25-06 I wouldn't have needed the 260. And if I really need to bust a big hog way out there, I prefer my 270, which is another option with readily available ammo.
 
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When I saw the thread title, I was going to suggest 30-06 or 308 Win. I would hate to think of either as a large bore.
 
For a light rifle the Kimbers are the state of the market.

The ones we have are accurate and reliable..

Consider a Kimber Montana 308. The 308 is a universal cartridge available world wide.

We have them in 7-08 and 243 also. They are also excellent.

Those soft pads and the stocks on Kimbers soak up recoil.

.308 :)
 
.25-06 is my choice

I have shot many deer with one. For deer and pronghorn it is about ideal IMO. Furthermore, to compare the 120 grain bullet out of the 25-06 with the 130 grain bullet out of the 270 is not quite the fair comparison. The 120 is a heavy for caliber bullet in the 25-06, and the 130 is middle of the pack for the 270. (3100 fps) SD 242

What does the 270 do with a heavy for caliber 150 grain bullet (2900 fps)?

I use a 100 grain bullet in the 25-06 for that size game. At 3300 fps (SD 216)they shoot flat, hit hard, and almost always result in a near instant kill. They will usually literally fall out of the scope in my experience.
 
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