Target rifle caliber?

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6mm PPC dominates 100&200 yard benchrest and works at 300 too.

A 6mm BR might be less work and a great choice too. You don’t need any more than either of those for 300 yard and under target work.
 
For the distances specified, I'd lean toward 6.5x55, especially as it's still reasonably available of late. The range of target-appropriate ammo is pretty good.
Rifles available in a number of formats, down to 18" barreled "Engineer" or "Artillery" Mausers, and up to almost anything a person might want.
Bud's has CZ557s in stock in 6.5x55.
 
wiscoaster said:
I'm starting to toy with the idea of aquiring a bolt-action precision target-shooting rife, maybe a Ruger Precision or something on that order. Any input on what caliber I should look for is appreciated. If the Ruger, I'm thinking .308 or 6.5 Creedmoor. Thoughts on which? I'm swayed to those two calibers because I've been noticing they're likely to be in stock locally. My current rifles are milsurps in various calibers, AR-15's in 5.56 and 300 AAC, AK-47 and SKS, and various rimfires, all of which are used only on the range for target shooting. I'd be shooting maybe a max of 300 yds. So that's where I'd be coming from.
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I work at Proof Research lapping and rifling barrels. One thing I want to impress on people is how big a deal the 6.5 Creedmoor is. There are other 6.5mm cartridges, but until the Creed came out, none of them achieved a whole lot of popularity in the US. Probably 1/3 of our total production capacity is dedicated to .264 caliber barrels, and approximately 2/3 of those are 22 to 24 inch, 1:8 twist 6.5 Creedmoor barrels. I won't get into too many specifics, but it probably equates to one of our rifling machines working non-stop to keep up with demand. No other cartridge is as dominant in the long range precision shooting community. Now if you have a .308 that you know and trust, or something else, is there necessarily a reason to go out and buy a 6.5 Creedmoor? As much as I hate to admit, yes, maybe, but that would depend on other factors. I am not a big fan of the Creedmoor. I think it gets a lot of hype it doesn't deserve. I am not convinced you can't put a 1:8 twist on a 7mm-08 and blow the Creedmoor out of the water. But those are topics for another discussion. Bottom line is the 6.5 Creedmoor is a big deal. Any new rifles, bullets, and technology that becomes available in that market is going to be available for the Creed first. It will continue to set the standards for performance and be the round that everything else is compared too. I think it would be foolish to get into the precision rifle scene with anything other than a 6.5 Creedmoor, just based on availability and acceptance alone.

Is the 6.5 Creedmoor necessary for "only 300 yards?" No. But it is nice to have something you can grow into, and something to keep in mind is that it might be more difficult for a new shooter to shoot a cartridge driven to nearly its potential. Shooting a 5.56 to 500 yards is going to be more difficult than shooting a 6.5 Creedmoor to the same distance. Even given more recoil, the performance of the Creed so outclasses the little .224 caliber centerfire that it is like cheating. That is the primary disadvantage of the Creedmoor--it might be cheating and therefore, stunt your growth. "In the old days," we just had our 168 gr .308 Win limping downrange and we had to learn to deal with a little recoil and wind drift...

Now, ARs are a quickly expanding part of our business as well. It is possible to build a very accurate and very reliable AR these days. The AR is America's Rifle. It is the right time for it. Our knowledge and production capacity has matured. We can mass produce parts at a higher rate of precision and quality than ever before. Honestly, it might be hard for bolt gun manufactures to keep up. You can buy a Savage or Tikka for not an incredible amount of cash and expect it to be very accurate, but I've seen $450 PSAs with $200 optics hold sub-MOA with factory ammo. In terms of accuracy potential, I think that is mostly limited by the shooter, especially under realistic field conditions. But there are other things to consider. The semi-auto will be more picky about its accuracy, and more specific about the ammunition you can use. ARs are primarily limited by their magazine length. If you handload, you get greater potential performance in a bolt action because you are not limited to AR magazine length, so you can play with cartridge lengths. Our team shooter is adamant about his preference for a bolt action for this reason. Basically unless you need the firepower of the semi-auto, there is still very good reasons to consider the bolt action in the precision long range rifle scene. Whether you want to go with one of the more AR-ish bolt actions like the Ruger Precision Rifle, or something more traditional, like a Savage in a chassis system or a Tikka in a quality bedded fiberglass, is up to personal preference.

I am not bashing the AR. I have a Colt 6960 (16"5.56) and a 20 inch Aero Precision M5 .308 Win that I love. Between them, they do everything I need from a rifle and realistically shoot better than I do. And I am not the only one for which the AR is the go-to working rifle. Americans own over 20 million of the things. The AR isn't the most popular rifle in America because it sucks. But precision long range shooting is a specialty for which the AR has its limitations, and if you are serious about getting into that field, then you need a bolt action in 6.5 Creedmoor.
 
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Mmmmm ... kind of pushing out the upper bounds price-wise ... but definitely should be on the consideration list. Spending a little more often works out to be the most economical choice in the long run. Thanks for the link. Bookmarked.
 
I recently bought a Savage 110 Desert Tactical 6.5 Creedmoor and building loads for it now. So far I like it a lot. Haven't adjusted the AccuTrigger yet, but I will. I have another rifle with the AccuTrigger and like them OK, but not great. I have Shilen and Timney triggers that are really great. OK, so this rifle is really good for the money. I paid less than $600 for mine and the Tract 4-16X Response scope for $424 plus Warne rings puts my total investment right at $1000. It will handle 300 yds easily...(Heck, I have .204 that drills small targets at that range). And my rifle range is building a 600 yd bench rest range that I'm eager to try. But, here's my thought. If you are seriously thinking to invest in a Bergara Precision Shooter, I say, GO FOR IT. You will not be sorry. I have a Bergara BXR .22 auto and the materials and craftsmanship are superb. I looked hard at Bergara, handled several but, in the end, couldn't justify the expense. But today.....Sometimes i wish I would have waited. That said, I'm happy with my Savage's performance so far and am confident that I can improve accuracy with a trigger adjustment (replace?) and tweak my hand loads. Groups so far are about 1.5" at 100 yds; not bad, but not great. I'll load some test loads when I can get some other bullets, which are getting harder to find. I really want you to get the Bergara so you can tell me how you like it. Nothing selfish about me, eh?
 
I still want a .260rem with a 24 or 26" barrel. Lots of data and necked down 308 brass means when the next 264 caliber makes the most recent obsolete there will still be cases sitting around
 
Sniper66 said:
....I really want you to get the Bergara so you can tell me how you like it. Nothing selfish about me, eh?
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No, not at all. :D

But this project is probably for winter or later. So don't hold your breath.

So far, I'd say the Bergara is at the top of the list.
 
I built a AR in 6.5 Creed, liked it so well I bought a 6.5 Creedmoore barrel for my SiG SSG-3000. After shooting out to 500 a few times at a friends farm, I took it to the range where I belong but is only 300 yards max ... the "new-ness" quickly wore off when I realized I was paying nearly 2x as much to reload the 6.5 as the 223, and both were equally accurate.
It is nice that I can shoot the 6.5 all day, unlike the 308.

Now both mostly sit in the safe as its a pain in the arse to drive to the farm, set up targets at 500 and only have a pic-nic table for a shooting bench. It works and both are sighted in and will shoot 2.5" groups at that distance. But as I've gotten older, as long as I can hit a grapefruit at 300 I'm satisfied; I don't have to hit an olive at 300 to put meat on the table or stop an on coming threat.
 
As a FIY for those that participated in this thread and gave advice, I thought I'd let you know how it turned out. In the end I decided to assemble a "starter" system because: 1) getting the "best" barreled action would be a $1000 purchase; 2) I'm not entirely sure I'm going to find this to my liking so reluctant to spend that much; 3) there are no ranges locally more distant than 600 yards anyway. So ... I picked up an inexpensive Howa 1500 .223 Rem rifle w/ heavy barrel, a brake, an Oryx mini-action chassis, a Vortex Viper scope, and other miscellaneous bits and bobs for a total well under $2000. Here's a pic of the setup to date (sans scope and oversized bolt knob):
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We went with a 308 RPR. We are already pretty invested in 308 cal and have the brass, dies and piles of bullets stockpiled.

My max range to shoot within a reasonable drive is 300 yards. Recoil is not a factor. The RPR has a pretty good muzzle break.
 
Worm can opened. You’ll get as many answers as members. Problem is about everyone will be right. 6.5 or 308 probably the best choices. 308 brass and 30 cal bullets easiest to find. 6.5 also now readily available. I have both. I think 6.5 more accurate, but at 300 yards not overly so.
 
wiscoaster said:
As a FIY for those that participated in this thread and gave advice, I thought I'd let you know how it turned out. In the end I decided to assemble a "starter" system because: 1) getting the "best" barreled action would be a $1000 purchase; 2) I'm not entirely sure I'm going to find this to my liking so reluctant to spend that much; 3) there are no ranges locally more distant than 600 yards anyway. So ... I picked up an inexpensive Howa 1500 .223 Rem rifle w/ heavy barrel, a brake, an Oryx mini-action chassis, a Vortex Viper scope, and other miscellaneous bits and bobs for a total well under $2000. Here's a pic of the setup to date (sans scope and oversized bolt knob):
View media item 3508
Click to expand...
That sounds and looks like a thoughtfully assembled piece of hardware. There's little doubt you'll have great fun and we look forward to the range reports!
 
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