Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Advice on a new caliber

Folks,
Opening up a can of worms - so beware.

I have several different rifles and don't need another one - but where is the fun in that? Currently have a CZ 527-223, semi custom built on a Rem 700 action in 257 Roberts (and a host of rimfires). Wanting something bigger...but it doesn't have to be a elephant killer.

Leaning towards a Tikka for my next rifle, but am open to conversations on other brands.

I have always wanted a 6.5x55. But, I know that a 270/270wsm, 7mag, 300wm/300wsm will do everything I'd ever ask of it. This rifle will be my I don't know what I'll encounter in Texas and at what yardage. I typically won't shoot at a critter past about 250 yards, which is leaning me towards the 6.5x55.

But would enjoy a rifle for an elk trip that will probably never happen...but, if that trip happens, it would give me an excuse for yet another rifle.

If I decide to go semi-custom again, I'd lean towards a 280/280ai, but I'd rather have the extra money to get some good glass.

Mitch, If I had to have only one it would either be a .260 Rem. or a 7x57, probably the .260 but I have had 7x57's for over 50 years, shoot 125-140 Partitions. Good glass is what looks good when YOU look through it, not your banker!- Muddy PS Nuthin' wrong w/a 270 Win. and 160 Partitions for Elk.

I would say 260 right until you said elk, and a 260 will take an elk but here I would go 7mm into a 280AI.

260 is my none elk under 400 rifle, and I love mine.
280 is a great 400 and out if I have to rifle for lopes and elk.

Bigger than an 06 powder column and you are adding more blast then velocity so I tend to stay off that path

I'm not a writer but took the path more traveled before ending up where I'm at...
then again there weren't as many choices back when I started as their are now.

You can get a Tikka in 6.5x55 these days. I bought one off a member here, two or three years back. It is easily the most accurate centerfire rifle I own.

The cartridge itself, like many others, is capable of taking anything anything in the hemisphere, although, admittedly not ideal for the big bears.

If you've always have an itch for the Swede, you might as well scratch it. It is definitely a stellar cartridge.

Oh, and by the way, I am not a gunwriter. I thought this thread was in the hunting rifle section.

Me, neither - but since when has that ever stopped any of us?

My $.02 is that if you think you need to go bigger than a .257 Roberts, then go bigger. Swedes & .260's are excellent, no doubt, but they're a but a wispy popcorn fart's difference from the Roberts.

Why not jump to .30 cal? What the hell - why not get a Whelen or a 9.3x62? Either of those would take anything on the continent with ease, should you choose to plan such a hunt. And in the meantime, the recoil from shooting them would remind you why you like the .223 and the Roberts so much.

See - no gun writers required.

FC

Much forgotten 30-06 would be my suggestion.

yup.....a lot of good advise here

Yeah, that ship sailed and sank with all hands long before I got here.😜

owning a batch of 6.5 mm cartridge & rifles, it being my favorite bore diameter....they pretty much won't give you anything your Roberts isn't giving you now in real word performance... any difference can be compensated for by bullet choice...

just passing it on, with the idea that I'd hate to see someone add a chambering and then find it isn't any real difference that what they currently shoot...

take that with however many grains of sand you desire...

I'll bite. What you described fits a 338 Fed to a T. It will shoot bullets of the same weight the same speed as a 30-06; it will take care of anything you list, to include elk, very well; recoil is reasonable; shoots plenty flat at the ranges you mention and the BC penalty is a non-issue; a 338 bullet doesn't put smaller holes in critters. The 160 TTSX at 3050+ really works well. So many good options out there, go with what interests you.

B-29. Thank me later.

All I have to say, is if you can't see it early or late, or the scope won't hold zero, how much you spend on gun, custom or not is a total waste.

I'd rather have good glass on a New England Arms single shot, than a beanfield gun with a tasco....

every time anyone starts asking about calibers u will always get a number of answers. heres the botttom line we all have our favorites,mine happens to be the 270 winchester, which i personally consider minimum for elk.
personally i believe 180s are the smallest gr pill that should be used for elk,but i lean towards 165s also

30-06 is too vanilla! I'd go 7x57 or 7-08, will handle elk quite well and you won't feel silly shooting Texas deer with it. I wouldn't be afraid of any of the 6.5's either.

Ah, the Mauser. Now, that's a classic round, much like the Swede.

Interesting dilemma - I like the Swede and have a couple (one is a Tikka). As others have said, if you already have a 257 Roberts (I have one of those also), the Swede isn't much different. I say if you want a Swede, then buy one and the Tikka would be a great choice. If you want something appreciably different from the 257 R, something in the 30-06 class (anything 270 through 9.3x62) might give you more versatility/less overlap. Another question you might ask yourself, is what do you think you'll actually shoot more? I enjoy shooting the smaller cartridges more and anything above 270 doesn't get shot as much.

These threads inevitably devolve into experienced based popularity contests--"well, I have had good luck with cartridge XYZ, so you should get it"...

Let me suggest another route. Consider only cartridges that will drive a 120 gr bullet at or above expansion velocity (say 1800 fps) at the max range you think you might shoot an elk (perhaps 400 yards). I choose 1800 fps sec because that is a typical value for mono bullets; they have re-written the game in terms of taking large-for-caliber animals (no elk I have ever shot went down quicker than this fall's cow, to a 120 gr Nosler mono out of a .260).

It doesn't sound like you will get to hunt elk often; if you go at all it will be a bucket list, potentially expensive trip. You do not want to have to pass on your best/only opportunity because you are not confident in your gun. Confidence--true confidence, not misplaced faith--comes from shooting a gun a lot. At distance. That would argue for a lighter recoiling cartridge because they are more fun and easier to shoot at distance.

You could do a helluva lot worse than something in the .270 Win to 7mm Rem Mag performance range. There are maybe ten ballistically indistinguishable peas in that pod.

P.S. No one ever comes back from a day of elk hunting saying "Gee, I wish my gun was two pounds heavier."

^^^^This^^^^

These days, if you want a rifle you can actually find ammo and brass for, make it a .308 Win.

Heck with finding ammo and brass. Go with the .284 Winchester.