Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles THE rifle?

Have you considered the Merkel K5 in 7x65R?

I don't know what you mean about insecure shooters or cutting edge ballistics, but Nosler load data for the 120 BT from a 6.5 Creedmoor essentially matches the 270 load with 130. The 7-08 with 120 BT exceeds it. BC is similar for all three bullets.

lol….had not considered a Merkel….or any other break action or single shot. I’ve got an encore. I could dig a straight pull, Helix or other stuff like it, as long as it was within reason on $ and didn’t weight 10# and feel full of gravel like the Savage abortion.

On another note: apples to apples, while you can do a lot by handloading the 7-08 or the 6.5, you can do more by handloading a 270, as well. I’ve got all three. For deer, there’s little difference in any to my mind. For factory fodder and handloads, the differences between all three is splitting hairs overall, but probably leans 270 at TYPICAL hunting ranges with comparable bullet weights. Just no way around displacement for horsepower, though you can argue over fuel economy and turbo BCs all you like.

Ron Spomer says it well…

https://www.ronspomeroutdoors.com/blog/6-5-creedmoor-versus-270-winchester

Picked up a stainless M70, so maybe it’ll turn into something.

Worth reading as many times as it takes for one to understand it !

Shrapnel said it best. Also he has the EXPERIENCE with those cartridges. I came to the same realization with a 270 win after being a die hard 30-06 guy. That 270 with a 130 is wicked. It behaves like a 264 win mag or even a 7 rem with 140s. Everyone can CM this and CM that, the 270 win a superior hunting cartridge. It's really not a debate.

I’d go Pre 64 in a 270 or 30-06.

"Safe Weight"... that's the quote of the month! Thanks for the chuckle.


As most know here, I've owned a pile of Kimber MT's, and also had two Fieldcrafts. I've handled several ULA's. I definitely prefer Melvin's stock to the Fieldcraft, but I prefer the Montana to either those.

Also, I'm not a fan of the Fieldcraft/NULA "bolt gap"... the bolt is shrunk to save weight and is a nice entry port for all manner of devilment. Not what I'd want on a "THE rifle."



I'm beyond anyone advising me on what I should do. I've bought, built, owned enough rifles to have definite likes and dislikes. However, I'm not so stuck that I can't learn a thing or two; and I do, often.

For me (NB "for me"), a THE rifle should be in a standard chambering (6.5CM, 270, 308W, 30-06, 7mm RM, etc). A cartridge that can be found in any gas station in Montana, so forget about stuff like the 280 ai. If I wanted to use a suppressor, I'd lean toward a long action since with a 17- 18" bbl it will essentially end up equaling a SA with a 22-24" bbl. Speed still matters. Otherwise, I like SA cartridges, with the 308 Win being my all-time favorite. Logic has nothing to do with it, I just like it. The trick is YOU need to know what YOU like and do that. Just like no one can pick a wife for you, no one can tell you which cartridge should trip your wire. As the kids say, "you do you." In your shoes, I'd take your Kimber Adirondak and rebarrel it in something that speaks to me with a 22-23" bbl. I'd dupe the factory contour, but have it heavier from the forend to muzzle, finishing up around .625."

Here in Montana, if a new hunter asks, I tell them get a Tikka T3 in 270 Win, and put a 3-9 Burris Ballistic Plex on top. That's all you need to know about rifles for the rest of your life (could also add, 6.5 CM or 308).

Aside, I own three 308's, two 6.5 CM's, a 270 Win, and a 257 Rob. I could easily do everything, deer to elk, with any of those.

If it’s truly a “300 yards on in” rifle the vast majority of cartridge sturm und drang is basically moot. So it really just comes down to what’s going to make YOU happy? Seems from here that the type of game, terrain, and how *you* prefer to hunt would be the defining elements there. Most of my big game animals have been blacktail, around 30 of them, and ironically (given how much $$$, time, hair-pulling, and effort I’ve poured into long range stuff) what rocks my huntin’ world is sneaking around in the PNW rainforest, whacking blacktail with my .358 Model 7. I mean, heck, in truth a .358 could even be a 300-yard rifle… not a very good one, lol, but it’d do it.

I’m personally a fan of short actions… but then of course the ol’ brain gets to thinking about how to maximize things within that constraint… so the last decade or so I’ve been exploring the short-fats. The issue there is usually brass availability… at any rate, my Kimber MT is a 7 WSM and that’s a great rifle right there. I have (3) 7 WSM’s and IF a guy could get brass, that would be my slam dunk recommendation. But you can’t get brass. The other one I’ve been having fun with is 6.5 GAP4S, aka 6.5 SAUM… GAP offers decent Hornady brass for it off and on but… really, 6.5 PRC would be a safer bet and is basically the same thing.

My Kimber 7 WSM bore the brunt of my long-range learning and is due for a new barrel. Since I’m set up for 6.5 GAP (including reamer and gauges) I’m inclined to retube it to that, just for grins. And that’s how I’ll wrap this up: it’s ALL just for grins. To thine own self be true, as the wise bear once said.

I have two safes full of "the rifle" and will probably ad more.....

i've come toreally be impressed by my model 70 fwt in 280 shooting 140 gr Nosler partitions

i gave up worrying about "best" rifle, I hunt with a 375 Ruger Alaskan.

Seems to work.

BMT

A rifle problem,
On one hand you want one for every occasion.
On the other you keep searching for The One, that's perfect for everything!



Not an uncommon syndrome!😁😁

Some might consider it a sickness.... I have embraced it .....

You could have saved a few keystrokes and just told everyone you didn't understand exterior ballistics or SAMMI dimensions controlling chambers and ammo.

If one is going to use 130grs of bullet (and I do very, very often) then it's proper to reap the bennys of .264 inches of diameter and the Creedmoor case.

Less recoil, better bullet performance, much better accuracy, and more retained velocity at range meaning more REACH.

You are right in that it's not a debate, it's just objective facts.

Burns is right for once

Someone finally came along and said it! A 270 might have worked for 80 years, but once the Creed showed up, it started bouncing off game. Deer, elk, squirrels. You name it. A 130 grainer in .270 can barely even penetrate cardboard well enough to sight in. Why can't you losers figure this out? Stick has been trying to teach you for years. But he can't do it alone! Now John Burns is carrying the torch, too! THE MOVEMENT IS GROWING! ALL THAT MATTERS IS ENERGY AND DROP AT 1000 YARDS. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU'LL NEVER SHOOT THAT FAR. OR HALF THAT FAR. IT'S JUST WHAT MATTERS.

John, I've seen you make some bombs and I know you get it. But come on, that CM is a man bun dude. If I'm running a 6.5, it'll be a 264 wm or a 6.5x284, and i have. But THE RIFLE, needs more than 6.5 in my opinion. I like that 270, always will. A 280 and 06 will always get it done. They aren't cool, I get it, but they are proven. Over 100 years of proof.

Exterior ballistics. Lmao. Who gives a schit.

WHO GIVES A [bleep] ABOUT EXTERIOR BALLISTICS?! Apparently you haven't tried to kill a large game animal with a 270, 280, or 06 lately. At 4000 yards, the 270 is carrying ZERO foot pounds of energy, which clearly means any cartridge invented before 2001 is an obsolete toy. WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN?!