Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Help w/ Caliber Choice for re-barrel

I have decided to rebarrel my Browning A-Bolt from 30-06 to a smaller caliber. The gun shoots extremely well, but I do not like the recoil, and don't need a 30-06 for whitetail deer in Missouri. My average shot is 75 yards, with the longest possible being 225 yards.

I already have a 257 Roberts(Savage), a 7-08(Tikka 595), a Marlin 336 in 30-30, and a 336XLR in 35 Remington, so this will be a "fun" gun, one that I can shoot a lot without beating myself sensless(doesn't take much according to my wife)

On the long action, I am considering the 25-06(not much difference ballistically than the 257) and the 6.5x55. The 270 is more than I want, and I have another Tikka in 223.

So give me your recommendation, and reasons, for selecting either the 25-06, or the 6.5x55. I reload, so ammo availability is not an issue. I am looking for something that has little recoil, is fun to shoot, and I can use for deer out to as far as I can realisticly shoot in the field(probably around 300 yards for me, on a good day). I have considered the 6.5-06, and the 6.5x284, but neither gives any significant increase in performance over the Swede, for my purposes. The 257 Weatherby is too expensive, and the barrel will not last long at the rate I will be shooting.
So give me your reasons and experiences with either of these two calibers, or another one of your choice if it fits the criteria of low recoil, fun to shoot, good for deer to 300 yds, fits in a long action, and is not a 223,257 Roberts or Weatherby,270 Win/Wssm/Weatherby, etc.

just a thought, i had the displeasure of sighting in a few abolts and found the stock to be absolutely horrid in design. i restocked one in 280 and found the recoil drop by half. original stock transmitted brutal recoil (worse than my 300 win). it is just a thought.........

swede would be cool but i think the 6.5 06' loaded down would feed right nice..... either would get my vote...

seems as though your long action choices all fall very close to what you have.... consider sellin' and going with a mild report short action caliber? your needs sure would fall into the 08' class and smaller...

sounds like fun either way...

enjoy

woofer

No disrespect but it sounds like you already have your bases covered with the Roberts and 7-08. Sell the gun and use the funds to buy a new scope or components or some reloading gear.

You were describing the 270 Win, and that would be my choice, until you said this:



And this:



So.....

The 25-06 has a huge following around here, and you'll probably get lots of votes for it. Personally, it does nothing for me, so since you've ruled out most long action standard bolt face cartridges (I'd say 270, 30-06, and 280, pretty much in that order), I'll leave it to the rest of the gang here to decide.

Why not just load the .30-06 down to .300 Savage levels or so.

I also load one of my 06 rifles way down with bluedot and 160 lead bullets,my 10 year old shoots that gun and will be shooting a deer with it this year.

as a re barrel job you reload so how about a 6mm rem or 6mm
rem improved?just a thought

I personally would choose a 6.5-06, just because I don't have one, and I think you can probably get a better selection of sleek bullets for it. I might think about AI'ing it, just so I didn't have to trim brass as often.

(Actually, I'd do a .280 AI first, but that's not really the direction you want to go.)

i'd go 6.5-06 or 6-06... The swede is way cool but you should check and see if your rifle will feed and eject brass... could be some minor bolt face work to make that one function properly.

You don't have a 25-06?

6.5x55 - for sure. As a fall back position the 7x57.

They're obviously kiddin'. Quarter-bore is the only way to go.

6.5x55 or 7x57

OK, I'll go along with these guys, with my preference of the two being the 7x57 (7mm Mauser).

I have been shooting a 25-06 alot lately and really like it. If I can leave my 300 ultra in the truck this year I am going to try and shoot some deer with it.

Dink

25-06 with 100's would be way cool, high velocity, low recoil, then load 120's and you almost have a .270 win.

Just a free opinion so take it for what it's worth....I wouldn't rebarrel an A-Bolt unless I just wanted something nobody else had. Re: 6.5x55 A-Bolt. Not many of those floating around. And you've all but ruled out the 25-06 yourself. If you shoot 115 to 120 gr bullets in the .25 you'll be hard put to tell the difference recoil wise between it and the 270 Win you don't want. And it's just a half step or so over the Roberts.

Personally I'd sell the 30-06 and buy this if I wanted to keep an A-Bolt in the safe:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=190063729

A .260 in a short action A should be just about what you're looking for. Load 120 to 130 gr bullets to 2800 or so for a sweet little rifle that'll fit the recoil parameter and do as good a job on Missouri whitetails as needs to be done. But if you're dead set on rebarreling go 6.5x55. Everybody needs a couple of those anyway.

well I dont know how conservative you reload but the 25.06 will run circles around your 257 roberts I would set it up for 85 -100 gr bullets and put a 26" pipe on it.

My 700 classic is tickling 3500 fps with 100 gr bt's and RL17 man what could the extra 2"s do

just to really mess you up my next vote would be for the 6.5x284 at least you can buy components for it and even ammo if you want plus its cool

last would be 6.506 great round that I wish someone would make a factory round/rifle for

I'd go short action smaller round too. I know you lose $$$ during the swap but the rebarrel project isn't free either. I'd go with a nice handy 20" barreled rifle in the 243 or slightly larger area. A 95-100 grn partition will take care of any deer in your area.

USAFA71 -
Let me see�

The .270 Win has more recoil than you want, you don�t want a �223,257 Roberts or Weatherby,270 Win/Wssm/Weatherby, etc.�, the .257 WBY is �too expensive (for a reloader???) and you don�t feel the 6.5-06 or 6.5-284 give any significant performance increase over the 6.5x57. Moreover, you already have a .257 Roberts, 7mm-08, .30-30 and .35 Rem, and it sounds like you don�t want another in those cartridges.

That�s a pretty narrow band you�ve limited yourself to.

The 25-06 won�t offer any significant advantage over your .257 Roberts under 300 yards (at least not if you�re running +P brass and loads like I do), and the 6.5x57 won�t offer any significant advantage over your .257 Roberts or 7mm-08.

If you want something �fun� in a long action, I�d go with a 6.5-06. As a reloader you can always load it down to whatever recoil level you want and up to normal pressures when you choose. The high BC 6.5 bullets are the reason my custom 6.5-06AI is not a .257 WBY or .25-06.

In your shoes I would punt. Either I�d keep the .30-06 as-is and use low recoil ammo or, more likely, I�d sell it and get a .308 Win, maybe in a target configuration.