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Are short range deer anything like free range chickens?

6.5 Creedmore, 20" tube, 8 twist. WOW, I think I will get one. Hello Melvin, it's me again. Should work just like the old 6.5x54 MS's which laid everything low.

Me neither, I push them around on a rifle bench on 26" bicycle wheels, and I'm crippled up. Each weighs 14+ pounds. Build one about 6 pounds and you're good to go.

I agree, always opt for the faster twist. I even went to 1:8.5" for a .204 Ruger and it works great.

I�ve hunted blacktails in western Washington for a decade or so. A couple of weeks ago, I spied a little doe on a brushy cliff 40m away as she lifted her head to peer at me. I had to crouch and shoot from an odd angle, but I broke her neck with my 308.

I try to imagine a better rifle on the drive home every year but I always come back to what I used this year: a pre-64 Model 70 FWT with a 4x Leupold and a Pacific Research stock. It�s longer and heavier than it could be, but it balances well, it fits me perfectly, and I�ve made several very fast shots on game with it.

I shoot it so much better than anything else that it has forced most of my other rifles into retirement. I�d never use it for just deer, so it has to be capable of taking elk, hogs, etc. with some margin for error. The 308 will do that. Also, components are cheap and common, so I can practice a LOT without going broke.

Starting from scratch, I�d consider a Model 7 or a Montana. I�d have it built to balance at the front action screw, which may mean a 22� barrel or longer. I�d fiddle with rings and bases until the reticle magically appeared on whatever I pointed it at, then I�d shoot it so much that I could hit with it in a hurry. Then I�d make sure it was a 308 so I could use it on pretty much everything and find ammo pretty much anywhere.


Okie John

You could run a heavier contour and stay shorter, but with the same balance point.

Easily done: flick the bolt while the gun is in recoil, and you'll have a live round in the chamber by the time the crosshairs settle back on the target.


Okie John

25 feet to 250 yards






Nikon 1.5-4x20mm

thats a nice deal Chrome! I bet that 6.8 SPC is about perfect in that little rifle.

other than it being a ruger... very nice.

I've had several 6.8's in the past and was thinking the little carbine would have alot of muzzle blast, but was surprised at the lack of recoil and blast from the 16" barrel.

I agree, much beyond the little 6.8 might have some noise, and thats about a perfect round for GA deer.

Trying to figure out how a Montana in .243 wouldn't work, and can't.

..........If you`d like just a "little" more noise, with just a "little" more recoil, and with just a "little" more blast, then I have a Ruger compact for ya to have some real good fun with sometime.........:D

I like the walnut stock on your 6.8 and thinking of switching over to one.

I would think that any full stock/mannlicher bolt action carbine from .25 to .30 cal would work great for you. Personally, I like levers in .25 to .35 cal. Good luck.

I like this cartridge for this application, and have no problem with the rest of your discription other than choice of twist. Based on my own experience, and the recommendations of gunsmiths, and barrel-makers like Shilen, I believe a 9" twist would be a better choice for these heavier end bullets. It would be my choice, and I could use any heavy bullet I chose without having to worry about stability. And, if I were to use the .250 as a short-range deer rifle, it would be loaded with the heavier bullets.

Just my thoughts,
M Bell

Lil Ctg + Lil 'GOOD' bullet + CORRECT vital shot placement = Death

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...ger_1_International_Who_has_#Post3091822

I think a 250 w/100 Barnes would do about the same thing. I'd run it, the 100BT and 110 AB if/when I have one.

No doubt, for heavies in a 250, faster twist will not hurt.

If ONLY Ruger would marry the 77 Compact, AND #1 RSI with Hornady's 6.5 Grendel (yeah, I ignore the other company), then I would be all over that, it just turns my crank more than a 6.8, not that the latter won't do well...again good bullets/placement.

The 260 in a Ruger compact, even downloaded w/a good 120-130 would have very modest recoil and blast as well if max loads were not used, and still kill fine.

On that 7TCU, used alot in pistols, and I know at 2400 w/fireformed load in a 14", it's a solid 200 yd gun. My 7BR was a notch above the TCU, my rifle - 21", shot 2875 w/120s. 2665 w/130, 2545 w/139s. For short ranges, given the choice, I see a round that does NOT blew up too much edible meat, blast your ears, etc. very logical.

My 6BRs have done well also on deer, all back to use a good bullet, put it where it needs to go. On that TCU note, and the OP hunting blacktails, I recall a Sako that someone out there has, it was in Shotgun news years back, the owner used a #1 and fluted IIRC bbl, on a Sako L461/469 action, in 6.5TCU, though OAL of mag limited it to 100 gr bullets. A 6TCU or 6x45 on a Sako vixen would be a dandy to 200 yds, contact Fred at Bullberry re: his 20" mannlicher - his fav.

A nice 25 might be the 257 TCU, or maybe also called 'copperhead' and put in a small Sako or Interarms or CZ. Mild recoiling rifles are just plain fun, and still get the job done when you do....everytime. Rich at Sierra did a wildcat 25 on a 35 Remington case IIRC, and in that Interarms mini-mauser action. Another thought if you want to consider a wildcat.

A 20" 250Sav/260/7-08/308/338Fed/358W would be perfect for this.

My 358Win is going to be fed with 200s for deer.

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Maybe I misunderstood the idea of "short-range" because most of the rifles being considered seem to be medium range (as in out to 300 yards or so).

I do love the .250-3000 but I prefer it in a Savage 99. The .308 and .358 are other favorites in the Savage for this use as is the old reliable .300 Savage. If you prefer a bolt action rifle I'd go with a Mannlicher carbine in something like the 7x57mm or .308......Nothing wrong with the .250-3000 if you like it in such a rifle but I just don't buy into the idea of using the least rifle possible to do a job.

For me, the original post about "short-range" (100 yards normal with possibility of an occational 200 yard shot) just cries out for a traditional lever gun in something like the .35 Remington or .45-70.

I'd even go so far as to pick my own favorite "short-range" rifle, the Ruger 44 Carbine. It's pushing the .44 magnum a might to take 200 yard shots, but at 150 yards or less it's almost perfect. Where I hunt with this carbine, a 150 yard shot is almost unheard of.....more likely it will be at under 50 yards.

BR,

I think the 100 grain Barnes and the 110 AB would both be "heavy" bullets in this caliber as far as stability/twist is concerned. Both are longer than the 117 Pro-Hunter and 117 IL Spire-Point. The 110 AB is even longer than the 120 Hornady HP and the older 120 Nosler Solid Base.

M Bell