Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 30-06 or 8x57

RE: The original question

Deer/Pig rifle:

A huge variety of chamberings from .223 and up with the proper bullet will kill this size critter efficiently, so pick a chambering you like. Personally the very common chamberings like 30.06, .270, .308 etc. are just boring. Why waste the opportunity to build a memorable project with a friend in a caliber that inspires yawns. The 8x57 you mentioned is just enough out of the mainstream to make it interesting. Unless you intend to hunt something bigger than African Plains game, the 8x57 will make it very dead. I'm sure some new high BC, super high velocity bullet spinning at the speed of light will make things deader, but deader tastes the same as dead.

Gunsmith Friend helping with project:

To me this means it needs to be an old school hunting rifle: Commercial mauser, maybe re-barrel a shot out pre 64 winchester model 70 or a model 54. I'm a fan of the small ring 98 actions and 8x57 fits well in the intermediate length Mexican actions. Again, I wouldn't build it on an action that makes me yawn, like a rem 700, savage, howa etc. Those are wonderful actions from a performance standpoint, but boring from a custom build perspective. There are tons of Commercial mausers out there: FN, Zastava, Husqvarna, etc. that could be the basis for a very cool project rifle.

Reloader:

8x57 is as easy to reload as the 30.06 and there are plenty of bullets that can cover any game. Components are widely available and no more expensive than .30cal.

Already own .260 and .358:

You already have 2 chamberings that will kill anything in NA, so again I would be focusing on the uniqueness of building the project with your friend, rather than making it a quest for the most efficient wiz-bang ballistic wonder of the world. Remember deader tastes the same as dead.

Good luck.