I know an older guy, a retired gunsmith. I wanted to build a rifle with him, and he said he would help me do it. I only have a few rifles, and have a caliber gap from my 260 rem to a 358 Winchester. Was thinking something in the 30-8mm range. I have pretty much narrowed it down to the 30-06 or the 8x57. I am leaning towards the ought 6 for several reasons. Availability of components (I reload), better BC (i think), cheaper components...not sure what else. This will be a deer/hog rifle, and i am not a long range shooter. If I want to get into long range paper punching I will use my 260. Is there something I am overlooking here? Is one easier to build than the other? The guy already has the reamers for both chamberings. This project is basically so I have something to remember the guy by. Or is there another 30 caliber that I should be considering? I don't want to get into anything that requires a lot of extra work to make it function.
How about a boring old .308 Winchester? It's right the middle of the ones you have now, does everything an '06 will and burns less powder doing it.
