Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Beginner Caliber Selection

I’d say! That’ll teach a ton of skills and still fetch bucks well. I’d bet they bullet is excellent started out at that speed.

Long barrel life, cheap to shoot, low recoil, and truly excellent aerodynamic performance WRT the first few factors. Easy choice for someone getting into the LR game and wanting to learn.

Is that referencing the .223 with 6" twist or something else?

.250 Savage with a 115 Grain Ballistic Tip would be a killer of game and not much recoil. A .250 Savage kills way out of its league. What's not to love?

This. If you're just starting out, keep it simple and make use of the enormous and current knowledge base on long range shooting with these cartridges. There are very good reasons these are popular for long distance shooting right now, and there's a lot of good information easily available, so no reason to try to do anything special or different. You don't need a custom rifle either, unless you just want to.

The easy button is a Ruger Precision Rifle in one of the two cartridges above. Then just invest in all the other peripheral gear (optics, rangefinder, bipod & bags, shooting mat, etc) and get to shooting.

Yes, the .223.

You said ammo cost and recoil as low as possible. That's a .223

1-8” .223 with 75 ELDM at 2934 fps. Kills varmints at 650, puts holes in paper past 1000, incredibly economical.




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There’s zero reason not to go faster twist and shoot 88’s, unless looking for a factory rifle.

6mmBR
Excellent brass, bullets, and factory ammo.

Would you be mostly limited to that one bullet if your chamber/throat was designed to optimize the shape of the 88?

And what about jacket performance with a 1 in 6 twist? Or would the .223 not push them fast enough for that to be a concern?

We’ve been shooting 50-90’s in 1-7’s for years. I haven’t had anything fly apart. Heard the lighter skinned Hornady SXS won’t hold up but the rest has been fine.

Jordan, I'm curious why you think the 88 grain eld at 2600 is superior to the 75 at 2900+. Would you feel the same way if the make range was say 600 to 700 yards?

I've shot a lot of 75s but not many of the 88s and I'm curious

Thanks

Not at all. I’ve shot plenty of light .224 bullets in fast twist barrels, and good (well-balanced) bullets shoot very well. Most any shorter bullet with a steeper ogive will reach the lands if you throat for the 88.

Hornady recommends a minimum of a 1:7 twist for the 88, and according to the Berger stability calculator the bullet is marginally stable when launched at 2600 fps at sea level and 0F, at that. To achieve super-stability and maximize the BC value, a 6” twist is needed. JBM says a 7” twist barely gets to an SG of 1.5 in those atmospherics, but I’ve never been one to skimp on twist, leaning towards faster instead of slower.

I don’t think the .223 is pushing the 88 fast enough for jacket integrity to be a concern with a 6” twist. A bunch of people are shooting them out of 7” .22 Creedmoors with no problems.

The 75 ELD is a phenomenal bullet, but the 88 offer all the goodness of the 75 and more. Even at 500 the 88 already drifts a bit less in the wind and has cut the initial velocity difference in half. Both bullets are going fast enough to expand on flesh past 700 yards, and the 88’s advantage in wind drift and velocity retention only goes up as the distance stretches out. If your max range is 600 or 700, then the difference between the two isn’t huge unless the wind is really whistling.

Can you load the 88s in a 223 and fit it in a steel AR mag?

Buy this, shooting it till it's dead, then re-barrel:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...on-700-r5-stainless-rifle-223-rem#UNREAD

Hey Jordan, are there any factory rifles of which you are aware providing a 1 in 6 twist; or, is it required to purchase such from a barrel manufacturer? Thanks in advance.

Practically speaking, no.

No, sir. It’s a custom barrel proposition.