Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Low recoil, good barrel life, flat trajectory- does it exist?

Any high velocity chambering is going to use up barrels, there's no way around that.

Since you are going to be replacing barrels anyway, get a Savage rifle and you can buy 5 or 6 barrels ahead of time and easily swap them yourself with nothing more sophisticated than a headspace gauge and a $30 barrel wrench.

25-06

I agree. I went with a 223 and 30-06 of same manufacture for this task.

BMT

That's exactly what I'm looking for.

Triggernosis, In your original post we saw no reference to target, competition or a huge number of bullets down the range..
Just the hunting..
For most game hunters, even with much practice, the .243 or other decent mid velocity round will have a long life.

Still, the .243 is a good choice and the Savage rifles whereby you can change barrels( preserve one for long range comp-varmints) and use another for practice and still another for the antelope-deer hunting may be a good call.Jim

Enter the 6mmBR cartridge. Factory loads are available that will shine @ long range, it owns the 300 meter competitions as well as the 600 yd and currently owns the 1000yd record IIRC. Recoils less than the 243. Commonly reported to have match accuracy for at least 2500 rds or more. Loads of info over on 6BR.com...

Does it look bad or does the accuracy go south? I have a P64 M70 fwt that I have shot thousands (likely 3000+) through in the 25 years I've been shooting it. The throat is waaaay out there but it still puts everything I put through it inside an inch (generally). Are you shooting stuff that's exceptionally hot?

not trying to be a smart aleck, but it really depends on your definitions of "low", "good" and "flat"

A 25-06 somewhat meets the criteria.

For some of us that aren't recoil shy, but still sensitive to REAL pain, as in ouch, a 300 Mag or '06 works pretty well.

Wayne

I vote .308 Win. Easy on barrels, easy on shoulders, and flat enough. Get some knobs and an LRF, and trajectory is a non-issue.

'nother vote for the 250-3000 savage.
Virgil B.

triggernosis,
I have no idea what competition you shoot, but .223 is working for folks out to 600 yds some even shoot it at 1000 yds with the fast twist barrels and heavy bullets. It certainly has low recoil and good barrel life. At known distance target shooting flat trajectory is not an issue. What do your shooting competition companions shoot? You could use a .260 as your big rifle and a .223 as your small rifle. When you shoot thousands of rounds a year in competition you will probably rebarrel every year no matter what cartridge you pick if you want to win.
JMO
whelennut

The .243 tends to be harder on barrels than its case capacity and bore would seem to indicate. The best guess is that this is due to the relatively long, sloping shoulder and short neck, which tends to direction burning powder gas directly at the throat area.

In general the 6mm Remington will allow barrels to last longer, and it is also safely capable of a little zip. This is not apparent when only loking at case size, but the .243 also has the tendency toward excessive pressures with 100-grain bullets, the reason its SAAMI maximum pressure is lower than the 6mm's.

For whatever all that is worth.

JB

All the more better for the .250 Sav.

+1 260 or 7/08

Get a 257 Roberts and handload it.It will do the things you want.