Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What's your opinion on caliber for my new rifle?

Hello, I just joined the forum day before yesterday with a question on binoculars, now I'd be interested in your input on what caliber I should pick for Rem 700 long action project. First I hunt every thing from Antelope to Elk and everywhere from dense woods to open praire here in Montana.

I currently have and use the following rifles:

1) A 1952 Savage model 99 in 300 Savage with open sights.
2) My first rifle a Rem Model 700 BDL in .270 with a Leupold 3x9 scope. I bought this gun in 1966 when I was in 11th grade.
3) A Kimber Model 89BGR also .270 with Kimber rings and a B&L Elite 3000 3x9 scope.
4) Finally a Tom Burgess custom 7mm Rem. Mag built on a Mauser 98 action, Al Beisen stock and Apex barrell. this gun was built in 1964 and sports a B&L Balvar 2.5 x 8 scope on and adjustable Beuhler mount. This is my favorite gun and scope and other than the deep woods hunting, is my "go to" hunting rifle.

Now about ten years ago I bought a Fajen fancy walnut stock for my old Remington .270. I finished it with Pilkington stock oil, checkered it and mounted Neidner checkered steel butt plate and pistol end cap. I shot the rifle that way for a few years then put it back in the original stock for nostalgic reasons. Truthfully this is the one gun I never shoot as I'll use the Kimber if I need a .270.

Now my problem is having three rifles all very close to each other ballistically. And since I have a nice custom stock ready to go for a long action BDL I have an opportunity to build a complimentary rifle.

I have been leaning toward a .257 Roberts as that was my Dad's first hunting rifle. I'd rather have the moderate Roberts over a hotter 25-06. This would be a good Eastern Montana deer-antelope rifle. Any smaller caliber would work better with a short action.

Or I could go 30-06 or .338-06 for elk, but my 7mm rem mag works fine there already. Any other ideas? I look forward to your comments.

Well, keep a .270, and buy a .338 of your liking: .338 Federal, .338-06, or the ol' reliable .338WM (if you can take the recoil). More than likely you will end-up using one of the first two .338's for all of your hunting.

But, everyone should always have a .30-06 in a rifle battery. Besides, you can always go up and back to it in caliber (.338-06, and back to .30-06) with no modification to the action except for a .338-06 barrel.

i say the 257 Rob because of dad.....

1

35 Whelen!

You mentioned the 257 Roberts yourself so thats on your mind. If I understand that the stock has and will retail a steel buttplate then you may have made a good choice.

Most 6.5mm's come with faster twists and longer bullets than the 257R. One such cartridge is the 6.5X55.

You have some mountains nearby!

Savage, we do have mountains near. I am about 20 miles as the crow flies from the Bob Marshall Wilderness area, 45 miles from Glacier National Park (hence my call name), about 45 minutes from one of my favorite whitetail areas down the Swan Valley.

You can pretty much find excellent big game hunting in any direction, and great duck hunting (my favorite) five minutes away.

I take it you like Savage 99s. The Savage 99 I have was inherited from my Father in Law and I have shot some pretty nice bucks with it, open sights and all. Can you recommend a good peep sight for it, one that won't require extra holes being drilled? I was thinking about that Marbles post type peep sight.

You're right about the steel butt plate and I feel like I have Elk covered with my 7mm rem mag, at least it's always worked for me up till now, so thats why I was thinking smaller for Antelope. And my Dad alway raved about the .257 but the 6.5x55 sounds interesting. If the stock was inletted for a short action I would probably go with a 7mm-08 or .308.

Alas I am primarily just a hunter with my two 99f's in 358. My screen name Savage_99 means that I like rare beef at 99F.

There is an excellent section here at 24hr, the Savage Collectors, or whatever its called. They can help you with anything to do with 99's however those 99's take a scope so easy. Consider having scope mounts put on it.

Nor am I a .25" guy. Check that the standard 1-10" Roberts twist is fast enough for the longest modern bullets in that caliber. Get the best twist for the best bullets. Your in BIG game country.

Mine would be the odd-ball choice... 9.3X62... Awesome Elk and anything else medicine... Second choice would be something in 6.5 cal..

MM

+1 on the 35 Whelen although I like the 9.3x62 as well. The Whelen is such a classic western U.S. caliber and would be a change of pace from your other rifles. It will handle any big game found out here - elk, black bear, moose.

Does it need a recoil pad as I really want to stick with the Neidner butt plate. I shoot my 7mm Rem Mag Mauser, 160 gr Nosler partitions without a pad, but it's a pretty heavy rifle.

Also since all my spare time is spent dog training I don't reload anymore so off the shelf cartridges would be better. Not that I couldn't take an evening off to load up some cartridges, I just don't make a big deal out of working up loads like I used to.

My pre64 M70 with a 35 whelen bbl has original stock with HARD plastic butt. No problem. You won't need to change the Neidner.

Call me a wimp but I had a 35 Whelen with a hard plastic butt plate and wouldn't call it fun. Also had a 6.5x55 with no recoil pad and had a ball shooting it.

The bad news is that you don't need another rifle for what you've said you're hunting.

The good news is, you can have another anyway.

For an 'all rounder', your best bet is likely the .30-06. You didn't mention any dangerous game, but you still might wanna go with the .338-06, just for something a bit different. With several .270's I'm not sure why you'd wanna go with a .257 Roberts, other than nostalgia as you said. If you're thinking of going on the light side, you could consider the .250 Savage.

I would stick with the Roberts idea. IMO, that rid would have lots of class... A second choice would be the 7X57. However, both are a little short on factory loadings...

Find a Model 700 Mountain Rifle in .257 Roberts to match your .270, or a Ruger 77.
Since you like iron sights, look for an older 77, or add the sights. You have all the elk rifles you need. Go down the power chain.

How about another Savage 99 in .250-3000?

Gotta agree with Paul. Because of Dad is reason enough. My dad used a Savage 99 250-3000 that belonged to his dad. It's mine now, as is a 700 Classic and Dakota 76 in the same caliber. Because of dad is probably the ultimate reason, IMHO, to have a rifle in a particular caliber or configuration. Do the Bob.

I say .257 because I did the math and know that you will enjoy shooting a milder kicking rifle. I am 54 in December so I feel OK about addressing This Issue!

Bob

Thanks all for the great input. I glad I'm not the only guy who's decisions can be affected by emotion. My Dad is 84 now and due to lung issues, hasn't been able to hunt for about ten years. The .257 he had was Mod 70 his dad bought for him before the war. Unfortunately it and all his other guns were destroyed when my grandparents ranch house burned down in 1957.

And Gibbs you're right a lighter, milder shooting rifle will be welcome when I hunt areas where Elk are out of the question. I used to get all hung up a more velocity and comparing cartridges based on an inch less fall at 300 yards, now I know that what matters most is how well you shoot that partiqular rifle in real hunting situations.

You have flat shootin' covered with the 270 and 7MAG. Might be time for a hard hitting medium, say, a 9.3x66Sako. Not everyone has one yet and it will drive a 250gr bullet 2750fps (factory load). Dies are about 4-5 times the price of regular dies and brass is around $32 for a box of 20, which is more than bulk brass but these are ready to load. I've used a hot loaded 35Whelen for years and can not say i have seen more one shot knock downs with any other caliber. Z-Hat has all the reload stuff for it.