Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters HELP!! I have a glaring "gap" in my line-up and need help.

You need a .300 Weatherby Magnum, best of the bunch.

You could go 8mm - 06. Brenneke turned that one factory.
8x64. Just might be the ticket for those medium sized good to eat porkers. .308 might be a shave small, while throwing .338 would be excessive, most definetly. Cant see how you could for so long have gone without one. .323 fits the bill.



Sorry, try has might, no reasoning any need in between .308 and .338.

I loose all credit points toward "rifle loony" with this post.

No reasoning in between .308 and .338???? What has NEED got to do with buying a rifle....if that were so I'd not on 200+ rifles.

own

I beg to differ on the 8x57 being "just" a european 30.06 . It's one of those cartridges you just have to use to appreciate fully.It handles heavier bullets better,with similar recoil to the '06,but is a surprisingly sudden killer.
While the 8mm06 is a wildcat,it's a very easy wildcat to do,will require no or next to no action work,and will fill a gap.
It would be real easy to do on a good surplus '98 barreled action,probably cost even less,and leave that Model '70 action for yet another project.
I have one of those Winchester built Sears '06 rifles,and even though it is one of several '06s I own,I wouldn't canibalize mine.It shoots like a house afire.

Yeah, I have used the 8x57mm before and it is a great round (maybe better than the .30-06 at under 300 yards). This Winchester /Sears Model 53 / 70 is also a great shooter (under an inch at 100 yards) but not as good as what I have (Model 98 Mauser that will hold 5 shots near 1/2 inch at 100 yards), so it's a "project". Maybe a mauser, but I'd go 9x57 or 9.3x57 (maybe 9.3x62) before the European '06....just me.

it actually didn't mess up to much of the ham. i shot that pig for saugage so it all got ground up anyway

You don't have a .264. I would look at a 264 win mag,

I can see a gap there between the 250-3000 and the .25-06. You need a .257 Roberts in there. Quick smart.

Since your big "gap" seems to be between .308 and .338,8mm still seems to make the most sense to me,maybe 8mm06.
I have both 9.3x57 and 9.3x62.I'd go with the 62mm length or maybe even 64mm length before the 57mm length.The brass isn't that tough,but takes about the same effort as making up 8mm06....for less advantage. 9.3x57 brass is available,but not plentiful....you would get much more utility out of the longer rounds,I believe. Loaded 9.3x57 rounds are much more difficult to find anywhere than 9.3x62,and close to twice as expensive when I have found them.

That Model 51 would make a dandy .308 Norma Magnum. Pretty much a handloadingproposition but an amazing round with 200 grain bullets.

The action would be plenty long as is.

IMO your problem was easier before you opened up a bag of worms by asking a bunch of loonies what your next rifle cartridge might be. Best answer - whatever you want. Any reason is a good reason to buy or build another rifle. It's the answer to every problem - life's good when another rifle's in the works.

You could end up like me with more good rifles than years left in the tank. That's when you decide on a few to hunt regularly and sell or give away the rest. It was a heck of a fun time getting to this stage and lots of interesting projects got done but enough is enough. I must admit it was a funny feeling the day I woke up and realised I didn't need or want another rifle. Ward

TR

You need a 35W.

WN

35 Whelen would be good. You already have 35 cal bullets, and 30-06 brass. All you need are dies.

I would vote for a 35 Whelen.You need a boreing thumper.

My gunsmith turned my .300 Win Mag into a .30-.338 twenty plus years ago. Until I bought his .22PPC, it was the most accurate rifle in my safe, and that's saying a lot for such a big magnum cartridge. My last was a 6PPC, and I'm figuring that out right now. If I get another .30-06, I'm having a .338-06 made. Hawk gunsmithing down in Texas got me interested in slower moving wildcats, expounding the virtue of better bone breaking, and less meat damage. It would probably be the biggest bullet thrower I'm interested in owning. Speer and Sierra manuals say it will take anything on the continent, and I don't see myself going anywhere. If I should go moose, elk, or buffalo hunting, I don't see myself needing anything bigger.

Texas Rick,

I have a few calibers/cartridges as well. What I enjoy using, looking at and loading are guns that step a new way from the traditional M70.

I have got some 'euro' rifles now. Some of those are full stocked carbines! Then there is the drilling. Just those two groups alone stand far aside from the usual. Think of something like that.

.325 WSM! 2925 fps with a 200-gn bullet is not a bad thing. I've lost track of what the theoretical ballistics of the round were (they were lying anyway), but that's an actual, achievable load right there. Maybe even a little bit more.

Savage 99, I know what you mean about "something different". I have several "European" style rifles too....although I could never war up to the Mannlichers (rifles, not stock style....I have several full tock rifles in the safe).

In truth I never really liked the Model 70 that much, even the pre-64's (that could get me run out of the "gun nut" club). Truth is, that since Ruger introduced the Mark II....I've liked it better than any Model 70 (heresy, I know).

I have "numerous" Mauser 98's though and most are stocked with a lot more drop i the stock than is popular, but I could always shoot them better.....probably too many years with older syle rifles when growing up. Never could really like those "hump-back" stocks on some European rifles.

From your moniker, I'm guessing you'd like my small, but growing collection of Savage 99's......11 at present count from a .243 to a 358 and all but one are pre-mil.