Caliber Advice

H

harro

New member
G'day

I know these threads are really boring and I never thought I would be one to start a post like this but here goes.
I am about to rebarrel an old 243 rifle I have just bought.It is a Tikka M55 and as mentioned it is a 243.This rifle is not intended to be a serious target gun but used for fun at the range , up to 400 yrds max ,and maybe some hunting, varmints etc .I have been going over and over in my mind what to rebarrel it to.
Here is where I'm up to at the moment.
I want it to feed from the box magazine.
I want it to be a chambering that is a standard production round , so factory ammo can be used if I want to.
I want it to have resonable barrel life.
I want low recoil ( the barrel will be a heavy varmint or target type and I will be fitting a Macmillan A2 stock) so the rifle will be reasonably heavy.
I want it to be accurate ( don't we all) and easy to reload for.

Because of the above requirements I have come up with these so far.

243 (already own one in another rifle)
22-250 (barrel life ?)
250 Savage (don't know much about it , how accurate ? )
6mmBR ( not sure about feeding from the mag)
260 Rem.( starting to get up in recoil)

Are there any other's that I have missed ??

Thankyou for your time.

harro
 
aka Hunter said:
.223?
Click to expand...

G'day

The bolt head size means I can't use anything from the 223 or 222 family which is a shame.

Is the 6x47L a factory loaded round?. I will do a search of it and see what it says.
Thanks for the replies and keep them coming.

Thankyou for your time.

harro
 
The .250 savage is a great cartridge,it is a good varmint case and with 100 grain to 115 grain bullets is great for deer size game,low recoil and long barrel life
 
G'day

If I was to go for a 250 Sav then I assume I could form the brass from some 22-250 cases that I already have?
Would I face any problems with getting the 250 Sav to feed from the magazine and I assume that there would be no mods required to the bolt face etc.
Also what is the oal of of the round when loaded with the heavier projectiles, I'm just making sure that they would fit in the mag.
I assume the recoil from the 250 Sav is about equal to the 243?

Thankyou for your time

harro
 
I've been shooting the 6.5 Creedmoor factory Hornady A-Max in a Tubb 2000. Haven't had it long enough to test handloads, as good as the Hornady ammo shoots, I'm not sure that it will be easy to beat the factory recipe. I'm impressed enough with this cartridge that I've got a hunting rifle on order. Factory Hornady A-Max stuff can be had for about $25 a box. Lots of info out there about the cartridge. Check it out.
 
When it comes to accuracy,barrel life,ease of finding a load, recoil and performance on dear sized game the little 250-3000 can't be beat. It will accomplish the same task as either the 243 or the 244 with less powder and less recoil. It has been my "go to" deer cartridge for many years and I have never found it lacking. The last few years I've been using N140 powder with Berger 115 gr. bullets with impressive results. If varmints are your thing try some of the old Hornady 75 gr. H.P. bullets. The 22-250 has nothing over that load. I have a pair of older 99's and a third one I built on mod. 700. The only down side is bullet selection and how many different bullets do you need? As was stated earlier, make sure you use a barrel with a 10" twist.
 
I've had two guns in 22-250 with no problem with barrel life, great round for varmints and punching paper, and then there's what you had a .243, plenty of factory ammo and versitile, I'm just sayin'
Dave T
 
Have you shot it yet. Maybe there is nothing wrong with it.
A good 243 will shoot just fine and are easy to load for. Kenny
 
I'd have to say that if you're planning on rebarreling the rifle the .250-3000 is a great round. The loads in all the manuals are held to pressure limits for Savage 99 lever actions, and can easily be exceeded in a strong bolt action rifle. You should be able to make .250 cases from .22-250 cases simply by necking them up while running them into a .250 FL die. I've got a Remington 700 Classic in .250-3000, and using Reloder 15 (and likely VV N140) you can easily get 3000 fps with 100 gr bullets (Hornady and Nosler) with good accuracy. It might not be the first choice for a target rifle because of the lack of match grade .25 cal bullets, but for varmints or game up to deer size, 250 to 300 lb, depending on the bullets used. A 1 in 10" twist is the only way to go if you'd like to try heavier 115 to 120 gr bullets. A stiff .250 load uses several grains less powder than the .243 does too so it's a little more economical to shoot.

The overall length of the .250 round is listed as 2.60", so you'd have no problem fitting it into a .243 length magazine.
 
243 if standardizing is a positive. 6 Remington if you want something new. The bullet selection for 6mm is too good to pass up.

If you decide that you'd like more oomph, the 260 would be great. I'm having a 243 M70 redone as a 260 right now. It was my first high powered rifle and I'm having it redone to pass along to my son who is graduating high school.

Greg J
 
I would go with a 6BR or any variant of it - they are all accurate. I would stay with the .243 Win or just get a new barrel in .243 Ackley Improved. You will get better case life if you reload, and you can still shoot factory 243 ammo in it to fire-form your cases. With the right twist rate, you can shoot heavy match bullets out past 600 yards. You have to keep in mind the whatever bullet you fire does not care what case it is fired from. A 65grain Berger travelling 3000 FPS from a 6BR will have the same ballistic effects if fired from a 243 Win with the same twist and bullet weight. The only difference is the amount of powder and recoil it generates. Either way, you cannot go wrong with any of the aforementioned cartridges. Hope this helps. Doc
 
I know that there is 6BR factory ammo, but I think it has 3 strikes against: 1. Not readily available 2. Expensive 3. Narrow selection of bullets.

The 6BR might also have trouble feeding through your mag.

Don't get me wrong, I love my 2 barrels in 6BR, but I it doesn't fit your criteria as well as some others.

Greg J.
 
harro said:
G'day

If I was to go for a 250 Sav then I assume I could form the brass from some 22-250 cases that I already have?
Would I face any problems with getting the 250 Sav to feed from the magazine and I assume that there would be no mods required to the bolt face etc.
Also what is the oal of of the round when loaded with the heavier projectiles, I'm just making sure that they would fit in the mag.
I assume the recoil from the 250 Sav is about equal to the 243?
harro
Click to expand...

There should be no problem in forming 250/3000 brass from .22-250 (its offspring). The taper case .250 will feed better from a magazine than one of the straight walled cases. It takes a .308 bolt face so if you have a .243 you're good for go. The .250 is a long time favorite of mine for deer hunting and varmits. It performs its work with less huff and puff than a .243. Overall length will be no problem in an action for a .243 even with heavier bullets. So here's another vote for the classic .250/3000.

Another cartridge that would meet your specifications is the .257 Roberts although it does better with a long throat in a long action. It will work however in a .243 action. It will best the .250 ballistically but still provide modest recoil. There's nothing wrong with a short action other than not getting the full benefits of the case.

(I once wrote an article for Handloader magazine about a long throated .257. I was amazed at the ballistics in a long action and a long throat.)
 
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I havent ever seen a factory load that would out shoot a tuned up hand load..... I dont buy much loaded ammo any more though. Heck for the price of 100 factory rounds, i can have a set of dies and a little brass, bullets and powder. Then i am all set for the rest of my days. Lee
 
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