Good 1000 yard caliber, just for fun.

[CarlB]

260 Remington if you reload your own. 6.5 Creedmore if you don't reload. I use the 260 Remington round for the 1000 yard endeavor. Exterior ballistics with 139 grain Scenar in 260 Remington are very similar to 300 WM out to 1000 yards. The 6mm caliber offerings are great, but, the possible high muzzle velocities make barrels expendable items. I have a .300 WM too for 1000+ yard work, but, the 6.5 mm short action cartridges are much more economical and better for competition. Still love the 300 WM with 190 SMK's or Berger 215 grain hybrid bullets though for 1000+ yard stuff. 300 WM's have short barrel life too. I get about 1200 rounds through my 300 WM before the barrel goes bye, bye. My 260 Remington gets about 3000 rounds before it's barrel is a goner.

[russ69]

6BR. Although some people like a challenge, love recoil, want to burn a ton of powder and really feel the love of a 308.

[6mmintl]

Any suggestions? I might rebarrel an existing gun, so i just need caliber tips. Currently shooting 223.[/QUOTE]

If you already have a .223 you might look at rebarreling to a fast twist 1x7.7"-3or 1x8" and try heavy 80 grain bullets, you only lose about 2-3% to a .308/175 grain combination, doesn't recoil as bad and almost as good in the wind.

30% cheaper to reload also.

[LynnJr]

If you load a 300 winmag with 190 sierra matchkings and you load a 6 BR with 107 Match kings they are ballistic twins except for retained energy.
Don't take my word on that go to the JBM Ballistics website and put in 2950 fps and look at the data.
Why anyone walking this planet in 2015 would consider the 308 is purely for nostalgas sake.
300 win mag performance 30 grains of powder no recoil and far superior accuracy to 1000 yards is a no brainer.
What action are you planning on using?
If you look in the picture the heaviest barrel with threads is a 6BR in 8.2 twist.

[vintagearms]

Approx barrel life with 6BR?

[milotrain]

Plenty. 3k or so.

[LynnJr]

In benchrest barrels get swapped out every year or every 1000 rounds.
After 2500 rounds they will shoot 1/4 inch groups until around 8000 rounds.
You can keep them shooting tight by cutting a new crown and new chamber every 1200 rounds.
You basically get 243 velocity with 15 grains less powder no recoil and world class accuracy.
SwitchBarrel who posted earlier in this thread won the 1000 yard Nationals early last year using a 6 Dasher which is the 6BR with the shoulder moved forward.

[Thorax]

30-06 is not any more harder or easier to reload.

I said it was easy to reload, not easier, not easiest.....intake and comprehension issues ?

30-06 has more recoil than all the other cartridges mentioned.

I said relatively low recoil, in comparison to a mans rifle, it is.

30-06 uses the same bullet as 308.

Now there is a revelation !
So does a 300 win mag, a 300 H&H mag, a 300 wby mag, a 30-40 krag, a 30-30, a 30 carbine, and all sorts of other cartridges.....do they all shoot the same and use the same weight bullets ?
I think not.

6 BR, 6 dasher, 6.5 creedmoor are not wildcat rounds. They are recognized cartridges by SAAMI. If your criteria for a non-wildcat round is 100 years of service, then there are a lot of wildcats out there.

http://www.saami.org/specifications_and_information/index.cfm

When were they spec'd ?
Last week ?

Just think of it like this.....
20 years ago a 220 swift and a 22-250 were the flat shooting whiz bang, golly gosh cartridges everyone loved.
You never hear of them these days.
You know why ?
They didn't have enough knock down power to hunt with.
Sure you can kill a coyote with one, but a 22lr will kill a coyote just as well.
All the 6 and 6.5mm cartridges will go the same way.
Not enough knockdown power.....
Not a adequate hunting cartridge.
Round of the weak......err, week.

BTW, if a 30-06 has too much recoil for you....visit a doctor and get a testosterone shot, or two.

[TripleThreat]

Phased Plasma Rifle in 50 watt range.

Triple

[CJF]

6.5 creedmoor. great ballistics. good barrel life. good (and inexpensive) factory match grade ammo. even if you reload, it is nice to have the option to buy factory match ammo at $25/box.

[spamsucker]

I do this with a .223 Mossberg MVP 24". My loads are berger 70gn and Hornady 75gn BTHP's in lake city milsurp brass. I think the advice to use .308 based cases is a little misplaced for high volume target shooting that's just for giggles. Why burn double the powder and use bullets that are twice as expensive just to ring a gong.

Wind is very often sniveled about with long range .223 but it hasn't been as big a problem as I thought it would by a long way. 1MOA targets are totally hittable even in the wind with good wind DOPE. 2-3MOA targets are easy. You could do it with an AR but I like the bolt action myself.

My reloads cost me about 50 cents a piece with low volume component purchasing for berger bullets and about 30 cents a piece with hornady bullets. If I bump the component purchase volume then I can get that down a good bit. Barrel life is pretty huge too.

[BillyGoatCrawler]

I said relatively low recoil, in comparison to a mans rifle, it is.



BTW, if a 30-06 has too much recoil for you....visit a doctor and get a testosterone shot, or two.

LoL....

[TomReloaded]

The paper doesnt care how much energy you dump at it. Ill take less recoil. I do manual labor 10 hours a day, my shoulders dont need more.

[Grunt81]

Why anyone walking this planet in 2015 would consider the 308 is purely for nostalgas sake.

Ow! Dam near stung a little. Simmer down buddy. A .308 is a great choice for the OPs criteria. He's not competing, just wants to get hits now and then. A good load from a good rifle with fast twist barrel (1:10) will easily handle 175 grain bullets and heavier. Once-fired brass is plentiful and cheap. A good shooter with proper reloading technique and load development ought to be able to reliably hit 5/10 on an 18" steel torso at 1,000yds, in wind speeds of 25mph or less. I'm going to give my 208 Amax a shot at 1,000yds soon. The .308 will hit the steel target harder than any 6mm/6.5mm family. That's good for seeing it rock side to side.

It's crazy how quick this discussion turns into a debate on what's the best 1,000 yard caliber. What's the best for a professional bench rest shooter isn't the best for a guy who does informal long range shooting and/or hunting.

[Grunt81]

30-06 is not any more harder or easier to reload.

30-06 has more recoil than all the other cartridges mentioned.

30-06 uses the same bullet as 308.

6 BR, 6 dasher, 6.5 creedmoor are not wildcat rounds. They are recognized cartridges by SAAMI. If your criteria for a non-wildcat round is 100 years of service, then there are a lot of wildcats out there.

I said it was easy to reload, not easier, not easiest.....intake and comprehension issues ?

BTW, if a 30-06 has too much recoil for you....visit a doctor and get a testosterone shot, or two.

Bsumoba: don't trip on Thorax. He's greatly skilled at the heart of initiating pissing contests on Calguns using the old bait and switch tactic. It's how he copes with not having gotten a free lay in 60 years, for which he requires a testosterone shot.

Kinda like this, "Thorax, you didn't serve in WWII in the infantry? Go get a testosterone shot cuz you're f*ing p*ssy."

Yeah, like that. It's rare he makes a genuine post and when he does, it might just be bait.