What affordable rifle caliber for a bolt action?

[hawkeye]

I'm trying to figure out what rifle caliber I would like to use for my next bolt action rifle. I already have .223s, and a 308 but wanted a bolt gun that shoots for less than a 308. I noticed .243 is cheaper than 308 at the local WMs.

Do any of you recommend a .243 for a tactical scout rifle? I'm looking for that space which has more power than a .223, but is less expensive than .308 ammo and has adequate power. Is there anything in that gap besides a .243?

I was thinking of a Remington 700 or Similar savage bolt gun to use with the .243.

[Bhobbs]

.243 is a great round. It shoots high BC bullets fast enough so that it can fly with the heavy magnums. It's used a lot in long range tactical matches.

[osis32]

Heard lots of good things about .243 & .270. afaik it's all about what you wanna do. Hunting or paper punching. Bigger is better for hunting as I'm sure you know. I'm a big fan of .243 myself

[milotrain]

Consider reloading for .223 and getting another .223 with a fast twist barrel. That way you aren't spending piles of money on ammo that sits in a cabinet. Ammo in a cabinet is money you can't use.

.223 with 80gr bullets will go quite a long way reliably. Not as nice as 6mm, but then again you don't need another whole pile of reloading equipment.

[atakacorp]

You cannt beat ,7.62X54R 880rounds for 160$ and a gun is 120-200$

[baih777]

edited. wrong advise

[Crunch130]

You want cheap ammo, start handloading for the .308. Or the suggestion of 7.62X54R, and you'll have the best luck accuracy-wise with a Finnish Mosin-Nagant, like an M1939.

Otherwise, pick a caliber for what you want to do with it - varmit, "smaller" big game, dangerous game, 100-yard target blasting, long-range (600 yards & out) target competition, or whatever.

Crunch

[russ69]

A 243 WIN will cost about the same as a 308 to shoot. The 243 is just a necked down 308 so it uses about the same amount of powder and the bullet is just a little cheaper...maybe.
If you wanted bigger than .223, I'd look at a 22-250 or one of the small 6mm jobs, 6X45, 6X47, 6BR, 6AR, 6mm/221 or 6XC.

[toby]

223-308 if you need cheaper than those two it would be a 22 rimfire

[jben]

Look into surplus 7.62X51 for your .308 rifle. I'm shooting my .308s (including my Saiga that eats ammo like a PIG ) pretty cheap with German surplus. Non-corrosive and pretty accurate. If you're into long range this may not be the answer.

[Bukowski]

+1 on reloading for the .308

[Ding126]

30-06...surplus ammo

[milotrain]

.30-06 is a good idea, especially if you are elegible to buy from the CMP.