if you were going to re-barrel a .243 which short action caliber would you choose?

[Altahick]

i think when the time comes im going to get a Criterion barrel 1:8 twist in 6.5 Creedmoor. and shoot 140 grain Amax. i looked around today and there are bullets and brass available. im not into the cartridge of the week, but i think im down to try out the newer 6.5 cm.
what do you guys think? and what barrel length would you go with? i like the physical length of my 24" but how much better would the 28" be? keep in mind its not going to be a competition rifle just a very accurate target rifle that can easily reach out to 1000

[ar15barrels]

4" extra barrel helps noticeably at 1000yds.

[LynnJr]

Original Poster you are receiving opinions from two different camps here.It sounds like across the course shooters and a few benchrest shooters or atleast one benchrest shooter.
The key to longrange shooting is using a barrel with enough twist to stabilize the heavy for caliber bullets used at those distances.In 6mm the 8 twist barrel will stabilize the 115's without any trouble and you can shoot my rifles as proof it works.
Most of the shooters here shoot big targets or steel gongs and there guns shoot very well for that type of shooting.
SwitchBarrel shoots small targets and his groups have given him a few world records.
If you plan on having any fun while your shooting accuracy is always your first goal so forget about the 308,260,Creedmor,6XC and choose a round that is easy to load for extremely accurate and owns most of the longrange accuracy records.These are benchrest records not F-class or other disciplines using the larger 6 foot targets.
6 Dasher will give you around a 1000 rounds per 5 pound keg of RE15 the recoil is less than a 243 the velocity with a 103-108 grain bullet is 3020-3050 fps and the brass will outlast the barrel.The barrel will easily go 2500 rounds and Joel Kendrick is shooting one with over 8000 rounds on it.Dies are off the shelf items and 6mm match bullets are the most common caliber.
You can match its ballistics with a 243 but not its accuracy or barrel life.
At 600 yards 4 inch 5 shot groups won't win you anything.
At 1,000 yards 7 inch 5 shot groups will put you mid-pack.
My 80 year old father has shot sub 3 inches at 1,000 yards with a 6 Dasher built on a Remington 700.

[russ69]

Original Poster you are receiving opinions from two different camps here.It sounds like across the course shooters and a few benchrest shooters or atleast one benchrest shooter...

Almost right, but the two camps are competitive shooters and the other camp is guys that think the 338 mag is the perfect gun for shooting at 1000 yards (the thinking of the 60s).

[LynnJr]

Russ
I don't know what 338 round they were using in the 60's for 1,000 yard competitive shooting but you won't find any 260's or 308's in 1,000 yard benchrest shooting today.They don't have the accuracy or the ballistics necessary to compete on a daily basis.
The 6 Dasher is the current King Of The Hill because it is easy to load for and the accuracy is simply outstanding.

[Dattebayo]

I have a Savage 11 243 that I'd like to eventually change to either a .308 or 7mm x 08. Seems like the best way to increase ballistics in the rifle.

[Iloveguns]

All this talk about my caliber is better then your caliber, who cares!! There are a ton of options out there to choose from. Get acquainted with some people who shoot the same style as you do and find out what they are shooting and go from there. Bench rest is different then F-Class, F-Class is different then "Tactical". Every group has a few favorite calibers. If there was one that is far better then all others we would not have to have this discussion. For those of us that don't like to fuss with a lot of reloading steps there are calibers better suited for that. For those that want gnats ******* precision and need a 80# rest to get that, there are calibers for you. Don't over think things. There is no one caliber fits all here. A ton of good options, find the one that best fits your needs in the long range game.

[Altahick]

i have no interest really in full on benchrest shooting. i like to actually hold the gun my self lol. and i dont want to have to be fire forming brass and stuff so im not really interested in the 6 dasher. 243,308,260 and so on, will all reach out to 1000 i know that, but i am looking for a little more BC and punch at 1000 than .243 while not increasing recoil to much. I am liking what i am hearing and reading on the 6.5 creedmoor. awesome ballistics, decent barrel life, brass and bullets are available, and even in stock right now. and its only going to cost slightly more than .243 which was also a big concern for me.

[russ69]

Russ
I don't know what 338 round they were using in the 60's for 1,000 yard competitive shooting but you won't find any 260's or 308's in 1,000 yard benchrest shooting today.They don't have the accuracy or the ballistics necessary to compete on a daily basis.
The 6 Dasher is the current King Of The Hill because it is easy to load for and the accuracy is simply outstanding.

You haven't been keeping up. I'm in the 6mm camp same as you.

[russ69]

I have a Savage 11 243 that I'd like to eventually change to either a .308 or 7mm x 08. Seems like the best way to decrease ballistics in the rifle.

I fixed your statement. A .243 with the right twist and bullet will out perform all the cartridges you listed.

[dfletcher]

i have no interest really in full on benchrest shooting. i like to actually hold the gun my self lol. and i dont want to have to be fire forming brass and stuff so im not really interested in the 6 dasher. 243,308,260 and so on, will all reach out to 1000 i know that, but i am looking for a little more BC and punch at 1000 than .243 while not increasing recoil to much. I am liking what i am hearing and reading on the 6.5 creedmoor. awesome ballistics, decent barrel life, brass and bullets are available, and even in stock right now. and its only going to cost slightly more than .243 which was also a big concern for me.

I reload for about 75 cartridges (I heard reloading is a great way to save money .....) to include the 6mm Remington, 260 Remington, 7-08, 6X47 and 6.5 Creedmoor and I'd go with the Creedmoor. As mentioned it takes longer bullets better than the 260 Remington. The long neck is great to work with, brass is always high quality and plenty of bullet weight/styles to choose from. I suppose you could go with a 6.5 Remington Magnum in the short action, but I don't know if you get much more FPS out of the equation, case head is probably larger too.

[mofugly13]

I had a .243 Remington Model Seven that I bought used. It had a pencil thin barrel, and didn't shoot well. So, I re-barreled it to 7mm-08. I bought a standard Remington Sporter contour barrel from Douglas. This will be a hunting rifle, but I'm going to see how far I can reach out with it. We have a 600 yard gong where I hunt, and if I can ring it every time, I'll be a happy camper.

[LynnJr]

i have no interest really in full on benchrest shooting. i like to actually hold the gun my self lol. and i dont want to have to be fire forming brass and stuff so im not really interested in the 6 dasher. 243,308,260 and so on, will all reach out to 1000 i know that, but i am looking for a little more BC and punch at 1000 than .243 while not increasing recoil to much. I am liking what i am hearing and reading on the 6.5 creedmoor. awesome ballistics, decent barrel life, brass and bullets are available, and even in stock right now. and its only going to cost slightly more than .243 which was also a big concern for me.

I have no interest in full on benchrest shooting anymore either.Some of the worst humans on the planet run the organizations and the clubs.
You can build a dasher just the same as building anything else except your accuracy will be better.It is just another cartridge not some kind of voodoo it just happens to shoot extremely well so it gets used alot.
You take a 6BR case out of the box and put a fed 205 primer in it add 30.4 grains of varget and seat your bullet weighing 95-108 grains on top of that.
The gun will shoot better than anything most people here shoot and when you eject the case you have a dasher.
You switch to a cci 450 magnum primer increase the powder charge to 33.3 grains of RE15 and use the same bullet you used earlier.
Its that simple and you will most likely own the most accurate rifle you have ever owned and your hit ratio will go up considerably.
You don't need anything special just a decent 8 twist barrel.
We hunt deer and shoot squirrels with our dashers built on Remington 700 actions and you would never know it without seeing the brass.
If that is too much hassle a 243,6mm or 6-284 with a 8 twist barrel will do it all.