Best caliber for long range in a short action.

[timmyatnop]

I have a remington short action in 308 caliber,what does everbody think would be the best caliber to have it turned into.For long range of course.

 

[NomadPilot]

I think it's 260 Rem, which is why I built one. But be realistic about the benefits vs cost of rebuilding your existing rifle. If you already have a 308, you might not gain anything - and may lose overall - by changing it.

With that said, 243 Win or AI with fast 115 DTAC bullets beats the 260 on paper. Depends what you're willing to compromise on - barrel life, paper or animals, factory ammo or reloads, recoil, brass availability, etc.

 

[timmyatnop]

Yea i hear that ,looks great in the books and the bc on that 140gr bullet beats the 168 gr berger iam shooting now.Would i need a longer barrel than say 26, or would that hinder it a littel .

 

[kiwi3006]

How much work do you want to do to it?
If you want to go all out, open up the bolt face and go for one of the WSM's, 270 or 7mm. You will also need to mill out the back of the reciever and fit and extended magazine box to make the most of the VLD type bullets. 26" barrel would be all you would need to go to.
25/284 is another. Bolt face is the same as 308, but would need to extend the magazine box. I have seen good reports with a 115gr berger (3100 with a 24" barrel) on deer out to 500 yds with it.
Otherwise if you don't want to do much then as already said the 260 or 260AI would be good choices.

Stu.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

For what, targets, hunting, what animals, etc. I like the 243 AI on a short action. For targets and deer/antelope size animals It is awesome. Extreme accuracy, long barrel life, ability to shoot 243 winchester in it. It is one of the absolute best 1000 yard cartridges ever in competition. Many others though would be good. The 284 was designed for the short action but wildcat rounds off it with long vld bullets are to long for it.

 

[timmyatnop]

It would be used for deer ,antalope and ,coyotes mostly .don't wana spend to much mabey just rebarrel it, how much more work is it to make 7mm wsm.

 

[rifleman0714]

I have read that the 260 rem is supposed to be excellent for long range work. High B.C.s, good barrel life.

 

[kiwi3006]

The extra work for 7mm WSM is

• open up the bolt face
• fit a sako or M16 style extractor
• Mill out the back of reciever (to make the most of the VLD type bullets)
• get an extended magazine box
• open up feed rails (although some extended magazine boxes come as centre feed so you may not need to)

The action will probably need to get trued, but you will do that regardless of what calibre you choose.
I think that is it.

Stu.

 

[timmyatnop]

Thinking mabey the 260 REM might be the way to go ,7wsm would be better but money is always a factor these days .

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

With the use you stated I would do the 243 AI. Faster than the 260 and will do well on the animals you listed. You can shoot a high bc 6mm bullet toward 3300 fps which is way faster than the 260 Rem with a high bc 6.5 bullet. It shoots very close to the 240 wby mag.

 

[Michael Eichele]

I recently contemplated converting my 308 into another caliber such as the 7mm-08. After discovering the 208 AMAX and N550 powder, I have no reason to look to down sizing. This load is astounding. Just before I went moose hunting last month it printed a 2.5" 3 shot group at 700 yards. A few weeks before that it put 6 bullets in a 3" group at 530 yards. Velocity is 2610 FPS. All that accuracy and retained energy way out there along with the rediculously low wind drift makes for one heck of a back up rifle and load for sheep, caribou and deer even out to 1/2 mile. Doubles up as a great 1000 yard F class load as well

 

[timmyatnop]

The 308 is probably ok but my barrel is completely shot out ,I figured if iam gona have to rebarrel i might as well get a better long range caliber,

 

[TMR]

243AI, 115 Dtacs or 105 Berger, fast twist barrel. Will beat out a 260 any day. Less recoil, flatter shooting, less windage...etc... The 260 isn't a bad caliber, but the 6mm heavy bullets have alot going for them.

 

[dustybrown]

With money being a factor im currious why not a .243 win ? Is the Ai going to be much more to reload for ? The quality brass these days and not having to fire form any thing to get brass ready seems like the way to go. I read some place the the Tactical long range match guys are staying away from AI to get away from loosing expensive brass ? I could be wrong. How much Velocity do ya gain on a AI vs. a win ? Not trying to say the AI are the way or not just my 2 cents....