Thoughts on caliber choice

[skipglo]

The 6.5-284 Norma will do everything you need for what you described. It's a great cartridge. If you're picking 2, I'd go with the 300 Win Mag and the 6.5-284. Ballistically, the 280 Rem is close to the 6.5-284. The 300 WM gives you more if you ever want or need more, plus I feel everyone should own at least one 30 caliber
I own a 6.5-284, 280 AI and 300 WSM. Love every one of them for different reasons and I just like having multiple rifles in different cartridges

X2

 

[BrentM]

6.5-284 and 300wm. I have thousands of round down range with a 6.5-284 and it's awesome. Will do it all for sure. The 300 is nice simply because if you decide to hunt dangerous game it has a heck of a punch for that application. My go to was the 6.5-284 but now run a PRC which is Similar performance, fun to shoot, and easy to tune. I will likely never give up the 6.5-284.

 

[DWier]

6.5-.284 for mule deer, Coues, sheep, whitetail, black bear, pronghorn, etc.

.300WM for elk, moose, big bears, musk ox, etc.

X 5

 

[rbTanzan]

This sort of boils down to an old discussion of 300WM vs 270. But the 6.5/284 adds a short-action option.
If you are building a lightweight, mountain, short-action rig, then the 6.5x284 is your choice to go with a 300WM.

It you want to keep two rifles of those that you already have, then personally, I would choose the two most accurate rifles.

If they all have similar accuracies, then you should keep the 300WM and whichever of the 6.5 or 280 rifles that you most like to carry.

 

[Alberta Wexit]

Own all three calibers you have dies for. For one gun 300 win mag two gun battery would be 300 and 280 Rem. The 6.5 284 only used for target shooting deadly at that. Have seen a number of moose taken with 280. They just fall down.

 

[dogz]

Being somewhat of a minimalist I am narrowing down my rifles and caliber choices as to provide me with the largest variety of applications.

Id like to pick two of the following and want yalls input.

.300 win mag
.280 rem (not ackley)
6.5x284

choosing these because i have all the reloading components so really not going to deviate much.
Game will range from sheep/goats in BC and central asia to coues and mule deer in Mexico.

Which two of the above would you keep?

Keep in mind all, this fella is talking about going to 3 different areas to hunt outside of the good old USA. Point being, if one becomes detached from one's ammo en route and that does happen...IMO one has zero to no chance of finding 280 ammo or 6.5/284 ammo in one of those countries! If he goes 300 Winny he has a chance to find that ammo.

Just a thunk as I've seen it happen to fellas when they're traveling like this.

 

[Alberta Wexit]

Very good point. Have a hard time to find either of those calibers on a regular bases in North America now.

 

[Sanford338]

Being somewhat of a minimalist I am narrowing down my rifles and caliber choices as to provide me with the largest variety of applications.

Id like to pick two of the following and want yalls input.

.300 win mag
.280 rem (not ackley)
6.5x284

choosing these because i have all the reloading components so really not going to deviate much.
Game will range from sheep/goats in BC and central asia to coues and mule deer in Mexico.

Which two of the above would you keep?

300 Win
243 Win

 

[big johnson]

300 win.

 

[MZmoose]

300wm and the 6.5-284. not that you need the power of the 300wm for the game you mentioned but it's the most mainstream cartridge you have and if for some reason you need to buy ammo over seas you'll have better luck finding it. Not that an airline would loose some of your luggage or anything....

 

[JustMe2]

300WM

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

I hunted several years with my old 280 remington. It never did give that WOW factor but man it kept the freezers FULL every year with tasty deer and elk meat!

If you tend to be recoil sensitive this would be my pick.

 

[Hugnot]

For hunting, I see no advantage with the 6.5-284 Norma compared to the pedestrian 6.5-06. The .300 WM is an extremely versatile cartridge that never stops amazing me in regard to accuracy with 178/180 to 208 grain bullets and it hits hard also. With this combo 100 to 200 plus grain bullets can be used on tiny rodents to huge beasts. Same powders may be used on both cartridges 4350's to H1000 and similar.

 

[Longrangers]

Being somewhat of a minimalist I am narrowing down my rifles and caliber choices as to provide me with the largest variety of applications.

Id like to pick two of the following and want yalls input.

.300 win mag
.280 rem (not ackley)
6.5x284

choosing these because i have all the reloading components so really not going to deviate much.
Game will range from sheep/goats in BC and central asia to coues and mule deer in Mexico.

Which two of the above would you keep?

We like our 6.5/284. Works well with very little recoil and will do it. Just need to know your limitations on big game like elk and etc. although Bullets have come a long way in the performance area. Bad thing is it can be hard on barrels. Gunwerks and best of the west use to promote 6.5/284 pretty hard. All your choices are good. 300 win is a good choice but costs more to feed and has a little more recoil. 280 is down the middle.