284, once you get your feet wet your ready to jump into 1K! Minimal prep for Lapua brass or just run Norma brass.
Caliber choice for 600 yd F class newbie.
- Thread starter WEL
- Start date
If I were starting, I would shoot a .223 Remington in F/TR. Cheap to reload, brass everywhere, easy to tune, minimal recoil to manage-shoot 80.5g Bergers with Varget and learn wind reading.
dcali
Bullet Maker
For open, take your pick. 6BR, 6.5 Lapua, 6.5 Creedmoor all have good lapua brass out of the box and will perform admirably. If long range is in the cards bite the bullet and upgrade to .284, although that has minor brass forming concerns.
Or just chuck it all and go TR with a .223. Been beat by plenty of them at 600 when 90 grain Bergers are used. .308 is also a great choice and you have a lot more to choose from in terms of bullets.
Or just chuck it all and go TR with a .223. Been beat by plenty of them at 600 when 90 grain Bergers are used. .308 is also a great choice and you have a lot more to choose from in terms of bullets.
This sums it up very nicely. I will never stop a person from getting a rifle built. I do suggest go and shoot it with what you currently have. You know so you can decide if you like it or not. Most importantly so you can see what options are out there for rifle components. There are a few things worse than getting a bad for you stock but not many.
The OP said he was going to "ease into" F-class shooting. Had he said he was going to set a world record next week I might advise him to avoid the 6.5 Creedmoor; however, he most likely ain't gonna' be setting any F-class world records any time soon no matter what caliber he chooses if, as he says, he's just starting out in F-class.
There are plenty of good choices out there, but since the OP says he isn't all that fond of reloading, especially brass prep, I would suggest he consider the 6.5 Creedmoor as his first choice. Here's why.
It wins plenty of 600/1000 yard F-open matches every weekend. It's easy to tune and top notch components are easy to come by, especially now that Lapua is making small primer brass. But best of all is the availability of really good factory ammo.
For example, if for some reason I failed to load a batch of competition ammo for my .223 F/TR gun and ran out of time to make some, I would simply not attend the match. Same for my 6mm BR Norma. But for my 6.5 Creedmoor I would grab a few boxes of factory ammo and attend the match knowing that I wouldn't embarrass myself. Depending on the conditions and the skill of my competition, I could actually do well.
DirtySteve
Gold $$ Contributor
Well if he is not going to reload then I would say 223 or 308 and use Federal Gold Medal Match or Black Hills ammo. 77 grain for the 223 and 175 for the 308.. Just my dos centavos.
I do reload just didn't want to have spend time fire forming cases etc. A sraight neck up to 284 is not out of the question. The dasher I thought you had to make the brass from br and fireform.
Most newbies would do well to shoot .223 for a while.
Low cost, low recoil, and long barrel life facilitate a high level of participation and focus on the fundamentals.
Low cost, low recoil, and long barrel life facilitate a high level of participation and focus on the fundamentals.
While what you say might be true when it comes to pure specifications, the reality is that when they total up the score at the end of the day, plenty of folks shooting other calibers go home with the gold, at least at local matches where not everyone is a high master.
You recommendation is a good one, but there are plenty of reasons to select a different caliber with very little worry that doing so might ruin your chances for winning. Why? Because wind reading is WAY more important than theoretical performance specifications when you're talking about the typical 600/1000 yard F-Class match.
284 because you will end up there anyway.
Medic505
Gold $$ Contributor
Not so fast Norm....This guy might be a real man, and we all know real men shoot TR.
Well so much for new year resolutions. Mine was to not type anything tacky on here. Made it 7 hours and 55 minuets.....Oh well, let the flogging commence.
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Mulligan
Silver $$ Contributor
I also started down the same path mid summer 2015
I shot one match that year with borrowed equipment..... to see if i liked it first. I shot two strings with a friends 6br and one string with his sons 6.5/47. I shot a great score and had fun.
I ended up with a high mileage 6 dasher i bought off this forum as the 6 appeared more forgiving to me. Heck i was steering the darn thing with my chin. I shot 5 local matches in ‘16 and made high master with that dasher. My friend did basically the same thing with his BR.
The BR or Dasher (You can get high quality formed dasher brass from DJ’s to keep it simple) are cheap to shoot, and hold lots of 600 and 1000 yard records. Not only are 6mm’s more forgiving, easier to shoot, cheaper to shoot, they are also more fun to shoot.... less recoil!
BR brass costs less, a BR uses ~30 grains or powder where a .284 will generally require 50-55 grains, bullets are nearly half the weight and 1/3 less cost. Additionally the quality and selection of 6mm bullets appears far greater as the benchrest crowd loves their 6’s.
I could go on and on about the attributes of the BR and and Dasher, but i wont.
Look at the records for long range benchrest, 6’s dominate the accuracy game. The fairly new 6 BRA is coming on strong and forming them is no muss-no fuss.
The bigger cartridges offer more forgiveness in a bad wind call and nothing more. They are certainlly not more accurate then the three 6’s I’ve mentioned. However, in the hands of a skilled loader/tuner they can be nearly as accurate. If you decide to go this route, find a good mentor.
Bag handling, table manners, and steering all matter. I have discovered they matter a lot more as recoil increases.
Good Luck
Clay
+1, you've got lots of leeway with jam/jump with this load and no worries about brass.
Boyd L.
Witty comment under development
What bullet?
I would seriously consider the range or ranges you plan on shooting. If its a little tricky in the wind, I would consider the .284. If mostly mild mannered, I would look at the 6x47 or straight up 6.5x47 with the good brass. No biggy on brass prep and good barrel life. The 6 or 6.5 aint gonna give up much at 600, but been down the same road on short game. The 7's a little more costly to shoot, and a bit more finicky on managing recoil but time in the saddle with whatever you settle on you will do fine. I still have the ole 6 BRAI when conditions are there. Kinna hard to whoop the 6's when condition exist, but it don't happen often where if at for sure. My 2 cents. Bill
carlsbad
Lions don't lose sleep over the opinions of sheep.
On a calm day, 6br. A newbie will either get frustrated quickly or get good at windreading with the slower bullet--watching the other guys with faster bullets buck the wind better.
I'd go with something a bit faster. 6xc is pretty good.
Jerry
I'd go with something a bit faster. 6xc is pretty good.
Jerry
Grimstod
Machinist, Designer, and Shooter.
You seam to forget that Lapua does make loaded ammo for both the 6BR and the 6.5x47.
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