One Rifle for an Aspiring Precision Shooter

[Dusty Stevens]

As someone who has just moved State-side from Europe can I ask why people focus so heavily on the 6BR or 6.5 Creedmoor and not the 6.5 x 55 Swede? Not common here?

those 2 calibers are OUR swede.

 

[PilotPhill]

Okay, thank you all so much for your input! Looks like I'll be zeroing in on those classified adds for a little while

 

[SGK]

those 2 calibers are OUR swede.

Wheel reinvention?

Given the OP wants to hunt with the rifle - albeit "on deer" doesn't provide a lot of guidance - maybe the extra terminal energy provided by the bigger case deserves consideration. However, it would seem much likely that a great deal on a used 6BR or 6.5 Creedmoor is more likely.

 

[perry42]

As someone who has just moved State-side from Europe can I ask why people focus so heavily on the 6BR or 6.5 Creedmoor and not the 6.5 x 55 Swede? Not common here?

I also shoot a 6.5x55AI, it stays with the 6br at 600yds and beats it at 1,000yds.

perry42

 

[MislMan]

Shoot your dad’s Savage and see what you like/dislike about that set-up and pick your path forward from there. If buying used there’s no reason to rush ... just decide what you want and wait for the right deal to show up.

 

[69mach]

I've carried around heavy bench guns hunting deer before. Do yourself a favor and buy a rifle for target shooting and one for hunting. When you can afford it. 90 % of the time you take your critter on a coldbore shot anyway so there is really no need for heavy barreled bench gun. The 308 has a much larger hunting bullet selection to choose from than 6 and 6.5mm calibers. Keeping in the realm of standard ballistics the 308 beats out the 6mm stuff on kinetic energy for hunting. In Kansas I can use a 40grain 223 to hunt a big mule deer but it doesn't mean I should. if your going to punch paper I'd go with a 6 dasher or something along the lines of that.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Buy a Savage rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor or 6BR.

 

[dixiecricket]

No one going to bring up a .223rem with fast twist barrel?
Having just gone through the college dry spell myself, I would recommend a tikka in .223. Plenty of brass, and good bullets are much cheaper than .308 , somewhat cheaper than 6mm. Midsouth shooters supply has hornady 75elds bulk $94 for 600. That's $0.15 ea. Depending on components, that's about $25/100 loaded rounds. Something you can actually afford to get trigger time on while in school.

If your range is 500ish meters, then hornady 75elds, 75bthp, or 77sierras will all work out there. 80s are great if your mag setup can support it.

Cheaper ammo=more trigger time=more experienced shooter

I highly recommend watching classifieds here, as custom rifles in the $900-1200 range seem to poput up daily.